Our x-ray vision can see through this one. Not quite super enough. [Christmas 2006, p.126]

It's not 'Big' and it's certainly not clever. [June 2008, p.76]

Dull-witted and directionless. [Dec 2012, p.103]

Jaws Unleashed isn't a terrible game, but it's riddled with control, camera, and difficulty issues that take the fun away. [Nov 2006, p.74]

A wasted opportunity. [Sept 2007, p.109]

An interesting concept that's backed up with almost nothing of consequence. Most of the game involves plodding around pressing one button, and even the puzzles solve themselves.

Doesn't totally transport us back. [Oct 2013, p.89]

An interesting concept and setting, held back by its rather lacking execution. [Issue#177, p.78]

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]

X-tremely poor in every respect. [May 2009, p.95]

How many more filthy, blood-spattered mess halls, garages and control rooms must we trudge through, in search of loot drops and audio diaries? How many more vents and sinkholes must we wearily inventory on entering an area, in readiness for the moment when the soundtrack jack-knifes and the undead pop into view? Awakened doesn't have answers for these questions.

If you like your car-based beat-'em-ups and don't fancy 20 for a second-hand copy of "Full Auto," then this is a worthwhile investment. [Feb 2007, p.102]

Attempts to play the main character off as an unlikeable rogue immediately fall flat. Yaiba the ninja is awful to be around, while Yaiba the game is uninspired and technically shallow.

The game was over faster than this review. [July 2009, p.89]

Badly scripted, plotted and acted. [Nov 2007, p.90]

A fun party game with limited appeal.

It feels vague and unfocused. [Dec 2014, p.87]

A bot-standard, rusty platformer for kids. [Sept 2008, p.86]

A great license and great idea scuppered by the 'seen it all before' feel of the gameplay. Big shame. [Nov 2006, p.72]

The lack of Xbox Live play kills it dead. [Nov 2011, p.107]

Kung Fu fun that quickly wears thin. [Aug 2011, p.101]

"Quotation Forthcoming"

A nasty game through and through. Not in terms of its gore, which just comes off as childish, but in most other respects. [Feb 2008, p.100]

Too punishing to recommend. [Mar 2011, p.100]

Great things are expected of the Eragon franchise, but this could be a thousand games we've played before. No single feature stands out as special, and the gameplay is all far too familiar.

It isn't a complete mess, but it's hard to imagine just who it was created for. [Christmas 2013, p.107]

In spite of its unspectacular style and its translation-glitch quirks, Over G is a little weird, but lots of fun. [Aug 2006, p.92]

Fun, if often frustrating, but far from the revolution we were hoping for. [July 2016, p.80]

Far from being a knockout. [March 2013, p.87]

Fairly rubbish. [May 2015, p.80]

A fast, fun varied MMA fighter. [Dec 2011, p.92]

Better than the first, but still not brilliant. [Mar 2009, p.93]

A mildly entertaining RPG full of technical issues and simplistic combat. [Issue#177, p.88]

Deals a very poor hand. [Aug 2007, p.84]

Platinum is great; this game is not. [Xmas 2014, p.79]

Single player's weak, but multiplayer's great. [Apr 2008, p.87]

Does what it says on the tin rather well. [Mar 2009, p.94]

Everything about this game smacks of a half-arsed Xbox Live Arcade title that's blundered into the full retail schedule by accident. [Apr 2007, p.93]

This genuinely engaging experience is soured not so much by the ropier aspects of the visuals, nor even the fact that the frame-rate plunges into the toilet from time to time, but by the writing, which plays a clear second fiddle to the mishmash of different mechanics.

A cheap and cheerful sim at a luxury price. [Oct 2012, p.97]

Let's hope this failed attempt doesn't deter other people from trying. [May 2013, p.85]

A monster mash but no graveyard smash. [Nov 2008, p.101]

Do yourself a favour and pick up a decent shooting game, or a head injury, anything's better than this - because otherwise you'll only encourage the creators to churn out another similarly disappointing movie license in six months time.

CSI: Hard Evidence isn't a game that can be summed up by a single numbers. Instead, it's best summed up by two words and two numbers - five hours, 1,000 gamerpoints. If you buy this, the only thing that needs investigating is your head.

Your presence doesn't seem to matter. [Sept 2015, p.111]

About as basic as a wrestling game can get. [Dec 2012, p.101]

Lococycle is as hard to put down as it is hard to love. Even if the comedy scratches your itch, there will be times when the shortage of depth and aversion to polish become impossible to forgive.

Playing Zathura is like being force-fed Saddam Hussein's skid-marked underpants. And we find that kind of thing really upsetting.

Colonial Marines can't trade on nostalgia alone... It needed to offer intense combat against an unstoppable force, deft storytelling that matched the cinematic flair of the films, and some new ideas that could have rejuvenated an overexposed franchise. It needed, in short, to be a better game.

Some truly neat ideas made ugly and fiddly.

