While the AI in "SFII" can be difficult, it was never unfair. UMK3 offers no such assurance. [Christmas 2006, p.108]

Far from a masterpiece, nowhere near awful. [Nov 2013, p.95]

Salt and Sanctuary offers a notably different experience from the Souls games anyway, simply because it’s presented side-on, but here in 2019, it faces some seriously tough competition in that space. Compared to Dead Cells, its combat feels positively sluggish, and its map can’t hold a gloomy candle to the exploratory delights of Hollow Knight.

For all its radial menus and console-friendly UI, Spellbound simply hasn't managed to make Gothic work in a console environment. [Issue#66, p.85]

There's little that pushes it beyond Guardian of Light, while the co-op is feeble and plagued with technical issues. [Feb 2015, p.78]

On a hand-held, you'd think "well done chaps, this is a good boiled-down version which keeps the core of the game intact". But on a console, and so soon after Black Flag, it feels like an over-long chunk of watery DLC.

Typically entertaining multiplayer gameplay let down by single-player campaign riddled with indecisive AI and unfunny narration. [Aug 2014, p.85]

F1 2014 delivers on the racing, but its lack of new features suggests a stagnancy in the series. We're eager to see what 2015 delivers, and if things get booted back into gear.

An old-fashioned RPG, solid but unexciting. [July 2009, p.92]

Too short to be worthwhile. [Aug 2011, p.97]

Fun, but far too easily mastered. [Jan 2013, p.97]

A quintessentially average 'alright for a one-night stand but don't even think of proposing' game that your Xbox 360 has had the pleasure of experiencing at least a couple of hundred times before.

A short, funky old-school nostalgia trip that fails to fulfil its potential.

The Vision Camera Game Face technology is well-implemented. [Christmas 2006, p.106]

There's no online play, use of the camera is minimal, the only things you unlock are extra difficulty levels for the mini-games that already exist, and it just feels a little bare. Maybe wait until it drops to the £15 mark, then by all means give it a whirl.

Only ever as hard as you are daft. [Dec 2015, p.86]

Although this simple brawler has some intriguing multiplayer ideas, the solo game's repetitive and the Crusade metagame is hard to invest in. [Dec 2013, p.87]

Poorly conceived structures supporting too little new content mean this is, sadly, a great waste. [Feb 2015, p.86]

Perfectly competent retro adventure that's missing a certain modern spark. [Sept 2018, p.76]

In comparison with even the base Destiny 2 – let alone that game expanded by all its excellent DLC – Anthem feels not so much unfinished as barely started. It contains some good ideas which it fails to develop, and some of its basic pillars, such as the insistence on fourplayer co-op, somehow convey the impression of being tacked on rather than fundamental. And even with the huge early patch, it’s still glitchy – we had to play three quarters of a 45-minute Stronghold without sound, for example, which was disconcerting.

The world of Defiance is singularly, spectacularly ugly. We appreciate that Earth's been terraformed beyond recognition - but who set the terraformers to "blurry; terrible water effects; mostly brown"?

This gives you the thrills of playing poker with real money, without the hassle of winning real money back. Ah, microtransactions. [Dec 2013, p.91]

It's made more entertaining thanks to Portal soundbites. [Aug 2015, p.87]

A clever idea marred by a dull, dull world. [Nov 2008, p.72]

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

A promising follow-up to C&P let down by its insistence on badly designed set-pieces. [Aug 2016, p.78]

Ride only really comes alive when you're the only person on the tarmac. [Aug 2015, p.93]

A faded Arkham Asylum facsimile. [Oct 2011, p.103]