A game that runs on human tears. [Christmas 2013, p.93]

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]

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

Solid, workman-like zombie slaughter, with a strong hint of amateur mod-making love and enthusiasm. [Aug 2009, p.72]

A short but sweet platformer requiring ninja reflexes. [May 2014, p.85]

A big, detailed database wrapped in a friendly UI, then wasted on an unresponsive and inaccurate pitch simulator. [Jan 2012, p.122]

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

Overstretched on launch, Fallen Earth is broken in too many places. Wait a while and the ambitious world could be impressive. [Dec 2009, p.84]

It's clear that Darkstar One is the most amusing space game in many months. It's just a shame that it weighs in like a cash starved version of "Freelancer," without any particularly inventive ideas to back up its broad scope and sense of ambition. [Sept 2006, p.98]

A decent game hampered by a completely bonkers and ill-thought-out payment scheme. A bad year for Tiger.

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

What really keeps me from recommending Afterlight, however, is the repetition of its bases. The relative simplicity of the fights, married to returning to the same locale time and time again, means the game is simply not thrilling enough.

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

An inventive and enjoyable puzzle platformer. [Sept 2010, p.84]

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

This offers sufficient substance and challenge in a nostalgic, turn-based package reminiscent of the earlier days of gaming. [June 2009, p.99]

Which brings me to fielding, by far the worst aspect of Brian Lara and the sole reason that its score is down in the 70s rather than in the mid-80s. Fielding is totally inconsistent and spoils what is otherwise a fine sports sim - one that almost nails one of the hardest sports to simulate.

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

A lot of good ideas that are, sadly, very poorly executed. [Dec 2008, p.88]

The older games, while classics, are woefully dated. And the more recent titles, themselves more than two years old, don't justify the hefty price. [Apr 2006, p.95]

Refreshing, exciting RTS. [Nov 2008, p.92]

Plodding, morose, half-decent puzzles. [Aug 2008, p.86]

A free MMO whose ingenuity does little more than simply streamline what we've seen elsewhere. [July 2010, p.104]

A surprisingly deep and well-designed FPS/RTS hybrid. A Team Fortress 2 alternative that needs a community to thrive.

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

It's yesterday's testosterone nonsense clad in today's slickness, and savvy about the nature of fun. [Christmas 2007, p.84]

Proof that more isn't necessarily better. [Christmas 2008, p.80]

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 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]

The backstory turns out to be garbled, annoying claptrap. Getting kids to design your civs is inspired. Getting them to concoct your plots is less wise. [Nov 2006, p.78]

Hellgate: London hooked me, and I think it'll do the same to a lot of other players. But no matter how much I adore its juicy roleplaying sub-systems, I can't get past its wobbly core game. [Dec 2007, p.52]

You end up playing three intertwined games simultaneously. [Mar 2012, p.111]

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]

Easily comparable with titles twice its price. Its core gunplay and design are more airtight than a collapsed mine. [June 2010, p.94]

Pleasingly varied new multiplayer modes for an excellent game, hampered by a paucity of maps [June 2009, p.90]

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]

Basic competence. [Christmas 2008, p.72]

Exhilarating flying over fine scenery, but the story needed to be stronger and longer. Buy ToH for the thrills. Not the dialogue.

Achingly beautiful. [Aug 2013, p.85]

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]

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

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.

Without the old brill, open world and silly plot, ProStreet's mediocrity has no place to hide. [Jan 2008, p.76]

A puzzler that remains short of an epiphany. [Sept 2012, p.85]

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

Ace Combat never felt this empty. [May 2009, p.76]

A ghastly mess of bad design decisions that brings out the worst in user-made content. Not worth it. [Sept 2009, p.78]

Not the Sims you're looking for. [Jan 2009, p.76]

The original game was used as a training tool for real soldiers. God help the US if this is what they actually have to deal with. [June 2006, p.68]

A slog that's worthwhile for arcade and music lovers alike. [July 2010, p.76]