Movie tie-in unable to flourish because of a by-the-books approach. [Jan 2007, p.94]

Summer Athletics gets off to a good start with a generally competent control system. It's a shame that its lack of features means that it can't quite go the distance, and ultimately ends up coughing, wheezing and spluttering after just four or five hours of gameplay.

More a case of sink than swim. [Feb 2012, p.91]

Its good intentions are sadly blighted by unacceptable performance issues. [June 2015, p.78]

We could almost believe that this was liberated from Shinji Mikami's bin in 1996. [May 2017, p.79]

The wobbly plot and hateful characterisation could be forgiven were The Cartel's shooting superlative. It's not. Guns feel flimsy, and enemies stick fastidiously to cover, hopping up and down and waiting to die.

It's a waste of some fairly pleasant graphics. [July 2012, p.105]

Sonic works hard, but looked better in the '90s. [March 2013, p.85]

The problem with this is that Spark is relentless at throwing a huge number of beasties your way, crowding you into a corner and ripping you to shreds. There's not enough breathing space for you to heal yourself and absorb energy to use it effectively as a defensive measure. To say this had us throwing the controller at the telly and cursing is an understatement.

Flesh and Blood is compelling in its own unhappy way, but this is far from a horror essential. [Issue#67, p.101]

Feels empty and faintly depressing. [Christmas 2012, p.93]

And it's a testimony to their patience and kind-heartedness that they didn't punch us in the face for wasting an evening of their precious, finite life.

This parasitic barnacle seeks only to corrode and cash in on joy. [Feb 2014, p.89]

If you can swallow the pad-mashing mechanics and wince your way through Silicon Knights' ham-fisted attempts at delivering back-story, there's a certain satisfaction to be had replaying to unlock new suits and powers.

Pointless - for the two minutes you'll bother. [Nov 2006, p.107]

More wet slap than knockout blow. [Oct 2012, p.101]

Fine in multiplayer, but endless tricking makes games against Xbox tiresome. It's slow-paced novelty basketball. [Aug 2006, p.66]

A grind in more ways than one. [Sept 2011, p.101]

Poorly executed, lacking personality and completely disrespects your time. Avoid. [Nov 2018, p.84]

Like the Transformers games, this is one of those shallow, mandated movie tie-ins. [July 2014, p.87]

If you want to spend that much time perfecting your balance and looking silly, you can buy a real skateboard for much less.

Frustrating and counter intuitive. [Dec 2012, p.101]

Fun in really, really short bursts. [June 2010, p.103]

Such a painfully dry business - especially with the new lack of multiplayer - that you'd be better off just getting on a bike. [Sept 2011, p.102]

Next-gen Sonic is awkward, dogged by awful levels and a terrible hub system, plus the basic action never gets that challenging. When you die, it’s because you couldn’t see, or you fell off by accident. It's hugely frustrating.

The Winter of our discontent. [Feb 2012, p.101]

A game that's playing very hard to get. [Feb 2011, p.99]

Fun for none of the family, sadly. [Christmas 2012, p.93]

Most free to play games are engineered for compulsive play, but Spartacus Legends is about as addictive as swallowing sand. Thumbs down.

For all its promise, this is another entirely superfluous superhero game. [June 2008, p.70]

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

A distinctly sludgy shooter. [June 2011, p.102]

Exactly like the original, and that's a bad thing. [Dec 2008, p.94]

It's Trials HD, but it's also rubbish. [Dec 2011, p.105]

A sorry mess at the time of launch, but worth persisting with if you’re a series fan. [Issue#184, p.73]

It's somewhat understandable that the sequel struggles to find new directions to take the game in, but failing to live up to the original? That's a real crime. [Issue#65, p.93]

At times, the experience of play manages to feel even more dated than the camp innuendo of the movies...It becomes a begrudging joke, particularly in the stealth sections.

Thoroughly average. [Aug 2007, p.93]

Sugary, sweet and addictive puzzle fun. [May 2008, p.93]

Rubbish. [Oct 2011, p.103]

Without even a two-player mode, this won't last you ten minutes. [Aug 2007, p.103]

Alright by budget standards, but with dodgy controls, cheap AI and buggy Live modes there are far better alternatives. [Aug 2006, p.70]

Warriors Orochi 2 isn't short on content, but it's unlikely that many will want to persevere past the staggeringly poor frame rate and distinctly old-gen graphical flaws.

Activision's Transformers adaptations shed a little more charm and fascination each time they transform. This super-lean take feels like the last OK offering before the rot truly sets in.

A large, open world and plenty of options can't make up for trainwreck technology, bad writing and clumsy combat. [Oct 2014, p.93]

With the hilarity of multiplayer locked until you finish the solo missions, and a slightly too-high price, this is one to miss. Shame. [July 2008, p.94]

The game has an admirable variety of modes, from career to arcade to quick play, but with a basic mechanic this crappy, all the variety in the world can't save it. [Feb 2007, p.100]

Sadly, the game's not much fun - you get bored easily and there's not much variety to be had waving your arms up and down. [Dec 2006, p.99]