I'm optimistic about what Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League can become, but let down by what it is now.

The Godfather II doesn't trip over the ambition of its design - it balances the different genre aspects extremely well - but nagging graphics issues weigh it down, causing quest characters and family members to disappear or distort in-game and in cutscenes, sometimes requiring me to load old saved games to progress. [Apr 2009, p.82]

Adrenaline-fueled crescendos and bosses toss in some welcome fun to the experience, but not nearly enough. [Jan 2011, p.77]

A quirky, overly saccharine life sim that quickly descends into a dispassionate grind. [April 2017, p.90]

I really wanted to like this game, but its repetitiveness and frustration make it an island to skip. [July 2004, p.69]

Entertaining futuristic aerial action, and a good value at the price. [May 2004, p.66]

The Theatre of War series might well be one to watch, but for now there are better options available. [Jun 2010, p.81]

Yes, it's formulaic - creep forward, trigger an onslaught of attackers, circle-strafe, save, flip a switch, and repeat - but the gameplay captivates in short bursts due mainly to inventive level design. [Sept 2003, p.86]

Beautiful game, with some nice puzzles, ruined by your character's inability to perform the platforming as well as you need.

The Suicide of Rachel Foster builds a haunting hotel, but fills it with an insensitive story ill-equipped to deal with the issues it covers.

Overly simplified combat. [July 2008, p.60]

A surprisingly engaging shooter that manages to turn what could have been another routine FPS into a rousing costume saga with a genuine feeling of epic sweep. [July 2004, p.64]

A good RPG provides players with the opportunity to role-play characters of their choosing through an experience that's ultimately personalized by their decisions. Judged on that basis, this game delivers in spades. [Feb. 2007, p.60]

You're left with the feeling that someone decided that an add-on was a good way to get you to pay more for "Empire Earth"'s bounteous content overflow. [Holiday 2002, p.102]

Passive AI and a flawed economy ruin what could have been a refreshing 4X experiment.

There is potential for amusing cat-and-mouse exchanges, but a lobby full of humans is hard to find.

A collection of fun hacking minigames attached to a bland metroidvania.

Blood Stone's short and uneven mission is no more than the sum of its parts. [Feb 2011, p.75]

The game is only entertaining with all the help systems (of which there are many) disabled, so that you're forced to decide which tools should be used on which splatters and spatters. [Jan 2008, p.74]

It's one of the most inaccessible games I've ever played. [Oct 2004, p.90]

Good-looking but repetitive action makes Front Mission Evolved a tasty mech-flavored appetizer. [Nov 2010, p.84]

Maybe Global Star's next "Jetfighter" studio will get the formula right. We hope. [Apr 2006, p.100]

Starting a medieval crime family may not be everyone's idea of fun, but for those who are willing to place a daggar in a rival's back or to bribe a magistrate to get ahead, Pirates is a worthwhile expansion to its predecessor. [Oct 2007, p.70]

A fun platformer that gives random generation an online twist, but lack of depth stops this from being a job for life.

The end result is just to routine to be scary. [Holiday 2007, p.84]

The knockabout glee of classic Saints Row ultraviolence is here, but held back a little by new-found restraint.

Out of the box, the game falls disappointingly short of its promise--there's plenty of content here, but not nearly enough challenging ways for gamers to use it. [Feb 2008, p.80]

If you're into serious castle-building and siegecraft, nothing else comes close. [July 2005, p.64]

ObsCure's smell of teen spirit freshens up a staid and stodgy genre. [July 2005, p.62]

At its core, it's a simplistic console game with all the usual trappings - brainless combat, lame puzzles, and shoddy controls. [Oct 2005, p.70]

It's a poor follow-up: the biggest puzzle is how, with the Layton games to steal ideas from, it gets the basics so wrong. [Oct 2011. p.76]

The game is great fun, but there's simply not enough content here for $15.

On the whole, this game feels like a retreat of older ones - only with +10 wackiness. It's decent, but hardly heroic. [Apr 2004, p.70]

Hardcore, platoon-oriented players will definitely enjoy what Core Combat has to offer. [Feb 2004, p.75]

Empire of Sin's many bugs, balance issues and competing systems undermine what could have been a novel mob management game.

