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]