Gran Turismo 4 is fundamentally unconcerned with furthering the art of the videogame. This titanic franchise, this critical, load-bearing pillar of PlayStation, is barely even a videogame at all. It’s a hobbyist software suite, a racetrack tutorial, an encyclopaedia you can get in and drive off. [March 2005, p.78]

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]

Where 999 gave you a more passive role in proceedings, Virtue's Last Reward makes you a key participant in its twisted tale – and that serves to make its mysteries that much more invigorating to unravel.

For all its high points - and they're well worth celebrating - Stray feels small but imperfectly formed. [Issue#375, p.102]

Its moments of brilliance are worth experiencing, but they shouldn't blind anyone to the shortcomings of a sequel that, underneath that beautiful surface, is as frustratingly flawed as the first. [Issue#346, p.98]

For a freebie, this isn't just a generous welcome to PS5 (particularly with most launch titles costing 70 a pop) but a promising glimpse of things to come and a fine, if occasionally gimmicky, platformer in its own right. [Issue#353, p.110]

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]

This is a generous game in both deed and spirit, and, as such, one it's tremendously difficult to dislike. [Issue#343, p.106]

An excellent version of a game people should really own already. [Mar 2004, p.111]

It's impossible for your heart not to race as you sweat out the fright of its peerless audio design, chattering voices and muffled sobs endlessly scraping at your senses. [Oct 2004, p.98]

It's all about flamboyance, stylish swordplay against clusters of spawning enemies. Anyone expecting more than the chance to concoct dazzling high-score strategies will find it a flat and empty experience, though. [Mar 2004, p.110]

Tetris DS should celebrate the game, but instead feels hollow with its shortfall of rewards and bonuses. [May 2006, p.97]

In its moment-to-moment play, Darktide is the closest any game of its ilk has come to replicating the original cooperative joys of Left 4 Dead. It's ferocious, frenetic and often very funny. But without Left 4 Dead's advantage of novelty, Fatshark must find other ways to hold your attention through its relatively few missions. [Issue#380, p.112]

The solid fundamentals of its design shine through more clearly when you're playing alone. [Issue#343, p.114]

The constant flow of new sights and well-thought-out puzzles that make up the bulk of the game provide more than enough motivation to see this rescue attempt through to the end.

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]

Often, it can be enough for a sequel to deliver more of the same, but in Superstar Saga’s case, when what the first game delivered was such a powerful sense of freshness, more of the same – which Partners In Time certainly delivers – inevitably feels like less. [Feb 2006, p.86]

Unbound is ultimately and encouraging statement of intent, demonstrating that Criterion is not afraid to tinker with established formula. [Issue#380, p.114]

Unlike the elegant lead, who's grey-haired but unbowed by the end of the adventure, Assassin's Creed has been quietly compromised by age.

It looks great, and the boosting system means that, as a time-trial game, it's fantastic. If your progress wasn't so easily sabotaged by a thoughtless collision, it would be a fantastic racer, too. [June 2004, p.104]

Blur will take you on a fantastic holiday, then, but perhaps not the most relaxing one. [May 2007, p.88]

For the most part it feels like we're chasing the giddy sugar high the original gave us, without ever quite getting there. [Issue#377, p.102]

Evil West has no delusions of grandeur; it simply wants to give you a thumping good time, and on that front it fully delivers [Issue#380, p.120]

Played as intended, however, in local multiplayer, Nidhogg 2 sings. [Issue#311, p.114]

As generous and beautiful a package as it is, it's not always as coherent or flexible as appearances might lead you to believe. [Nov 2015, p.112]

This is Dungeon Keeper by way of Viva Pinata - building a devilish defence against do-gooders by massaging a delicate and extremely elaborate ecosystem. [Christmas 2010]

None of this is nearly enough to spoil everything Scarlet and Violet get right, such as some of the best (and downright strangest) monster designs in some time, and absorbing final act and postgame, and a soundtrack that could well be a new series peak. [Issue#380, p.121]

For all of its little stumbles on the journey from Vita to PS4, and its odd mix of new ideas and an old world, Unfolded retains one of its progenitor's most vital ingredients: buckets and buckets of charm. [Nov 2015, p.116]