You’ll discover whether you’re a screamer or a yeller, a wide-striding groover or a bolt-upright pogo-er. This is a game that you can play sitting down, but you won’t. Not once. [Christmas 2005, p.104]

Shooter feels accomplished and robust, a rounded and consistently enjoyable achievement. [Jan 2010, p.94]

It refines the core shooting and user interface, but otherwise adds only a clutch of enjoyable yet nonessential extras, such as settlements and armour pieces. [Jan 2016, p.106]

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]

A personal and affecting play experience. [Mar 2008, p.103]

Two Point remains a gifted student of the old school, and we're eager to see where its career takes it next. [Issue#376, p.110]

Here's to more games that dare to shoot for the stars - and to those that, like Genesis Noir, set their sights even higher. [Issue#357, p.112]

Race Driver 3 understands that a processional win from pole is less fulfilling than a hard-fought, championship-saving fifth place from the back of the grid. And though it can’t exactly engineer those situations, it does everything in its power to make them more likely and leave them unpunished. [Mar 2006, p.87]

As forgettable as the story mode is, this is a game that should be judged by the pleasure it can bring to a room full of gamers eager for furious arena combat and a splendid variety of team games. And judged by those criteria, it has few peers. [Apr 2005, p.94]

This dazzling, determinedly populist experience was not made according to the standards other games are made by, and when judged – or even just described – by those standards, it might seem slender to the point of frailty. [Christmas 2005, p.101]

Thank heavens, then, for the brilliant Survival mode. Of all Dual Strike’s little reinventions it’s the only one to twist the template into a persuasive new shape. [Sept 2005, p.97]

This is a game for those who grew up in Hyrule but spent more time in Lordran in recent years. Some finicky platforming also frustrates, but then Link didn’t get an auto-jump until Ocarina Of Time.

It’s impossible to ignore the fact that, with titles like this, Nintendo has perfected a genre. [July 2007, p.95]

In spite of the odd stumble, it's a wonderful journey. [Jan 2016, p.120]

Our pilgrimage is one marked by the cuts and bruises we accumulate along the way, yet we find ourselves encouraged by a familiar mantra: how sweet the pain, indeed, when it is our own. [Issue#389, p.106]

The Novelist, then, is a game of endless compromise, and in that sense it is a quite remarkable simulation of family life.

As this game invites us to reconsider our relationships with loved ones while they're still around, the benefit of Hindsight couldn't be clearer. [Issue#376, p.118]

Future Soldier exemplifies a developer honouring the 'fun first' ethos of its publisher's canon, even as it stays true to the seriousness of its espionage licence. Yes, it's lost some tactical edge, but a disciplined commitment to entertainment focuses the experience. In the overmasculine world of the thirdperson shooter, this is a game that stands out for being delicately beautiful even as it delivers brutal thrills.

Just when the whole thing seems in danger of becoming a cold study in design brilliance, however, the on-screen clock comes into its own, raising the game’s temperature by turning each challenge into a speed-runner’s dream.

The control system deserves special mention, as it could so easily have been crude or overwhelming. Instead, it's sophisticated and sensitive, catering solidly enough for corridor-cleaning run'n'guns while allowing ambitious flights of TK fancy. [Aug 2004, p.100]

Feels high-stakes even before the opening bet reaches three figures. [Issue#373, p.120]

Warhawk's manic pace makes for an instantly gratifying experience, and its brilliantly implemented notion of flight and considered balance among combat options more than compensate for the slenderness of its offering. [Oct 2007, p.90]

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]

Cursed to Golf fully commits to its purgatorial theme, and if that occasionally puts you in club-snapping mood, it's hard to deny the euphoric rush when you finally hole out. [Issue#376, p.122]

For a new developer to arrive with a game that excels in as many categories as Far Cry is a rare thing indeed. This is a uniquely beguiling game, and frequently beautiful in every sense.

[An] endearingly odd, memorable little game. [Issue#314, p.122]

In the games’ improved communication features, too, X and Y are truer to their narrative’s ethos: the joy of sharing moments of beauty and surprise with others. It’s a delightful message to send to a new generation of players, many of whom are just starting out on their own gaming journey.

Captivatingly clever. [Issue#373, p.123]