If you're a new player, this is not the expansion you're looking for. [Aug 2005, p.56]

Guardians of the Galaxy's story may eventually get someplace interesting, but it's a poor fit for Telltale's simple quick time events and stiff dialogue sequences.

Hardcore D&D fans looking to fill the gap before the next Black Isle or BioWare release should avoid this one like a high-level beholder. [Apr 2002, p.72]

A botched opportunity for what could have been a cool game. [Mar 2001, p.49]

It's the best "grand" strategy game since the 1993 classic "Clash of Steel." [Nov 2002, p.138]

The finest modern-day F1 simulation currently available. [Mar 2001, p.75]

An approachable 3rd-person space sim with a vast, and often beautiful, universe to explore.

A uniquely inventive and chucklesome puzzle game that could do with a little more substance.

A gruelling mystery game that smothers its big ideas with dour survival mechanics.

Still, Top Spin 2 is a decent, enjoyable tennis game for a modest $19.99 price tag. [May 2007, p.70]

A capable attempt to recapture the magic of WWE, let down by the decision not to update any single element of the console versions.

Diablo fans will love the combat options, sophisticated magic, and quality graphics. [Nov 2000, p.159]

Once more with feeling: this is a fine if familiar base game with great creative tools.

As beautiful as the background and characters are, the entire game has a slightly dated look to it. Once players delve into the story, though, the sense that the graphics belong to a game from two years ago disappears, and only the world of Septerra matters.

For $19.99, this bundle is worth buying just for "Off Road Thunder" alone. [May 2006, p.102]

Luckily, there are no real game-ending bugs, so you can satisfy your appetite for destruction if you're willing to pay for an unpolished game. [Dec 2008, p.64]

A smart and sassy point 'n' click adventure that treats its youthful audience with respect. [Holiday 2006, p.114]

But it seems that developer Frogwares spent more time attending to the genre's flaws than crafting an engaging adventure game. [Sept 2008, p.72]

An awful and punishing experience... It's not as if adventure games needed another punch to the crotch. [June 2005, p.74]

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

Zax is good fun, though it suffers from too much déjà vu. [Feb 2002, p.65]

The simple building system is very slow and expensive, often taking years, and enemy ninjas can destroy guilds or religious locations with ease. [Holiday 2011, p.77]

Surgeon Simulator 2 is a clever, funny puzzle game that renders its "surgery" mechanics almost ancillary to the final product.

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered is a surprisingly satisfying romp through Hell, as long as you plug your ears.

Has nothing in common with the original series, but it's a solid action/RPG. [Sept 2005, p.81]

There are better games, but not too many better B-grade scripts. [Dec 2005, p.88]

Innovative features lift this game above mediocrity - but not by much. [Oct 2003, p.108]

First up is the AI, which, for both the enemy and your squad, is simply dreadful. [Apr 2004, p.66]

A blissfully fluid action game with a compelling twist, let down occasionally by tedious encounters.

A beautiful universe with a sophisticated interface, but it's essentially a desolate wilderness of constellations, space debris, and guesses. [Sept 2003, p.92]

While simplistic controls and assisted aiming reveal Rogue Trooper's console origins, its core gameplay will still appeal to PC shooter fans, especially those who dig multiplayer(death-match and co-op, yay!). [July 2006, p.55]

A relatively tough but mechanically lean sci-fi strategy game.

Italian folklore makes for a unique setting, but Enotria lacks the smooth combat and smart mechanics you'd look for in a decent soulslike.

An interesting horror game that never manages to escape the shadow of its ‘90s inspiration.

Still, considering what it had to work with, Noblis has done the Da Vinci name proud. [Sep 2006, p.94]

This game will find an audience...that could fit into a high-school gymnasium. [Sept 2005, p.70]

An interesting story with some beautiful scenery, but let down by half-hearted puzzling and some derivative story beats.

Despite hitting most of the right notes, it's so short that it's barely memorable. [June 2011, p.77]

Youngblood's gorgeous, terrible world is worth exploring, despite a slight narrative and oppressively boring progression systems.

While the idea of creating a more "realistic" sci-fi shooter is a good one, Chrome never rises above some bad design decisions and an overall lack of polish... The next mediocre shooter. [Jan 2004, p.115]

A serious display of sci-fi storytelling talent, even if the production falls short of space age.

A fine balancing act of challenge and intrigue, with stabiliser wheels courtesy of Ron Perlman's voice.

Rhem 3 doesn't reinvent the graphic adventure genre "Myst" pioneered in the 1990's--it downgrades it, if anything--but it does make the argument that sheer quantity can sometimes trump visual quality. [June 2008, p.72]

Strong first impressions make this ideal when showing off your new Rift headset, but there's little to keep you flying beyond those first few moments. [Tested with Oculus Rift]

A streamlined, easy-to-play strategy game with a uniquely dark premise that's ideal for sporadic sessions. [Nov 2017, p.83]

Ashes of the Singularity delivers thoughtful real-time strategy with tons of units in play, but drab maps and a poor story.

With Definitive Editions of the later installments on the horizon, Age of Empires is once again poised to be overshadowed. If you have an overwhelming sense of nostalgia about the birth of the series, this does an excellent job of preserving it while making it considerably more palatable, but for a trip down memory lane, it sure is expensive.

Classic Gearbox shooting with an experimental MOBA twist, but it’s no Borderlands.

A delightfully weird aesthetic is wasted on a fighting game-platformer hybrid with shallow combat and structural twists that failed to grab me.

Orcs Must Die: Deathtrap retains the frenzied fun of its predecessors despite a mixed bag of format changes.

Rainbow Six Extraction is a fun and unremarkable co-op shooter with some very good ooze.

