As a 3D take on the old-school run-and-gun genre, the mixture of giant enemy hordes and fully destructible environments is often both exhilarating and deeply satisfying, albeit in a very tongue-in-cheek way. [May 2007, p.114]

The only time the game takes advantage of the 3DS features is in the social aspects: with a couple of SpotPass, StreetPass and 3DS link options available, the game slightly redeems its lazy porting.

Sly 3 is a solid and inoffensive kids'adventure which perfectly satisfies the needs of its target audience and credits it delivers with a much more discerning nature than other games of its sort. [Dec 2005, p.98]

A novel idea becomes a bland experience. [Issue#187, p.77]

A fun but stingy download. [Aug 2008, p.117]

Flawed execution and unrelenting difficulty. [Issue#187, p.78]

Firing in the opposite direction of the seasoned games, The Outfit will only appeal to casual gamers who prefer to smash and grab their way through levels rather than apply strategy. [Apr 2006, p.126]

A great concept that’s bereft of longevity... It’s definitely a title that needs to be experienced, but whether it should sit proudly on your gaming shelf is less certain. [July 2005, p.113]

This game feels a little bit like it belongs on PS3, with its familiar formula, terrible dialogue, dudebro characters, bafflingly ugly cutscenes and cookie-cutter assets...There's a pretty good game hidden somewhere in here, but you'll have to look quite hard at times. [Issue#188, p.78]

A simplified spin-off that misses the mark. [Issue#199, p.79]

Like any good arcade game, it's best enjoyed in short bursts. [Sept 2014, p.107]

Promises more than it can deliver. [Issue#166, p.98]

One of the most underwhelming rhythm-action games in some time. [Issue#93, p.132]

With just as many levels where you'll pray for it to be over than where you're actually having fun, the game turns out to be a mixture of styles that don't meld together as solidly as they should, as well as having several frustrating joypad-throwing moments and often demanding extraordinary feats of memory from the player. [Mar 2004, p.114]

Still Life 2 tries too hard to change the genre when it should have built upon its own strengths instead. [Aug 2009, p.120]

Good for a fight, dull for everything else. [Issue#176, p.81]

One of the most frustrating aspects is the unbalanced difficulty curve. You're thrust into some tough and often unfair opening levels, only to find the challenge dropping dramatically as you progress deeper into the admittedly enjoyable storyline. [Sept 2004, p.116]

The only real stumbling blocks are the mediocrity of the overall experience – something that’s only fully realised once play has ceased – and the repetition that has to be endured. [Mar 2007, p.120]

Horror muted by brevity and flat atmosphere... Imitating teen-horror movies is a novel idea, but duplicating their running time and feeble horror leaves the game wanting. [Nov 2004, p.106]

Boy racers will love Underground's edgy urban chic, otherwise you should stick with the less fashionable but ultimately more enjoyable "Burnout 2." [Christmas 2003, p.125]

The franchise’s virgin release on the DS does little to mend the flawed reputation of its forebears, but nor does it represent a step back. [Jan 2008, p.133]

Far too generic to be considered anything other than average. [Christmas 2005, p.114]

There's just an overall lack of subtlety, from the controls to the music, to the story-telling. [Issue#166, p.100]

Everything required of you feels functional, mechanical, and pedestrian, and each city is sparse and lacking in the kind of lifelike vitality that gamers now demand from their sandbox environments. [May 2009, p.108]

To say the level of humour is an acquired taste would be an understatement. [Issue#110, p.118]

Rather than feeling like a mastermind escapologist, your actual role resembles that of an errand boy collecting the pieces of a pre-scripted plan. Yet while nothing here really shines, the overall package is solid enough to counter our gripes. [Oct 2003, p.114]

It feels like a game-by-numbers: the straight-to-video spiritual successor to what Shadow Of Mordor did last year.

There's a good RPG in there somewhere. [Issue#197, p.80]

A clever house of cards that quickly tumbles. [Issue#197, p.81]

Light ends up feeling like a proof of concept, an unfinished prototype with some decent ideas that either lack depth or don't quite hit the mark. Ultimately, strong aesthetics can't compensate for that. [Sept 2014, p.126]

The problem isn't that Eat Lead is bad, it's just very, very average and at no point justifies its smarter-than-thou stance. [May 2009, p.117]

File #2 just about survives its many flaws to warrant curio status for series veterans and online play addicts. [Nov 2005, p.117]

Far too generic to be considered anything other than average. [Christmas 2005, p.114]

The goalposts are moved without warning. [Sept 2014, p.127]

Nothing more than forgettable. [Issue#142, p.79]

