A perfect blend of authenticity mixed with modern-day quality of life enhancements. Joyous, slick, hi-score gaming that looks nice too.

One of the most fun and challenging local co-op games ever made, but the single-player experience is less thrilling, making the lack of online play disappointing.

Visually gorgeous and emotionally raw, True Colors is an incredible continuation of the Life is Strange series.

A beautiful adventure with heart, humour, and satisfying hacking puzzles you can enjoy even if you don’t know anything about coding.

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]

The most innovative sim in years, even with its manageability issues. [Jan 2005, p.66]

But when things do come together, it can be a near-perfect storm that balances questing, instanced scenarios, and open world RvR that makes it feel like you're gliding through leveling rather than grinding. [Holiday 2008, p.64]

A stylish mix of bullet hell and deft swordplay, Furi is only held back by rare bugs and poorly designed difficulty spikes.

Like if an immersive sim got caught in a teleporter accident with Uncharted. Some aspects of The Great Circle are weaker than others, but it joins Batman Arkham and Goldeneye in the god tier of licensed games.

Although it lacks in mission variety, Dawn of War II skips the pleasantries of base-building and gets right to the point: action-packed, bloody warfare (with loot!) [Mar 2009, p.62]

A supreme strategy game, rich with incident and detail. Finally some worthy competition for the Total War series. [Mar 2010, p.76]

A heart-pumping genre superlative that should not be missed despite some technical issues to sort out.

The game entices you with its beauty before hooking you with its effects and finally landing you with its enormous gameplay depth. [Sept 2008, p.66]

A graphically bland, but ultimately satisfying re-creation of the front office number-crunching in the halls of MLB's finest.

A superb arcade racer that's a feature or two away from greatness. [Feb 2006, p.88]

A tense and spooky strategy roguelike that's as satisfying as it is harrowing.

Charming, clever and funny, this is one of the best new platformers on the PC at the moment. Recommended.

A short but exceedingly sweet indie project that's less about innovation, more about crafting an unforgettable experience. [Sept 2009, p.76]

Occasionally languid to the point of lethargy, Okami is a gorgeous and unforgettable adventure all the same.

No other game comes close to the major league statistical detail offered in this addictive simulation of our national pastime. [Sept 2007, p.60]

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.

Desperados 3 turns the Wild West into a brilliant tactical playground that will fill you with lead over and over again.

It runs perfectly in a window while you're doing something else on your PC; attend to it in free moments to rack up loot, levels, new spells and satisfaction. [Nov 2010, p.86]

Like a reunion concert of a band you once loved, or a candy shop selling a particular brand of candy that brings to mind childhood summers of sun and sea and all that other cliched crap, Broken Age is a well deserved chance to remember the old days and realize that they're still closer than they might sometimes feel—even if the second part is a little further away than intended.

The "Quake III" engine has been stretched to its limits here, but it still gets the job done. [Sept 2003, p.70]

Bigger and more stable than ever, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion will happily strip-mine your life of its free time.

I'm coming up on 100 hours logged in the expansion and I don't even feel close to done, nor have I slowed down a bit. My friends and I have been burning the midnight oil and playing almost every night, which would've been unthinkable before. After a precarious first year, I'm finally enjoying Destiny 2 again. It feels good to have it back.

What it lacks in complexity, it more than makes up for with intense action and ease of lay that consistently draws you back for more. [Feb 2005, p.48]

An exhilarating adventure teeming with unique things to see and do- and most importantly, people to stab.

There's a comprehensive and remarkably easy-to-use scenario creator, too... Squad Assault is a delight. [Jan 2004, p.86]

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

A fantastic addition to an already fantastic strategy game. [Dec 2005, p.94]

A survival colony builder that generates stories of triumph, disaster, and white-knuckle rescues.

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

Kunitsu-Gami's a gorgeous and engaging take on the tower defence formula.

A superb tactics game that looks like an XCOM clone but really, really isn’t.

The Gladiators trades in bumpkin-building for fast-paced and hilarious arena combat... An eminently chewable bit of bubble-gum entertainment. [Mar 2003, p.94]

A deep tactical wargame with strong fundamentals supporting a broadly successful campaign system.

Vivid and tactically demanding, Assault Squad is a brilliant multiplayer game that's even better with friends. [June 2011, p.78]

PUBG takes the tradition of big-map survival games like DayZ and compresses it into digestible, 3-to-30-minute sprints that are reliably scary and low-key.

Beneath the lo-fi visuals and simple animation is a sophisticated, thrilling, and occasionally brutal shooter. [Nov 2013, p.64]

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

A sublime blend of fighting, puzzling and exploration, but the unforgiving difficulty may be too much for some.

Brilliant writing and puzzle design make this first expansion a success, although it's a little familiar in places. [Nov 2015, p.72]

A serene gravity flipping puzzler with impossible structures to wrap your head around.

Oxenfree 2 is a more mature second run at the walk-and-talk formula.

Ashen's slant on the Soulslike subgenre isn't revolutionary, but is a wonderful example of the familiar formula executed well. It's thoughtful, gorgeous, challenging and a dream to explore.

