The repetitive action might be reminiscent of the original games, but it's still repetition, and ultimately that causes things to drag. Fortunately just like Max himself it's also difficult to dislike - the plot isn't something you'll be able to leave alone for long, bullet time still has the capacity to thrill and the multiplayer provides the variety and unpredictability required for genuine longevity.

By far the best skate game on any console. [Nov 2007, p.88]

Better is good, but it isn't great. [Nov 2011, p.110]

Not quite the evolutionary leap we’d hoped for, but this beautiful and bombastic adventure remains one of the most purely entertaining things you can put in your Xbox One this Christmas.

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.

More time-travel sci-fi needs heel kicks. [Dec 2012, p.87]

The main reason you'll keep returning to DJ Hero 2 is for a love of the music. Simply playing along with any of the tunes in the game is a thoroughly entertaining experience - particularly when you get the chance to commandeer the crossfader or perform some freestyle scratching and sampling.

Innovation or execution? We'll take the latter so long as Techland are behind the wheel. A gloriously entertaining, blood-soaked country drive.

Superbly tactile, and with that track generator this is the sign of a racer done right. [Sept 2017, p.76]

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.

Exacting and exhilarating, this slightly fugly remaster remains a challenging classic. [Aug 2018, p.76]

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.

The presentation, the career game, the online stuff, the load times...everything's better. And with streets packed with spectators, signs and flags, it's a much more vibrant lace than Gotham's sterile cities of old. We simply have no alternative but to crown Gotham 4 the best racing game on Xbox 360. [Nov 2007, p.102]

Fast, realistic, and cool as ice. [Nov 2007, p.98]

The proof is in the songs, better balanced and offering enough range to please everybody. Here's to another six months of hard rock heaven.

Consistently brilliant - the best Hitman game, and one of the best games of the year. [Jan 2017, p.84]

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

Champion Mode's story makes you care more about the fights. [Apr 2011, p.102]

An atmospheric trip that makes us pine for such amazing characters in all the games we play. [Dec 2016, p.73]

Guardian of Light crackles with energy, and Crystal Dynamics has clearly relished adding a different dynamic to the franchise. By marrying top-down shooter mechanics with a tidy co-op mode, it adds something the series was long thought to have lost: a sense of fun.

Rupturing quality and oozing tension, this is stealth gaming of the highest calibre, full of imagination and augmented by an excellent two-way Trust system that leaves you pondering every choice you make and then having to deal with the consequences. [Nov 2006, p.8]

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

An essential buy for any Xbox fight fan. [Aug 2015, p.82]

Tired and lacking ideas, this is the most disappointing CoD in years that follows, not leads. [Christmas 2018, p.72]

Heaven for the fans, tough love for the rest. [Oct 2009, p.86]

It’s the realisation of a vision Rocksteady has been working towards since 2009. Now that gaming tech has finally caught up, we’ve been given the swansong the Dark Knight deserves.

It's not as technically demanding as Street Fighter IV, and feels like a more free-flowing, mobile, nimble fighter in comparison. [Issue#66, p.99]

There's a massive amount to say about GHWT, from the factoid videos teaching you the real guitar, and the vastly improved backdrop for gigs, to the superb way you can play as a band. This is a vastly entertaining package and a must buy for music lovers and GH fans.