Guardian's Scores

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For 1,012 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 40% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 55% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.4 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 75
Highest review score: 100 Bayonetta 2
Lowest review score: 20 The Lord of the Rings - Gollum
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 684 out of 1012
  2. Mixed: 250 out of 1012
  3. Negative: 78 out of 1012
1021 game reviews
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    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Sleeping Dogs
    While Sleeping Dogs works from an established palette, it's an absolute blast to play. Like the Uncharted series, the focus here isn't to break new ground for the medium through innovation. Instead, the aim here is to make the player feel like an action hero in a piece of blockbuster entertainment, while remaining fun to play throughout. Sleeping Dogs is not the most original game you'll play all year, but it's easily one of the most enjoyable and it's arguably one of the best.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD
    This comeback is exactly what was needed: pared down, cheap and distilled to its irresistible essence.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Deadlight
    It's a game in which an early sense of delight and intrigue soon turns to weariness, the standout scenes and ideas failing to compensate for an increasing sense of deja vu with each new wall run and puzzle, wrapped in a tired storyline that does little to propel you forward. In the end, it's the zombies that make you flee to the conclusion, rather than the design that draws you towards it – a subtle distinction perhaps, but a crucial one.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    New Super Mario Bros. 2
    New Super Mario Bros 2 may not do anything we haven't seen in a game before, but it oozes such quality from every pixel that if you don't derive pleasure from playing it, no matter what your age or gender, it's difficult to think of any game that would satisfy you.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Inversion
    Inversion is a tiny bit frustrating. It's a nicely crafted game with some good ideas, which nevertheless seems unwilling to claim an identity of its own. If you liked Gears of War, you'll enjoy playing it, but you might find its sheer familiarity a bit annoying. And if you like third-person shooters that don't require superhuman skills, you'll enjoy it, too. But if you're looking for something futuristic, cutting-edge and distinctive, keep on looking.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Disney/Pixar Brave
    As a piece of merchandise, this does the job it needs to. As a video game, it's anything but Brave.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dawnguard
    The new DLC contains a couple of mechanical flaws, its story feels undercooked at times and, because this is a Bethesda game, it is by no means bug-free. But if you already own a copy of Skyrim, buying Dawnguard isn't so much a good decision to make as it is a no-brainer.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Mutant Mudds
    It's not an easy or forgiving game. Disappearing platforms require excellent timing, and not thinking ahead can often mean leaping on to a platform already occupied by one of the many alien invaders, sapping one heart from your meter.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Amazing Spider-Man
    Even with abilities that are steadily upgraded as you progress, The Amazing Spider-Man never feels quite as precise as you might wish thanks largely to quicktime instructions that come too thick and fast for the timed responses.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Battlefield 3: Close Quarters
    Close Quarters has a nice balance of new geography, modes and tactics but not enough to really excite.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Quantum Conundrum
    Quantum Conundrum feels like the PC's answer to a smartphone app – a simple idea, well executed but never quite reaching the level of a "real" game. You'll play it for a few hours, enjoying the experience and then suddenly think: "Well, that's enough of that," and never go back. It is what it is; a small slice of casual gaming at a slightly inflated price.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Spec Ops: The Line
    While there's some genuine heart and originality in Spec Ops: The Line, the experience of playing the game is just too hit and miss for me to recommend it unreservedly.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
    Lego Batman 2: DC Heroes isn't groundbreaking but it is consistently fun, and while it might not take top honours for best Batman game of all time (that belt is still held by Batman: Arkham City), it's easily the best Lego game we've seen in years.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Game of Thrones
    A decent game that has been horrifically let down by one sub-standard element.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock
    Unfortunately, any sustained period of time spent actually playing The Eternity Clock will leave you with a similarly desperate feeling. Doctor Who games have always set very specific problems.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    DiRT Showdown
    DiRT Showdown isn't going to change the world – it's a frothy, tongue-in-cheek driving game with pretensions towards nothing beyond providing entertainment. But it does that in spades, with considerable technical accomplishment.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
    GR:FS is so nearly a landmark game. It's busting with great gadgets, challenging and unusual to play and committed to a true co-op spirit that most rivals have long since abandoned. If only it looked a little better, had a few more maps and U-Play made it easier to find a quick online match-up with your mates. Even so, it's a worthy alternative to any FPS and puts the Ghost Recon franchise right back at the cutting edge.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Dragon's Dogma
    Dragon's Dogma has everything that RPG-heads crave – you can lose yourself in tinkering around, collecting items, finding arcane quests and seeking random enemies for days. It's reassuringly complex, and astonishingly well-executed given that this is Capcom's first attempt at such a game.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Diablo III
    For single players, it's an entertaining and gorgeous-looking dungeon hack but it's a bit short, extremely linear and hardly pushing any boundaries. Playing online (and Blizzard isn't really giving us a choice) makes it a better balanced and more compelling challenge, with all the potential to be the kind of lifestyle substitute that Diablo's legion of hunter-gatherer fans should relish.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Max Payne 3
    The key to the game is the pitch perfect control system. A customisable auto-targetting system lets players select between hard or soft auto systems, the latter subtly guiding your reticule rather than aggressively yanking it toward specific enemies. Both are smart, seamless and intuitive, allowing newcomers to acclimatise to the turbo-charged pace.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Starhawk
    While its plot may be undernourished, the campaign does contain a series of worthy action set pieces, and really, it's not a bad way to spend an afternoon. But the single-player's main purpose seems aimed at familiarising players with Starhawk's mechanics before setting them loose in the game's online battleground, which, as has been mentioned, is where its true longevity lies.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hitman: Sniper Challenge
    If you're uninitiated in the ways of Agent 47, this may be a little bit of a wobbly entry into the series, but it's certainly worth it of you're a huge fan of the franchise.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
    Like Sim City and Civilization before it, it is a sandbox that not only facilitates but also actively nurtures experimentation and creativity. That is much more rare than it sounds, and so much more valuable.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    We Sing: Pop!
    But I think my major reservation was about the overall size of the game. On the basis that you might know two thirds of the songs on offer and like maybe one third, with only 30 songs it does feel like you could easily become bored.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Sniper Elite V2
    Sniper V2 Elite is something of an anachronism too, a middle-tier boxed game that lacks the budget or refinement of a blockbuster, but enjoys far more craft and spark than a budget release.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Prototype 2
    The very purity of purpose which makes the game such a fine arcade killbox also renders it unengaging on any level that isn't soggy and littered with stray organs. So while as a destruction simulator Prototype 2 scores very highly, there's a chance that, just like those toddlers in the dirt, you'll get bored after a short while and wander away.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Trials Evolution
    Like Angry Birds, there's a big daft sense of humour behind Trials Evolution. Very much like Angry Birds, the game has got that "I'll just have one more go …" quality that can swallow hours whole. And exactly like Angry Birds, it's a simple premise that only takes seconds to pick up.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Fez
    Here is a keen reminder of gaming's ability to provide we who live in a world charted by satellites and Google Maps with new frontiers, with the unfettered joy of discovery, with the sense of our own psychical and mental horizons being expanded.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Kinect Star Wars
    Ultimately, high production values and variety raises Kinect Star Wars above mediocrity, but it only delivers tantalising glimpses of the kind of game both the controller and the franchise badly needed.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13
    A solid enough title – but it's certainly not a game for the casual console golfer.
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