Four pretty but stale multiplayer arenas. One comedy zombie map. Eleven of your pounds wasted. [Nov 2011, p.122]

Some nice touches, but lethargic AI, performance issues, and personality - deficient premiers make the ruling gruelling. [Nov 2011, p.120]

Bite-sized, colourful chunks of randomly generated adventure. It's the perfect casual roguelike experience. [Nov 2011, p.114]

It's beautiful, free and addictive to a point, but Age of Empires Online's battles fail to deliver a challenge. [Nov 2011, p.110]

An impressive second season that fixes our gripes from the first game and turns F1 into an accomplished racer.

A sluggish interface, weak guns and a few dull sewers can't slow this game down. Dead Island is huge, bloody and beautiful.

If you've got the patience to penetrate this game, and to put up with its dawdling, you're in for a treat.

An indie platform game with endearing retro looks, style, sophistication, and a sadistic streak. [Mar 2010, p.96]

The germ of a cool game, not quite ready for prime time, but with plenty of potential if the right choices are made. [Oct 2011, p.90]

Doesn't wander far enough from the path to make it worth picking up over the other, more content-filled MMOs. [Oct 2011, p.88]

Packs goofy characters, great loot, and a few bugs into an interesting new zone for the Fallout series. [Oct 2011, p.86]

It's not a great leap forward, but growing bananas and rigging elections remains remarkably entertaining. [Oct 2011, p.84]

It's Panzer General in a new greatcoat. A perfect introduction to the wonderful world of wargaming. [Oct 2011, p.80]

A beautifully designed masterpiece of a platform game, that will chill, challenge and charm in equal measure. [Oct 2011, p.78]

Space Marine is just endless war. Thanks to powerful weapons and excellent pacing, that war is pretty damn fun.

Something that raises a smile in your inbox, instead of spam. [Christmas 2006, p.93]

While it's limited, it's also a lot of fun. [Sept 2011, p.89]

7 quid is a good price for a universe. [Sept 2011, p.89]

The perfect entry point into the series for PC gamers. Time to clear some desk space. [Sept 2011, p.82]

Besides unlocking costumes that don't offer stat bonuses, there's almost zero replay value here. [Aug 2011, p.99]

Too fiddly and unforgiving for the popular palate, but those after reality-rooted WWII challenges should clearly investigate. [Aug 2011, p.94]

A smart strategy game that doesn't work at the frantic pace it requires. Clever idea, but it's not cleverly designed. [Aug 2011, p.90]

Petty, nasty and anachronistic. Duke is only relevant as a warning from the past. Avoid these mistakes, developers. [Aug 2011, p.76]

It's jaunty, silly, and extremely fun. Best played with a good friend, and a good joypad. It's just a little bit too short.

Spiral Knights is fast, accessible and fun until the spiteful pricing system pops up to punch you in the face.

A passable single player game that's hilarious fun in co-op. Full of weird and enjoyable multiplayer ideas. [Sept 2011, p.78]

Occasionally satisfying combat can't overcome a bland world, unbalanced skills and obtuse crafting systems. What a mess.

An elegant game of pure tactics and psychology, won by wits instead of reflexes. Good against AI, great with friends.

There's some nice, quirky puzzles here, but ultimately very little else.

A terrible port of a recycled series, but still remains as funny as ever.

A satisfying self-contained chapter, driven by an engrossing story, with exploration encouraged. Plus flying laser robots.

An intense and beautifully designed action-physics platformer, which also happens to be dirt cheap.

The appealing characters and occasionally entertaining puzzles can only take it so far. [July 2011, p.99]

You will laugh. [July 2011, p.99]

Stay away. [July 2011, p.98]

The campaign is nothing special, but you get more than your money's worth in the Conquest multiplayer mode. [July 2011, p.96]

Despite unrefined combat, Alice: Madness Returns delivers a fun, unforgettable journey in color, design, and images.

Lack of tutorial, buggy netcode and wobbly combat aside, it's hard not to love the sense of wonder and discovery.

Vietnam's story mission is pants, but the new weapons and survival map will please devoted Magicka fans.

Builds on the classic rules while keeping their timeless charm.

A fresh, fun idea, beautifully and expertly made. Any game this inventive and clever is worth your £9.

An acceptable, lighthearted RPG that's often too simple, too staid and too black and white to be much fun.

Leaks fun like a cracked sump leaks Castrol. Thoughtful additions ensure it's as irresistible as its predecessor.

The best physics-'em-up since Armadillo Run. [June 2011, p.95]

It's a delight, a near-perfect example of a populist combat sim. It's a rare battle passes some nailbiting duel or pulse-propelling advance. [June 2011, p.96]

It's sterile, it's empty, and has no sense of fun. [June 2011, p.95]

Ghostbusting isn't a challenge. [June 2011, p.87]

Flashes of brilliance and masses of bugs. Cliffs of Dover needed at least another six months in the hangar. [June 2011, p.84]

Play the game the way it asks you to and you can have lots of fun, but Brink can be a bit too needy for pick-up-and-play.

It's simple, well executed and, so long as you're not bothered by a little trial and error with your research, good fun.

What's just not funny becomes sandpaper pants irritating when delivered in broken English. [May 2011, p.97]

Second time's a bit more of a charm, although the classic adventure style still isn't the perfect fit for Marty and Doc. [May 2011, p.86]

Played correctly, it's still fun, but never feels as important as its older brother did. [May 2011, p.79]

It's a worthy and handsome effort, but frustratingly badly explained, making it hard to play.

