United they stand, divided they fall doesn't apply. Each game stands alone as an example of inspired design. Together they are essential. [Dec 2007, p.94]

A paragon of single-player, story-driven gaming that outdoes "Deus Ex," "STALKER," and even "HL2." Taste the air, and smell the fear. [Oct 2007, p.52]

A hilarious slice of gaming glory. [July 2011, p.92]

An epic in every sense of the word, but it's a shame it feels so linear and that combat is still an epic fail. [Mar 2010, p.88]

Everything here is bigger, better, brighter, faster, longer, sicker, cooler than the series has ever been before (and almost any other game you care to mention).

The 21st Century's finest, most involving roleplaying game so far. [May 2006, p.85]

It's the best strategy game released this year, and if you don't like it, there's something wrong with you. [Dec 2005 p.87]

At once familiar and surprising. A monster slice of historical strategy fun. [Nov 2006, p.100]

Note to Epic: just give us more unique Onslaught maps – and new vehicles for them – and we’ll happily keep playing. But keep churning out endless samey maps and it’s back to "Battlefield" and "PlanetSide" for us.

Perfectly balanced multiplayer with old school elements intact, and rich and dynamic single player campaigns. [Issue#244, p.102]

There’s no reason to fear its Xbox origins – while you may occasionally long for extra depth on a mission or perhaps some more involved combat, the rapid pace and dedication to narrative and character will soon have you back hacking away in the thick of the action.

Broadly speaking, in MMOs you hit things, then fashion things to make your hitting more effective. World of Warcraft does that better than anything else on the market at the moment. [Jan 2005, p.96]

A jack of all trades and a master of some - San Andreas tries astonishingly hard to let you do anything. And so long as you don't crave any meaningful character interaction outside of mow down with a monster truck first, ask questions later, it very nearly manages to pull it off, too. [Aug 2005, p.88]

A brilliant reinvention that may stick to First Person Shooter convention, but applies cutting-edge production values. [Jan 2008, p.58]

Cool, dark and calculating, Splinter Cell finally plays as stylishly as it looks. [May 2005, p.100]

Crosses the rubicon of greatness with a Latin flourish; it's the equal of a hundred lesser games. [Nov 2004]

This particular Twilight makes the GalCiv 2 strategy universe burn brighter than ever. A gme for vets and newcomers. [Aug 2008, p.102]

Attractive, accessible and plenty to do – for a golf game, anyway.

Bigger, prettier and cleverer than before and for most the perfect evolution. [Jan 2009, p.90]

Very probably the greatest secret agent game around.

A massively polished and highly accessible shooter that just doesn't let up long enough to allow you to get bored of it. [Christmas 2007, p.50]

The bar for MMOs has been lifted even higher - it'll take something almost sexual in nature to topple the mighty WoW now. [Mar 2007, p.70]

The player might not be number one any more, but the game reigns supreme. [Nov 2004]

It's far from perfect, but still a damn good rollick through DC's well carved territory. [Nov 2009, p.88]

Exhilarating to the point of giddiness. This is a martial masterpiece. [Aug 2005, p.80]

Street Fighter IV can be spirit crushingly hard in single player mode. [Aug 2009, p.98]

It couldn't possibly satisfy all of our hopes, but Fallout 3 is still a glorious experience that will utterly nuke your social life. [Christmas 2008, p.86]

An excellent FPS, and easily one of the year’s best. It’s varied, funny, imaginative, challenging (on anything other than Easy mode, which you could complete blindfolded) and has a lot to offer. However, despite all this, it lacks its predecessor’s spark of genius and genuine originality. If we sound a little on the negative side, it’s only through mild disappointment that it’s merely a very good game rather than a repeat performance of a genuine classic.

Battle beyond the tactical problems and enjoy the blood splattered glory of it all. [Christmas 2009, p.86]

The Red Army levels are stunning.

