"Unbearable" is definitely one word for Pathologic 2, but that hides a few others: engulfing, ingenious, profound, invigorating. [Issue#341, p.106]

Tengami’s world is as rich and stimulating as any you’re likely to find on iOS, but there’s something missing. Like an origami crane, it’s an admirable piece of craftsmanship, but the result remains rather flimsy and lightweight.

Solitaire is supposed to be an exercise in patience; we weren't expecting ours to be tested between levels, too. [Issue#352, p.121]

We're very happy with the ending we land on, but it's hard to imagine anyone choosing to stick around. [Issue#364, p.121]

A conservative sequel, one that drills down into the bedrock of what The Sims has always been. [Nov 2014, p.104]

At release, it offers a staggeringly beautiful world filled with unfinished systems, ugly cash grabs, and a string of missed opportunities. [Jan 2014, p.108]

For a series that puts so much stock in its grace and composure, the lack of an intuitive control scheme is hard to overcome. [June 2007, p.86]

Fascinating. [Issue#356, p.106]

Silt remains grimly unsettling, and there's a sprinkling of ingenuity in many of its puzzles, but it's not as powerful as it promises to be. [Issue#373, p.118]

Drill Spirits is a well-rounded introduction to the series, but falls far short of its greatest successes. [Feb 2005, p.82]

While this economy is enjoyably self-perpetuating, the cash economy beside it feels aimless. [Issue#401, p.123]

It's a surprisingly tense juggling act, in other words, and while some will lack the patience required to climb its steep learning curve, the stress is worth it for the soaring sense of accomplishment you'll feel at the end of a hard day's work.

Classes and skills are well-balanced, and even though you’ll cycle through the small map selection quickly, they offer enough possibilities to stave off fatigue until Ubisoft adds more arenas. With more modes and maps, Phantoms would be a formidable offering, but it’s worth dipping into until then.

It's both startling and amusing to see a rival expressing annoyance, befuddlement or smugness. [Issue#387, p.110]

With the FPS realm being crushingly overpopulated, and its upper class becoming so terrifyingly demanding and particular, Pariah's solidity isn't enough to allow it entry into the genre's gentry. [June 2005, p.82]

The short levels, played to a time limit that rarely exceeds five minutes, may be ideal for speed runners, but this lightweight arcadey romp lacks the substance that many might need to keep returning to it. [Issue#420, p.98]

Well engineered and, while unexceptional in almost every fashion, it does boast a superb level of attention to detail. [June 2003, p.104]

A pretty but vapid experience. [Sept 2010, p.98]

Thankfully Richard and Alice do manage to engage, the awkward stiltedness to their early conversations naturally easing into a more flowing rapport. Neither are as a delight to read as Alice’s son Barney, however, whose perfectly captured five-year-old’s speech patterns provide both humour and heartbreaking moments of poignancy.

Where the game partially redeems itself is in its hammy tone, and variety of inventive guns and missions. [June 2015, p.120]

And herein lies Immortals' most fundamental problem: Aveum's skies might crackle with occult energy, but the game beneath them is distinctly lacking in REAL magic. [Issue#389, p.112]

The sport's on-track jousting is potentially some of the fastest and most exhilarating source material around, but by default developers appear to struggle to present it in anything other than a dry and overly technical fashion. [Jan 2010, p.91]

As expectations are put aside and the game is explored for its own merits, it begins to provide a vast sense of potential that few games can muster. [June 2003, p.97]

Once you've wiped away the layer of gore, you're left with an experience that, expectedly, offers limited entertainment. [March 2005, p.85]

This thirdperson actioner spikes the familiar with flavour, and a tired but reliable vocabulary of wall-hugs, circle-strafe, grenade lobs and headshots with an invigorating Nu-Earth twang. [June 2006, p.94]

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]

There’s nothing here that wasn’t done bigger, in more detail, and with more options, in Eidos Montreal’s game, while the story so far fails to introduce new ideas or themes.

A Mario sports title that appeals beyond its ready-installed fanbase - strong, clean visuals and animation certainly help - but one that might not entrance them long enough to turn into major league love. [Oct 2006, p.95]