Red River takes all the things the Flashpoint name is associated with – creative, emergent destruction and go-anywhere realism – and lets them wash away. It tries to be a bombastic shooter, but dodgy AI, a warren of bugs and an unpleasant tone mean the few gulps of fun you could draw from its waters are to be taken in multiplayer only.

Standard quests and a throwaway story can't dent the thrill of Rift's invasions, or the depth of its soul system. [May 2011, p.92]

The most exhaustively detailed, realistic combat jet simulation you'll find outside of a classified U.S. military facility.

The old soldier shows his gregarious side. This is gruelling but great WWII action, spanning every theatre.

More an interactive fairytale than a game, this Sims spinoff tells a good yarn but feels limited.

Shift 2's sheer weight of stuff – from mud-ring circuits in a VW Golf to Bugatti duels at the Nurburgring – gives it a deep bag of appeal. There's an array of fiddly details for car geeks to poke at, and a range of control-difficulty settings that allow you to tailor races to your ability. The only downside to such a complete package is that it demands so many hours of acclimatisation before the cars start to make sense.

A fantastic story and great characters, but hours of tedious traps and mazes shows why Fallout is best without walls. [Apr 2011, p.98]

It's got decent spaceship sections and charmingly bad dialogue, but don't expect quality or compelling action. [Apr 2011, p.96]

The joy of the open road in a game that probably shouldn't get away with feeling as fun as it does. [Apr 2011, p.86]

Brings a whole new meaning to the words "resource management." [Apr 2011, p.85]

A genuinely charming entry in the point-and-click catalogue. [Apr 2011, p.83]

It poorly combines the micro-management of Men of War with the pacing and tactics of Company of Heroes. [Apr 2011, p.83]

Homefront never quite captures the feel of guerilla warfare, but its multiplayer mode is a warzone worth fighting in.

A transitory pleasure that polishes up nice. But it lacks variety and competition, and is just a little bit too difficult.

As much mental workout as excellent puzzle game, SpaceChem challenges and entertains, plus it has an engaging story.

Exactly what Dawn of War 2 needed: a generous dose of variety, options, and vicious silliness. play through it at least twice.

An exciting, surprising and thought-provoking adventure rendered in a beautiful art style. Gemini Rue earns respect.

The shallow mechanics and technical problems make this one to avoid at full price. [Mar 2011, p.97]

A smart and primly executed brainteaser, but the lack of feedback stops high-level play feeling similarly squared away. [Mar 2011, p.87]

While there are "proper" missions, most are plotless busy-work. [Mar 2011, p.87]

A smarter camera and tighter controls might have made its other flaws less noticeable. [Mar 2011, p.85]

Somehow the world still works superbly, and the result is a big, compelling and unique adventure. [Mar 2011, p.85]

It's a tighter, more focused experience than the continental sprawl of "Empire" and "Napoleon", sacrifices none of their intricacy, and brings improved AI to the battlefield. In the final count, it's consistently thrilling, grand in scope, surprisingly atmospheric, and bloody hard to put down. [Mar 2011, p.75]

Bulletstorm is not art by any metric. It's difficult to defend, like a friend you take to a party who ends up pissing in a vase. You don't want to be associated with him, but sh.t, he provides an evening of excitement. It's a game that's very proud of the f-words it's learnt, and it uses them a lot. Fast. Frantic. Fatuous. Full-on. And yes, that other one: fun.

A welcome return for one of adventure gaming's patron designers, if not quite a glorious return to form.

Madly repetitive, flaky and incessantly dull third-person action. Not even Olivia Wilde can save this clumsy movie tie-in.

A steep learning curve and lack of starting characters will turn many away from Bloodline's fun and frenzied arena battles.

Excellent house-breaking multiplayer that's great while it lasts, but may wear out early due to lack of maps.

Confused and buggy, but very entertaining under the right circumstances. Bring friends.

A waste of time; dull and shoddy, Back to the Future fails to deliver on anything that made the movies so much fun.

Won't stop you dreaming of Horned Reapers and Dark Mistresses, but still fills a gap that's been empty for far too long.

An ambitious and beautiful RPG that falls just short of greatness, thwarted by a stunted finale and imbalances.

Better value than most things in the bargain bin. [Jan 2011, p.99]

It's fun, and a treat for the JCB-obsessed little-ones. [Jan 2011, p.99]

For a weekend's light point-and-clicking, you can definitely do worse. [Jan 2011, p.97]

A parody that's funny throughout. [Jan 2011, p.94]

Not one to buy if you own the original. [Feb 2011, p.82]

A charming physics puzzler that's ultimately too lightweight for grown-ups. [Feb 2011, p.106]

It's a shooter for people who don't shoot and have the initiative of a house elf. [Feb 2011, p.97]

It's less good at variety. [Feb 2011, p.97]

The stunning views and wanton destruction are ample compensation. [Feb 2011, p.92]

An excellent action-horror sequel. Dead Space 2 doesn't try to innovate, but it's a highly polished alien-rending experience.

Even if it wasn't catastrophically broken, HAWX 2 would be a hard game to get particularly excited about. [Jan 2011, p.96]

Shank is a visually attractive but completely shallow excuse for a 2D brawler game. Frustrating combat doesn't help.