A hunk of old Russian bread: bland, hard, faintly nutritious. [June 2007, p.83]

Passably challenging. [Aug 2009, p.79]

Obscure II is not gripping enough to be survival horror and not good enough at storytelling to be an adventure; it's just a series of quite relaxing puzzles interrupted when some pink things burst through the wall. [Dec 2007, p.89]

A game so monotonous, it's inspired a new word - 'tediocre'. [Christmas 2006, p.90]

There are better and more rewarding ways to exercise your creativity. [May 2012, p.113]

Unluckily, it costs 20 quid, which is significantly more than it's worth. [July 2012, p.99]

This is very cheap, fleeting PvP combat. [May 2007, p.90]

Aimless and unfunny - a terrible way to end the series. [July 2007, p.79]

The 16 campaign sorties feel so HAWXian so Ace Combatish, you'll swear you've flown them before. [June 2012, p.101]

Lumbering sports behemoth. [Feb 2008, p.72]

If you can play it without yearning for "PlanetSide" or "ArmA 2", you're a better/weirder man than I. [Nov 2009, p.100]

Empty-souled, dated GTA clone. [Aug 2007, p.84]

An impressive endeavor for a small group of first-time devs with a shoestring budget, but as much as it feels like kicking puppies to say so, not a product worth your money. [June 2006, p.82]

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

Apathy-inducing hospital undrama. [July 2007, p.74]

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

Shoddy graphics and repetition means that this is more of a warm-up act than a stadium filler. [Aug 2007, p.92]

The worst is dressage, which plays like a Simon-says rhythm-action game designed by people without rhythm. [Sept 2007, p.89]

Good gags can't save this game from its repetitive combat and bland RPG-lite nature. [Nov 2011, p.126]

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

Runaway gets halfway there, but just doesn't have any soul. [June 2007, p.91]

Poirot is the strongest and best performed character, which makes his background role a great mistake. Competently built, OE is too often directionless, but most of all, dull. Dull, dull, dull. In conclusion: dull.

Psychonauts did brain-delving better. Serious Sam did campy horde-killing better. For this price, you could buy both. Twice. [Christmas 2009, p.111]

Hacky port that bleongs on consoles. [Sept 2007, p.80]

Your enemies are so blindingly accurate, and damage so extreme, you're often slowing time merely to peek around the corner. [Dec 2006, p.99]

Quickly loses steam thanks to repetition and bland design. [Jan 2012, p.114]

This isn't an awful game, but it is an unnecessary one: "Secret Weapons over Normandy" and "Heroes of the Pacific" have full air superiority in this sector. [Aug 2006, p.91]

Moxxi is pretty, polished, and as characterful as Borderlands ever was, and it adds a bank to store loot you might want to keep, but it's really not something you should spend your pocket-money on.