What a shame. Days Gone is ripe with potential, but it's always in those moments before something actually happens: when you hear the rumbling of thunder heralding an impending downpour, or a distant engine letting you know tourble's on the way. But when it all kicks off, the spell is broken. This is "State of Decay" without the stakes, "The Last of Us" without Naughty Dog's storytelling chops, and the most generic, overlong open-world game around. [Issue#333, p.106]

Star Wars: Galaxies does not offer fans of the franchise any heroics. There is nothing dramatic or cinematic about the MMRPG game model as defined by Everquest, and Galaxies does very little to break that mould. [Oct 2003, p.100]

With just one area to mess about with – and doubtless more to come – it currently feels more seed than flower. [Feb 2008, p.95]

It's more sopping than soppy, then - despite and abundance of salt water, a game we had pegged as a surefire tearjerker never really comes close to making us well up. [Issue#371, p.122]

Demon Stone suggests more potential than it fulfils, but it’s a not-entirely-failed experiment in teaching old dice new tricks, and a follow-up with the same attention to detail but more ambitious design would be welcome. [Nov 2004, p.108]

There was never any doubt that Total Overdose would fall foul of one of its genre's various pitfalls, but it's unfortunate that it ultimately had to be one as irksome as excessive length... At its best, the game still shakes up a loud and spicy Mexican cocktail, but what it's added to the mix has been more than enough to weaken the taste. [Nov 2005, p.103]

The possibility of this all coming together in a more flexible and engaging manner is still a welcome one. But, for a game based on a culture of reputation, craftsmanship and leaving a mark, Getting Up is one that'll pass by largely unnoticed. [Mar 2006, p.86]

There are points of interest here, but they're scattered too far and wide to make this a worthwhile excursion. [Issue#398, p.118]

For all its luxurious visuals, it knows little about how to marry them to gameplay, or how to end the suffering of artists who 
see their work butchered to meet gameplay's demands.

If Desert Storm 2 has one flaw, it's that there are only ten maps and these usually channel the player down avenues rather than provide ample playgrounds for strategic experimentation. [Nov 2003, p.100]

Players who seek the traditional fantasy MMOG experience may find something of value in TESO, because it has evidently been built with them in mind. But it is difficult to imagine many others investing hundreds of hours in a place this bland, in a formula this familiar, and in a game this demanding of both your time and your money.

This is a game that's as riotously entertaining as it is viciously random... It's gleeful automobile slapstick, but not for anyone who values skill and achievement more than taking a wrecking ball to their opponents' racing lines. [Dec 2005, p.114]

Rad is another great Lee Petty idea, then - though in its current form, it's a few mutations away from reaching its full potential. [Issue#337, p.114]

As it stands, High On Life 2 makes a good case for throwing the baby out with the bathwater, then bleaching the tub. [Issue#422, p.114]

Embracing and supporting a community project like this is still a commendable move, and one that Mega Man's passionate fans may see as encouraging. But only his most die-hard followers will be willing to overlook such unwelcome, avoidable flaws.

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

One day you sense Shin'en will make a game that plays as good as it looks. Until then, this is a polished and attractive shooter that you'll likely have a reasonably entertaining few hours with before forgetting it ever existed within a month. An ideal launch game, then.

True, the early response to Reunion seems to suggest plenty of players are content with seeing Arcadia Bay's finest together again. The rest of us might wish we too had a rewind. Or, failing that, a particularly potent case of storm amnesia. [Issue#423, p.106]

What's here stands out simply for being the first convincing example of a VR FPS that doesn't make you feel sick. [Aug 2017, p.120]

Nasty, brutish and short - and that's once you've got past the interface problems. Temple of Elemental Evil is a huge disappointment by any measure. [Christmas 2003, p.124]

Call Of Juarez has mined its source material well, collecting a wealth of imagery that it then squanders on lacklustre and dysfunctional gameplay. [Aug 2007, p.93]

From bedrooms containing clever and mysterious moving panels to a 'Land of the Giants'-style pool challenge, each section delivers something new and exciting to motivate deeper exploration. [Apr 2004, p.110]

Nobody, nobody at all, walks into a game shop and thinks: "Hey, goblins are pretty cool. Today I want to be a goblin." When the goblins in question have been rendered with almost no character or charm, this merely compounds the lack of emotional connection. [Mar 2004, p.106]

Corpse Party is often too rigid in its ways, requiring players to examine objects several times, occasionally in a very specific order – a problem exacerbated by a structure that locks out later chapters until the correct ending to the previous episode has been found. Some wrong (in every sense) endings are worth seeing once, but repeat plays of scenarios dilute the tension the studio takes such pains to build.

It's a game that tries to be everything, in other words, yet through the sheer all-encompassing nature of its irreverence finds an identity of its own.

It's a game where stealth comes naturally for absolutely everyone, and is all the better for it. [Issue#315, p.114]

Trek To Yomi's combat fails to match its visual swagger. [Issue#372, p.118]

If a chance to see the RPS Roguelike done right appeals, though, Abyssus' synthesis of systems is an enjoyable enough choice. [Issue#415, p.104]