Thomas Was Alone is an abstract experience, but it’s a rewarding one that encourages continued exploration. Simple shapes and environments make it seem limited at first, but it crafts new puzzle solutions in its geometric world with each new level. Developer Mike Bithell clearly has a strong passion and understanding for what makes the medium of video games interesting and worth exploring.

Still, the formula is still entertaining and I found myself enjoying my daily chats with locals and finding ways to increase my profits. I even appreciated the small enhancements, which are steps in the right directions. Unfortunately, the areas that need the most improvement – like dungeons and the core battle system – are relatively untouched.

Taken as a whole, Master Trials ends up feeling like a fun mess of goodies, but the lack of a thematic unifier for all this content draws attention to how sparse the content here is outside of the meaty Trial of the Sword. This DLC isn’t enough of a reason to head back to Hyrule if your adventure has already come to an end, but it’s nice for those still slowly making their way to Ganon.

Like Dead Cells before it, Fury Unleashed is one of those roguelikes that is hard to put down, as you know the next run will only give you a better shot making more progress to unlock new comics, gear, and ultimately a better chance at taking down the final boss. It’s a hell of a lot of fun, whether you’re playing solo or co-op.

As it stands, there's more than enough incentive to give PlanetSide 2 a try; the gunplay is solid, player progression moves along at a rewarding clip, and the intercontinental war is like no other in gaming – even if it lacks a point.

The AI is still riddled with holes and your money plays from last year will still work. [Oct. 2006, p.94]

Grid 2 retains much of what made the first alluring, but falls short of pushing racing games forward like the original.

Medal of Honor: Airborne sprinkles minor moments of brilliance though a minefield of questionable game design. Fans of the series will experience some memorable gunfights, but if you’re a casual gamer looking for a great World War II title, stick with Call of Duty.

More exciting than just about anything the DS or PSP has offered up so far. [Oct 2005, p.152]

An engine dubbed Geo-Mod...puts this game in a class by itself. [Nov 2001, p.129]

Extras aside, Hitz plays amazingly well, with lots of fancy tricks and smack-talk-worthy checks. [Dec 2001, p.94]

Sure, the controls are clunky in comparison to the smooth moving Zone of the Enders, but as you know, it’s all about building your own dream machine and using it to blow the galaxy a new hole.

When you use a trebuchet (an enormous catapult) to launch a diseased cow over an enemy's walls and watch his population drop like flies, you can't help but get that warm fuzzy "I love this game" feeling. [Dec 2002, p.149]

Not only is it fun for Disney lovers, it's a good time for skateboarding fans looking for creative environments or a more forgiving learning curve. [Oct 2003, p.123]

I'm sorry to say, four million Japanese can be wrong. [Nov 2001, p.122]

Where's the fury? I just don't feel the passion. [Jan 2005, p.122]

Inazuma Eleven is a quirky and novel RPG, but the on-field action is too unrefined to be rewarding.

The fact that I'm talking about this title almost like it was a real rally game for a big console shows you how serious of a good time Top Gear is. [Jan 2004, p.160]

If you've been looking for an entryway into the flight combat genre this is a great place to start, and if you're already a fan, Assault Horizon has something a little bit different to offer you that you can definitely appreciate.

Ultimately, 400 Days is worth playing for invested fans. Telltale has clearly learned the game works best when it presents you with unattractive choices that pull at your humanity.

Lost Words: Beyond The Page affected me more than most games do, but it’s not always engaging to play. In the end, the touching story wins out over the flaws, but be prepared for an inconsistent experience. Sometimes I found myself nodding off going through yet another boring platforming sequence; others, I had to turn to the next page of Izzy’s journal to make sure she’d be okay. Lost Words: Beyond The Page is an interesting way to tell an interactive story, venturing into territory that isn’t often explored in video games and I’m glad it exists, despite its flaws.

A visually arresting experience I wholeheartedly loved...A rare treat of a game and a celebration of video games as an art form. [Sept 2011, p.88]

The real meat of the game is getting to play through the Ghostbusters experience we've always dreamed about as kids - a story that could have easily been "Ghostbusters III." [July 2009, p.81]

A Mario expansion still beats out most other platformers out there in the control and polish department. I can't deny that I still enjoyed kicking koopa shells, climbing fences in castles, and hopping on the flag at the end of a stage. On the other hand, players have grown to expect innovation out of Mario, and this game makes a strong case that perhaps it's time for Nintendo to move on from the "new" formula.

Should you cancel your WoW sub and pick it up? Perhaps not, but blowing away aliens with a laser chaingun sure beats the pants off of farming old content that got stale months ago.

As much as I loved parts of the overall experience, others let me down. Even so, I enjoyed learning about these characters and seeing them grow through my actions.

It's sequel time and all NFL Street 2 can come up with on the field is one new move. [Feb 2005, p.113]

An impressive display of big, dumb fun, and a must-play for fans of the series. It’s also a great demonstration of the outstanding capabilities of next-gen hardware right out of the gate. Thinning out the undead of Los Perdidos is worth your time, but the bugs infesting the sandbox are an unwelcome scourge.