It's a solid attempt at bringing this sort of game genre to the 360, but it still appears that, much like sleeping with a robot behind your partner's back, controlling an RTS with a joypad will always be a clunky affair.

Getting to grips with the new features of Live '08 is like watching a superb athlete trying to slam dunk a beach ball.

Solid yet underwhelming, shadow fails to send Lara out on a high. [Dec 2018, p.75]

While we love NBA Live 07's showy moves and new modes, the gameplay ultimately feels unfocused and unsatisfying. [Dec 2006, p.88]

Fiddly but disarming, this patchy locomotive just about stays on the tracks. [October 2018, p.91]

It's still a fair bit of fun. [Nov 2015, p.87]

Much scope for improvement. [Sept 2010, p.89]

Don't get us wrong, the 3D makeover turns it into a responsive and thoroughly modern duff-em-up. We just wish the fun lasted a little bit longer.

Functional but flawed multiplayer shooting. [Sept 2010, p.91]

Stunning art direction can’t quite save Vambrace from RPG mediocrity. [Issue#183

Fun - but only for an afternoon. [Feb 2011, p.98]

This sequel feels like more of the same, but The Surge 2’s combat remains satisfying. [Issue#183, p.91]

Another flawed piece of DLC for Inquisition, but one with redeeming features for the right fans. [Nov 2015, p.88]

Intentionally slow pacing is admirable, but it derails an otherwise enrapturing game. [March 2018, p.84]

Much of Front Mission Evolved is simply surviving until the next repair kit, and there's not enough customisation to make the online battles truly compelling. However, that saving grace - the intense, supersized combat - should be enough to see you through the short single-player campaign.

As good as you'd expect it to be. [Feb 2011, p.97]

Track editors looking for new tools might want to buy, but otherwise try the community courses. [Nov 2015, p.89]

Very little new to see here. [Feb 2011, p.97]

Two above-average games receive a sadly below-average port. [Oct 2015, p.86]

Some truly neat ideas made ugly and fiddly.

The controls are still horrendous, but for this chapter the pace of the storytelling picks up immensely. [Feb 2014, p.87]

What's here is good, but doesn't justify the price when you're not even getting an hour of gameplay. [Oct 2015, p.91]

Basic rally racing with some strong track design, but there's little else worthy of note. [Dec 2018, p.88]

A re-release that's only just worth the fare. [Feb 2011, p.103]

Stands alone from the film, proud and awkward.

Destiny 2 is still easily one of the best shooters on Xbox One. Taken as a whole, its eclectic blend of strikes, night-devouring raids, and exhilarating PvP action outguns most of the competition with ease. As for Shadowkeep, despite some welcome additions, its reheated campaign reeks of a rush job that needed a bit more cooking time. [Issue#184, p.88]

A very generous, but slightly broken MMORPG that can't quite stand on the shoulders of the PC-based giants. It does, however, prove that the genre's systems can translate onto consoles intact.

A stunning audio and visual presentation doesn't cover the cracks at the core. [Jan 2018, p.75]

It's simple and quite fun - especially if you're a depraved and drooling pervert - but the extremely basic, traditional wrestling action and lack of any lasting challenge sinks Rumble Roses down to a disappointing A-cup of a game.

Citizens Of Space’s endless well of enthusiasm makes pointing out these flaws feel like kicking a puppy, but they’re impossible to ignore. It’s not a massive game, but it’s still overly ambitious – the weight of its duff ideas threatens to drown its respectable share of great ones. A leaner, tighter, quieter experience would be easier to love. [Issue#181, p.91]

Play is built around evading attack, then countering with frenzied sword stabs or a selection of spells, so it's a shame that the all-important dodge move doesn't quite work.

It's a furry platformer with combat that suffers through repetition. Just like the first game, Alice doesn't quite match up to its own grand ambitions - let alone the classic stature of the source material. After 11 years, they should have got it right by now.

A novel, if somewhat stressful, take on what is a fairly familiar theme. [June 2018, p.76]

A by-the-numbers recreation of the show. [Feb 2012, p.103]

As a budget, somewhat unambitious retooling of the Wolfenstein engine, Youngblood offers impactful shootouts that showcase some truly brilliant guns. Yet by aiming for co-op grind, this offshoot loses the charm of BJ’s blasters. A slight misfire, then, but the sisterly slaughter on display still has its moments. [Issue#181, p.75]

A refreshing change, if not very thrilling. [Dec 2007, p.102]

Has pacing issues, but there's a reason it's been a party favourite for the last 21 years. [Oct 2016, p.97]

Origins is too good to return to the Assassin's Creed games of yesterday. [June 2018, p.86]

ProStreet takes the series to an ambiguous halfway point between Forza and Need for Speed. [Christmas 2007, p.76]

Iteration for a new generation. [May 2012, p.95]

At worst frustrating, usually just reminiscent of better, more innovative platformers. [Sept 2015, p.99]

Guns spit out bullets with little heft and explosions feel like gentle farts in the wind rather than loud, powerful releases of energy.

Barely worth splashing out on. [May 2012, p.95]

Not so much a misfire as misplaced. [June 2014, p.76]

It's a giggle, but it won't last long. [Dec 2009, p.107]

As a glimpse into the life of a dysfunctional family, Three Fourths Home is a success - but while its dialogue has the ring of truth, its narrative feels slight and incomplete. [Feb 2016, p.80]

By turns scrappy, hilarious, wearying and completely barmy. [Sept 2015, p.105]

It's packed with strong moments, but the finale feels disjointed. [Nov 2014, p.85]

Child friendly but not alienating to adults - this is an enjoyable adventure for one or two.

