Well worth smashing and grabbing. [Jan 2016, p.85]

Short but still ass-kickingly sweet! [Sept 2007, p.110]

The three-player co-op could well help with spicing up repeat journeys, though, and with every character's area worth playing (not least for the lovely hidden endings for those who think around the final section), those intent on searching its every inch will find that The Cave runs very deep - and dark - indeed.

Brilliantly simple. [Apr 2015, p.84]

Excellently calibrated. [Jan 2016, p.85]

It's accessible, it's fun and its destruction is novel enough to keep players entertained. If this was about breaking up the Rainbow Six Vegas and G.R.A.W. stranglehold on the squad combat genre, it hasn't quite pulled it off. It's not bad company for the night; it's just not memorable company either.

A smart puzzle-platformer contorted into a shape that doesn't really fit. When it remembers itself, this is another devilishly good sneak-'em-up, featuring a great bunch of gadgets, challenges and jokes.

Still quality, but overpriced. [Aug 2010, p.111]

Ultimately, it's all about the online: if you have an active social life on Xbox Live then Skate 3 is near-essential, but otherwise you might as well stick to last year's version.

It’s not quite as open-ended as genre titans like World of Warcraft, but there’s a lot to like about PSU; it offers a vast, engaging and personal online and offline experience – plus there’s just something blissful about hitting robot Ewoks with a giant sword.

While Majin gets a recommendation, it's a cautious one - you have to have the stomach for Cartoon Network voices, a preference for puzzles and exploration over combat, and the patience to double back on yourself. If you've got all that, then Majin will give you an extremely fair slice of entertainment.

This really is just like Burnout. Less flamboyant, sure, but supremely enjoyable. [Issue#178, p.82]

Escher meets Braid in a puzzle game that's weird but not weird enough. Its imaginative environments and beautiful soundtrack do mean it's worth taking a trip to this beguiling dreamworld.

Red River certainly has its moments - especially when it's played with friends - but the clumsy attempt to gain acceptance from the trash-talking masses leaves it inadvertently feeling like an advertisement for pacifism. [May 2011, p.88]

It's still Medal of Honor, and it's still good fun, but it doesn't look or play anywhere near as well as "Call of Duty," and the short campaign somewhat leaves you hanging. [Oct 2007, p.83]

A decent enough game with a crazy design and the best Xbox Live Vision Camera integration yet, but with a rabbit-sized lifespan. [June 2007, p.90]

Inoffensive, intelligent and beautifully presented, Mini Ninjas is a refreshing reminder that good game design isn't the preserve of games with guns and swears in. Take advantage of IO's altered state while you can.

It's never nice being mean about a game with as much ambition as this, but if we're talking sheer value for money then halfway through the 14 hours it takes to complete Maria II you'll have experienced one really good shooting mission and absolutely no decent car chases, of which there are only a couple in the entire game. [Sept 2010, p.81]

A faithful sim that overcomes bland presentation thanks to fabulous potting. [Issue#178, p.80]

A solid fighting game though not up to the modern standards of "Virtua Fighter 5." [Dec 2007, p.108]

Shaun White is not for "SSX" fans hungry for more extreme boarding action. If you like your simulations or have a genuine interest in the sport, you'll appreciate its realism. Everyone else, however, will just be itching to pull off a 24-rotation mega backflip.

A fun, frenetic first-person shooter that suffers from a few frustrating flaws. [October 2018, p.86]

A replay of last year's glories. [Oct 2007, p.84]

Magical game fun for kids; brief fun for adults. [Aug 2007, p.99]

A little sedate, but a finely crafted slab of horror for those who enjoy cinematic games. [Issue#182, p.83]

Dumb, derivative and gleefully enjoyable. [Sept 2010, p.87]

A substatial no-frills package. [Dec 2007, p.82]

Just Cause 2 is undoubtedly an improvement on the first game. The grappling hook is still enormous fun - even more so this time around - and there's generally more variety in the missions. Sadly, it still follows its predecessor in regularly reaching points where none of the challenges on offer seem even remotely interesting.

