The one thing really missing from Overkill is a sense of impact to your shots – certain boss fights feel more like mouse-clicking something to death than riddling it with hot lead. [Mar 2009, p.100]

While it may only just escape mediocrity, Deadly Creatures is entertaining enough to keep you playing until the end. [Mar 2009, p.122]

It takes several hours of frustrating play to get to the more enjoyable sections of the game. [Mar 2009, p.116]

Another Code R commits all the same crimes a bad novel would: the dialogue is uninteresting, the characters unlikeable, the pace slow and the premise so uninspiring that you soon lose the motivation to see what happens next. [Sept 2009, p.122]

Afro Samurai radiates style both visually and aurally, but the underlying mechanics do little to raise it above an average experience. [Apr 2009, p.112]

With nine mostly identical levels standing between each boss and each change in style, the game can become rather monotonous when it could so easily have soared, had it changed styles a little more frequently. [Apr 2009, p.118]

The creative skating and dexterity demanded keep Skate 2 from ever feeling dull. [Feb 2009, p.116]

Those who have been waiting for this port can relax. However, Konami has done little to improve on what is still a winning formula. [Christmas 2008, p.103]

As soon as you pass the initial novelty of feeling like Legolas, or whatever character the Scout corresponds to - though we’d argue its inspiration is the Spy class from Battlefront - half of the gameplay disappears into the ether. [Feb 2009, p.118]

Quite surprisingly, Moon captures the feel of the Metroid franchise more faithfully than Nintendo's own DS effort….But the main quest runs out of steam around halfway through. [Aug 2009, p.122]

An imaginative and engrossing game. If the least of its worries is that it allows too much player choice, then that’s really no worry at all. [Mar 2009, p.123]

There’s something strangely likeable about it all – the ambition and passion of the development team is actually oddly appealing. It’s just all so misguided. [Mar 2009, p.124]

From the looks of things the formula is still going strong and is in no real danger of becoming stale any time in the near future. [Feb 2009, p.113]

It may have its good points, but when it comes down to it PowerUp Forever isn’t as good as many of the other similar titles available over Xbox Live. [Feb 2009, p.113]

We hope Atlus takes its time to deliver a more compelling and intelligent game with the next Persona, as the series has some remarkable potential. [Jan 2009, p.126]

Our dissatisfaction comes in the finding that the Princes adventurous new gameplay elements simply don’t play to his strengths, resulting in an experience that often wavers between intense highs and irritating lows. [Jan 2009, p.94]

If Birth By Sleep's twee story fails to impress, fans will be delighted to learn that it features the best combat in the series to date. Fast, fluid and featuring a variety of interesting mechanics, it's a huge improvement over past instalments. [Issue#101, p.122]

We’re also happy to inform fans that HD Remix is one of the tightest, lag-free online fighters we’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. [Jan 2009, p.104]

Every change of camera is greeted by painful seconds as the textures load in. Every opened door is greeted with the loading screen. Every battle features a cataclysmic drop in frame rate. The result callously skims the cream from the top, depriving you of your ultimate satisfaction. [Jan 2009, p.106]

If you have high levels of patience then there are some excellent moments that are worth staying around for, but we’d wager that most will hang up their controllers by the second or third forced Werehog mission. [Jan 2009, p.102]

The game feels more like a boss-rush version of a big action game that it does a traditional fighter, and somehow comes off as the best 3D Castlevania game Konami has produced so far. [Jan 2009, p.110]

It’s no longer a culturally significant event, and even Lara’s charms are beginning to lose their edge. But make no mistake, it warms our hearts to see Lara back doing what she does best. [Christmas 2008, p.98]

The game's lack of a two-player mode will be a profound disappointment for those gamers whose greatest Metal Slug flashbacks are fuelled by the showmanship and camaraderie of co-op play. [Oct 2008, p.123]

What’s the eventual goal here – watching an entire 90 minutes from the dugout? Clearly, a compromise must be struck, somewhere along the line. [Jan 2009, p.124]

Valve has put together a wonderfully unconventional game – a taut FPS multiplayer that retains the same unease felt in the likes of Resident Evil. [Jan 2009, p.114]

The cut-scenes, in all their sincerity, still manage to be completely laughable. Yet it’s hard not to enjoy them despite the fact they’re not really doing the job intended. [Christmas 2008, p.97]

It’s good facile fun, but we feel, with a little more depth and tweaking of movesets, something greater could have been achieved. [Christmas 2008, p.122]

Wii has plenty of other titles that offer a few hours of undemanding fun. The abandoned potential of Road Trip is proof of what a wasteful approach that can be. [Christmas 2008, p.103]