An uneven epic whose historical richness guides it through some awkward pacing.

An excellent stab at a traditional point-and-click, but with classic problems holding it back.

Despite its gacha systems, Honkai: Star Rail is an impeccable turn-based RPG with a killer visual style.

Hardly revolutionary, but still a hell of a lot of fun. RTS fans should pick it up. [Sept 2004, p.64]

The game's still far from perfect, but NBA Live 2004 is much more enjoyable than last year's version. [Mar 2004, p.77]

But it's the puzzles that elevate Underworld to new heights. [Jan 2009, p.54]

As rough as the back of an old rocker’s throat, but gleeful whether you dream heavy metal nightmares or not.

Immortal Throne, which sends you to Hades to interact with numerous heroes and villains from Greek mythology, addresses a number of the most common complaints players had about Titan Quest. [Apr 2007, p.56]

As long as online play isn't a dealbreaker for you, it's one Marvel-ous action RPG. [Holiday 2005, p.58]

One of the most exciting online CCGs released yet. It could use more singleplayer content, but for PvP, it's tough to beat.

A rich, interesting, and honest experiment in history-as-game: If you're interested, play it.

In the end, Shadow Wars is just plain fun. [Aug 2006, p.50]

A perfect balance of accessibility and strategic depth, elevated by charming visuals and buckets of personality.

A tactile, inventive and lovely platform adventure.

An admirable chess experience, with enough lessons to keep you occupied for ages. [Nov 2003, p.134]

Remnant 2 is a dependable looter shooter made special by its boundless capacity to surprise.

Company of Heroes 2 is the USSR of real-time strategy games: huge, powerful and just a little bit broken.

A rush-job, and certainly not worth your time if you already own "FIFA 2002." [August 2002, p.67]

A worthy add-on. [Feb 2002, p.67]

Hack-and-slash addicts will enjoy the old-school experience. [Aug 2005, p.58]

A warm and joyful adventure through a magical world; obtuse at times, but more interested in delighting than challenging.

A heartfelt and hilarious couples therapy session, disguised as a stylish RPG. A gem.

A clever yet frustratingly muddled follow-up to Monster Train.

Evolutionary shooter that creates an involving, sometimes terrifying, tactical battle between two distinct races. Brilliant.

Valorant transforms the best of CS:GO with agents and abilities, resulting in an exceptional FPS that everyone should try.

A bit on the shallow side, but it's the only D&D RTS game in town. [Dec 2005, p.80]

Smooth action blends seamlessly into smooth traversal, making this the better modern 2D Prince of Persia.

Despite being only a minor advance, this is certainly the definitive version of Icewind Dale. That itself is a fun, tough quest that brings back nostalgia for the beauty of the engine and combat system of those days. That makes it a nice stopgap between here and Eternity.

Ruined King’s innovative battle system is the highlight of an attractive but unexciting RPG.

In a genre overstuffed with guns and grenades, this cute and cuddly battle royale stands out.

An absurdly entertaining open world playground that’s at its best when it breaks away from script. Shame about those tailing missions.

Great fun, but tough to recommend until more maps are available. [Holiday 2005, p.72]

Not a mind-blowing leap above "Battlefield 2," but worth a return to the trenches. [Holiday 2006, p.58]

An eye-popping musical adventure that will leave you with a serious case of galaxy brain.

An ambitious and unique shooter, World of Tanks starts slow, peaks in a few hours, and soon runs low on fuel. [Aug 2011, p.72]

An engrossing story of urban vampirism, but with a touch of glitchy anemia. [Jan 2005, p.92]

The short campaign isn't as replayable as it should be, but Retribution's three bloody modes each offer great combat options. [April 2011, p.68]

An atmospheric, imaginative cyberpunk adventure with a human heart beating beneath its metal exoskeleton.

Madden 19 offers a fascinating single-player story, but the rest of the game largely falls into the same tropes you experienced a decade ago.

What Infinity Nikki lacks in difficulty, it makes up for with a gorgeous wardrobe and charmingly scenic world I can't stop poking around.

Suffers in comparison to Yakuza 0, but is still a compelling drama and an important part of the series as a whole.

Tooth and Tail is an elegantly simple RTS that’s perfect for newcomers or anyone wanting to play on the couch.

Full of 1970s atmosphere and attitude, I-76 proves that Activision has more tricks up its sleeve than giant robots. It's a blast. [June 1997, p.76]

A brief but enjoyable action game that delivers plenty of multimedia oohs and aahs with loads of interaction. [Nov 1996, p.78]

This episode suffers a little from puzzle bloat, but they're strong puzzles with only a couple of weak moments, and some great story bits make up for the padding. [Jan 2010, p.79]

Never quite the sum of its parts, Octopath Traveler is a game with brilliant moments rather than a brilliant game.

Entrenchment is an excellent micro-add-on that will suck you back into multi-hour games of Sins of a Solar Empire and introduce tons of new strategic options. [June 2009, p.86]

Dungeons of Hinterberg is a beautiful puzzler—and a satisfying riff on the Austrian tourist economy.

Beneath the beautiful new look and smart innovations, this is the same Diablo 2 that came out in 2000.

It's like, how much more Nidhogg could this be? And the answer is none. None more Nidhogg.