A pretty fun co-operative horror adventure that falls flat on its key selling point. [Issue#182, p.89]

It's comfy like a pair of old slippers; before you combine them with bagels to make roller-skates, of course. [Nov 2015, p.87]

Okay, it's a lighter package than the annual Smackdown update, but with the inclusion of a huge hunk of videos and a pitch-perfect retro flair, this return to the golden age of wrestling is well worth a look.

The premise could have been taken further. [Oct 2015, p.75]

As a roaming RPG it's fun, quirky and worth picking up; as a promo for the wider world of Naruto, it's excellent. [Dec 2007, p.94]

No honor ever inflicted on a Sim compares to this. Be brave and enter its dark world. [March 2018, p.78]

Massive, rubbish but strangely compelling. [Feb 2011, p.94]

An enjoyable shooter with hidden depth. [June 2012, p.103]

A proper [if short] RPG which perfectly captures the joys of Adventure Time. [October 2018, p.94]

No-nonsense strategy with a sense of humour.

A surprisingly playable stealth endeavour from Cyanide, with a startlingly repulsive lead.

A fully featured, officially licenced rally simulator, but it lacks flair and personality. [Issue#183, p.90]

A flawed but still enthralling narrative adventure that's worth experiencing. [March 2018, p.82]

The core experience is deep and 60fps racing is welcome, but with many staple features absent and little sense of true excitement, this isn't a great new-gen debut.

Like an everlasting gobstopper, you can buy Cloudberry for peanuts and certainly get your money's worth in terms of quantity. But play it just long enough, and it quickly loses its flavour.

A mishmash of all your favourite RPG classics, distilled into an ambitious colonial adventure. [Issue#183, p.89]

Challenging puzzling with a beautiful backdrop. Certainly worth a quiet peruse. [Dec 2018, p.84]

Control is tight and the levels are enjoyable, but even with leaderboards it doesn't draw you for multiple playthroughs. [July 2010, p.105]

A beautiful, innovative bit of stuff that just needed to push a little harder to truly open our eyes. [Oct 2015, p.87]

Nothing to write home about, but the maps are solid and the Zombies episode is the best yet. [Oct 2015, p.90]

A charming game with a wonderful story, but let down by its repetitive combat grind. [Issue#194, p.78]

Eets has got the glee of design that made Worms and Alien Hominid exciting and unpredictable, without the violence. [June 2007, p.96]

Quality strategy game that's not for everyone. [Sept 2010, p.103]

Ryse looks fantastic - a genuinely promising example of what the Xbox One can do. But if you're not interested in co-op arenas, Ryse's five-or-six hour campaign might not offer you great value for money. If you are, you might find your weak, loinclothed gladiator is getting bullied into the gold shop.

A light but worthwhile fitness game. [Feb 2011, p.99]

A competent FPS with questionable jokes, entertaining gunplay and overlong missions. [Sept 2017, p.66]

If Red Faction: Guerilla felt like a series approaching greatness, Armageddon has ceased that approach, and started apprehensively circling greatness. It's good, but it should have been better.

A new Volta mode lights up a bumper footy package, but FIFA could do with an overhaul. [Issue#183, p.75]

It's depressing to see a developer that applied so intense a spotlight to existing practices and archetypes resort to so generic an expansion.

Dark Sector's ultimate error is that it still can't quite shake off its tag of "just another generic action shooter." But it sure as hell gives it a try. [Apr 2008, p.82]

If you don’t mind being killed by the odd nuke – how anyone can score 30 consecutive kills is beyond our tiny minds – PvP could swallow your damn life. Pair it with a gutsy (if insensitive) campaign, and this tonally conflicted series continues to stay relevant thanks to the best guns in the biz. [Issue#184, p.68]

And still...the undisputed heavyweight champion of MMA games. [May 2016, p.86]

An astonishing world and fun gameplay are hampered by fiddly controls. [Sept 2017, p.70]

All that mandatory repetition roots Resonance of Fate deep in a particularly hardcore niche. But there undoubtedly will be those who are drawn by its peculiar design, and they will eventually grow to love it - despite its obvious cruelty.

