FFXI may not technically be the future of MMORPGs, as there’s no ignoring its derivative nature. However, it has cleverly assimilated all the elements that make the genre so popular and married them with international brand popularity well beyond the reach of other, more ghettoised MMORPGs. [Dec 2005, p110]

FFXI may not technically be the future of MMORPGs, as there’s no ignoring its derivative nature. However, it has cleverly assimilated all the elements that make the genre so popular and married them with international brand popularity well beyond the reach of other, more ghettoised MMORPGs. [Dec 2005, p110]

Whatever you conclude about the bigger picture, this is special stuff. The claustrophobic buzz of flies, the distant muezzin drone, the desperation as you crouch uncertain in the dust whilst your men call frantically for orders will lodge in your mind long after you've walked away from the game. [July 2004, p.98]

Crisp of cut-scene, blessed with a refreshingly light touch and low-key compared to the po-faced chest-beating of its peers, Second Sight could well be a high water mark in storytelling through games (as opposed to storytelling around them). [Oct 2004, p.104]

There are scores of tiny, surprising, memorable reasons to like Blood Will Tell, and one big reason not to: the game can’t do them all justice. It’s as likely to aggravate as to amaze, and even if you appreciate its peculiar magic there are sections where that magic is spread so thin that it’s impossible not to fall out of its spell. [Dec 2005, p.109]

If Headhunter's controls were as coherent as its looks, it could've made for one of the greatest action-adventure games of recent times. Instead, we're left with a clunky shooting gallery that is, in parts, a likeable gunfighting game. [Oct 2004, p.109]

Crisp of cut-scene, blessed with a refreshingly light touch and low-key compared to the po-faced chest-beating of its peers, Second Sight could well be a high water mark in storytelling through games (as opposed to storytelling around them). [Oct 2004, p.104]

Crisp of cut-scene, blessed with a refreshingly light touch and low-key compared to the po-faced chest-beating of its peers, Second Sight could well be a high water mark in storytelling through games (as opposed to storytelling around them). [Oct 2004, p.104]

Those accustomed to the adult world of online PC gaming may have reason to sniff at the more streamlined play, but Pandemic has given consoles a whole new genre, pretty much perfectly formed... No game has ever felt quite so much like playing with Star Wars figures. [Nov 2004, p.102]

You won't even break a sweat before you get to the Silver Cup in the Expert class, and F-Zero stalwarts will feel patronised by the ease with which this short-lived Tournament mode can be completed. [Feb 2004, p.110]

Those accustomed to the adult world of online PC gaming may have reason to sniff at the more streamlined play, but Pandemic has given consoles a whole new genre, pretty much perfectly formed... No game has ever felt quite so much like playing with Star Wars figures. [Nov 2004, p.102]

Playing Gungrave OD, there's a nagging sensation that the design team experienced the original through a shop window...In attempting to meet criticisms of Gungrave's single-minded focus, that focus has been squandered. The result is unlikely to satisfy. [May 2004, p.110]

When two Sims lovingly clasp each other as they sleep, even the coldest gaming hearts will begin to melt. [Oct 2004, p.102]

There are a lot of interesting ideas in here. Roaming in smellovision mode is the game's greatest tool for making you feel like you're piloting an animal. It makes exploring a dull path feel way more exciting than it should be. [Jan 2004, p.102]

The action creeps up slowly, starting out like a gorgeous-looking but fairly standard shoot 'em up. However, by the middle of level two, it's pummelling you with a relentless parade of conceptual set pieces so audacious and inventive you'll laugh with delight as you gape in horror. [Sept 2004, p.94]

Firefights become more surreal than menacing when the worst-case scenario is of your fellow GIs having to catch their breath for a few seconds after being riddled with bullets. [Aug 2004, p.96]

Firefights become more surreal than menacing when the worst-case scenario is of your fellow GIs having to catch their breath for a few seconds after being riddled with bullets. [Aug 2004, p.96]

Over-dependence on legwork over the bulk of each world robs the game of its sparkle, making it feel more work-ethic sweatshop than well-paced sweetshop. [Dec 2005, p.111]

Demon Stone suggests more potential than it fulfils, but it’s a not-entirely-failed experiment in teaching old dice new tricks, and a follow-up with the same attention to detail but more ambitious design would be welcome. [Nov 2004, p.108]

While it doesn't pass as an update or a worthy torch bearer for the hyperactive, all-out action-clash that was the original Guardian Heroes, the resemblance is still there. It's more homage than successor, but it's a decent beat 'em up in its own right. [Dec 2005, p.116]

It's not so much a game with depth as one with width, a fat pool of possible ways to idle away your time between quests, allowing you to craft what feels like an unprecedented sense of social personality, in terms of colour and grandeur if not actual complexity. [Nov 2004, p.94]

Firefights become more surreal than menacing when the worst-case scenario is of your fellow GIs having to catch their breath for a few seconds after being riddled with bullets. [Aug 2004, p.96]

The pacing, thanks to a combination of necessary haste and the weakness of your divided squad members, feels more akin to a corridor shooter; there’s a constant sensation of feeling harried and hemmed in. [Oct 2004, p.107]

The pacing, thanks to a combination of necessary haste and the weakness of your divided squad members, feels more akin to a corridor shooter; there’s a constant sensation of feeling harried and hemmed in. [Oct 2004, p.107]

Look at it one way, and it's a choking journey with unprecedented attention to unease and psychological horror, a game framed with unparalleled sophistication. From another angle, it's just a clunky PSone throwback, with all the design wit of a dodo. [Aug 2004, p.92]

It still possesses the series’ trademark ability to deliver Tempest-like ‘in the zone’ moments of remarkable intensity unlike any of its contemporaries, but now comes with a confidently revised dynamic, marking this as Criterion Games’ finest hour. [Oct 2004, p.100]

Look at it one way, and it's a choking journey with unprecedented attention to unease and psychological horror, a game framed with unparalleled sophistication. From another angle, it's just a clunky PSone throwback, with all the design wit of a dodo. [Aug 2004, p.92]

Look at it one way, and it's a choking journey with unprecedented attention to unease and psychological horror, a game framed with unparalleled sophistication. From another angle, it's just a clunky PSone throwback, with all the design wit of a dodo. [Aug 2004, p.92]