There's no great depth or immersion to it as an experience. [Issue#158, p.109]

It will be every bit as disappointing to those waiting for the marked change to give the series another shot. [Issue#108, p.109]

The core of the title has been removed, and, thanks to this, thoughts of extended appeal and any sort of depth soon become void and Point Blank shows itself for the glorified mini-game that it actually is. [Sept 2006, p.121]

Unfortunately, the difference between what Crystal Dynamics wanted to do with Snowblind and the finished product is a crevasse that good intentions fall well short of bridging, leaving the game lying in a Wile E. Coyote-style could of dust at the bottom. [March 2005, p.110]

There’s no visual distinction between what is and isn’t interactive – and the fact that some items are ridiculously small and innocuous brings much gritting of teeth. [Jan 2007, p.102]

Oh, and there’s a zombie mode. The idea there is that you shoot things that look like how you feel when playing Infinite Warfare.

The Conduit isn't bad, just anonymous. [Aug 2009, p.128]

Fails to offer anything fresh. The new elements added to the franchise are shamelessly plundered from other games, and generally not as well executed. [Dec 2006, p.114]

Gamers will revel in the destruction that unfolds as they guide Spanx and Redmond through the Genron labs, but you soon realise that the humorous touches are hiding a basic and rather childish title. [Mar 2004, p.119]

Could have been a much more adventurously designed PlayStation3 debut for the series. Sadly, Armored Core 4 represents a great opportunity, missed. [Mar 2007, p.106]

The Crew is defined by its unmitigated lack of character. It’s an Ubisoft game first and a driving game second, and has arrived at a point at which it’s facing off against Forza Horizon 2 and DriveClub for most people’s affections. With the former’s more clearly defined vision and mechanics, and even with the latter’s terrible teething problems, it is absolutely no contest in both cases. Personality continues to go a very, very long way.

It becomes an overbearing checklist of simplistic social commentary. [Issue#163, p.109]

The real problem is that success is actually down to luck, trial and error, and the whim of a cheating AI. [Issue#113, p.100]

As an entry into a series that has failed to realise its potential, this is safe and dare we say it, also a bit boring. [Issue#135, p.106]

The 'new' simplicity makes for a fun and fast game that, courtesy of the excellent passing system and decent AI, finds a firm balance between real football and the arcade fun of a five-minute kick about. [June 2004, p.120]

The throwaway fun of the first game is sadly lost due to the prevalence of microtransactions. [Issue#142, p.117]

Sadly, the writing, the story, the level scenarios, the pacing, and the characters are apocalyptically awful. At its best, monotonous, and at its worst, infuriatingly rote. [Issue#192, p.77]

Rather than feeling like a mastermind escapologist, your actual role resembles that of an errand boy collecting the pieces of a pre-scripted plan. Yet while nothing here really shines, the overall package is solid enough to counter our gripes. [Oct 2003, p.114]

Horror muted by brevity and flat atmosphere... Imitating teen-horror movies is a novel idea, but duplicating their running time and feeble horror leaves the game wanting. [Nov 2004, p.106]

To have this checklist of all the genre's flaws step up in place of the ambitious and promising title we were promised is wildly disappointing. [Issue#104, p.106]

Don’t be fooled into thinking this adventure makes any kind of departure from the model arrangement of any of the series. [June 2006, p.116]

There are moments when player adrenaline levels will rise above the base level, but they are so few and far between that in the end most will decide that slogging through the copious average sections simply isn’t worth the effort. [June 2005, p.116]

In a world of cynical indie games and pretentious mainstream shooters, that kind of levity is appreciable. [Issue#156, p.120]

With more variety and strategic depth than any of the previous AOW titles, there are plenty of reasons for fans and beginners alike to immerse themselves in Shadow Magic's world of adventure. [Oct 2003, p.119]

Most of the time Ninety-Nine Nights does look like a game which befits the ‘next-gen’ tag, and yet periodically it embarrasses itself with ‘previous-gen’ foibles. Playing N3 is a frustrating experience. [July 2006, p.124]

In truth, it's an average game, with the music and the presentation proposing a more dramatic and meaningful experience than is actually manifested in the gameplay. [Issue#150, p.118]

Its silly approach to fitness is amusing, but there isn't enough here to hold attention for an extended period of time, let alone train you up for a marathon. [Issue#156, p.121]

Enjoyable, but suffers from a lack of upgrades. [Issue#164, p.87]

A play-for-a-week fad. [Issue#108, p.131]

Batman could probably take Captain America to pieces with one hand tied behind his back. [Issue#113, p.118]

