An excellent action puzzle platformer, but unnecessary if you have it on Xbox 360. [Sept 2016, p.76]

The best D&D experience on console. [Sept 2013, p.91]

Spectacular if spotty, this wrestler fulfills more than it frustrates. [Issue#225, p.88]

Hitman: Blood Money is a unique and hugely enjoyable experience. Sure, it's violently amoral and the controls aren't fantastic, but what really makes it is a palpable sense of freedom.

A third-person shooter packed with thrilling set-pieces that tries to make you think about why you are doing the shooting. It's utterly bleak, occasionally gruelling and falls just short of the thought-provoking masterpiece it was aiming for, but it's still a relentlessly compelling experience if you've got the stomach for it.

Satisfyingly chunky, Pitt's a knockout. [June 2009, p.92]

Charming and jam-packed with content, but lacks a compelling narrative. [Issue#225, p.90]

Supreme Commander 2 circumvents most limitations of a console RTS and focuses more on strategy than how fast you can click. If you want a truly cerebral experience, accompanied by jaw-dropping mega units, it's the one to have.

It's taken a long time to get to us, but Stoic's engrossing strategy adventure is worth the wait, conjuring a rich, wintry atmosphere in a world as handsome as it is hopeless.

American Nightmare is good value, but it hints at more than it delivers - a world in which urban myths can come true never materialises in this episode. But that just makes us wonder what Remedy has got in store.

Biting, bonkers, at time brilliant, this is a savage look at the perils of game development. [Sept 2016, p.83]

The interaction between the two main characters extends beyond the trivial buddy moves from the first game and becomes an integral part of the journey. Marry that to some satisfyingly chunky gunplay and the odd spectacular, building-levelling explosion and you have an action game that is far more fun than it has any right to be.

Call of Duty is, and has always been, a series about instant gratification. It's fast food gaming at its most refined, a continual adrenaline rush that never thinks beyond the next kill. Ghosts maintains that heady, intoxicating momentum of shoot, kill, win, reward - but pales at the thought of taking the franchise in any interesting new directions.

HAWX is an enormously exciting shooter, and manages to take modern combat, strip away the technical side favoured by the Ace Combat series, and create a game that's inspired more by the myth of fighter pilots than the reality. And as any three-headed fire-breathing griffin will tell you, the myth is far more entertaining. [Mike Channel]

If you're stuck for a Devil May Cry substitute, give this a whirl. It's a little too scanty to qualify as God's gift to action gaming, but it's definitely going to heaven when it dies.

Splinter Cell Conviction might not have the longest or greatest single-player campaign, but it makes up for this with a substantial selection of alternative modes.

Decent in single-player but thrilling in co-op, this is a fine upgrade of a good Resi outing. [Sept 2016, p.89]

Tight, fun and fast-paced racing action that just about anyone can enjoy. [Nov 2008, p.89]

Simmers quietly but enjoyably, before boiling over in a tense final act. [June 2015, p.80]

An exceptionally pleasant surprise. Assembled with a lot of care, a little flair and plenty of conviction. There's little you won't have seen before, but it's an invigorating romp all the same.

A smart, bloodthirsty blend of ideas from MOBAs, action games and the RTS, with intense yet rewarding multiplayer. Beware the microtransactions, though.

With practice, intelligence, and a steady aim, you'll find your own satisfying path to greenskin genocide. [Dec 2011, p.99]

A streamlined multiplayer and less gimmicky single-player gives CoD a nice refresh.

So cheap our small complaints are trivial. [Dec 2011, p.101]

Capcom's cult favorite is worth the attention of any RPG/adventure fan out there.

Brilliant, bite-sized entertainment. [Dec 2011, p.101]

A clever cross between life sim and silly little collecting game with a lot of fun online party action thrown in, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise will appeal to a hell of a lot of people, thanks to its superbly created and welcoming open world.

Plays to Sunset Overdrive's obvious strengths while offering a few neat surprises along the way. [June 2015, p.91]

It may not be as sprawling as The Phantom Pain, but this is one of Xbox 360's greatest sneakathons and plays as well as it ever did. If you didn't buy it before, reach for your wallet immediately.

It has the wind beneath its wings. [Dec 2011, p.103]

A gripping, well-told horror story held back by occasionally awkward handling.

The aliens don't quite cut it, but Prey offers one of gaming's best settings in years. [July 2017, p.73]

A better way to learn how to play. [Sept 2012, p.102]

The wrestling is superb - but its teething problems must be patched quickly.

