When it isn't engaging in playful (self-)mockery, it finds ways to explore videogames' quirks in witty, insightful fashion. [Issue#343, p.120]

If Below is a game about the single-minded pursuit of a shape, about making your descent at all cots, it is also a test of your ability to find time for appreciation or understanding along the way. [March 2019, p.104]

Every bit as transportative as "Hypnospace Outlaw", Last Call BBS combines the studio's puzzling expertise and the flair for storytelling it exhibited in "Eliza", serving as both a fine curtain call for Zachtronics and a fascinating portal back to a time long before its foundation. [Issue#375, p.123]

Derivative and at times off-puttingly insistent and flimsy unlocks, it's nonetheless some of Infinity Ward's most considered design in years, and a sign it's ready to get back in the fight. [Issue#346, p.102]

In every respect Forza 6 is an improvement over Forza 5, and yet the game feels oddly torn between two eras, its stodgy insistence on piecemeal progression undercutting a handful of fresh ideas. The series may have found a clear route back to its Maple Valley Raceway glory days, but Forza 6 is a shift in the right direction as it rediscovers the playful soul and personality it first introduced to the sim racer. [Nov 2015, p.118]

Capturing the seat-shifting tension of cinema's finest vehicular pursuits, Swordship perhaps lacks the longevity of other Roguelikes - though this sprint isn't a marathon, but an exhilarating sprint. [Issue#380, p.122]

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]

A brainteaser that's nervy, humbling, and strangely energising. If you can handle the stress, SpellTower is magnificent.

Super Monkey Ball had the sad fate of being born perfect, which means that, ever since that GameCube launch title, the series has been competing with memory. Not even a spin dash will get you past that. [Issue#400, p.120]

Criterion’s ability to make the technology and design of games seem harmonious is a significant strength in an industry where few can pull it off... Black is a fiery example of what can result. [Mar 2006, p.82]

Nonetheless, LA Noire is a success story. Over its 20-hour-plus length, it cuts a cross-section through the moral, social and geographical landscape of a city that carefully treads the line between a plausible '40s LA and the morally bankrupt City of Angels found in hardboiled fiction.

Even in its current form, there’s a wealth of ideas and a set of powers that few games twice this length manage to pack in.

All Activision's teams needed to deliver the best Call of Duty in half a decade was proper support. It's not V2 rocket science, after all. [Issue#405, p.112]

The most remarkable thing is how smoothly it runs: a flawless 60 frames a second that makes any caveats about the slightly pixellated visuals disappear in the wind. [Dec 2008, p.99]

Any gimmicks would have muddied the waters - what you need to bring a golden-age beat-'em-up bang up to date, it turns out, is a team of fans with the hands of a heart surgeon and an eye for why we fell in love with it in the first place. [Issue#346, p.105]

Nonetheless, LA Noire is a success story. Over its 20-hour-plus length, it cuts a cross-section through the moral, social and geographical landscape of a city that carefully treads the line between a plausible '40s LA and the morally bankrupt City of Angels found in hardboiled fiction.

It revitalises both old and recent characters and, despite the basic environments having the odd clunky element in their geography, triumphantly succeeds as a new breed of fighting game. [Oct 2009, p.90]

It's a smart iOS game that reduces a sport to its basic elements like this - and an even smarter one that can then turn those elements into something that feels entirely new. Three points.

The darling of the indie scene for so many years, it's a pleasure to see the game proving itself all over again. [June 2010, p.98]

A finale that blends Lovecraft and Spielberg seals the deal. [Issue#346, p.106]

This game's focus is its singleplayer campaign, and it's an involving, dynamic, astonishing-looking 12-15 hour bloodbath. A good, old-fashioned bloodbath. [Dec 2005, p.94]

True, there's no single moment to touch the climax of his heartbreaking 2013 debut, Brother: A Tale of Two Sons, but Fares's third - and best - game as director suggests the Oscars' loss is very much videogames' gain. [Issue#358, p.108]

As a sequel, it's not so much an extension as a remix, but one so capable and confident that 'remix' could very well be one of Clover Studio's own personal VFX powers.

And underlying it all, the one thing that didn't take us by surprise: the old catch-'em-all urge, as moreish as ever. Whether it's tickling your head or your heart, Bugsnax ensures they're never empty calories. [Issue#353, p.116]

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]

That there's nothing conventional about this beauty is firmly to its credit. [Issue#405, p.118]

Even as playing boardgames in person becomes a reality once more, we suspect that Trials Of Fire's baggy charms will ensure it keeps us from the table on a fair few evenings to come. [Issue#358, p.110]

There is genuine character in its presentation, too, from the four distinct jingles that follow successful sprints to the anticipation-heightening Cambridge chimes that precede a new run, the leaderboards celebrating the 'top five brave cats' and the game-over text - 'It's cooooooold!' - that somehow mollifies the frustration of a run prematurely ended. It's a reminder that good ideas are timeless. Another 40 years from now, we suspect it won't have aged a day. [Issue#394, p.107]