A nice bit of extra story that suffers a little from resetting and restarting progress. Still - more ACIV is good. [Feb 2014, p.94]

It's still not as compelling as the show or the books, but The Sword in the Darkness at last has us intrigued for what future episodes will bring.

A unique survival strategy story that really knows how to rack up the tension. [Issue#184, p.81]

Get past the faintly patronising tutorial, and resist the slightly disappointing final battle, and stay in the brilliant, rich middle. This is an adventure that rewards the curious and the explorers.

Bugs aside, this trip to Camp Crystal Lake is a bloody irresistible delight. [Sept 2017, p.73]

Brilliant fun until the difficulty level reaches Valhalla and you risk losing the entire game. [Dec 2018, p.94]

Excellent song selection that's great party fodder. [June 2010, p.103]

A lot more than a Battlefield 4 reskin with balaclavas and batons, but not quite the true-blue breakout hit it could have been.

Some great stories reside within, and Vvardenfell is excellently recreated. [Sept 2017, p.74]

Simple but highly effective.

So this isn't Dance Central and it certainly isn't Lips, but if you're firing it up for a party, Michael Jackson: The Experience is definitely enough to keep a gang of, preferably drunk, mates entertained - even if it is absolutely propped up by the undeniably stellar music and iconic dance routines.

Vast, occasionally beautiful, and absolutely loaded down with things to do, but rarely as magical as the numbered Scrolls games. Survive the first few hours and it's a memorable adventure.

It's difficult to turn your nose up at new content for a game that scored a ten, but if you're expecting something dramatically different or experimental from Dawnguard you're likely to be disappointed.

All in all, it’s a fun throwback, hugely disposable and with a shelf life about as long as people are still talking about Stranger Things. Still, don’t let that stop you from enjoying it. [Issue#181, p.81]

The game plays better with a mouse but this is still the full Sims 4 experience. [Jan 2018, p.80]

User-unfriendly but eventually compelling. [June 2010, p.105]

It's just a shame that with such a great idea, it could have been twice as addictive. [Mar 2007, p.90]

A tightly-designed, child-friendly, cute platform game that will challenge adults too. [Jan 2018, p.84]

Great bursts of short-term, shallow fun.

While in no way essential, there's worse you could do with your money... [Issue#65, p.104]

Hard to put down – but even harder to pick up, thanks to inscrutable controls. [Issue#181, p.83]

A fan-pleasing odyssey into Marvel lore that's a little overshadowed by past glories. [Jan 2018, p.86]

A race against time with a whole lot of charm. [Christmas 2012, p.93]

It's the one that we want. [Feb 2012, p.101]

A well-refined iteration that plays it safe for the most part, but is still good for a boogie. [Jan 2018, p.88]

If you've only played Absolution, these games will come as a surprise. They're more sandboxy, less handholdy experiences. They lack polish, perhaps, but between them they chronicle the invention of a genre, before it was left behind.

Though ponderous in places, there's nothing quite like this curious sandbox caper. [Jan 2018, p.90]

Warm and inclusive - if you've got the money. [Christmas 2012, p.96]

The single-player mode offers some spectacular boss battles, but pads out the experience with long-winded slogs against disposable drones. Without humans to fight, the relative rigidity of combat is exposed, though Platinum could never make hitting something anything less than satisfying. Anarchy Reigns is a brash, scrappy runt in a litter of spectacular action games, but in making online brawling just about work it still offers something of its own.

Addictive, quirky and occasionally funny. [Oct 2007, p.88]

Brief, reasonably entertaining and mercifully cheap. [Feb 2012, p.103]

Too tough, very cool, not as good as Sine Mora. [Christmas 2012, p.97]

F.E.A.R. 2 delivers some meaty combat, but fails to improve on the original. Where was the ambition to innovate or surprise? It's by no means terrible, but for such a major franchise, more was expected. This is still an enjoyable shooter, just not a particularly hair-raising one.

Two great games and an awful one. [May 2012, p.93]

A great pinball sim let down by limited tables. [June 2007, p.97]

Easy on the pockets and surprisingly fresh. [Christmas 2012, p.97]