Eventually fun, if you can stand the grind. [June 2011, p.105]

Serious Sam HD has just one, explosive, bloody, wildly spinning gear - one unlikely to arrest your interests for long.

There's an overall lack of personality to the game - there aren't enough control quirks to master or career goals to aim for. While EA's NHL 10 rewards you at every turn for digging into the game, NHL 2K10 has nothing new to offer but the chance to ride a Zamboni machine and polish ice.

Even at a handful of minutes, the levels seem over-long. [Dec 2013, p.91]

The content additions are minor and the visual upgrades are difficult to spot. [Apr 2015, p.78]

An ambitious but watered-down racing experience that rarely satisfies. [Sept 2018, p.92]

Okay for kids, but they could do much better. [Sept 2010, p.101]

It's just a pity there isn't as much variety in the fighting as there is in the outfits, as we could've been looking at an even higher score. [Apr 2007, p.91]

A very welcome nostalgia kick. [May 2012, p.99]

About as good as non-human poker gets. [July 2013, p.79]

Like the outfits its drab protagonist wields like weapons, Lightning Returns is all style and very little meaningful substance. Combat works well, but the world is altogether forgettable.

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

The fantastic visual detail and easy controls make it immersive and challenging, and if you're into flight sims or WWII games will really enjoy it's sinister atmosphere, powerful score and deeply satisfying explosions when the bullets hit home. But everyone else will quickly grow tired of the repetitive missions, and once the game's finished there's very little replay value. [May 2006, p.72]

Idea-free shooting. With dinosaurs. [Mar 2008, p.90]

Looks great, sounds utterly terrifying and proves the old formula can still scare. But partner-swapping remains tedious and unintuitive. Why do a remake if you just leave the greatest flaws unfixed? [March 2016, p.81]

Conan is like a bad exploitation flick. It's lurid, crass, dumb and looks like sh*t. However, strange as it sounds, these are exactly the kind of things that might just keep you playing. [Dec 2007, p.104]

It's a harrowing tale, but a frustrating one too. Odd arcade touches and cost-cutting measures poke through the skin like broken bones. Bluffing your way out of a fight sounds promising, but it's a clunky, repetitive business and bodycounts are high.

One of the best team FPSs to date.

Struggling with the camera ruins the imaginative ideas at the core of this Lego installment. [May 2017, p.88]

Deathmatch in pure, concentrated form.

A basic, functional puzzler that has a nice idea it doesn't really know how to use successfully. [May 2017, p.91]

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]

Mostly fun retro beat-'em-up that can be challenging, but not so much that it's rewarding. [July 2018, p.84]

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

Frustrating combat game with little reward to make the effort worthwhile.

Not very welcoming but presented well. [Sept 2011, p.101]

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.

You've already played the best bit. [Sept 2013, p.102]