The ghosts are fun and have plenty to say, even if the humour regularly falls short. [June 2012, p.105]

Lovingly drawn New York backdrops go some way towards rescuing the painful puzzles. [July 2007, p.90]

Great ides, then, and if only the execution had matched it we might have had a contest in the world of PC golf. [Dec 2006, p.98]

Wonky visuals, but this is as close to The Da Vinci Code meets Monkey Island as we'll get. Did I mention the hot French accent?

Worryingly enjoyable, but eventually runs out of steam. [May 2006, p.89]

Funnier still is the influence meter. [Dec 2006, p.101]

A confused mess of promising but inconsistent mechanics. Hilarious, maddening, stupid and occasionally fun. [Sept 2010, p.79]

Its worst sin is simply being too ordinary. [May 2009, p.71]

Forgivably unoriginal roleplaying. [Dec 2006, p.82]

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

Harmless, mindless fun. [May 2007, p.88]

A good-looking, expansive and bold sim of space-management, almost undone by a horror-interface. [Sept 2009, p.84]

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

Stalker: Clear Sky remains a remarkable misstep by the Ukrainian developers, and one that does not reflect well on their original game, or their independence from original publishers, THQ. We can only hope that their next effort will be more controlled.

A sound WWI naval wargame saddled with a sorry interface and unpleasant DRM. For hardcore wargamers. [June 2009, p.88]

Deal with all these niggles and there's an undeniably fun core of stupidly acrobatic, combo-heavy fighting. DMC4 doesn't move the series on, but when it's firing on all cylinders it's still enough to make you snigger with glee.

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

Competent combat and visuals are slightly marred by online irritations. [Oct 2010, p.94]

It's best for occasional two-player knockabouts...but anyone wanting serious solo action or a lasting challenge will be disappointed. [Sept 2009, p.89]

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

Engine improvements offset by mission meanness. [Aug 2009, p.88]

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]

It's a mixed bag. [May 2003, p.111]

If you've avoided Premium so far, it's probably not worth purchasing now. [July 2014, p.97]

Cynical and unimaginative - but fun. [Jan 2007, p.102]

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

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

It's not a game to rush out right now and buy, but you can definitely do worse. [July 2009, p.79]

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]

It's still a mimic of "Command & Conquer" at heart, and it still screws up some basic stuff. [May 2006, p.80]

For the price it's a pretty flimsy product. [Apr 2015, p.101]

You get what you pay for, which in this case isn't anything new. [Sept 2006, p.101]

For the avid DAoC veterans, it's a must-buy. [July 2007, p.78]

Strong naval combat is marred by shallow trade and town management. [Oct 2010, p.86]

Surprisingly competent and fun. [Mar 2008, p.76]

Still fun, but disappointing. Here's hoping for a great finale. [June 2007, p.83]

True Crime is a trashy, lazily converted, shamelessly derivative and occasionally buggy game where you get to crash cars and hit people a lot. On those terms, I rather enjoyed it. [Sept 2006, p.94]

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]

Not rubbish, then, but one to pick up from the bargain bin. [Aug 2012, p.103]

An RPG in poor action-game disguise. [Christmas 2007, p.90]

Not quite so original the second time around, Zeno Clash 2 hits hard with ideas, swings and misses on execution. [July 2013, p.78]

A pedestrian outing. [Aug 2009, p.74]

Decent fun, easy to pick up, but a little too old to pass into legend. [Sept 2008, p.66]

Lacking both the playful irony and delight in detail of the GTAs, The Godfather is a simple brute of a game. In one sense, it's a missed opportunity; in another it's a regrettable betrayal of a masterful and much-loved film. [May 2006, p.78]

Frequent levelling and plentiful and varied loot give Silverfall a definite momentum; the blend of worlds and the inventiveness of some of the creatures give it a modicum of novelty. This is an easy game to get swept along by, but, largely because of those serried foes, it's also an easy game to walk away from. [Apr 2007, p.82]

The campaign was too barren and the skirmishes simply broke on the overall weakness of the field combat. [Apr 2008, p.80]

There's a brilliant tension between risk and reward. [July 2010, p.105]

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]

They've made it feel like a franchise they'll dutifully milk, rather than a game they'll love to keep making. [Dec 2008, p.76]

