Other M dabbles in cinematic tricks and sensational set-pieces, but its strength is in the foundations: it builds an enveloping 3D world from straight lines and right angles, and ups the gears of its rewarding basics constantly. It offers an uncluttered slice of sci-fi action, a singular take on the thirdperson adventure, and a combat system of pared-down beauty.

Temple Run 2 is a beautiful looking, natural extension of the series that never breaks stride for a second. The game's only liability is that, as beautiful as its environments may be, their unceasing repetition can eventually grow wearisome. Like a child hearing about the concept of living in heaven for eternity and asking, won't I get bored?

Despite the laundry list of issues that have arisen as a result of Asobo's ambition, in the end, it's those sudden sensations - especially the frequent feeling that we've finally got our hands on something truly next-gen, imperfect as it may be - that count for the most. [Issue#350, p.88]

This is a beautiful game from top to bottom: a feast for the eyes, a treat for the ears, a test for the brain and thumbs and a good old stress-test for the heart and tear ducts. This is a rare sort of debut: one that marks out its developer as one to watch. [Issue#342, p.112]

Despite the criticisms, though, The Great Circle isn't so much defective as in tension with itself. [Issue#406, p.102]

It is a breath of fresh air to play a game that doesn't merely use its science-fiction setting as attractive window dressing, its outstanding writing and voice acting more than compensating for its visual shortcomings. [Issue#399, p.116]

It's wonderfully refined, boasting a glut of ideas without ever feeling overstuffed. [Issue#342, p.114]

When it works, it's intoxicating. [Issue#406, p.106]

Isn't a game that does anything obviously or overtly clever or innovative. But any game that takes such a simple premise and polishes it, hones it and refines it until it's this engrossing, this absorbing, and this much fun, is quite obviously doing something very clever indeed. [Christmas 2003, p.114]

Packed with detail, both in terms of its environments and mechanics, this is a game that pays back investment in spades. [March 2012, p.122]

Whatever the oddities and missed opportunities of its singleplayer mode, Bad Company 2 delivers a fulsome online game that continues to hone a winning formula. [Apr 2010, p.90]

The frame-rate occasionally chugs, but little else can truly hold Mr. Dreamer back. This is a confident twist on a popular genre, and a case study in how a good idea needs little embellishment.

That teetering battle between pride and strategy than ensues every time you decide whether to comprehensively flatten a villain with an unnecessary monosyllabic flourish or gamble on saving it for your next target, hoping the board doesn’t get scrambled before you get a chance to show off.

Vivid, smart and perhaps a little mocking, then, Infinity Gene, like Extreme, has exchanged the cold depths of space for the trippy vortex of some strange digital migraine: this classic isn't growing old with grace, but it's certainly continuing to evolve.

As enveloping a puzzle space as any (outside of wells and hotels) we've encountered this year. [Issue#399, p.120]

It feels revelatory, like rediscovering a lost art. The keyboard! How wonderful. [Issue#402, p.123]

While a smattering of minor blemishes mean it shines a bit less brightly than 2014's other headline acts, it's not less essential for it. [Jan 2014, p.112]

In your travels you'll stumble upon and unfold an intricately spun web of character interactions, warmly drawn personalities every bit as rewarding to explore as the physical environments themselves. [Sept 2005, p.86]

Reveals that the series can be both a chaotic toy box and a lattice of fantastical set-pieces that unfold meaningfully. [July 2011, p.126]

Enslaved's greatest achievement is standing out in the crowded field of me- too, colour-sapped videogame apocalypses, serving as a vibrant oasis in the otherwise murky brown wastes.

Whether she’s huddled up against the cold or sending five men to their doom with an explosive arrow, this is still Lara Croft, one of gaming’s most distinctive heroes – and now she has a personality that extends far beyond the bounds of her bra straps. If the purpose of a reboot is to redefine a character and set them up for the future, then this is a job well done.

It can be too obtuse at times, but the rewards are quite unlike anything else in games: the music peaks, a laser beam rockets off into the sky, and you turn, heading off after that distant synth, in search of your next project deeper in the neon unknown.

There's an incredible amount to do within the confines of a traditional racing game. Flawed, then, but pushing for the top of the podium all the same. [Christmas 2017, p.116]

Nintendo’s nervousness around punishment, for fear of putting off newcomers, continues to undermine ALBW’s attempts at novelty.

Often we're reminded of one of the oldest, simplest examples of Halo's sandbox: what happens when one grenade is applied to an unexploded stack of its peers. A cascade of possibilities, all these tiny moments of pleasure bouncing off of one another in a way that could never be fully scripted in advance. [Issue#367, p.98]

With the RTS genre on the back foot in recent years, it's hardly surprising that it should choose to crib from its turn-based cousins - and it has annexed those ideas without sacrificing the heart of its well-oiled war machine. [Issue#383, p.110]

Compulsive and beautifully tuned, Pivvot is a tense, nervy challenge to relish.

In terms of the game’s central challenge, it excels at dividing the player’s attention between ambitions for continuous expansion and the manual maintenance of the empire as it stands. [Sept 2007, p.97]