Like anything this complex, it is by turns brilliant, incredibly frustrating and boring. There's too much information to cope with. [Christmas 2004, p.111]

Claustrophobically restricted by some uninspired level design, and all too often your soldiers are boxed in by clumsy dead ends, making more complex troop manoeuvres virtually impossible. [March 2005, p.109]

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]

Crude and boring. Stick a cork up Larry's ass and his game in the bin. [Christmas 2004, p.120]

The necessity to move between labs to drop off every single new clue and pick up results is more than a little tiresome. [Feb 2005, p.92]

Just another game MIA in the jungles of Vietnam. It's adventure, but just not adventurous enough.

You're left with Commodore-era finger bruises and PS2-quality graphics, and you don't even get the full complement of Olympic sports. Rubbish. [Christmas 2004, p.122]

The production remains awesome, but everything is cluttered and ultimately the game is just shallow. [Christmas 2004, p.108]

"Prince of Persia's" ugly second cousin. Does not get invited to royal functions. [Nov 2004]

If, however, you've played Myst before and hated it for its slow pace, its limited movement and the distinct lack of (perceived) gameplay, then this new version will do nothing to change your mind. [Dec 2004, p.88]

It’s interesting enough, but it’s lacking any real innovation. At all.

Everywhere you look there's another cute animation and another cool gadget. Combine this with an addictive research tree and a challenging campaign, and you have yourself a great combination of "Dungeon Keeper" and "Austin Powers" - just not a very long one. [Oct 2004, p.94]

Miserable nonsense that would have Holmes reaching for the syringe. Real detective work is tedious, lengthy, frustrating and often pointless. In that sense at least, Silver earring is spot on. This is fun how? [Nov 2004]

It's actually very well put together, with all the right voices, but suffers from an over-profusion of sub-aquatic advertising taken from the film. [Christmas 2004, p.122]

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

Fantasy RTS with a very level head.

Ample proof that thinking men are welcome in the modern army.

With so many competing FPS games on the market, Red Mercury falls sadly below par..."Splinter Cell" meets "Serious Sam." Not too bad. Not very good. [Dec 2004, p.90]

The force is just about strong enough to conceal the flaws. [Nov 2004]

Currently it's flawed, and despite glimmers of competence, the imbalanced combat, terrible connection problems, and lack of reason to play leave the score far lower than a properly finished game might have achieved. [Dec 2004, p.97]

There's none of the groundbreaking innovations of the "Total War" series or the gloriously strange "Perimeter," just a conventional game made very enjoyable (more so than it perhaps deserves to be) by a brilliant franchise and spectacular animation... Stunning to behold. [Oct 2004, p.88]

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

A neat platformer that misses the final leap to triumph. [Oct 2005, p.98]

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 game is incredibly awkward to play. [Oct 2004, p.99]

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

Still great fun, but do you really need to buy it again? [Jan 2005, p.90]

Frantic platforming with a whimsical bent. [Nov 2006, p.104]