Trade Empires simply isn’t much fun. It’ll appeal only to fans of maddeningly dense economics sims "with a twist."

Good, reliable fun that favors atmosphere over innovation. [Dec 2002, p.92]

There's fun to be had here so long as you aren't expecting a serious World War II sim. [Feb 2001, p.64]

Brevity is the main drawback here: you can beat the whole game in just a few hours. But it's funny while it lasts. [Nov 2003, p.126]

Sure, a little more aeronautic authenticity might have made this good game great, but for what it tries to deliver, Wings of War succeeds admirably. [Holiday 2004, p.104]

All details are overridden by your answer to this very simple question: Just how much do you like Aerosmith? [Feb 2009, p.74]

Floaty combat and repetition mean this cartoon brawler is never more than a pretty face.

Less technically adept than modern competitors, but The Serpent's Curse Part 1 is a pleasing start to a new Broken Sword story. [March 2014, p.54]

<i>Battle of the Gods</i> could have used a touch of divine inspiration. [July 2006, p.67]

Not worth it as a solo adventure. In co-op, Wildlands is an enjoyable stealth romp that too often gets in its own way.

A leaner, smarter take on Magicka’s fascinating combat system, Magicka 2 is the co-op adventure you’ve been waiting for.

A pleasing world and satisfying jetpack exploration aside, Cutter Slade's return is rarely out of this world.

This series is beginning to look less like a unique PC off-road racer and more like a console-port knockoff with each incarnation. [Mar 2002, p.74]

There's no knocking the stellar visuals, solid storyline, and unrelenting blood-spilling. But the overall design is weak, and you'll have to slog through a lot of frustration to get to the good stuff. [Apr 2004, p.82]

While its RPG aspirations may be overshadowed by your need to constantly source the basics like ammo and health, The Pit--with its random elements and permadeath--is justified in its boast of replayability, even if it is only out of necessity. [May 2013, p.61]

Tiresome racer that only takes two hours to complete, yet somehow feels longer. That's both impressive and depressing.

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

Not for the easily frustrated, but unique enough to attract serious FPS fans. [Jan 2003, p.116]

Other than its being a bit too simplistic, I have no complaints about this game. It's the best PC Potter yet. [Feb 2004, p.88]

Even though this game is an indie effort, the art and sound production are professional-quality. [Jan 2006, p.57]

A competent shooter, but lifeless. You could spend many hours mastering Desync, but it does nothing to earn your time.

Disposable content. [Jan 2005, p.85]

Type-0 certainly gets real-time combat right, but this port of an RPG that began on handheld is otherwise not much fun to play on PC.

Super Slam busts out with destructible environments and plenty of sight gags--enough to make this fighting game good entertainment for kids who aren't ready for "hot coffee." [Apr 2006, p.100]

A great combat system is restrained by thoughtless multiplayer mode design.

It's impossible to dislike the game, especially if you enjoyed its predecessors, but it's also hard to appreciate such formulaic gameplay. [May 2006, p.98]

Initially stunning but lacking the depth and variety to support mammoth playtimes.

The game's wonky art assets and cursory narrative trimming feel like placeholders, but take it as a no-frills Portal mod pack and there are ideas here worth winding your brain around--building blocks of a development talent almost as impressive as the game it apes. [Apr 2012, p.81]

The simplified avionics are well-suited for novice PC aviators, but with Wings' bland terrain and cookie-cutter campaign missions, it just doesn't pack enough ordnance for disconcerning jet-sim fans. [Jan 2005, p.90]

Dull combat, countless boring gray rooms and an abandoned story make Cryostasis as appealing as frozen dog droppings. [Aug 2009, p.76]

For over-the-top(literally) off-road racing action, Nail'd delivers on multiple fronts--just as long as you remember to keep your dirt racer in the air as much as possible. [Feb 2011, p.81]

Clunky quest structure and uninteresting main characters shoot this weirdly compulsive RPG in the foot.

A novel structure for competitive play, but can't match the depth of most MOBAs or the feel of a good shooter. [Holiday 2014, p,64]

The Signal From Tölva is easily Big Robot's best game yet: a lean, intelligent sci-fi shooter with a watchmaker’s eye for detail that knows its strengths and plays to them beautifully.

Unexplored 2 has potential, but right now the adventure's unreliable and storytelling's seriously flawed.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is an unsatisfying multiplayer experience that lacks the wry character of the movies it's based on.

A rough-edged but worthwhile spin on historical 4Xs that oddly leaves Civ's greatest flaws untouched.

Mediocre and repetitive, there are far better options for action RPGs out there.

A great artstyle and flashes of brilliance never truly make up for a meandering, risk-averse plot.

I wanted to like Getting Up, but flawed game mechanics and a hip-flop plot send this Trane off its tracks. [May 2006, p.98]

Bland and unambitious save for its combat, Lost Sphear draws so heavily from the traditions of past JPRGs that it fails to build a personality of its own.

It's a shame that PES has made so many worthwhile tweaks, only to deliver a lacklustre PC edition. PES could—and should—be as good as the console game in every detail, and if have a console you’ll be throwing good money after bad. Pity, as otherwise this ought to be a seminal football sim.

It simply wasn't polished enough before it was booted out the door. [Jan 2003, p.96]

Rust is a malicious experience rife with betrayal, cruelty and greed. That can make it both frustrating and sublime in equal doses.

Lacking the sharpness needed by both shooters and comedy, High on Life is a low point in the gaming calendar.

Free mode is definitely worth trying, but don't go out and buy the store copy unless you're comfortable spending extra cash for in-game items. [Sept 2007, p.60]

A gorgeous world dogged by some terrible quest design. [Jun 2010, p.82]