The convincing sense of speed is dulled by a lack of weight to the handling, while collisions betray some erratic physics: you can easily be shunted into a respawn by other racers, yet left relatively unscathed by a head-on smash into trees.

Strip out the poor parkour and clunky melee and all you’re left with is a shooter, and a workmanlike one at that.

For a game that trades a competitive level of complexity for more instant action-based appeal, it needs to be slicker in its presentation and explanations. [Jan 2007, p.80]

For players who have dismissed the mech genre in general and Armored Core in particular as requiring too much effort for too little reward, For Answer could offer a compelling reason to dabble. [Jan 2009, p.94]

No one thing ruins Cavorite, but its pile of minor faults eventually overshadow its charisma. The levels can be ingenious, and Dr Cavor's quirky animations and great gimmick feel fresh, but the experience soon devolves into attrition rather than a challenge.

Alien worlds scarcely come more mundane than this. [Issue#424, p.102]

The Baconing is undoubtedly a solid, entertaining addition to the series, but over-saturation has made this once brash and energetic adventure feel slightly predictable.

There's definitely a kind of magic to discover here, but Sea of Solitude too often breaks its own spell. [Issue#335, p.116]

Where the game really succeeds, however, beyond providing a robust and solid, if unassuming model of explorative stealth and attack, is in fulfilling that old and oft-forgotten criterion - putting the gamer inside the movie. [Aug 2005, p.95]

Carve is briefly thrilling, but complete the final tournament and you're left treading water. [Mar 2004, p.102]

Adrift is at its best when you're simply taking in the view and absorbing the gravity of your situation. [Tested with Oculus Rift; June 2016, p.104]

Away from its story missions, Forspoken feels short of ideas, and even the narrative runs out of steam. [Issue#382, p.102]

At first glance, Post Trauma appears to be a meaningful iteration on a familiar formula, but in practice it's more like a cover of a favourite song on the radio. You tap your foot, but you long for the original. [Issue#411, p.114]

If the idea was to get you into Fury's angry mindset, then job done - though in truth you more often feel like one of her lesser-known cousins, Boredom or Irritation. [Issue#328, p.112]

Ultimately, there's a good Pac-Man game buried beneath the hours of Shadow Labyrinth's trend-chasing mediocrity. [Issue#414, p.116]

Techland has played fast and loose with a genre that need refining in to truly let pulses soar. The result is a game that's daft, sloppy fun begging for an injection of refinement. [Feb 2011, p.97]

Omega 6 has value as a curio and as part of Imamura's legacy, but only mildly as entertainment. [Issue#409, p.121]

The Terror Twins don't get the platform they deserve, but they put on quite a show with what they're given. [Issue#336, p.106]

An impressively comprehensive, reasonably captivating though ultimately flawed experience. [June 2005, p.95]

For the majority of Tintin's adventure you'll be happy to kill time hopping and skipping across its gorgeous stages, but unlike the contours of Hergé's timeless stories, there's no hidden treasure to be found beneath its dazzling veneer.

There's an involving, and sinister story to pursue on that front, but as with the City the Kid yearns for, 198X never gets there. [Issue#335, p.120]

A soulless videogame that stands as a grave indictment of how stale a series can become if it loses its spark of creativity and imagination. [March 2005, p.93]

"Quotation Forthcoming"

It seems Buena Vista has gone from making lacklustre titles out of much-loved franchises to making a reasonable game from the coldest of franchises. [Mar 2007, p.82]

The voice acting, dialogue and narrative itself are all weak, thereby demanding that the underlying systems do all the heavy lifting in terms of player engagement - something they sustain, but only to a certain point. [Aug 2010, p.97]

But there's no denying that this feels like straightforward filler, granting rewards without ever feeling rewarding. Much like the brainwashed metahumans the game asks us to put down, we expect the highs of this reluctant forever game are already behind it. [Issue#395, p.104]

In the great crapshoot of Namco thirdperson action games, it’s a better than average throw. [Nov 2006, p.92]

Getting monkey into position, and camera into position behind him, in time to make your desperate dash for a whirling mechanism has everything to do with the old-school frustrations of instant-death gaming and nothing to do with the effortless application of skill that the first game delivered so appealingly. [Feb 2006, p.91]