Largely the same as ever. Good if that works for you, bad if not. [May 2007, p.83]

By far one of the funniest S&M episodes for dialogue. [June 2008, p.89]

Sadly, regular combat again proves Stronghold's downfall. Units require extreme babysitting. [Dec 2006, p.100]

It's fun while it lasts. [Christmas 2009, p.106]

A great game system, a lack of levels. [Aug 2007, p.66]

A fairly arcane design and an unfriendly community make for difficult entry barriers. [July 2010, p.98]

Like Origins, this lacks notable additions to the Arkham canon, but the shorter form is a better fit for Warner Montreal. [July 2014, p.96]

The most hardcore space-based 4X in years. [Jan 2007, p.88]

Yes, it's a better start than last year, but it's still leagues apart from the Xbox 360 and PlayStation versions. [Dec 2009, p.106]

It's still intelligent and sometimes witty. But this time it's ringing with emptiness. [Nov 2006, p.94]

[July 2005]

It's not a bad idea, but it's hardly high strategy, and definitely not high adventure. [Feb 2009, p.72]

A complex and wellbalanced sim that's troubled by a severe lack of long-term objectives and dearth of character.

A cute, quirky anime dungeon crawl that will cheerfully kick your arse until your nose starts bleeding. [Sept 2012, p.84]

Occasionally repetitive, sometimes puerile but for the most part amusing. [June 2013, p.89]

Fun, but not progress. [Apr 2008, p.64]

Not the best fantasy RPG available this year, but good enough to sate those looking for more quests and characters. [Feb 2010, p.90]

An engaging and enjoyable take on medieval strategy. [Feb 2012, p.107]

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

Two Worlds is worth a play, but only if you've exhausted the competition. And invested in ear plugs for when the characters start talking. [Aug 2007, p.88]

It works, but finishing a stage tends to come as a blessed relief rather than something that makes you welcome the next challenge. [Sept 2008, p.89]

For now, unless you're desperate for a new RPG today, hold fire and see if the inevitable post-release patches will fix up the leaky bits. If so, add 15% or so to the score. [Dec 2006, p.112]

It's just a good game. [Nov 2009, p.98]

Scarface's attitude is enjoyable and infectious. [Dec 2006, p.94]

Inventive, smart and adorable, but it plays oh so slowly. [May 2009, p.71]

That rare thing: a kids' movie tie-in game that wasn't made by Satan. [Oct 2006, p.93]

A relatable game about a common truth: that true happiness is hard to find. [Apr 2014, p.89]

FIFA 07 is still entertaining, but it's about as workaday as it gets. It goes through the motions of offering team updates and a smattering of new features, but fails to address core problems or significantly innovate in its approach to football. [Nov 2006, p.96]

The beauty of BoA is the way it captures the unique character of American Revolutionary warfare without drowning wannabe Washingtons and Howes in detail. [May 2006, p.81]

A stout strategy yeoman. [Apr 2008, p.78]

Slow but satisfying sequel. [Jan 2009, p.78]

No arguments, this is one of the most beautiful game worlds created. [July 2013, p.85]

Despite awkward graphics, it uses classic adventure themes to craft a mystery and a world worth exploring. [July 2014, p.72]

Interesting locations, all well made, but five quid for four maps is a bit steep. [Sept 2010, p.105]

ArmA will get better; at the moment, it's too broken to wholly recommend. [Mar 2007, p.80]

Still playable, but coasting on a years-old reputation that needs to be renewed sharpish if Pro Evo is to stay relevant. [Dec 2009, p.82]

Lasting only two hours (but costing 2.50 pounds), and occasionally frustratingly obtuse, it's a gentle, bite-sized memory of the better days of adventuring. [May 2007, p.90]

Don't knock a mark in the 70s. This game IS worth playing. [Aug 2007, p.90]

Better than the first game, and an amazing technical achievement, but the shooting needs work to fully realise its potential.

Huge, bold, but not particularly savage. [Apr 2008, p.68]

The new areas are the standout feature and shine in a way the original Titan Quest's levels never did.

With diplomacy and more resourceful units, Hegemony could have been great rather than good. [Aug 2010, p.102]

An artful but mild shooter. [Aug 2008, p.78]

Think of it as an unofficial add-on. [July 2008, p.80]

Quotation forthcoming. [June 2007]

Cute but confusing physicsy puzzles for you. [Feb 2009, p.74]

Classical, but no classic. Bread and circuses at their most generic. [Sept 2006, p.105]

Alchemy, brigands, gold management, and lots of trading [Christmas 2006, p.85]

When blowing things up, more is generally merrier. Second Encounter offers way, way more. [July 2010, p.96]

Fuel's races can sometimes frustrate, but making your own fun in a truly massive world is rarely a chore. [Sept 2009, p.76]

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

What you're doing isn't terribly interesting. [July 2010, p.97]

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

It's brief enough and silly enough that it never stops being dumb, no-strings fun. Even when your VS becomes capable of barely-steerable flight and unbearably slow-to-recharge energy swords, y'know, it's still a flying robot with swords. Also, a generically Xboxian art style aside, it often looks fantastic, the motion blur and haze of snow especially.