Truncated but still truly impressive. [May 2010, p.95]

Despite choppy performance issues, this magic puzzler is still a prize catch. [July 2017, p.76]

An excellent game that, while paying tribute to Lara Croft's heritage, certainly feels like a new beginning - mechanically as well as thematically. It's visually dazzling, narratively affecting, dangerously near best-in-class when it comes to solid shooting, vertiginous platforming and ballsy set plays... and bodes fantastically for any future instalments.

A winning tribute to TV's crassest kids, wrapped up in a fresh and fun RPG shell.

Titanfall's first load of DLC is a mixed bag of three maps, one dud but two gems. Fans of the game will find it essential, and if you're looking to come back in this is a great temptation.

Bloodstained: ROTN is a deceptively hard game (that’s a good thing), so careful exploration of each room and a considered approach to each encounter is required in order to reach the next big boss with enough health and magic points. [Issue#180, p.85]

This isn't 'the perfect Burnout' - but it comes damn close. [Feb 2008, p.86]

As a multiplayer game, Black Ops 2 is one of the best shooters around - sprawling and sagging under the weight of interesting systems. Offline, however, it's merely adequate. Despite some commendable ambition, Black Ops 2 isn't quite the match-stealing assault on Infinity Ward's turf we hoped it would be.

A carnival of grotesque and gothic fancies makes up for the finicky platforming. [July 2017, p.87]

Just enough to justify. [Sept 2012, p.115]

The sequel adds considerable depth to the original's plus points, without turning it into a serious economic simulation of trying to work out how to get the right amount of Snickers bars to feed your hungry mercenaries.

Accept its slow pace, and Cities: Skylines will reveal depth and drama you couldn't plan. [July 2017, p.90]

VT has always been a party game, and it pulls that off well enough to excuse the rough edges. If the more technical Top Spin 3 is posh dinner in polite company, this is a pie and a pint with friends - a little boisterous, maybe, but you don't need etiquette to have a good time.

At first it’s novel – and funny – to hear cats and warthogs spouting the usual high-fantasy nonsense about prophecies and world-eating serpents, especially as some of the voice acting is a bit off. But as the hours go on that all fades away to leave a well-realised setting. Along with the central mystery, it all makes for a compelling tail. Sorry – tale. Okay, perhaps we haven’t quite forgotten this is an animal kingdom. [Issue#180, p.87]

Midnight Club: Los Angeles is most successful when it keeps things simple. The game's checkpoint events and time trials are the best we've seen, and the option to create circuits from scratch adds the potential for some truly epic contests. For slick graphics, intelligent design and pure arcade fun, this is the racing game to keep your motor running this winter.

A brave, harrowing exploration of a troubled psyche which proves very powerful indeed. [Issue#180, p.83]

The strongest aspect of ACIII is the more mature moral tone.

A tale worth telling to JRPG fans everywhere. [July 2009, p.90]

Gloriously imaginative and heaps of fun. [Nov 2008, p.100]

A refreshing change of pace and damn good fun. [Feb 2009, p.82]

The reason it works is it's so damn accessible.

de Blob 2 feels like an amiable, almost therapeutic game, so one decision leaves us bewildered. For no plot-related reason whatsoever, every world is governed by an overarching countdown timer that spans all of the many missions.

As an exercise in carrying triple-A bloat gracefully, however, it's among Ubisoft's finest efforts. Fisher might look like the world's grumpiest, most grizzled ninja, but he's proving quite the crowd-pleaser.

The depth from Kinectimals doesn't really come from the games but from the connection between child and fluffy pretend animal. In that regard Frontier has nailed it. It's too simplistic for grown up casual gamers, but youngsters will lap it up.

Battlefield action polished until sparkling.

Clever cloning leads to some of the most inventive puzzles we've seen in a long time. Master its mad logic, and you'll find an excellent puzzle platformer. A really pleasant surprise.

Wonderful for exploration but has some issues with resource management. [Oct 2018, p.75]

An excellent slice of '80s nostalgia. [Sept 2009, p.88]

Refreshingly unique. [July 2007, p.104]

This is old-school style gaming, sticking proudly with the DMC staple. Nevertheless, Capcom has got the balance right this time. "Devil May Cry 3" was undoubtedly the pinnacle of the series, despite becoming insanely difficult far too quickly. Here it's a much slower incline rather than a sharp spike.

If you can stomach a few setbacks, this is funny, intriguing, caustic and rewarding. [Nov 2015, p.75]

Challenging and often frustrating, Elite rewards perseverance with a sense of place and progress that few Xbox One games can rival. [Jan 2016, p.76]

You can create your own general from scratch. [Apr 2015, p.79]

A sprawling ramshackle mishmash of a game that somehow works. [Issue#177, p.80]

Despite a few niggles you'd be hard pressed to be disappointed by this. With such a fun premise and carefully thought out design, it's more likely to sneak up and surprise you with how good it is.