The humour, too, is a little underplayed. [Sept 2010, p.95]

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

This is a big, tight game that's just lacking in greatness or spark. [Feb 2007, p.78]

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

Without prods from the story to push onwards, Retrovirus is reliant on the appeal of its three-dimensional shootouts to push you towards the end. Thankfully, they are up to the job. [Apr 2013, p.107]

Technically creaky but ultimately fun. [Nov 2008, p.82]

Dark, moody, and full of hate. Your reviewer the day after the diary puzzle. [Aug 2008, p.89]

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

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

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

A well designed game totally let down by the software and structure supporting it. This could have been a must-play. [Nov 2012, p.100]

Fun in the purest sense of the word, Lego Universe is a delightful MMO that involves your imagination but ends much too soon.

A game like this lives on the quality of its script, and Denby and Raze have written a tender, human story that doubles up as the game's primary puzzle. [Apr 2013, p.91]

One of the most refreshing things about Rogue is how powerful you feel, and how well equipped you are. [June 2006, p.66]

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

Its excellent customisation and clever AI makes for one of the best tower defence games around. [Aug 2012, p.104]

A better class of more of the same. [June 2006, p.92]

Lively, but as deep as the red puddles you leave in your wake. [June 2006, p.85]

An absolutely worthless addition to the game. [Apr 2010, p.107]

Fine skating action and fearsomely addictive to boot. [Apr 2006, p.79]

Snail-paced frozen nonsense. [Apr 2009, p.66]

There's too little vim and variety to rival the great online shooters, but Battlefield Heroes is definitely worth a look. [Oct 2009, p.80]

Stylish street art, but lacks substance. [Apr 2006, p.90]

Just like a cheesy action flick, Bionic Commando is a satisfying rollercoaster of explosions, profanity and bizarre plot twists. [Sept 2009, p.82]

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

Disappointment. [Sept 2010, p.103]

Order of war is irrefutable proof pretty Panzers are no longer enough. [Dec 2009, p.91]

The loose control means the precise movement required to traverse even some of the most basic levels just isn't there. [Apr 2007, p.50]

The Indiana Jones adventure that spent too much time at IKEA. [Apr 2008, p.86]

Comprehensive enough, but the laughable inconsistencies make FIFA Manager 13 impossible to take seriously as a sim. [Christmas 2012, p.102]

An average slice of Borderlands. [Christmas 2010, p.103]

Fun. There's nothing else like it available on PC, either. [Apr 2008, p.86]

When half a battalion decides to leave your borders undefended while they wage their own private suicide-o-war, it's more than a little galling. [May 2006, p.96]

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

An agonisingly unimaginative adventure game acting as a gateway to a puzzle game based purely on cracking safes. [Aug 2007, p.92]

A braver studio would have developed C2's stunted naval dimension, or shifted the campaign focus to a novel location like the Caribbean or North America. [Sept 2006, p.102]

Enjoyable city planning but a timid foray into MMO territory. [Christmas 2009, p.100]

I suspect that somewhere in Joint Task Force there's a 90% game dying to break out. But at the moment, it's pinned down under enemy fire. [Nov 2006, p.88]

Voice control redeems a simple RTS. [Apr 2009, p.80]

A very flat, slow series of mouse clicks, only interrupted by the unlpleasant appearance of test papers based on what you've just played. [May 2006, p.97]

Ambitious, but too flaky and cold. [Apr 2007, p.70]

This quirky menu-driven life simulator from ex-Elixir/Lionhead/Maxis coder Cliff Harris is seasoned with penty of wry humour. [Oct 2006, p.92]

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

An idea tangled in shoddy design. [Oct 2006, p.86]

Tense, if limited fun. [Apr 2010, p.107]

Far too shallow to hold your attention for long. [March 2015, p.92]

Even with the silly-alien theme, Zeta is utterly humourless. [Oct 2009, p.79]