World of Warships is Wargaming’s finest vehicle combat game, but its free-to-play model is getting prohibitively expensive.

Not as consistently intricate or surprising as Dishonored 2, but still a worthy epilogue that adds depth and atmosphere to the series' world.

Despite its greater scale and visual splendour, this sequel fails to escape the shadow of its predecessor with a muddled tale that Senua herself feels out of place in.

Colorful graphics conceal a deep and merciless dungeon that should not be attempted alone. Bring a team to find its treasure. [July 2011, p.70]

Puzzle design does the heavy lifting for Trine 4, a fun but ultimately hollow experience.

CMBfN is a very good tactical wargame saddled with pre-alpha looks and controls. [Dec 2011, p.74]

Fun and frantic, with plenty of challenge. GoNNER is weird and beautiful, despite its lack of depth.

Sifu will test your patience, but learning how to coolly dismantle a room full of goons with virtual kung fu is worth the pain.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall, while a bit opaque in some areas, is the most entertaining 4X I've played in years.

Wonderfully weird and inventive. Katamari Damacy isn’t perfect, but it holds its own impressively well 14 years on.

Like a board game you play to death then put on the shelf to bring out on special occasions, but with street urchins and priest-stabbing.

Excellent combat and a stunning sense of scale help steer Lost Ark through its more tired MMO conventions.

A slightly messy first-person shooter lifted by some excellent weapons and a gorgeous art style.

Nails the look, the sound, and the speed, but Redout stalls on the sensation.

It's been an excellent year for the Freelance Police; it would be a shame for the series to end here, but it gives a fitting send-off. [Nov 2010, p.79]

Black Myth: Wukong blossoms with an eccentric cast of characters and expressive combat all wrapped up in the rich world of its source material.

Developer dream teams should get together more often. AoE III may be an elder statesman in the RTS world these days, but BHG has dipped the game in the fountain of youth with this revitalizing add-on. [Jan 2008, p.80]

Defense Grid's excellent personality and gameplay make it both a great game for experienced tower defense fans and an excellent starting point for new players. [Apr 2009, p.86]

The combination of drop-jaw visuals, absorbing missions, and overall realism make for good times...Better suited for casual players. [Nov 2004, p.102]

Lighthearted humor and creative story elements are unveiled at every turn, pushing this simulation to the head of its genre. [Dec 2003, p.96]

An ambitious and mostly successful—if a bit buggy—expansion about expansion.

Still the best football game you can buy for your rig, but FIFA 16 feels unambitious.

Northgard is a surprising, elegant RTS that's laden with a very dull story.

Maintaining an almost impossible level of polish across its many modes, FIFA 19 might not eclipse PES 19 on the pitch, but it demonstrates its worth via The Journey.

Gears Tactics' structure couldn't quite sustain the 25 hours or so it took me to get through the campaign, but slap the combat into a sequel with a couple more strategic systems that balance out the variety and pacing, and I'd honestly rather play it over XCOM, a recommendation I never expected I'd make.

Just what a visual novel should be—fun characters and the rush of solving mysteries make you eager to keep going.

A clever spiritual successor to Civilization full of both novelties and big ideas.

The heights of Warzone 2’s combat and stunning map design are held down by a rocky launch rife with issues.

An exercise in heavenly multitasking that’s exhilarating alone but better with a friend.

Old-school Yakuza for better or worse, but still a good point of entry for newcomers.

It's not quite there yet, but since it did launch with a substantial load of content, it will keep 95 percent of players busy for at least a few months. [Sept 2008, p.64]

A shot of adrenaline for the year-old game, these new armies bring the best parts of Company of Heroes into the upgraded Company of Heroes 2 world.

Even after the free-for-all matches start to feel redundant, the punchy, full-body action in Hover Junkers remains hilarious fun.

A grab bag of game systems to bring new life to Civ V. Definitely worthwhile, and almost certainly holier than thou. [Sept 2012, p.76]

A deep, and potentially rewarding alternative to Hearthstone that suffers from underwhelming art design and desperately needs an injection of players to grow the scene.

There's nothing in its new content that can be considered absolutely essential. [Holiday 2006, p.76]

A messy story and horrible characters get in the way of decent, violent action in a scintillating open city.

Halo Infinite can't quite deliver on being an open-world throwback, but it's the best shooting the series has seen to date.

Gorgeous grand strategy with atmosphere, depth and replayability—but it needs more time to reach its potential.

Hands down the best tactical shooter this veteran gamer has seen in his entire ass-kicking, name-taking, tango-stalking life. Get it? [Holiday 2001, p.54]

Mixing a mostly tried-and-true formula with some interesting new ideas, Conquest succeeds as a competent new entry in the genre.

The fact is, Syberia 2 doesn't top the first game. It starts out strong - Kate second-guesses her leap of faitih, yet perseveres to outwit a misogynistic monk - but there's just not enough narrative thrust to support a compelling second chapter in the story. [Apr 2004, p.71]

The gameplay is quite excellent, but Tim Curry is so off-putting that it almost makes this one a tough call. [Mar 2000, p.90]

With its visuals, music and play all working in lockstep, this is the kind of game you can get completely immersed in.

Fusion's thrill isn't in leaping a yawning chasm as a jet screams below, but in simply clearing an overhanging ledge.

A deep, entertaining stealth sandbox with endless scope for mastery. You kept us waiting, Kojima, but it was worth it.