Loses [10 points] for being essentially the same game as on last-gen, but this is nonetheless a unique adventure that tugs on the heartstrings as much as the analogue sticks. [Nov 2015, p.78]

Manages to impress. [Apr 2015, p.82]

Well-suited to a series so heavily reliant on talking yourself out of trouble. [Jan 2016, p.79]

All that aside, Forza Motorsport 6 offers the best racing experience you can get on Xbox One, bar none.

Behind its veil of twee anime and flippant dialogue lurks fighting of considerable depth, and yet surprising accessibility. And acquired taste, but one to savour all the same. [Jan 2016, p.84]

FlatOut 2's a more interesting racer than most, one that's smooth, nice looking and as easy to get into as a really big hole. It's not exactly moved on in any way since the original FlatOut, but if you missed out on that one, or really loved it and want more of almost exactly the same arcade racing insanity, go for it.

The story never lets you settle – it never guarantees the safety of Amicia or Hugo – and, even as some of the mechanics grow a little stale, that keeps A Plague Tale feeling breathless across its 12-hour runtime. [Issue#178, p.88]

A triumph in so many respects that lets itself down with some technical issues and a world that needed more variety in the way it looks. That, however, shouldn't stop you from picking this up and loving it until the end of this console generation. Forza Horizon 2 is an accomplishment, and a showcase for what open-world racers can do.

Pleasingly chaotic. [Apr 2015, p.85]

Citadel feels fresh compared to the tired 'haunted house' missions of recent DLC packs, and deserves to be filed alongside Kasumi's Stolen Memory and Lair of the Shadow Broker as one of the best expansions to the Mass Effect universe, as well as a fitting full stop for the trilogy.

A strong compilation. [Apr 2015, p.88]

Smart alterations to the throwing and catching game shake up the Madden formula enough to pass the taste test, without necessarily adding any new ingredients. [Nov 2015, p.84]

The Pre-Sequel! is a brilliant expansion, if not quite a brilliant game in its own right. Come for the Australians, stay for the low-gravity combat sections.

If you've had your fill of Killer Instinct and are looking for another rad fighter on the Xbox One, look no further. Great characters, solid online play and loads of content make this a bit of a kracker.

It's a one-trick pony, true. Yet does that even matter when the trick is this damn good? Of course it doesn't. Just buckle up, enjoy the ride and hang on for your life. [Feb 2008, p.92]

Fantastic co-op mayhem, but complicated recipes sour the taste slightly. [October 2018, p.80]

If you're in any way nostalgic about the original Jam games, at this price it's a slam dunk.

All it's lacking is confidence. The game might not once dare to underwhelm, but moments of true brilliance tend to emerge from the art direction - creeping into the mouth of a supertanker, shooting your way out of a dank church, clambering through a shattered Nigerian school. That the most impressive thing in a game about wholesale murder is the visuals suggests that Ubisoft might be using the drawing board the wrong way - but regardless, it's produced a shooter that's well worth your time.

With improved dialogue and pacing - and a handful of bold design choices - this is the strongest episode so far, with a finale you'll be desperate to discuss with friends. Bring on Episode 4.

At around five-plus hours of fun, Hell Yeah! doesn't outstay its welcome. From that first negative reaction to the title, we never expected to be saying this: Hell Yeah! is a fast, smooth and intelligently designed platformer with boundless enthusiasm, a winning imagination and stellar production values.

Evil Within grafts Resident Evil 4's gold standard survival action to a far less forgiving world. That it even comes close to matching Capcom's masterpiece is cause to celebrate. And sweat. And quiver.

An enjoyable twist on tower defence. [June 2012, p.101]

Perfectly balanced fights in a small package, we just wish there were more stages. [October 2018, p.83]

More of the same goofy, eccentric zombie-killing action Dead Rising fans love, sprinkled with Capcom callouts. [Sept 2014, p.96]

Immediately intense, but no long-term appeal. [May 2011, p.101]

It's this balance between arcade and sim racing - two apparently conflicting styles - that gives Shift its edge. While it doesn't quite hit the heights of Project Gotham Racing 4 or even RACE Pro, it's a huge leap forward for a series that had definitely lost its way. We're feeling the need for speed all over again.

For 400 points the game's a steal - it's an enjoyable blast of a bygone era that we'll never see again. [Sept 2007, p.110]

In spite of minor grumbles, this is an expansive, varied and satisfying physics puzzler and, while it could do with a smidge more personality, it certainly benefits from a budget price.

Madden NFL 20 is light on marquee features but builds a solid foundation for the future. [Issue#182, p.81]