The whole process feels just perfectly balanced; this is literally the most expert game you can play, it feels great and fans of the original will love it. [Oct 2004, p.84]

The most successful MMO ever adds another thick layer of icing to its cake. [Feb 2011, p.100]

Indie gaming's finest hour and the best puzzle game since "Lemmings." Easy on the eyes, your system and your wallet - it's a triumph. [Christmas 2008, p.94]

There are moments that let Butcher Bay down - the melee combat, cack-handed first-person boxing, feels radom and ridiculous; there's some irritating mystical babble; and it's too short - but overall, the game's a gem. [Jan 2005, p.86]

From the ridiculous to the sublime: one for fans of undersea combat. [June 2005, p.98]

As good as Civ ever was, with some interesting new additions and, better yet, no more stacks o' doom. A worthy series update. [Issue#245, p.98]

It's ugly, clunky and stilted, but channel your psychotic Sam Fisher and you'll find some fun. [Oct 2011, p.103]

A sensory feast, GTR2 takes you so close you can almost smell the burning rubber. The best PC racing sim there is. [Oct 2006, p.90]

The most grown-up GTA and the best realised, but it doesn't respect the PC much. Enjoy the multiplayer madness if you can. [Christmas 2008, p.96]

It's the finest Total War game CA has ever made, with a beautifully focused campaign and involving multiplayer too. [Apr 2011, p.94]

A colossus of a game. The challenges presented by the Grand Campaign firmly establish Empire as the stuff of legend: it’s far-reaching, truly massive and utterly engrossing. Once more, CA has refused to rest upon its laurels, creating one hell of a time-filching game; expect some late nights and canceled social engagements once Empire hits your hard drive.

It’s managed to make ostensibly the same game as it always has, but with just a little bit of lateral thinking has revolutionised its own formula. Bring on Age of Bomber Jackets, already.

The PES series has always been about realistic football simulation rather then hi-octane arcade action. [Dec 2005 p.85]

The role playing element is where this game comes into its own...You can engage in mind games with any other manager, striking up friendships and burn bridges, and your players will react to what they say about you too. The fun that cna be had by continually prodding a virtual Kevin Keegan to see what he'll do next...[Dec 2004, p.82]

Possibly too relentless for the less devout mouse-jockey, but it's astounding proof that being a brain-dead shooter is a very good thing. [Jan 2009, p.86]

Gory, thrilling and this year's essential play. [Christmas 2009, p.84]

Mass Effect's impressive storytelling struggles against remarkably clunky combat action, and wins - but only just. [July 2008, p.100]

Nearly perfect drop-in, drop-out fantasy fun. Top-notch stuff. [July 2005, p.91]

It's imposingly deep and demanding. [Dec 2005 p.89]

Another masterpiece from the folks at Massive, and one of the most beautiful visions of warfare you're ever likely to see. [Oct 2007, p.30]

When Far Cry does what only it can do, it’s a genuine classic (you’ll be waiting in vain to see anything of the scale of the outdoors sections in "Doom III"). When it follows in others’ footsteps, it’s merely a highly superior genre game.

While other games may offer more to immediately get excited about, its charms will last long after their 3D glories wane, and for fast-paced but thoughtful strategy action, you simply cannot do any better.

Battlefield 1942 is absolutely a multiplayer title – and don’t let anyone tell you different – and in that respect it really does the business.

With stunning visuals and a racing model so finely-judged Codies has done it again. An oil-stained masterpiece. [Jan 2010, p.82]

A superior resurrection of a presumed dead legend.

Strategy game of the year, perhaps of the millennium.

It’s doubtful whether fair-weather flight sim fans will get much more out of this than they would from FS2002, but for the enthusiast, A Century of Flight is worthy of the pride and bluster that the title implies.

As cinematic games go, Mafia is in a league of its own.

One of the best physics puzzle games out there. A clever game and one devoid of pretension. [Oct 2011, p.104]

Running sideways in slow motion, blasting the head off a commando provides absurd visceral splendour, especially when you've just shatter his legs wtih a sliding kick. Some people worry about violence in games. We do too: we worry that it usually isn't this good. [Nov 2005, p.84]

If you want slick, beautifully presented footie, controlling your local first division side, stick with "FIFA," but if you're after a visceral, accurately modelled game then look no further than PES6. [Dec 2006, p.107]

A bewigged, flouncing, educational "Rome." Wonderful stuff. [Christmas 2006, p.88]

They may seem like fairly minor tweaks, but what's changed in this sequel makes for so much more than the original. [Mar 2010, p.84]