This tank shoot-em-up has a lot of energy, but it's simplistic gameplay wears out its welcome quicker than members of a Hitler Youth group at a Bar Mitzvah. [Dec,. 2006, p.56]

Hydrophobia Prophecy suffers from more than a fear of water: It's also afflicted with acute blandness, brain dead AI, and chronic backtracking. [Sept 2011, p.73]

My biggest gripe involves gangland's implementation vehicles. You're occasionally given cars for drive-by shootings, but their awful handling makes completing those levels a chore. [June 2004, p.74]

Although dripping with atmosphere and loaded with great gags, Sir, You Are Being Hunted’s survival elements feel unnecessary and its stealth bores.

Swinging wildly between inspired and tedious, Deadpool is an uneven and unpredictable as its lead character. [Oct 2013, p.60]

2020 marks the third year Madden has been back on PC since the franchise's prodigal return to the platform in 2018. The novelty hasn't worn off for me yet. There is still something inherently weird and exciting about playing such a console-targeted franchise on my desktop; to type in my player's name and college with a keyboard. But that won't sustain many players for long. Madden is desperate for some new ideas, so let's hope some of 21's more exotic ventures foreshadow a more substantial rebuild in the future.

An attractive medieval survival sandbox that unfortunately gets bogged down in too many demands for time.

Though the game isn't deep enough to keep it from growing repetitive rather quickly, there's something satisfying on an almost primal level about being able to squash hordes of invading space bugs. [Jan 2005, p.83]

A cleanly executed idea falls short because of flat characterisation and a dissatisfying lack of consequence. If only real papers were this toothless.

The worst gaming goat since that one in Broken Sword. This is a dumb, limited novelty game that's not worth the asking price

A varied, atmospheric space simulator with beautiful Martian sunsets, challenging survival, and frustrating controls.

Even diehard grognards may be turned off by its complex interface and esoteric control panels, and newbies will be frustrated to no end. [Nov 2007, p.70]

A middling contender in the most oversubscribed genre around. Trades too hard on being free.

Broken Worlds doesn't offer enough new gameplay to interest anyone other than the most dedicated "Dungeon Siege" fans, and its once-innovative engine now feels clunky and no longer looks impressive. [Nov. 2006, p.98]

A lot of thought put into new chess pieces; not enough put toward PC gaming. Also, kinda pricey.

Starts promisingly, but soon slips into a tiresome, repetitive grind, never doing its unique period setting justice.

Enjoyable arcade handling packaged within a game that gets monotonous long before it rewards your time investment.

Watching your favourite game genres make out sounds exciting, but God of Rock doesn't quite nail it. It leaves a game that feels at odds with itself, sometimes fun to play but mostly frustrating or uninteresting.

The teammate AI is at times very helpful and other times is just plain whacked. [June 2003, p.84]

An accessible online heist game with some fun systems that wrestle with clumsy combat and an ugly presentation.

The impressive 3D graphics lose their luster because of the lack of interaction, and the actual gameplay falls short because of its spreadsheet mentality. [Dec 2003, p.124]

Streamlined in every way, War of the Vikings cut too much meat from the bone and left nothing to chew on.

Beautiful style, polished interactions, but ultimately it just runs out of things to do.

On top of the mediocre graphics, translation bloopers, and occasional crashes, these flaws will greatly hasten XIII's fade into history. [Oct 2008, p.70]

If the rest of this Nazi shooting galllery had as much flair as its between-level vignettes, UberSoldier II could have secured an uber-spot at the top of the bargain bin. As is, it's much closer to the bottom. [Dec 2008, p.58]

Although likely to be modded to perfection, SH5's release version is an incomplete, buggy disappointment. [Jun 2010, p.68]

Necromunda is a sight to behold, but it's undermined by wonky shooting, superfluous mechanics, and bugs.

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

With a little more polish, Silverfall could have made a run at toppling the genre's heavyweights. [June 2007, p.68]

An elegant, pared-down stealth game with echoes of the original Deus Ex, driven by a compelling story of paranoia and betrayal.