Knockout City punches above its weight as a complex and uniquely fun competitive brawler.

Like the best of Vlambeer’s cannon, a simple concept executed beautifully. Limited enemy and level design, though.

This is not a game that likes you much. You'll like it though, even when it goes out of its way to live up to its name.

The excellent franchise mode adds loads of depth and decision making, and on-field play is livelier than ever.

GRAW's bipolar AI makes the single-player campaiggn a punishing excercise in babysitting. [Sep 2006, p.44]

A bizarre, confronting and darkly funny descent into hell, Indika takes a lot of risks and mostly sticks the landing.

Combat, while simplistic, captures some of the campy charm of the '60s Batman TV show. [Holiday 2008, p.72]

An odd hybrid of life sim and puzzle game where both flawed halves somehow work well together.

Take an indie platformer like VVVVVV or Downwell and up the ultraviolence, that's Shotgun Cop Man.

Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic in particular has long been a cult classic, and Age of Wonders III certainly doesn't let it down. It could use a couple patches to adjust balance and minor things such as occasional lag on the strategy view, but the core game is an immediately engaging mix of strategy and tactics.

Fires a salvo of ghastly, unwarranted features into its own guts, thankfully doing no harm to a defiantly enjoyable series.

A JRPG for people who haven’t played one in a while, basically. Well-made, but disappointingly safe.

An inspired dynamic score makes for some sublime hiking, but it’s somewhat slim and repetitive for the asking price.

An enjoyable squad-based game... Think of it as "Commandos" for the tights-wearing set. [Feb 2003, p.84]

More scenarios for fans of the breakout themepark sim. [Jan 2001, p.162]

While better than its predecessor on almost all counts, SOF II still does little to turn heads in the genre. Instead, it blows them clean off. [August 2002, p.66]

Endearing, compulsive, and just weird enough to want to keep exploring.

Traveller's Tales have stuck to their formula, but luckily the source material is so iconic, and the tribute so thorough, it barely matters.

Wargame AirLand Battle is European Escalation escalated: more Cold War kit, more tactical tension and more replayability.

A mostly fun, realistic football sim with wonky AI.

Nier Replicant is a fabulous remaster of a lauded but messy cult classic, improving it without giving up on its essential strangeness.

For existing fans there aren’t a lot of compelling reasons to upgrade from last year’s edition, unless you’re really nostalgic for the Graham Taylor approach to football.

A first-or-third person shooter that is one of the most chilling, disturbing games I've ever played. And I mean that in the best way possible...The Suffering's main downside is that its graphics engine isn't the latest and the greatest. [Sept 2004, p.62]

It's amazing what you can do with quick reactions and a restart button. [Sept 2007, p.56]

A massive, challenging retro-flavoured shooter that takes the Metroid formula and runs with it. Old school, but with a modern edge.

Hardly the drive of your life, but easily one of the most memorable--and a great one-time gimmick done well. [Holiday 2011, p.78]

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon puts an interesting spin on Arthurian legend and presents a competent world that plays like a love letter to the open-world first-person RPG genre.

With its emphasis on crafting and trading rather than action, Last Epoch puts the cart before the horse.

Underneath the cosy exterior lies a complex, rewarding shopkeeping sim.

Despite some blemishes, it's still the PC's best chess offering. [Apr 2001, p.78]

It's entertaining, challenging, and worth playing, but it's not a graphic adventure that will blow you away. [Jan 1997, p.234]

As Irrational's final work, Episode 2 is a fitting epitaph; both in its ability to offer a fresh perspective on the series, and in the way it obsesses over past triumphs.

A barbarous twist on Rome II, with a handful of fixes.

A fantastic, morally ambiguous detective tale that sometimes struggles to make its interactivity meaningful and fun.

Call of Duty: Warzone reaches new heights in battle royale by ditching backpacks and throwing me in a Gulag.

A beautiful remaster of a great game that leaves some very old, obvious issues untouched.

True to the spirit of its pioneering predecessors, Railroad Tycoon 3 is a richly textured and hopelessly addictive strategy game that's almost certain to steam straight to the top of the sales charts. [Jan 2004, p.114]

An underwhelming finale that's a must-buy for Myst completists only. [Dec 2005, p.86]

A CPU- and GPU-draining masterpiece that's about a year ahead of its time. [Holiday 2006, p.110]

Style and intelligently scaled difficulty make Dustforce an instant classic, and a lesson in the rewards of hard work.

This is rip-roaring strategy for gamers who love the RTS genre and have been waiting for it to get on with growing up. [June 2005, p.78]

I desperately hope the reaction to it is strong enough to convince the developers to change direction, because I couldn't stand to watch the series die like this.

Only the Microwave Emitter energy weapon is likely to stay in my inventory. [Sept 2009, p.81]

An original and deep game of strategic online warfare that brings your sci-fi capital ship fantasies to life.

If you can maneuver around its speed bumps, Test Drive Unlimited delivers a satisfying and visually opulent ride. [July 2007, p.56]

Visually drab and a bit too taken with its own story, but otherwise a clever and fun exercise in creative problem-solving.

A frankly terrifying exercise in pushing Doom as far as it can go.

I went straight from "Neverwinter Nights" to Divine Divinity, and I enjoyed them equally. [Dec 2002, p.108]