The action never inspires. [Issue#142, p.124]

There are so many cheaper, better versions in existence that it’s very hard to recommend. [Sept 2008, p.125]

Visually stunning, but a slog to play through. [Issue#164, p.90]

Boy racers will love Underground's edgy urban chic, otherwise you should stick with the less fashionable but ultimately more enjoyable "Burnout 2." [Christmas 2003, p.125]

The license really deserves a little more care and attention than this. [Christmas 2010, p.108]

Worth experiencing, but there are better-made horror games around. [Issue#150, p.127]

Far less engaging than it should be. [July 2018, p.70]

No matter how hard you search, there's little here that wasn't done by StarCraft, Age of Empires or any other recent RTS... There's no worthy inovation here to raise this above any other title. [Jan 2005, p.114]

There's every chance White Knight Chronicles will start to shine in co-op. As a single-player experience, however, which is surely the main reason for anyone to invest, it's distinctly average, suffering from problems that are genuinely a surprise considering the brains behind it. [Apr 2010, p.124]

Improved variety, but gimmicky gameplay. [July 2018, p.78]

At its core, this is the same game we've played before. [Issue#135, p.112]

The bones are here for a stunning adventure, but the imagination simply isn't. Our disappointment is palpable. [Sept 2009, p.116]

While an enjoyable story awaits the dedicated, many will struggle to move past the uninspired design, repetitive puzzles and simplified combat that makes up the bulk of the game's content. [Issue#135, p.113]

A stunning, fleeting experience betrayed by bugs. [July 2018, p.83]

Updates are tricky; they need to be handled with the utmost love and dedication. We're not suggesting Rocket Knight hasn't been, but whatever made its ancestor appealing isn't as appreciable here. [July 2010, p.118]

Captures the 16-big feel, but falls short. [July 2018, p.83]

Horror muted by brevity and flat atmosphere... Imitating teen-horror movies is a novel idea, but duplicating their running time and feeble horror leaves the game wanting. [Nov 2004, p.106]

TFUII feels like a series of unfulfilled and broken promises that could kill the franchise, even for Star Wars fans. [Christmas 2010, p.92]

The 'new' simplicity makes for a fun and fast game that, courtesy of the excellent passing system and decent AI, finds a firm balance between real football and the arcade fun of a five-minute kick about. [June 2004, p.120]

It’s one thing to put out a punishing game, but quite another to punish players for no good reason.

We'll be waiting for Phantasy Star Zero to see if that instead can re-awaken the RPG magic the series once held above all others. [June 2009, p.116]

Ultimately, Happy Home Designer feels more like a mini-game from a main Animal Crossing title, albeit one that controls like a dream. As a cheaper eShop release designed to spark interest in collecting the cards it would have been fine, but as a full price game its one-trick-pony style is far too repetitive for some.

A package with some technical issues and a generally very shallow feel. [Christmas 2011, p.108]

More than any other tweak, Costume Quest is in dire need of an alternate progression mechanic. Sure, ticking off all front doors is authentic, but lends the title a stale air. [Christmas 2010, p.120]

Re:coded is content to meander, offering only patronising tweaks to what we once enjoyed about the youngster-friendly mash-up franchise. [Issue#105, p.112]

It’s difficult to label Go! Go! Break Steady’s use of two genres as a hybrid, because the rhythm–action and puzzle elements sit side by side, rather than one informing the other in any inventive way. [Oct 2008, p.121]

Not implementing any kind of reward system at all is surely a huge oversight. [Dec 2007, p.133]

Tries and fails to replicate Inside's brilliance. [Issue#190, p.78]

One of the most frustrating aspects is the unbalanced difficulty curve. You’re thrust into some tough and often unfair opening levels, only to find the challenge dropping dramatically as you progress deeper into the admittedly enjoyable storyline. [Sept 2004, p.116]

If Sony Cambridge had placed as much emphasis on the gameplay mechanics as it had recreating the show’s style, then 24: The Game would have been an excellent action title. [Apr 2006, p.102]

Sometimes, such fondly remembered franchises can be revived to stand alongside contemporary greats, simultaneously satisfying our younger selves and our more demanding modern expectations. Sadly, despite Stainless Games’ best efforts to recapture the wacky allure of the 1997 original, Carmageddon: Reincarnation is not one of those games.

A fun game ruined by poor implementation. [Issue#190, p.79]

Played with the face buttons though, this becomes a competent Virtua Tennis clone with a decent selection of shots, and great animation, but a clone that reveals its weaknesses over time. [Jan 2007, p.116]