This is easily the better sequel, a firm improvement on "Warrior Within." So why the long face? For the simple and saddest reason of all: ennui. [Christmas 2005, p.100]

A sandbox where waypoint distances are measured in pixels, and journeys are over in seconds, is surely one worth celebrating. [Issue#334, p.122]

The game's underlying sense of humour and its obvious affection for giant robots save it from feeling ordinary. [Sept 2011, p.110]

We're not saying it'll make you understand the more virulent strains of Trumpism, but playing as a surrogate Rudy Giuliani for a couple of hours turns out to be a far better use of your time than you'd expect. [Issue#356, p.107]

If the future's to be sustainable - let alone bright - we may need to reduce our reliance on single-use game design. [Issue#424, p.100]

This wasn’t a game created to win any design awards. It was created to give any DS owner the power to turn a roomful of friends into squealing, scheming, cursing, laughing Bombermen, and as such, it’s hard to imagine why anybody would want to be without it. [Aug 2005, p.96]

While undoubtedly nectar of the gods for series fans, the incremental tweaks and polishes to the game's mechanics that a decade of sequels grants make it by far the most rewarding and investible Musou game to date for all-comers.

As a first adventure for beginners, young or old, this gets a lot right. No alarms, then, but a fair few surprises. [Jan 2019, p.119]

At its best only when the structure is there to support it. Find eight people to play with regularly, and invest in voice communications to streamline tactical discussions, and Guild Wars offers an intelligent and demanding thrill - bringing the best of the skill and strategy of FPS deathmatches to the grandeur of a role-playing world. [Aug 2005, p.88]

Apart from being an excellent reminder of its host’s graphical oomph, Tactical Strike is engrossingly detailed and generous, if not wide, in scope. [Jan 2008, p.91]

It's an 'experience' as much as a game, meaning that it will leave as many people cold as it grabs by the right half of the brain. Beyond good, then, but not quite excellent. [Christmas 2003, p.104]

It may drive you potty at times, but this really is Paris as you've never sen it before, and you won't forget it in a hurry. [Issue#322, p.120]

ArmA 2 isn’t just dogmatic and unforgiving – it’s also very awkward in its construction and the weight of its ambition frequently proves too much for the sometimes-brilliant main campaign to pull off. Nonetheless, its vast, detailed world and unapologetic dynamism turn the game from sandbox to snowglobe – something you can’t resist shaking up just to see how it looks.

As a first adventure for beginners, young or old, this gets a lot right. No alarms, then, but a fair few surprises. [Jan 2019, p.119]

It can feel like all work and no play, but it's work that's professionally rendered, adding some solid detail and feedback to the traditional GTA-style framework. [Dec 2006, p.84]

Given the game’s marketing as one woman’s war against the corporations, the irony of Perfect Dark Zero is that the quality of the game experience it offers degrades in parallel with the number of people playing it. [Jan 2005, p.80]

As a package, it's generous and deep, but Sumo has fallen victim to its own success. While enjoyable in their own right, boats and planes simply can't match the moreish handling of the karts.

As for how it compares to its predecessor, there's really no better summary than Roland's response to Evan when asked to describe his home: "I guess it's ahead of this world in some ways, and behind in others." [May 2018, p.104]

There’s a great twitch game beneath this hostile exterior, but Ragequit can’t afford to test players’ endurance on so many levels if its niche shooter is to thrive.

What's most frustrating about Tiberium Wars is that it chooses not to accentuate the breakneck battlefield thrills of C&C's arcade stylings, opting instead to preserve the old blueprint. [May 2007, p.86]

There are lots of puzzles, a fun environment to tootle around in, and little to dislike. Utterly charming. [Apr 2008, p.95]

The strongest MMO launch for a long while, and the genre’s deftest ever take on PVP – but its appeal may yet prove too narrow. [Christmas 2008, p.93]

Fundamentally a curiously lovable game - one of long, lonely roads, of painstaking parking manoeuvres, and slapstick write-offs when simple turns are misjudged. There's nothing else quite like SCS's brand of cargo-hauling action. [April 2016, p.119]

The improvements are largely cosmetic, with everything about this sequel – from the menus to the maps – more polished and user friendly, springing to life on Retina-equipped iOS devices with bursts of colour and character.

It’s a solid formula, of course, and like its wrestler star Drinkbox’s game is dressed up luridly and with flair – but this entertaining romp is more about the costume than what’s beneath it.

For those who can tolerate having their brain beaten numb by it, the game entails often enthralling, occasionally awe-inspiring sights and sounds. But little is there that’s new compared to much that needs renewal. [Christmas 2005, p.96]

This may be Onion Games' most conventional release to date, but still Kimura finds a way to bend the rules. [Jan 2019, p.122]

As it stands, you can only cast your actors and dress your sets, so Unlimited doesn't quite live up to its name, but for those willing to span the game's structural deficiencies with their imagination, it's intensely rewarding.