In terms of creating an atmosphere and playing with it, there’s nothing quite like it on a handheld system. [Christmas 2007, p.96]

A new high-water mark for the series. [April 2017, p.114]

While it lasts, Mutant Year Zero presents a fresh and involving take on the genre, but its linearity isn't quite such an ideal fit. [Issue#328, p.116]

At worst, the game's deliberate openness means theme and gameplay have a tenuous relationship.

With combat that feels lightweight and inexact by comparison, in service of a broader structure which doesn't quite suit the core mechanics, the game's strengths - in particular, that winning, distinctive aesthetic - don't provide enough of a spark to let Ashen find its own way in the dark. [Issue#328, p.108]

The most successful episodes find ways to hold us captive. [March 2016, p.122]

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]

The effect is like trying to play chess after a double espresso, and if we fumble as often as we triumph, that's just more reason to keep coming back. [Issue#365, p.110]

We find ourselves absorbed by Boulder's story, enough to witness all the grisly premature ends that meet him before he finally gets his hard-won feelgood finale. [Issue#393, p.120]

With its celebration of the little things in life, which rarely affords neat resolutions, Afterlove EP is a beautiful tribute not only to Jakarta but to its dearly departed creator. [Issue#408, p.122]

People of Note is a gratifying, if ultimately ephemeral, hodgepodge of ideas - a pleasant distraction but hardly an instant classic. [Issue#423, p.116]

The Wonderful 101 draws on ideas from Kamiya’s previous games – Viewtiful Joe’s cartoonish charm, Okami’s brushstroke mechanic, Bayonetta’s setpieces – but in concert they’re messy, hamstrung by cluttered visual design and a clumsy central mechanic. Stretched over a large frame, they wear thin quickly. There’s a good game in here, but it’s smothered by the need to conform to its host platform’s feature set, and a distorted concept of value for money.

However unchanged its engine might be, Kingdom remains one of the few shining instances of Eastern craftsmanship applied to the Xbox. Once its addition of custom battles and bolstered online modes is coupled to its undeniably generous campaign, this ongoing road to fruition readily justifies its toll. [Nov 2005, p.106]

The Tormented may read more as a mystery than a truly frightening horror story but, if it’s to be a conclusion to this dark and lonely diversion from the beaten track, it will be a fitting and deserving one. [Jan 2005, p.87]

This inability to decide where World Tour lies among the many paths the series has taken previously is the game’s true problem. It demonstrates both why Camelot is so trusted by Nintendo, and why it has been stuck making sporting spinoffs for so long. Camelot seems unsure of whether it would prefer to be held by the hand or simply set free, and ends up putting the player in that same awkward middle ground.

It's infectious, and it is difficult to imagine that anyone with any affection for rock music could fail to appreciate it. [Dec 2015, p.116]

An unpretentious blast of good-humoured bedlam – well-pitched towards the five-minute attention spans served by fellow PSN title Calling All Cars. [Jan 2009, p.94]

It is, in other words, a competent handheld version of Killzone, and those who bought a Vita on that promise will be amply satisfied. Others will squint, line up their sights on a speck in the middle distance, squeeze the trigger and hope for the popup confirming their aim was true, and wonder if this is really what handheld gaming should be.

It's a testament to the strength of Pedro's core premise that you'll likely persevere through design fumbles, odd pacing and wonky writing in search of more bonkers ultraviolent combos and leaderboard glory [Issue#335, p.108]

If not quite a giant leap for the 3D platformer, Big Hops is an accurate title after all. [Issue#420, p.106]

It's never stronger than in its opening hours, and if it never quite recaptures that first heady whiff of discovery, it at least keeps you on the edge of your seat thanks to its punishing design, the stakes rising in tandem with your achievements.

Yes, the ideas are simple and well-worn, but they're treated with care and elegance, with a shimmer of luxury sprinkled across the top. [Issue#414, p.110]

Style can be substance, but it's fuel that burns quickly. [Issue#391, p.119]

We need more games like this - ones that are confident and individual - but we need them to be less roughly hewn. The core of the game is solid, but the way it's applied throughout the levels just isn't interesting enough. [Mar 2004, p.98]

RIGS is a compact but deep package, then, and one executed with a confidence that belies its launch-game status. [Christmas 2016, p.112]

Encounters feel needlessly protracted - born of a stubborn refusal to admit the game’s fundamental lack of content. The layout of scenery predetermines your every gambit before enemies blithely meander into your squad’s unlimited gunfire. [Apr 2005, p.101]

Though the setting is clichéd and you’ll have experienced all the tricks Frictional has pulled to construct Black Plague’s menacing atmosphere before (echoed voices, bestial groans, oppressive shadows, flickering lights), they’re highly effective. [Apr 2008, p.96]

Despite a multitude of improvements and a much larger offering than its predecessor, Dirt 4 somehow feels less spirited. Had "Rally" not existed, this latest game would've felt like more of an event, but in its current form it doesn't quite achieve the potency of its more focused forebear. [Aug 2017, p.106]