It's well-meaning, but unserious. [Issue#402, p.108]

Metro is at its best deep underground, away from the demands of a modern action game and engrossed in the cultures that cling to its tunnels, the atmosphere boosted by subtitled Russian and the writing and voice-acting creating fascinating windows into a struggling world. [May 2010, p.99]

Magrunnner’s story is confidently told, and it’s a welcome point of divergence in a game that’s too in thrall to the title that popularised this genre. The Mag Glove’s no less capable of sustaining a game than the Portal Gun – it’s quite possibly better suited to experimental, player-authored solutions. But it needs its own game, not just to be inserted into the framework of another.

It's just a shame that this unique combination of still-alivers didn't result in something truly innovative.

What Omega Five lacks in purity, it gains in bombast. [Mar 2008, p.102]

Combined with the weight of nostalgia, Visions is thus a strangely conservative game. While not lacking the conveniences of modern design (the fast-travel system balances speed with a sense of scale), it's merely evolutionary. [Issue#402, p.112]

As a proof of concept, Reality Fighters is convincing, but it's sub-par as a high-priced fighting game, trailing the competition and offering novelty in place of substance.

How do you craft an RPG around a character defined entirely by movement? We’re not sure that you can, and BioWare hasn’t proved otherwise. [Dec 2008, p.96]

It leaves nothing to blame when disaster occurs but your own failure to understand logic's laws. [Issue#402, p.114]

Energetic if simplistic, shallow yet enormously replayable, it's the kind of game you'll forget about for months, rediscover during a party, and within ten minutes everyone will be shouting, laughing and clamouring to join in. [May 2017, p.119]

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

The plot proves strong enough to keep even the most disappointed player clicking through the dialogue trees, and in the final chapters the endless conversations finally give way to something more engaging. [Mar 2007, p.80]

There are neat touches: you've got infinite ammo, brilliantly, and inhaling gas leaves you with a temporary cough that ruins your aim … but it needs a few more tactics to make it more than the sum of its admittedly solid parts. [Christmas 2003, p.116]

As an example of unabashed, often exuberant Britsoft that pulls out the SRPG's staples and rebinds it in approachable ease, Future Tactics is remarkable, deserving of cult status. [Aug 2004, p.99]

How curious to find Nintendo's most contemporary tale hidden in a format so beholden to the past. [Issue#402, p.120]

For all its flaws, The Evil Within felt like the work of a singular voice. This feels like several shouting at once, eventually settling their differences by compromise. The black bars are gone; instead, it's convention that keeps The Evil Within 2 constrained. [Christmas 2017, p.108]

While Genesis may already be fading from our memory, those looking for nothing more than 15 hours or so of punchy, demon-slaying action will no doubt have an appropriate response. It matters not. [Issue#342, p.110]

The meat of the game remains enjoyable yet underwhelming. [Dec 2007, p.96]

If you find its imperfections endearing there’s much to position Apocalypse as one of the bolder attempts to further the art of the click-fest. [Dec 2006, p.85]

None of this feels like a refinement, … just a slight bulking up. With Legends, you’re buying into an upgraded suite of presentation – of lengthy career modes, of yet more movie-faithful music – than anything else. [Nov 2004, p.105]

Wild Hearts has inherited just enough from Monster Hunter to keep us on the hook - and when it does sporadically come together, it feels like a worthy rival. [Issue#383, p.106]

A game of this size may please those who equate volume with value, but despite a handful of sensational moments, Shadow of War mostly proves that more can be so much less. [Christmas 2017, p.112]

A party game collection for which you have to work far too hard to get much of a chance to party. [Jan 2007, p.82]

All the games, even the good ones, outlast their welcome. [Jan 2008, p.90]

It's just a shame that this unique combination of still-alivers didn't result in something truly innovative.

Assuming you're simply content with content, Ubisoft busies you with donkey work. [Jan 2014, p.110]

There's a lot going on here, much of it captivating, some of it just for appearances and some of it annoying. [Issue#338, p.92]

Real strategic thinking is less useful than exploiting the single-mindedness of the enemy AI. That rings true of many SRPGs, but can leave a cheap aftertaste to an otherwise decisive victory. [Sept 2004, p.102]