Exploring is fun, resource exploitation is basic and extermination is tedious. [July 2012, p.84]

The dark addictiveness of levelling is as strong here as anywhere. [Oct 2007, p.85]

It lacks a sense of lasting import. [March 2013, p.111]

So many good ideas, but there're the cheese in a mousetrap of punishing difficulty. Proceed, but with great caution. [June 2007, p.82]

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

Just a pretty good indie adventure: the difficulty and pacing are absolutely spot-on, even if the visuals lack the ostentatious fireworks we're used to these days. [June 2009, p.99]

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

A superb idea, let donw by execution. [May 2008, p.86]

Achingly beautiful. [Aug 2013, p.85]

A decent indie puzzler that gets a lot out of its premise. Smart physics and some excellent puzzles here. [Apr 2010, p.106]

The detail is there, but thanks to the mild handling and thin, generic audio, the magic isn't. [Aug 2012, p.97]

It's lots of fun as a straight team-based shooter, but the MMO side of things needs polish to make it more accessible. [Apr 2010, p.100]

As much fun as a day at the beach, but Tropico 3 misses a big boat by not showing you the results of your presidential labours. [Dec 2009, p.108]

The closest thing HoE has to a distinguishing feature is something called the 'ace kill.' [Dec 2009, p.105]

It's great to revisit the dungeon crawler genre's crude beginnings, but don't go alone. [Dec 2013, p.89]

A clever reworking of the card-based strategy game formula. [Dec 2013, p.94]

What's perhaps best about Warriors Orochi is that you can play two-player split screen, with the pair of you taking on the entire story mode. [June 2008, p.84]

Ultimately, Rise is meant for the BFME hardcore. [Christmas 2006, p.74]

Atmospheric, pretty and convincing but short of activities. [Christmas 2007, p.95]

While Shadowgrounds doesn't do much that's new, within its restrictive confines it's engaging and competent. Gaming lite, but still a nice snack. [June 2006, p.85]

These brief snippets aren't quite worth the return ticket. [Jan 2014, p.101]

Irritating level design and a poor story are somewhat redeemed by explosive action and a challenging co-op mode. [Sept 2010, p.82]

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

Great sniping, great sneaking, and several grueling missions where you can do neither. [Sept 2010, p.104]

Soccer sim solidly cluttered. [Christmas 2008, p.78]

Better, but eight episodes in, it needs to be even better still. [Mar 2008, p.87]

Clever puzzle concepts fail to coalesce into anything scintillating, undermined by inconsistent physics and a rather witless world. [Sept 2012, p.100]

Undeniably an interesting, surprising and oddly haunting experience. [Christmas 2009, p.117]

Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power is a slick hex wargame that wears its theme like a chimpanzee wears a trilby (reluctantly and unconvincingly). Besides the names of the factions, units and characters, there's almost nothing here of the dark, distinctive source material. [Dec 2007, p.84]

Given time, a tune-up, and some more vigorious fanning of the community flames, this could improve, but at the moment there are more appealing things to spend a monthly fee on. [June 2006, p.90]

Delayed gratification of locked-out units dampens the enthusiasm of the new fast-paced class-based action. [May 2010, p.78]

A stingy and unexciting offering. [May 2006, p.92]

An entertaining arcade racer with outstanding car chases, undone by its micro-transactions and lack of depth.

Patience is a virtue. [Apr 2015, p.87]

A decent ride until you get off. [Dec 2008, p.72]

The one Shogun DLC I have trouble getting enthusiastic about. [Mar 2012, p.109]

New ideas save this buggy oddity from walking the plank...just. [Aug 2007, p.87]

It's not a bad game, just a terribly uninspiring and disappointing one. [Christmas 2006, p.66]

Age of Empires III just hasn't aged all that well. [Feb 2007, p.91]

An attractive and powerful sim that spoils itself by trying too hard to be a straightforward infantry shooter. [Dec 2009, p.98]

Does it justify the steep price? No. [July 2012, p.99]

The lack of online play is a shame. [Christmas 2013, p.93]

It's almost innovative. [July 2009, p.79]

A good idea that allows for some fun co-operative strategising, but too often the mechanics or technical issues get in the way. [Christmas 2011, p.100]