Tactics adds layers of depth, but the cost of booster packs quickly makes a mockery of the "free-to-play" label. [April 2011, p.77]

Come for the one of the scariest environments you’ll sweat in, but try not to leave for the punishing level of difficulty.

A pretty but simple action game that makes the right decision to not attempt to be something more than it is and concentrates on a well-executed bullet-curving gimmick. It just happens to be overpriced at $50. [May 2009, p.76]

For the money, it's a worthwhile investment, but it could have used more missions. [Jan 2001, p.155]

The vintage jets are a delight for the eyes, and Wings over Europe can challenge your air combat maneuvering and bombing skills as well as many A-list flight sims do. [Aug 2006, p.90]

I know that there's a great, massive RTS beneath all these issues. I've seen glimpses of it when everything works correctly, but at the moment I can't recommend Planetary Annihilation without a warning that it's bound to disappoint and frustrate, even if you do teach yourself to play it.

There’s no strong sense of place, and nothing to anchor the high falutin ponderings that make up so much of the game. And even if we were to take it at face value, which seems to be impossible, it’s only a snapshot, a vertical slice of this world without much context, making it hard to reach any solid conclusions.

The main problem with Diggles is that all this micro-management take a long time to execute. [July 2002, p.73]

A promising concept that needs better graphics, camera controls, and AI to really shine. [Feb 2004, p.70]

Northland is really a sim posing as an RTS game. I doubt it'll fully satisfy fans of either. [July 2004, p.69]

Too much is lost in the translation between third-person strategy and first-person shooter, with insufficient respect paid overall to the FPS point of view. [Jun 2006, p.52]

Unfortunately, it's the monkey's paw of game ports. [Aug 2007, p.70]

My biggest complaint is the excruciating grind, where you hunt creatures for experience points and money. [July 2004, p.66]

A jog-fest with sluggish combat and inconsistent stealth, but a story that will pull you toward the end anyway.

Bleeding Edge's characters are cool, but the combat is too shallow to hold attention for long.

Smart, savvy, and satirical, but it evokes the drudgery of social media so well it can drag like a long-winded comment thread. [Feb 2014, p.70]

Much deeper and more complex than it looks to be on first acquaintance; it could be a real sleeper in the wargaming community.

Four gigabytes of music and cinematics is a clear sign of self-indulgent game design..., but Aerial Strike ultimately lasers all this extra blubber to deliver a compelling sci-fi shoot-'em up. [May 2005, p.60]

While its new environments are a decent aside, Shattered Space seems largely content to tread water, leaving Starfield the same mixed bag it always was.

Weird, good natured, and pretty funny with it, The Good Life stands apart, like most SWERY games.

Stick with GTA for your gangsta fix. [Mar 2008, p.80]

Definitely an ambitious project, but unfortunately, it's only the floating-island concept and not the actual gameplay that will make it stick in the minds of gamers. [Feb 2003, p.80]

It's something many of these sims's aren't: fun. [Nov 2002, p.116]

If you like to set your own goals and don't need a high-score table to know you're having fun, then Pineapple Smash Crew is well worth the $10. [May 2012, p.81]

Etherium is never aggressively terrible, but there’s nothing to recommend it over other, more interesting RTS games.

It not only brings nothing new to the RTS table - it takes stuff away, too. [Mar 2004, p.70]

TalonSoft deserves a good keelhauling for dumping such a buggy game on shelves. [May 2001, p.82]

The whole thing feels a bit bland. [March 2013, p.73]

For all its awkwardness and self-regard, we need more games like this, that try to broaden the medium and aspire to better it. Eventually, we'll get one that succeeds. [Apr 2013, p.109]

A good squad-wargame for those patient enough to forgive the awful interface for making the strategic component a chore. [May 2012, p.74]

Still, even with the most charming narrative, the clumsy and ultimately banal action leaves Contrast whistling in the dark. [Feb 2014, p.74]

Early missions can be a bit of a grind, and you can't buy anything fancy right away, even if you have the cash. [March 2005, p.66]

It starts promising and gets better in the final act, but the bulk of Betrayer's journey is let down by inconsistent quality, repeat enemies, and investigative drudgery.