Brimming with charm, but it was clearly designed with PC gaming in mind. Playing it with the Xbox One controller instead of a mouse becomes something of an exercise in patience. [Nov 2014, p.87]

The cost is too high and the extras too slim to make this excellent. [Feb 2016, p.86]

Splatterhouse starts off strong on a path of giddy puerility, always seeming on the cusp of offering more than misogyny and punching all the blood out of monsters - or at least giving you a sly wink to let you in on the joke - but it never actually comes.

A further downer is that the campaign missions are relatively easy to rush through. [May 2012, p.99]

It still has charm and invention - but in shorter supply than the preceding episode. It's also stymied by a claustrophobic, repetitive environment that leans on to-and-fro busywork. [March 2016, p.84]

Disappointing. [Christmas 2015, p.66]

Challenge mode is a real fan-pleaser and the fastest rally stages are fun and pretty. But it feels clumsy at low-speed, has some severe technical issues and rallycross events are poor. [March 2016, p.85]

A tough cookie. As a twitch game, it suffers from poor feedback and imprecision, but its snappy pace keeps you hooked. [March 2016, p.86]

A disappointing drop in quality. [Sept 2015, p.111]

Entertaining enough for what it is. [Jan 2010, p.113]

Probably better suited to a smartphone but mildly diverting for an hour or two. [March 2016, p.87]

At times it feels like the mad power trip it ought to be – but repetitive action soon sucks the joy out of its amazing explosions, and unnecessary restrictions get in the way of the fun.

Not the hole-in-one you've been hoping for. [Sept 2008, p.92]

Old-school fare, old-school swear. [Aug 2010, p.110]

Better than expected, worse than it should be. [Feb 2010, p.111]

Innovative co-op...shame about the rest. [Sept 2008, p.92]

There's not actually that much to do here. [Sept 2007, p.108]

This is a pretty, inventive platformer that demonstrates both a clear affection for the original and a willingness to try something new. It might not come close to unseating the genre's best, but if you're up for a challenge, then this is a minor gem.

3D aside, this is uninspiring stuff. [June 2010, p.105]

The tennis is good when your'e in a match. You feel like you're really in control of the game thanks to the array of shots at your disposal, but the pace of it and the euthanasia-like tedium of the Pro Tour will put most players off after half an hour. [Aug 2008, p.84]

Performance issues and progression complaints compromise this survival fantasy. [Nov 2017, p.86]

Though not entirely soul-destroying, Dying Light will leave you feeling like you've just eaten a box of budget chocolates - unsatisfied, underwhelmed and unsure if it was worth the money. [March 2015, p.72]

Not quite forgettable, thanks to sturdy core concepts, a diverse line-up of cards and some infuriating micro-transactions.

What should be lighthearted fun turns into a grind in this knockabout arcade racer. [June 2017, p.82]

A decent diversion, but far from a black belt. [Nov 2009, p.98]

Battlezone is fun, it's enjoyable and it works, which is far better than you would expect from a rusty tank after 27 years of inactivity. [Feb 2008, p.102]

It's too derivative and frustrating to contend for Dark Souls' crown. [Xmas 2014, p.78]

Funny enough, easy enough and familiar enough to feel like an old friend, but this doesn't offer the excitement we expect from a series taking its second step onto a new platform. [Apr 2014, p.81]

Blood Knights holds as much annoyance as satisfaction. [Christmas 2013, p.103]

A disorienting mix of the classic, the needless and the forgotten. [Apr 2014, p.89]

In terms of graphics, in terms of variety, in terms of accessibility, it’s a failure on both 360 and PC. Overall, we’re coming down on the side of foolhardy over brave.

Thing is, in spite of all this peripheral mediocrity, if you pick up Blood Stone, you'll probably get a day or so's entertainment from it.

Our advice: fix the career, add in some quirky new modes other than the Gamer Face, and widen the character's fighting styles beyond one special attack, and we'll be queuing up for Round 2.

Some great ideas, but derezzes in its execution.

It delivers one of Dead Rising's most intense shootouts to date. [Apr 2014, p.93]

It's nothing we haven't seen done before with more energy and enthusiasm in countless other mech games. [Aug 2006, p.91]

Sloppy slashwork fails to hit its target. [Apr 2009, p.84]

Clumsy but just about competent, this plays its one note well enough to satisfy anybody who wants to spend hours peering through a scope.

Trust us: after half an hour, you'll be as sick of it as CJ is of Cluckin' Bell. [Xmas 2014, p.87]

Bound in Blood is like a Wild West theme park: corny, but at least there's constant gun smoke and plenty of bad guys being put to rights. It's not a must-buy by any stretch, but it is bearable.

Doesn't fully realize its potential, but these are early days.

Great script but a mediocre game.

There's no actual reason for this. [June 2013, p.91]

A classic game spoiled by the controls. [July 2009, p.96]

Tired and lacking ideas, this is the most disappointing CoD in years that follows, not leads. [Christmas 2018, p.72]

Ultimately, what should have been a very entertaining game is spoiled by levels that are too short and too uninspiring. It's like having a really cool motorbike but only a couple of miles to drive it on.

It'd make a great TV show, though. [Nov 2011, p.107]

Simple and proud, 10tons' retro shooter offers large-scale murderisation for you and some friends - just don’t expect much of a looker when the bloodlust wears off.

A lot of fun at heart, bloated by a cluster of dubious design decisions. [Christmas 2018, p.77]