For all the development trouble, for all the doubts, for all the talk about what Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance could have been – it’s now a Platinum game and it sparkles with the same confidence and verve it would have done had Kojima been at the helm. It’s an absolute joy to play and is almost certainly the best Metal Gear gen released this gen.

The Trial And Execution Of Guybrush Threepwood has proved that Telltale has what it takes to equal LucasArts's best. [Christmas 2009, p.114]

Though its main campaign may be a little on the short side, Vampire Smile squeezes more clever gameplay detours, edge-of-your-seat encounters, knowing nods to the wider world and hidden goodies than most full price retail releases.

Nintendo has crafted a platform game that, while not as technologically pioneering as its grandfather, is, level for level, more fun to play than "Mario 64." [Dec 2007, p.128]

Playing God has never been as free, rewarding or downright enjoyable as it is here... Quite simply, this is a game so packed with features and so lovingly crated that, for the first time that we can recall, you’ll still be discovering parts of it by the time the add-on packs roll around. [Nov 2004, p.102]

CS: GO stands as a glowing reminder that quality game design is rewarded in longevity and variety. Valve has not only updated the shooter but has completely outclassed its contemporaries. This is Counter-Strike, whatever the format you choose to play it on, and there isn't a higher recommendation than that.

Bloodborne is an incredible game; tight in its mechanics, logical in its systems, rewarding, intense, gloriously frustrating and exciting in equal measure. The PS4 has its first absolutely essential game. As if there was ever any doubt.

Perhaps most excitingly, The Lost Legacy hints at what would be an interesting format for future releases. [Issue#191, p.69]

Turn 10's sublime handling model accommodates newcomers and veterans alike, a system that can be tweaked to sit anywhere between 'real car' and 'videogame' settings as the player sees fit. Online functionality is as impressive as ever too, the auction house and plethora of racing options joined by Autolog-style Rivals hot lap challenges to ensure that Forza 4 genuinely has the ability to last forever.

A veritable knock-out. [Issue#102, p.100]

The definitive kart racer you'll play this year, and in a market as crowded as this one's becoming, that's saying something. [Issue#148, p.97]

This sense of discovery is enhanced dramatically via a graph system, too, a means by which you are scored on the total number of blocks you’ve used, the footprint or size of the factory itself and the number of cycles you have to run through to create ten of your required object.

An excellent platformer that never fails to surprise. [Issue#198, p.74]

We'd struggle to think of a developer that does better-quality FMV than Oddworld Inhabitants; we've seen tangible, real-life things that don't look as convincing as some of the clips in this game. [Feb 2005, p.98]

In a genre that is so flooded with poor Command & Conquer wannabes and a lack of fresh ideas, World In Conflict is one of the few titles that will appeal to many gamers that aren’t typically real-time strategy fans. [Nov 2007, p.132]

This is a linear adventure through stunning environments and incredible violence – and this is what Gears Of War does best. [Christmas 2008, p.108]

The best simulation of the series. [Issue#102, p.105]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. leaves you no choice but to engage with story and character, deciphering between friend and foe, the truth and the lie. [Apr 2007, p.94]

Heavy Rain isn't the ultimate narrative-driven videogame but the first, a template that should inspire other creators and open up a genre as limitless as imagination itself. And we can't wait to see what stories we get to play next. [Issue#93, p.104]

Despite so many slight changes here and there, the solid combat, janky platforming, overwhelming odds and brutal bosses all conspire to remind you that this is very much a Souls game, and yet another excellent one at that.

Lazy find-three-item quests are nowhere to be seen in this episode, instead there's a wealth of context-based conundrums and mini-games that showcase LucasArts-style adventure design at its best. [Dec 2009, p.128]

Striding purposefully along the history of a genre it created, id has plucked the best ideas from four generations of first-person shooters and woven them into something not especially original, but truly exceptional nonetheless.

A game that anybody can, and will, enjoy. It's like Wii Music never happened. [Issue#121, p.109]

It's easily one of the best Total War experiences yet, which in turn makes it one of the best RTS games available. [Issue#194, p.73]

You get the impression that "The Sands of Time" was just a warm-up for the main event, a game that's familiar at first but soon reveals a level of imagination beyond that of the original, and displays as little room for error as one of the Prince's most daring acrobatic leaps. [Christmas 2004, p.100]

Ping-ponging from the sublime to the ridiculous with sass, style and a potty mouth, Bayonetta is a ten-hour journey into both the obscenely brilliant and the brilliantly obscene, but you'll still be playing it for its wealth of extras long beyond that. [Issue#91, p.102]

Stood side by side with its predecessors, this third and final hurrah is less a dramatically pitched revolution and more a masterfully sculpted evolution, as while the graphical depth, online functionality and cover mechanics are some of the best in the business, when contrasted with Gears 2, they're incremental steps rather than thundering leaps.

What bumps PGR2 into the league of truly great racers is the extensive Xbox Live support. It really does feel like you're part of a community full of gamers vying to be the ultimate Project Gotham racer. [Christmas 2003, p.92]