It's good, but yet another dramatic tale of intrigue in a game already packed with them. [Feb 2015, p.77]

Occasionally fun but often unconscientious, Detroit: Beyond Human takes steps in the right direction but retains too much of the old Quantic Dream formula.

Void Crew lacks long-term depth, but it's already the best misfits-in-space game in the whole universe.

Repetitive combat and an abrupt ending spoil what is otherwise a remarkable feat of worldbuilding.

It’s far from revolutionary, but it is a very well refined version of Football Manager that empowers the player by putting all the information you need at your fingertips.

A fighter with a great roster and exciting brawls, let down by an undercooked singleplayer component.

While its overbearing narrator robs Season of the wonder and meditation it so clearly aspires to, I still managed to find a little of my own. I just wish its letter to the future was one I got to write, rather than one I only got to carry.

The TD genre needs more like this. [July 2011, p.77]

It's well written, the pixel art and animation are nicely done, and the fact that you can draw your gun whenever you want, and that you can shoot key characters dead and just keep on playing, gives it a great sense of freedom.

Unashamedly retro in spirit yet modern where it counts, Tempest Rising is a riveting flashback to the halcyon days of the RTS.

Grid 2 is an accomplished and visually strong racer let down only by a bafflingly lame Career mode narrative.

Fun, not-too-hard stealth puzzles that look great, wrapped up in a humdrum story with a boring protagonist.

Dredge is a fantastically twisted fishing horror full of charm. It snags in parts but still successfully reeled me in from start to finish. A beautifully dreary bite-sized mystery.

An intense and thrilling psychological survival horror sequel that improves on its forerunner in almost every way.

Once it finds its footing, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is an engaging romp through a charming and dynamic world.

A brilliant tale of terror, even if the ride is a little old and clunky.

There are deeper strategy games, but few where you'll feel quite so invested in the outcome. Recommended.

The imaginative setup is deliciously inspired, yet Moai Better Blues stands as one of the weaker entries in the Sam & Max series. [Apr 2008, p.62]

The latest iteration of Konami's football game is fine, but inorganic, stolid, and a little dull. Pick FIFA over this on PC.

Reanimal doesn't meaningfully develop Tarsier's approach to gameplay in the Little Nightmares games, but it's a grim sight to behold, and a worthwhile horror adventure.

Another charming indie. [Dec 2009, p.83]

A fresh, high stakes take on card-based videogames, sure to appeal to more than just deck-builders.

Hand of Fate 2 is a satisfying sequel and a meatier dungeon crawler, but still somewhat hampered by limited combat.

Looking dated, but it beats the first Dungeon Siege in every way. [Nov 2005, p.66]

Consider my wishes answered: Sam and Max: Abe Lincoln Must Die! is the best installment yet. [May 2007, p.69]

There's no emotional soul, but Dead Island is an excellent open-world zombie hacker, slasher, and co-op loot party. [Nov 2011, p.65]

With the right hardware, Invisible War offers a thought-provoking, multi-layered journey with a side order of free choice. [Jan 2004, p.81]

Jam-packed with cool content, quirky humor, and the most polished gameplay of the entire series. [Holiday 2003, p.108]

A totally immersive management experience creaking under the pressure of annual release culture. It needs extra time.

A satisfying, moreish take on the roguelike formula, and one that's most likely to appeal to genre naysayers.

A tightly written story with multiple endings and difficult choices would make this the best "Splinter Cell" game to date...if it had been released in a finished state. [Feb. 2007, p.62]

A must-have for Medal of Honor fans, but we still like "Call of Duty" better. [Jan 2005, p.70]

Don’t let some clunky inventories scare you off from this excellent strategy RPG.

A splendid adventure that’s well paced, excellently voiced, and doesn't outstay its welcome.

Though visually attractive, it's still hampered by graphical glitches that have plagued the series over the last several years. My biggest gripe, though, is that this year's edition still doesn't get the number of penalaties correct. [Dec. 2006, p.120]

Entertaining storytelling and fantastic naval combat marred by terrible mission design and endemic feature creep.

An elaborate horror setting with plenty of effective scares – but not quite enough to last the entire game.

A brutally enjoyable stealth shooter that revisits and builds on the success of the original Escape from Butcher Bay. [May 2009, p.84]

Hearts of Iron 2 acolytes will dig Doomsday; I just hope its scope doesn't scare off new players. [Aug 2006, p.50]

A fine finale, which more than makes up for the failings of the first DLC and tells a great side-story of its own.

A beautiful story-driven adventure game with a compelling story and great characters, set on an island filled with intriguing mysteries.

A must-play for serious tacticians and World War II buffs. [Nov 2005, p.85]

An intense and demanding simulation of modern urban combat. [Dec 2004, p.70]

An endlessly delightful destruction sandbox.

A satisfying farming and tea-shop sim inside a well-written adventure with meaningful themes.

What this shooter lacks in depth, it makes up for in fun factor. [Holiday 2003, p.114]

It's certainly impressive in its own over-the-top way, but if you're looking for depth and strategy in a basketball game, you'll be thoroughly disappointed. [Feb 2003, p.76]

A great title with tons of customization and months of gaming stuffed into one CD. [Nov 1996, p.238]

A great game and, with time, potentially a classic. Much rests on Frontier's ability to build on these broad but somewhat shallow foundations.

Pure is exciting fun that long-time racing fans and those looking to get their feet wet in the genre can enjoy. [Feb 2009, p.69]

A new adventure game classic, and a bit of a tear-jerker.

Ties That Bind makes a surprisingly convincing argument for it to keep shuffling onward.