Mistmare’s slow pace and dependency on dialogue steals the thunder from many of its fantasy elements.

Would have made 70% if not for the atrocious control system.

It’s a strangely deflating experience. There’s the bare bones of a good title here, and as a FPS, Elite Force II does dish up some satisfying action. It’s certainly an improvement on the first instalment. But it should have been far more than a game fighting to get out of the paper bag, rather than one that was ultimately suffocated by its own franchise.

Fascinating, infinite possibilities, but it's rough around the edges. [Feb 2005, p.84]

Undrentide’s additions bring new life to a flagging game, and though its story isn’t much to write home about, it’ll certainly tide us over until Bioware’s next magnum opus, "Knights of the Old Republic."

Despite advances in the game’s graphics, and a few extra tracks, we feel a little underwhelmed – it’s just too similar to its predecessor. Don’t get us wrong, MotoGP 2 is a fine racer, but it could have been so much more of a dream machine.

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.

Now here’s the clever thing – there are three sides fighting for the planet Auraxis but the battle is worldwide. It’s not the simple small arenas of Counter-Strike and Team Fortress, nor is it the enormous maps but frustratingly futile team versus team of Tribes 2.

It works, and it’s playable, but its remarkable fighting isn’t enough to pull it out of the mire labelled average.

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).

A fresh breath in the MMORPG genre. In some respects it's ELITE on steroids.

We admit that the dynamic has changed. Weaponry feels less accurate, the maps are smaller, though we don’t see the inherent problem in that. It’s true you can no longer hear the enemy’s footsteps, but this isn’t a fatal oversight.

Stuff the storyline and just play the game.

Surprisingly, there is no option for random generation of islands, nor is there any scope for multiplayer frolics, making it feel rather limited.

Enthralling, humorous, and a real must for all "Civilization" fans.

Vietcong is everything Platoon should’ve been: realistic, immersive, tense, reasonably flexible, and thoroughly addictive. How ironic that two Czech developers should be the first to create a truly brilliant Vietnam game.

easily the best instalment yet – it looks great, plays great, and has oodles of expansion potential. The only downer is that even on higher-end machines, things can really chug in crowded areas. Still, that’s the price you pay for freedom.

An interesting campaign and siege capability give it an edge, and the abilities of the troops and handsome locations pull it up over the average RTS, but it’s more Gibbon than Plutarch. If you’re a strat addict with a penchant for heavy armour, or a classical scholar, then you’ll love it. Others might as well wait for "Rome: Total War."

Overall, the simplicity is really the only thing that holds Operation Genesis back: it comes across as more of a children’s game than a fully-fledged management title and doesn’t have the enduring challenges to really snare the proper calculator junkies.

Not wholly innovative, but a rewarding tactical shooter.

It might not be universally perfect, but it’s certainly the king of infinite space.

Blasting action with more depth than your average FPS.

Very probably the greatest secret agent game around.

It graphically depicts some very horrid things, and on a fundamental level, trivialises the kinds of international, cultural and religious issues which affect us all. Apart from that, it’s ace.

Forward-looking tech, backwards-looking gaming.

The same, and happily just as oops-where-did-the-weekend-go addictive. Buy it, and resign yourself to some five-hours gaps in your memory you may have difficulty explaining to the police at a later date.

A welcome mutation, but not as evolved as you’d think.

Frightening and utterly absorbing in equal measure.