Still, we reflect, while launching all our problems into the sea one by one, it makes a nice change from pointing and shooting. [Issue#387, p.120]

There's also the beauty of Uncharted's exotic locales, which act as a great showcase for Vita's astonishing display. And even if Golden Abyss starred a power-armoured space marine fighting his way across the cardboard-box planet, it would still be a robust thirdperson shooter, the likes of which we've simply never seen on a handheld. The core Uncharted experience is still here, in other words. It's stripped a little bare, but it's just about enough.

Heaven knows we've played thousands of forgettable videogame stories over the years, so perhaps the best tribute we can pay to the departed developer is this: EDGE will remember it. [Issue#332, p.116]

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]

By no means a classic on those terms, Outland is nonetheless a well-executed game that - hopefully - lays the groundwork for future iteration upon its central ideas.

It's in traditional multiplayer (and to some degree singleplayer) where the game shines and attains that perfect shallowness of being both addictive and immediately forgettable - until the next go. [Apr 2004, p.109]

There’s more to be got out of this new kind of play than Nintendo has found this time around, and some of it could be better implemented. But, for now, it offers an experience that can’t be matched. [July 2005, p.89]

Though the necessities of catering to two different audiences mean that it perhaps never quite reaches the heights of either of the pair’s best individual outings, as the credits roll, you’ll likely experience a hollow feeling, the emptiness that only the best stories leave behind.

It feels like just that: a lower-budget sideshow to the glitzy main event. [May 2015, p.108]

Lit is consistently rewarding for its duration, the lack of handholding and clue-giving heightening the thrill of finding a solution, regardless of whether it was thought through or merely stumbled upon in the dark. [Christmas 2009, p.100]

Varek and Enki's combined abilities - axe, pistol, magic - aren't entirely novel, but with this extra lift they're more than enough to carry us through an adventure that can be wrapped in 15 hours rather than 50. [Issue#401, p.100]

It's easy to assume that Gyromancer is a clone of Puzzle Quest...The truth, perhaps, is that it's simply an improvement on the formula. [Jan 2010, p.98]

Even if it doesn't keep its elements in lockstep, then, the colour, soundscape and imagination of Kunitsu-Gami is nothing if not exquisite theatre. [Issue#401, p.104]

For experienced players, though, this is as fluid as Tekken has been for years, the tagging doing much to revitalise a combo system that, with its over-reliance on juggles and wall combos, was in danger of growing stale. But it's taken a 12-year-old mechanic to do that, and other games in this increasingly crowded genre boast a deeper level of mechanical complexity as well as a more generous welcome to newcomers.

Mediatonic's experimental blend of tower defence, scrolling shooter and invincibility doesn't always gel, but approached as a survival score-attack in the vein of Canabalt, Who's That Flying?! becomes an uncommonly moreish Mini.

Robotic and methodical, and firmly in second place. [Dec 2009, p.97]

Look for the new stuff, then, and there's no doubt this is a refined and expanded sequel, even if certain issues remain. [Issue#401, p.108]

Each gruesome death brings a sharp pang of regret and leaves you wondering if it might have been avoided. [Oct 2015, p.114]

Unquestionably, Ghost Recon 2 is a more well-rounded and intense experience than before, but despite some beautiful locations and powerful sound effects it still errs on the side of cold simulation rather than an emotional and dramatic war experience. But that's exactly what some people want. [Christmas 2004, p.83]

It's almost as if Capcom has distilled its Onimusha series, extracting the two core components of the franchise ' epic, fierce confrontations, and puzzle-pocked exploration of lavish settings ' and given each more room to breathe, with their own character, style, atmosphere and pace... Fresher, but not better. [Jan 2005, p.82]

The complaints that can be levelled at Superstars are real, but so is the magic it contains. When it works, Monkey Ball truly feels like you’re tilting the land, not moving the ball. When it works, Nights makes you think you can fly. [Dec 2005, p.112]

Banished is a rare technical achievement, pure in design and of purpose. Its many deaths almost always feel fair, and the battle up to self-sufficiency is gripping. But the absence of a long game beyond this early toil makes it hard to find reasons to settle down here, except for the views, especially if you’ve established yourself on these frosty plains before.

Beyond its undoubted visual appeal, Ori doesn't quite have enough ideas of its own to set itself apart from the genre classics of which its developer is so clearly enamoured. [May 2015, p.118]

Guitar Hero 5 does stand as the most accessible version of the game concept to date, presenting a significantly tidier, more intuitive menu to get you playing sooner. [Nov 2009, p.103]

Cairn, then, is an awe-inspiring journey and a careful character study that captures the thrill and torment of climbing. Yet its flaws are central to that core act. While assist modes and optional visual aids help, the complexities behind the intuitive surface can grind together with unpredictable results. In creating such intricate systems, the developers gave themselves a mountain to climb, and almost reach the peak. [Issue#421, p.100]

Singleplayer is weak - despite well-worked tutorial and mission modes it always feels like target practice for combat with friends - and the lack of online support disappoints. But despite a potentially hazardous dimensional switch, it remains as appealing a way of antagonising your friends as ever. [Dec 2003, p.108]

Alien Hominid is just about an essential title for anyone who's caught themselves yearning for a forgotten past, or to any young blood wondering what people mean when they say they don't make them like they used to. [Jan 2005, p.97]

Over-levelling all too easily threatens to undermine Fire Emblem's unique place in the genre. It's a problem easily side-stepped by both choosing an appropriate difficulty level and tempering your levelling, but nevertheless the option is unwelcome. [Aug 2005, p.90]