About half a good map pack, Awakening offers little innovation from what's already available. [Apr 2016, p.93]

A no-frills port of an already underweight horror package. There's much other developers can learn from Slender's terror tactics, but we suspect they've got the message by now. Give the tall lad a miss.

A truly beautiful setting undone by balance issues. Fingers crossed for future fixes. [Nov 2018, p.91]

It's not entirely run-of-the-mill. [Aug 2008, p.85]

For a series aimed at children, it seems to make the unusual mistake of underestimating them. Too often, combat and puzzles are reduced to doing what you're told. But if you're in love with Middle-Earth, there's enough homage to make this worthwhile.

Ultimately this anti-grav game is just too light, and could have benefited from a little extra ballast to add some weight to the decent structure that's already there. [Oct 2007, p.80]

Although it has a fresh approach to platforming, Schrödinger’s Cat is let down by a rollercoaster difficulty curve, randomly-generated repetition, and an unsettled tone.

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

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.

A fun and deserving indie game that needed a bit of adjustment for sofa-based play. [March 2017, p.86]

There's nothing here to make this anything other than an entirely missable Halloween-themed distraction. [Christmas 2013, p.111]

Everreach overreaches, struggling with a strong but overly ambitious concept. [Issue#187, p.81]

It's all a bit on the Mickey Mouse side. [Christmas 2011, p.107]

A varied but over-engineered shooter that's a little bit of everything and a whole lot of nothin'. [July 2016, p.84]

Way of the Samurai's freedom is also its biggest problem.

Fun for a while, but difficult, repetitive and marred by the controls. [July 2018, p.82]

The combat isn't fair, the aesthetics are grim, and at times it's uncomfortably racist and sexist. But while it's an anachronistic mess of a game, it's weirdly compulsive regardless.

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

An entirely shallow addition to the fighting franchise, but it's slick and stylish nevertheless. [Dec 2013, p.87]

While New Game+ lets you restart the adventure with all of your gear and experience, there's not much variation to the storyline, and the light RPG conversations add little in the grand scheme of things. That said, if you're aching for a solid, fun co-op game, War in the North might be worth a stab.

A great concept for a game, but probably somewhat lacking in long-term appeal. [July 2018, p.90]

Most story missions rely on hefty amounts of trial and error, but getting it right doesn't even feel satisfying: it's like playing cards against someone who cheers every time you win, but refuses to teach you how to play. Everything you do is tied back to the multiplayer - a mighty clan-based system that impresses, but adds even more complexity. Armored Core V's initial ease turns out to be a token gesture. This is hardcore.

There's no doubt that there's a push towards narrative and mechanical innovation at its heart. This won't earn plaudits for what it achieves, but what it attempts is another matter - it might be destined for the bargain bucket, but it's worth picking up once it gets there.

While the game itself is never diffi cult or badly designed, it consistently contrives to point out its restrictions: neither controls nor narrative are ever slick enough that you ever feel immersed.

Not as cool as it could have been. [Mar 2010, p.115]

Hugely imaginative but slightly irritating. [Nov 2013, p.95]

It's a brilliant use of Kinect, and it's the game they should use on shopfloors to show how responsive and intuitive the kit can be. But it's also 800MP for what amounts to a single motor function in a single mini-game. Even with leaderboard appeal, it's hard to whole-heartedly recommend.

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.