One for hardcore online fans only. [Christmas 2007, p.95]

The Club would make a great bonus mode in another game. It's a much harder sell on its own. It's an FPS with the values of a racing game - entire focused on self-improvement and efficiency. [Mar 2008, p.78]

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

It has to be that AI again. It just feels too rigid, too tediously functional to capture the sheer fluid exuberance of football. [Dec 2007, p.78]

Halo 2, you see, isn't truly awful, it's just achingly, repulsively mediocre, with a galumphing, clumsy story, poorly orchestrated action and bad music. It lacks bombast to the point where the nuclear destruction of a city on Earth doesn't seem all that dramatic. [June 2006, p.80]

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

It's certainly never short of ideas, but inept execution sends Pirates of Black Cove toppling off the gangplank. [Nov 2011, p.134]

True to its roots, Dungeon Bowl is broken, and is soured further by a dormant community and no singleplayer. [Sept 2012, p.104]

New setting, same old intrigues, Democracy 3: Africa is a clever simulation but plays it far too safe. [July 2016, p.90]

Sadly, the game isn't quote as compelling as its journey. [Feb 2014, p.91]

Take Queen's Gambit as a harbiner that the original is now worth playing. If and when you've exhausted that, then this is waiting for you. [Dec 2007, p.58]

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]

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

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

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

At root, this is another "Blitzkrieg" ringer. [Aug 2009, p.89]

DLC and diligent modders could make it seaworthy, but until then, a galleon-T attempt that lacks necessary depth. [Oct 2009, p.76]

Basic competence. [Christmas 2008, p.72]

As a distraction, Triple Town is a solid puzzler, especially without the freemium annoyances in other versions. [March 2013, p.99]

Great monsters and partly interesting multiplayer, but weak campaigns and clumsy controls reduce AvP's long-term appeal. [Apr 2010, p.94]

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

S&M mistakes 'wackiness' for comedy, alliteration for timing, and cliche for characterisation...Telltale just need to realise that writing funny is hard work, and they're not yet doing nearly enough. [Feb 2007, p.70]

Get "Legion Arena" instead. [July 2007, p.88]

Too garage for its own good. [Christmas 2006, p.80]

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

A by-the-book roleplaying jaunt in fantasy-land. There's enough to do in Risen, but never enough to thrill. [Dec 2009, p.118]

Takes a dangling plot thread and ties it up, but unsatisfyingly and with a lot of repetitious combat.

A mean pricing system and lack of strategic control hamstring an otherwise promising management sim. [Christmas 2010, p.88]

Worst of all is its absense of an Undo function. [Aug 2006, p.78]

A dusty laboratory of puzzling complexity. [Oct 2008, p.91]

There are a few glimmers of brilliance. [Jan 2012, p.141]

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]

1849 finds a few glittering flecks in taking a well-worn RTS template into gold-rush California, but no prime nuggets. [July 2014, p.78]

Pretty standard, but entertaining enough. [Apr 2012, p.98]

Not as clever as Recettear, but just as cute, and a strong second outing for the translation team behind it. [Nov 2011, p.130]

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]

While it's a competent shell of a game, the only scrap of ingenuity is in the way each character picks any two of eight skill trees, and even that's been pipped at the post by "Guild Wars." [Aug 2006, p.84]

If you know what it expects of you, there's a thrill to some of Generations' showier moments. If not, prepare to hit a series of brick walls at high speed. [Feb 2012, p.93]

Not as bad as you'd fear, not as good as you'd secretly hope. [May 2008, p.90]

An often frustrating game built around a clever idea. It could have become something so much greater. [May 2012, p.112]

What's still missing is "MS Flight Simulator" levels of realism. [Oct 2007, p.87]

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

While everything works, there are a few odd quirks which don't exactly break the game but do make it a little bizarre. [May 2006, p.89]

Great customisation and a compelling clan war layer, but the multiplayer just isn't interesting enough to support them. [Aug 2012, p.96]

The visual dazzle and cinematic set-pieces are let down by bad scripting, glitchy multiplayer and increasingly dull firefights.

If the AI worked as it was intended, and if there was a cover system beyond "stand behind that pillar and the splash damage 'might' not kill you," Jericho would be great. But it doesn't, there isn't, and it's not. [Dec 2007, p.82]

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

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