A refreshing alternative to the darker platformers of the last few years.

An engrossing mix of sci-fi strategy and simulation - but this is a lesser version. [Issue#225, p.80]

An extremely polished, utterly playable update.

A charming and atmospheric RPG, with varied by underwhelming card battles.

Playing Lost Planet is like battering "Ghouls and Ghosts" for the first time. You simply won't believe how stunning it looks. But more imortantly, it's one of those games that pits you against incredible odds and satisfies by making it just about possible to beat them! [Jan 2007, p.8]

Despite some control issues, the game could have been a full retail game rather than a Live Arcade title; it's graphically superior to any xbox or PS2 game, it's not short and it features some innovative mechanics.

Other open world games dabble with the undead, but none of them do it on such a scale. Dead Rising 3's technical shortcomings mean that it isn't a game that easily justifies the purchase of an Xbox One, but it absolutely won't cause you to regret it.

What FIFA does well is give you time in possession. Play a through ball and get yourself in the opponent's penalty area and you're allowed to control it.

It's very much one of the year's best shooters, but for all Frostbite 2's volcanic achievements, it's more a triumph of consolidation, blending elements from past games and popular competitors, than a triumph in its own right.

Panorama-baitingly addictive. [Mar 2011, p.103]

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]