As used in CS: Source, that ground breaking physics engine is just gimmickry. Likewise, no attempt has been made to make the robotic hostages lifelike. So much for "HL2's" ground-breaking AI. But we have a confession: we just can't stop playing it. [Dec 2004, p.85]

A little like a tavern wench you met in Trinidad - certainly pretty, very broad, but ultimately a tiny bit shallow. [Jan 2005, p.88]

Engrossing - if you enjoy building things, this is a must. [Sept 2006, p.104]

An ambitious, charismatic RPG that plays like no other. [June 2011, p.80]

PopCap at its finest. [July 2009, p.95]

Gorgeous and horrifying , but also dumb and repetitive.

Still the most realistic version to date, but minor niggles cloud the improvements. [Christmas 2009, p.92]

Frustratingly similar to the first, but plenty of good set-pieces in there.

Good intro to the PC for the Burnout series, but though it’s not meant to be a sim, we’d prefer a bit more meat on our games.

Modern Warfare 2 is a far more complete package, but DICE proves that it's the master of true multiplayer warfare. [Apr 2010, p.92]

Like going to dinner with a supermodel only to discover she's also as witty as a stand-up comic; GRID is gorgeous and emormously good fun. [July 2008, p.104]

Compulsive and enormous in equal measures. [Apr 2008, p.104]

It's still a fantastic game. [Sept 2010, p.102]

Play it with your brain switched off and you'll cruise through the whole shebang in something like four hours, but take your time over the game, soak up the world's look and feel, listen to the refreshingly sharp NPC dialogue, experiment with different ways of approaching each conflict and puzzle, and you'll drag it out to a deeply satisfying six or seven. [Aug 2006, p.90]

Challenging, cerebral, and maddening.

This is the point where the populist WW2 first-person shooter gets the long awaited reinforcements: New Ideas. [Apr 2005, p.98]

It's just a huge shame that it's not as terrifying as it should be. [Apr 2011, p.98]

Slick, with better handling but seen-it-all-before gameplay.

Acceptable, but like a photo of the Mona Lisa rather than the real thing. [Nov 2004]

Same, but brilliantly different. [Christmas 2007, p.60]

Engaging and absorbing. Prepare to lose yourself again. [Dec 2006, p.106]

Utterly mental, but quite, quite brilliant. One of the best experiences of the year. [July 2005, p.92]

A tense, nervous gun-ache of a game that will make you jump and scream. [Jan 2008, p.70]

While non-hockey fans can blag their way through the main game, Dynasty mode is a whole different puck game. It takes a real hockey buff to know what's going on with the different team lines, strategies, player trading and draft picking.

An ace expansion to an already ace RTS. Essential for fans. [Christmas 2006, p.102]

The most fun you'll have with Supreme Commander lies in the skirmish and multiplayer battles, where it becomes a high-tech bitch-slapping meat grinder of a game. [Mar 2007, p.66]

Finally, The Witcher fulfills its potential, and, best of all, it's available as a free update, just in case you bought it anyway. [Nov 2008, p.110]

Unbelievably intense and absolutely beautiful on a high-end PC. [Christmas 2005, p.93]

Silly and linear, but still remains compulsive desire the repetitive gameplay. [Nov 2009, p.96]

Doesn't broaden Civ IV's appeal any, but a must-have if you have any Sid Meier love in you. [Oct 2007, p.80]

This game may well manage to suck some of the harder gamers into its clever paws thanks to sharp wit and genuine originality. [July 2009, p.86]

It's rare that a game with almost exactly the same engine and characters as its antecedent matches it blow for blow, but this is the exception to the rule. [May 2005, p.95]

Gloriously fun and deeply silly, it's the happiest platform game of all. [Oct 2006, p.98]

As human mercenary enemies make way for the dreaded aliens, the AI suffers a brain haemorrhage and the game needs to distract you with spectacular visual events to distract you from your stand and shoot enemies. It's as good as any recent shooter at epic moments and gun-toting drama, but it feels a little shallow once you realise how remedial the all-conquering alien force actually are.

Not a huge leap on from CoD4, but still a fantastic single-player action romp and quality multiplayer if you can get it to work. [Jan 2010, p.86]