A gripping story full of intrigue and murder that struggles to find its footing as an RPG sequel.

Beautiful pixel art and tight controls make Chasm a fine, if reserved, modern take on the Metroidvania.

Satisfying car combat and a beautiful wasteland mostly make up for repetitive melee combat and lackluster story.

Parkitect, for all its quality, is content to be a fairground attraction: fun and mechanically sound, but not something you’re going to queue up hours for.

An enjoyable interstellar romp, wrapping rich resource management and hypersonic combat around a gourmet 3D engine. [Mar 2003, p.93]

A beautiful game with great flying, only held back by confusing interiors and a short duration.

A witty spin on turn-based strategy with some novel mechanics that briefly makes Windows 8 gaming slightly less depressing.

Loadout’s gun customization and well executed twists on shooter staples make it a free-to-play game that doesn't feel like a compromise.

The challenges don't always delight as they might, but there's always another to try--a prospect that's hard to resist once Shuggy's manic sense of invention sinks its teeth into you. [Oct 2012, p.71]

Agreeable hack-'n'-slash fare – the puzzling and platforming is lightweight, but offsets the roaming and robust combat well.

All you get is a well-polished strategic wargame that offers a ton of depth, unique scenarios, and historical accuracy.

Even stranger than its premise and scarier than it looks, The Station is a short ride to a great ending.

A gorgeous world eager to be explored with satisfying puzzles and fun, if occasionally clumsy, action.

Assassin's Creed Mirage isn't the triumphant return to glory that I hoped it'd be, but it's a good first stab.

Its sprite-based units overlaid on a 3D field look cheesy(yet may still tax low-end systems), but stiff looks are a welcome sacrifice for historiccal accuracy and scale. [July 2006, p.67]

A no-fat riff on the early days of survival horror that knows just what to streamline and what to keep pleasingly obtuse.

A flawed but fascinating hybrid, Remnant: From the Ashes is a looter-shooter charged with potential.

Even alongside other recent, excellent retro FPSes, Ion Fury reminds us of how much this period of PC gaming has to offer. It's surely the best thing that's ever happened in the Build Engine, and although limitations of enemy and weapon design reveal themselves over time, the swift movement and sleek maps make Ion Fury a worthy indulgence in the past.

Fuser feels like a natural evolution for Harmonix and, scoring system aside, lets players take control of the music more than ever before.

Beautiful, touching and messy. Life Is Strange is good—not great—but I'd recommend it to anyone.

The excellently revised camera system and eerie villain makes Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 one of the better scare-fests out there.

A fun take on a classic format, great to play with friends—hectic and unique, but easy to understand and play.

The Skywalker Saga's competent design is elevated by its infectious, charming sense of humor.

Visions of Mana weaves accessible action and RPG elements together to create a gorgeously enthralling fairy tale.

A deckbuilder that will have you doing hit point calculations and liking it.

A worthy new entry in the legendary series that’s equal parts progressive and dated.

A worthy end to Dragon Age: Inquisition. A lengthy quest with a satisfying pay-off makes up for some unimaginative encounters.

It's still a fine adaptation, offering a surprising amount of gumshoe depth. [Mar 2006, p.102]

Periodically veers toward mediocrity, but wrapped in a richly drawn world that transcends the game's flaws--just barely. [Jun 2010, p.70]

A well-executed but thoroughly unambitious extension of Borderlands 2. Low-grav jumping adds a new dimension to combat.

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

Imaginative, beautiful, and utterly strange, but you’ll need to really love the story to endure its idiosyncratic combat.

Age of Mythology still has a lot of value beyond nostalgia, then, but I’d wait for a discount before committing your cash, especially if you already bought it a decade ago. This isn’t a total remake, so don’t go in expecting one. The Extended Edition is still a really well-paced and entertaining RTS, one that revels in over-the-top imagery and remains a one-off in subject matter within the oeuvre of the sadly departed Ensemble.

As fresh and insightful as it is slow, Pride of Nations offers major rewards to the patient player. [Nov 2011, p.76]

Excellent writing and vibrant characters help to overcome prominent technical issues and unwelcome repetition.

A tactile, inventive and lovely platform adventure.

It's light on the strategy, but an intriguing dark fantasy tale and RPG elements lift King Arthur II above the average. [May 2012, p.76]

Tropico passes as a strategy game - just don't expect it to rock your world. [July 2001, p.58]

Aside from its supply tedium (and lack of multiplay), the game's horribly wonky pathfinding AI remains the ultimate knock against an otherwise great title. [Sept 2004, p.61]

A Wonderful Life is the first that's properly forced me to settle down and I've found its focus on slowly and carefully tending my farm isn't defunct; it's a different strain of sim that deserves to bloom again after being left fallow for so many seasons.

A lot of work remains to be done here, but for what amounts to a first-time effort, NASCAR Thunder 2003 shows a helluva lot of promise. [Jan 2003, p.92]

Strategically delicious, Phoenix Point’s biggest problem is lackluster technical execution.

Fae Tactics takes an enjoyable swing at streamlining a complex genre, but doesn’t reinvent it in the process.

Bloody playable. [Aug 2009, p.77]

If your idea of a rousing good time is cracking open skulls like chestnuts to feast on the goo inside, you'll have plenty of fun with this one. [Feb 2006, p.86]

Galaxies has a few annoying aspects that seem endemic to MMORPGs - with tedious cross-country treks and features that are broken upon initial release - but it still delivers a lot of varied and innovative gameplay. [Oct 2003, p.92]

A cinematic, high-octane, but short-lived adventure, lovingly remastered for a new generation.