Atmospheric, imaginative, and enjoyably unpredictable—this is one of the year's best horror games.

Offers the best "bang for the buck" of any current racing title. [Apr 2001, p.73]

One great RPG and one curio. Not a perfect port, but definitely Square Enix’s best stab at bringing Final Fantasy to PC so far.

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

A smoother, more seamless ride than Hot Pursuit, it's second time lucky for this fast, furious open-world motor show.

Stylish and obscure, this is a fascination exploration of abstract puzzle design. No idea where the name comes from though. [Mar 2012, p.76]

It's far from perfect, but Universe of War accomplishes what few RTS games have dared to attempt--introducing three sides that have completely unique gameplay experiences. [Jan 2008, p.76]

A Sisyphean challenge after which you'll never take pressing W to walk for granted again.

A fantastic feat of interlocking storytelling and design.

While the name may be slightly misleading, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is a fantastic way to experience one of the best action games ever made.

A near-perfect combination of gut-wrenching horror and intenst action. [May 2001, p.58]

A significant improvement in the genre, but it's not quite all it could have been. [Jan 1998, p.295]

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

A smart and silly spin on 3D platformers and 2D classics that’s delightful from start to finish.

XIII is rounded out by a tantalizing multiplayer component. [Feb 2004, p.62]

Prizing immersion and effort above all, this is a demanding, but very rewarding, RPG.

A grimly beautiful collection of killer horror set-pieces, with some of the most memorably grotesque enemies in Resi history.

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

Despite wrapping up in a clumsy excess of ambition, Lemma is a thrilling experimental expression of the free-running genre.

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

The compelling story, gorgeous graphics, and innovative magic system are more than enough to make this journey worthwhile. [Jan 2003, p.86]

A dark, engrossing, and challenging narrative card and crafting game.

A great expansion, and a promising sign of things to come. Some minor issues aside, Heart of Thorns is a clever addition to one of the best MMOs around.

Thrills abound for PC baseball fans who can live with an imperfect game. [May 2005, p.85]

Perhaps the most impressive feature is the remarkably deep Career mode, where careful management of sponsorship deals, vehicle upgrades, and race purses will help you advance from the minor leagues to the pros. [May 2003, p.94]

Unexpectedly engrossing. Heed the mockers and you'll miss one of the PC's finest and freshest driving games.

Evil Dead brings a brand new tactical thrill to the multiplayer horror genre.

While hardly perfect, Joint Ops is an adrenaline-fueled good time that provides a tactically deeper alternative to "Battlefield Vietnam." [Sept 2004, p.58]

Whether you're an old-timer who wants to revisit the past or a noob looking for an accessible economic sim with a great theme, Railroads! should be on your shopping list. [Jan. 2007, p.62]

A great game for those who loved the hack-and-slash parts of "Baldur's Gate." [Oct 2000, p.110]

New life for the Myst franchise, but the non-believers won't be convinced. [July 2001, p.62]

Anger Foot is a funny, unique FPS only slightly let down by performance issues.

A blend of mismatched genres that somehow works, Yoku’s Island Express is a beguiling game of modest brilliance.

Deeply silly and all the better for it, the missed political targets really don’t matter.

With bumping tunes and Y2K inspirations, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk reminds us that, sometimes, looking back can be a way of moving forward.

Lumines Remastered’s lack of online multiplayer is regrettable, its session length still demanding and, frankly, it’s probably a better match on Nintendo Switch, but it does the important thing: it brings a puzzle classic back into focus and proves that Lumines can still shake ya body down to the ground.

Fight past the niggles and you'll find a truly epic grand strategy game with a tremendous sense of spectacle.

Sunken King won’t do anything to convince you to play Dark Souls 2 if you don’t already love it, but stays consistently challenging for even veteran players.

Frozen Synapse 2 has plenty to offer with its campaign, but again, this sequel is at its best when playing against other fallible humans.

Deep and unique enough for genre veterans, yet also simple and welcoming enough for newcomers.

The new features/graphics only ehnance what was already the best baseball game ever. [June 2001, p.64]

Squeezing the last possible drop of gaming goodness out of aging technology yields a tasty treat indeed. [Jan 2003, p.80]

If you don't mind the relative difficulty and dark overtones, forget that footlong and invest your $5 in Isaac. [Feb 2012, p.79]

Fixes most of Elemental’s technical and design problems, making it an addictively complex and rewarding strategy game.

The box says it's guaranteed to improve your real game. I believe it! [Mar 2001, p.83]

Two Point Museum is the coolest, cosiest, and most evolved iteration of the formula to date, even if its more obtuse aspects prevented me from becoming a pro curator.

Boltgun is stupendously fun—a treat for Warhammer players and a worthy member of the growing legion of retro shooters.

Empire at War finally delivers a truly satisfying Star Wars strategy experience. [Apr 2006, p.62]

Still, while this inaugural episode may not be the essential FPS that "Half-Life 2" is, I can't imagine any shooter fan who'd want to miss it. [Aug 2006, p.34]

A beautiful, fascinating exploration of a world that may soon be nothing more than fantasy.

Definitely not the best of the bunch, but still a welcome return to a classic series. [Feb 2001, p.85]