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]