War Front is a solid and entertaining game, though far less original than it purports to be. [May 2007, p.62]

Its incredible depth certainly nets the game some major kudos, but there's a serious caveat in the near absence of any structured gameplay. [Dec 2001, p.100]

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

This content-rich general-aviation sim is built for serious flight buffs. [Mar 2004, p.68]

The city builder sequel is packed with big improvements but a fair share of disappointments.

Exciting, suspenseful gameplay is an innovative twist on survival-horror. [Feb 2006, p.38]

It's just a few new features away from glory. [Holiday 2002, p.85]

Free-flowing strategy with a wealth of features. An element of grind, but plenty of satisfying moments too .

Homeworld 3 takes some big swings, but while it's a very good RTS, it never quite comes together in the same way as its predecessors.

Dungeon of the Endless pulls from many popular games and genres from the last couple of years, but what's wonderful about it is that all these elements come together to create something entirely new.

Bloodstained: ROTN faithfully recreates the metroidvania experience of the 2000s—a feast for fans of a very specific experience; a bit too old-fashioned for anyone else.

If Generals had shipped with a more compelling story and more skirmish/multiplayer options, I'd be calling it one of the greatest RTS games ever made. [May 2003, p.56]

The game's apples-to-apples translation keeps it only good instead of great. I kept wishing the developers had done more to capitalize on the new platform. [Feb 2004, p.81]

While light on visuals and variety, Natsu-Mon's comforting world makes it a delightful summer escape.

Gets bogged down in a few of the traps created by its ambitious, free-form design, but an invigorating game emerges anyway. It's certainly in the same constellation as "Freelancer," if a lot more challenging. [Mar 2004, p.66]

Fun for kids and adults alike(the original <i>Pac Man</i> is even included in emulated form)--just be sure to bring a quality game-pad to the party. [July 2006, p.99]

Phenomenal on-the-pitch gameplay is marred by an awkward UI and lots of faff.

It takes too long to grow beyond its predecessor, but once it does Knights in Tight Spaces is an engaging and tactical roguelike deckbuilder.

A slight but fun third-person medieval melee game. It's definitely different, but needs more bulking out.

There may be prettier and more heavily populated first person shooters, but few reward teamwork as well as Insurgency.

A reasonably effective balance between traditional RTS action in the "Warcraft" mold and the large-scale tactics of the "Total War" series. [Feb 2005, p.62]

At times the difficulty and dreary landscapes are enough, but overall The Ringed City was one hell of a soft note for Dark Souls to go out on. As a surface level thematic experience, the finale is a fitting way to end the series, leaving the faintest glimmer of hope amidst all the ash. I had fun descending through a visual collage of the series’ history—it's much more interesting than Ashes of Ariandel—and I can appreciate the symbolic significance of its ending, but this is Dark Souls design at its most uninspired.

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

Scary monsters, beautiful locations, and a story that's sadly lost in space.

Often obtuse in its puzzle design and not that artfully told, The White Door is still effective at taking you to another place.

Unmechanical dazzles with its gorgeous artwork and smart physics-based puzzle, but its ending is ultimately unsatisfactory. [Dec 2012, p.66]

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]

There's lots of entertainment here, if you're the patient type. [Mar 2001, p.64]

A fine extension to the original story, but its lack of tactical depth gets tiresome. [July 2008, p.54]

Baldur's Gate is still a game that's well worth playing, but the Enhanced Edition isn't the version we'd recommend.

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

An admirable adaptation of a classic sci-fi story, despite a few stumbles.

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]

Beautiful and stacked with excellent performances, but Eriksholm's stealth feels too much like being led around by the nose to reach greatness.

Grittier and more convincing than ever, Konami's soccer juggernaut excels on the pitch but barely tries off it.

Some deliciously well-rendered visuals have been used to re-create each of the 16 warships and submarines you control, and the ocean effects - which range from gentle swells to full-blown gales - are so convincing that you may find yourself reaching for Dramamine. [June 2003, p.68]

Old School RuneScape is a massive but compelling time sink, and even after all these years, there's simply nothing else like it.

Parallel Lines is an energetic driving/action/shooter with loads of personality and twice the depth of its underperforming predecessor. [Nov 2007, p.76]

Mytheon is just shy of being a really good venue for inexpensive adventuring. [June 2011, p.79]

An engaging turn-based strategy game that manages to retain the overall feel and flavor of the series while being distinct from its brethren. [Jan 2002, p.68]

Charming and accessible, but this is a game to play with the sound off while you're watching TV. [Nov 2015, p.62]

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

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

Some issues keep it from being a stand-alone great, but fans longing for a reboot of Dungeon Keeper could do a lot worse than this clever, enjoyable dungeon manager.

"Quotation Forthcoming"

Eventually it feels repetitive, but the quantity of character and dungeon permutations is sufficient to engage even jaded genre veterans for weeks. [July 2010, p.79]

A documentary format worth expanding and repeating, more assists, and the same rough but rewarding racing.

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

Some of these brainteasers--including a tricky Enigma decoding machine segment and a complex darkroom sequence--are brilliant additions, while others will strain your patience and gray matter to the breaking point. [Dec 2008, p.59]

SSHD is just a touched up portrait of a lesser-known, much-loved ancestor. [Jan 2010, p.80]

A hard campaign (if you play on the hardest mode) and breakneck multiplayer are a good time, if often infuriating.