Deceptively simple. [June 2015, p.123]

But for parents and adults, Undercover is a less inviting prospect, even with its satirical undertone. It’s a plastic facsimile of GTA – a game that was hardly humourless to begin with, and one that has already spawned a genre’s worth of more sophisticated rivals and clones.

It’s surprisingly tactical.

Amalur is a very easy world to drop in and out of – if only Skyrim were so willing to share us with our real lives – but it is never a place where we can truly put down roots. And all this is a shame, since Salvatore's encyclopaedic creation is something worth investing in.

If Indika won't be everyone's tempo, it proves you can work small miracles when you dare to shed familiar habits. [Issue#398, p.122]

As it is, his 3DS debut is too uneven to be essential, but too charming for fans to miss.

Fans of the series are in the position of seeing a game that is an enhancement, rather than an exploitation, of its source material – and fans of the FPS have another good example of the genre to add to their busy schedules. [Aug 2007, p.86]

As an open-world game, Second Son feels emaciated. There’s little to do in the way of side missions, and what is here becomes repetitive, unlikely to sustain interest beyond a single playthrough. Approach it as an action game that just happens to be set in a nonlinear environment and it makes more sense, but its not-inconsiderable achievements take effort to uncover.

FreeStyle's greatest achievement is that it's made the rhythm-action genre feel fresh again. [Christmas 2015, p.102]

With a defined beginning, four distinct seasonal environments and an affecting, surprising conclusion, there's no question that Proteus is a game. But if there's one concern, it's whether this is an island that's worth revisiting once you've seen all it has to offer. In a way, its lack of progression – the absence of skill trees, difficulty levels and save points – works in its favour; you won't dive back in to mop up the last few achievements, or to climb leaderboards, but simply because you want to play Proteus.

More broadly, Consume Me succeeds because it makes fun of Jenny without judging her; the narrative and its interactive delivery mechanisms are direct and unpatronising, criticising diet culture while demonstrating why someone could be ensnared by it. We aren't made to feel that we're being lectured or tricked into a cheap emotional response. Rather, Consume Me transcends the expected commentary on dieting and becomes a critique of self-improvement culture in general, without losing the sense of humour that makes its message digestible. [Issue#416, p.123]

The picaresque form allows the levels to function as discreet puzzles rather than as parts of a story arc: the objective remains pure and always the same. The obstacles and methods open to you are what change, and it's in these areas that Contracts has both expanded and improved. [June 2004, p.103]

There's always something new to prod at, to see exactly how the game's rules have been twisted this time. [Issue#337, p.110]

After eight years in development - initially under PlatinumGames - this long journey has had a happy ending. [Issue#395, p.118]

For all its wondrous mimicry, Lies of P can't quite match the master's ambition. A remarkable feat of craftsmanship and engineering it may be, but never quite a real boy. [Issue#390, p.124]

It would be wrong to say there’s never a dull moment in Replicant then, even if at least some of that dullness is deliberate – a way to emphasize our heroes’ struggles. But at its best, you’ll come to understand why it deserves a second chance. [Issue#358, p.104]

Scarlet Nexus' overstuffed story might be fixated on the human brain - and when you skittle a line of Others with a train, you'll be glad of that - but in these moments it recalls where its heart is, too. [Issue#361, p.114]

Suddenly the nonsense global scoreboards of Xbox Live and PSN, designed no doubt to validate those services with the suggestion of mass involvement, are exposed as being badly hampered by their own ambition. United’s tight-knit communities are a welcoming, sensible and above all enjoyable blueprint for the way things should be. [Apr 2007, p.82]

That's the essential nature, and essential problem, of The Division's underlying structure. It's asking you to hunt gear with no tangible reward in terms of what you can do, how you do it, or what you look like doing it. [May 2016, p.108]

From its overpowered weapons and gormless AI to its pedestrian objecctives, the singleplayer game is as dumb as it is misguided – an embarrassment to the rather splendid mulitplayer game that, fortunately, represents all that's really important. [Dec 2005, p.101]

At its worst, however, Galaxies has some big problems. The biggest is that it is remarkably fond of spawning enemies behind your ship too quickly for you to move away... It can be incredibly annoying – enough, in fact, to slightly taint the whole experience. [Feb 2008, p.92]

A rare bit of vindication for Nintendo's oft-misused service. [Sept 2009, p.101]

There’s a terrific immediacy to the events, too. The days are short enough to guarantee a constant hustle and bustle, and the results of the previous day’s adventuring are cunningly given after the save screen, drawing you in to the next day before you realise it. [Aug 2008, p.98]

Amped 2 is Amped with the right trigger gently pressed: it's tweaked. Balance meters take away some of the series' grace, but make it more of a game, like Tony Hawk's tilted downwards. [Christmas 2003, p.122]

Our bond with our mechanical companion might have been even stronger when faced with a bit more hardship - by the time things really kick off, the story is nearly over. Nevertheless, Far: Lone Sails' ambiguous, strangely tranquil post-apocalypse is beautifully atmospheric, with a touching message: as long as you have hope, you are never truly alone. [July 2018, p.122]

The weapon animations remain gorgeous to the last drop, but what about the other two-thirds? [Issue#424, p.108]

This is a game with ambitions that now outstrip the confines of an atrophying engine, but beneath the exterior lies a world rich in atmosphere - the credible and pervading horror of a landscape drawn with unusual finesse. [Mar 2010, p.95]

Like many of its predecessors, The Origami King marches to an eccentric rhythm at times, but in a challenging year, you'll struggle to find a game that strives to consistently to put a smile on your face. [Issue#349, p.88]