There are some touches that rejuvenate the game we've been playing for 12 years. The new scoreboard is terrific. There's both a server browser and a party system, if you prefer that. There's a slider for scaling the UI.

Not the dramatic reinvention I expected, but this is tense and refined survival horror with a brilliantly bleak, grimy atmosphere.

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

As mechanically polished as driving sims have ever been on PC. Stately and familiar, but finely crafted.

A chance for PC gamers to experience the best of teh lat generation of console games. [Dec 2000, p.156]

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

Following a series high last year, F1 2018’s welcome additions don’t add up to a meaningfully fresh experience.

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is the best Dragon Ball game we've had since the PS2 and a generous love letter to Toriyama's classic series.

Engrossing tension between empowerment and disempowerment, greed and fear, across an eminently replayable system.

It's familiar, but Crown of the Ivory King is still another gorgeous five-hour helping of Dark Souls 2. Cherish it—it’s your last.

The deckbuilder and the soulslike accommodate each other well, even if Death Howl is initially too busy killing you to show its best hand.

This deep off-road sim delights in giving you a hard time, but every victory is all the sweeter for it.

Rarely has the rally ethic been so faithfully re-created, with careful attention paid to the endurance-intensive realism of off-road competition. [Apr 2002, p.80]

The most exciting new feature for many Capitalism II players is its multiplayer game. [Apr 2002, p.80]

A brilliant mix of high skill and low comedy, and the best medieval combat game out there.

There are moments of fun, especially towards the end, but too often I just wanted to ram a garlic-flavoured stake through Vampire Crawlers repetitive, grindy heart.

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.

Essentially more of its predecessor but with a more consistent quality of levels. Which is fine: its predecessor was great.

While the learning curve might be steep at first, Xenonauts 2 offers incredibly rewarding tactical action for those willing to ascend it.

An excellent extension of "City of Heroes" with a too-mild mean streak. [Jan 2005, p.80]

A handsome and brutal strategy sequel that benefits from a range of intelligent improvements.

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

A delightfully monotonous chore sim that tweaks the original powerwashing formula just enough.

The quintessential football management sim is back with its most ambitious undertaking in years.

Wonky mission design and technical issues drag down a solid stealth game that still has enjoyable multiplayer.

Overboard's more complex follow-up is another great evil detective game.

Rosewater tells an engaging Western story despite a well-worn formula.

Effortlessly stylish, perhaps to the detriment of substance. But Superhot isn't one to miss.

The setting of Onomichi proves that the long-running series still has some tricks, making Yakuza 6 a worthy finale for its main protagonist.

Each of the game's three sides is incredibly well-balanced. [June 2005, p.60]

A smart, blisteringly fun experience at its core, Tekken 7’s limited singleplayer campaign and poor tutorials marr an otherwise resounding win.

A deep, customisable fighter that just happens to include the best video game movie never made.

All in all, this episode doesn't quite reach the pinnacle of excellence that episode four managed, but its gags and puzzles are as clever as ever. [June 2007, p.71]

A near-ultimate meat-and-potatoes meal for naval simmers. [Apr 2005, p.68]

A fine balance of polished gaming and addictive new modes. The world's most compulsive puzzle game just got even better. [Feb 2011, p.77]

A far simpler game than many veteran fans were hoping for. [Feb 2003, p.62]

<i>Legends</i> boasts plenty of new elements, including a grappling hook fro swinging from lamp posts and cornices, interactive cutscenes that require fast reflexes to spare Lara being squished beneath a rock, and clever physics-based puzzles. [July 2006, p.54]

A fitting end to a hilarious trilogy. Frog Detective, you will be missed.

A triumphant remake of Yakuza 2, full of fun diversions and featuring one of the series' best stories.

Clever, but sometimes a little cold, this is an accomplished headscratcher of unusually philosophical ambition.

It's less polished than the original, but it's a more epic D&D adventure. [Holiday 2006, p.90]

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

A brilliantly funny, disturbing, and entertaining visual novel, but the lack of interaction won't appeal to everyone.

Simple, polished systems allow Stray's rich fiction and charismatic star to shine.

Worth playing for the atmosphere even though its pace and plot are uneven.

Requiem is a masterful sequel and an exceptional action adventure.

Bloody and captivating, Valhalla is Assassin's Creed at its best.

Despite occasional stalls, this combination of tactics and talking has plush-leather depths worth sinking into.

Mask is much more polished than NWN2's initial release, and while there are still a few loading and scripting bugs, they shouldn't deter you from enjoying this classic D&D adventure. [Holiday 2007, p.78]

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

But what separates Warlords Battlecry II from the horde are its scope and depth. You don't just have two or three races &#150; you have 12. [June 2002, p.72]

At just over three bucks a throw, it's some of the best money you'll ever spend on PC gaming. [June 2002, p.73]

SM's grandest new feature is its random map generator. It works, it's terrific, and as much as I wish I could grouse about it so I don't come off as a fanboy, I can't. [Oct 2003, p.100]

Good but not great, it's sweetly bland adventure porridge. [Feb 2004, p.79]

Even without the focus on Michael Jordan, NBA 2K11 would still be the best PC basketball game ever made. [Jan 2011, p.74]

Ultimate Alliance does have its vulnerable spots--such as a camera that occasionally obscures the action--but its strengths are many and, dare I say it, marvelous. [Jan. 2007, p.72]

An incredible trip through a stunning post-apocalyptic world, let down by some uninspiring FPS combat.

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

Some of Blizzard's best work in years wrestles with bugs and design issues, but still comes out on top.

There's a category of games I think of as Saturday morning cartoon games. They lack depth, but they are fluffy and easy to enjoy. As I look back on some screenshots as Pippin laser blasts a poor marauder into a pile of dust, I realise that's what The Outer Worlds is to me. If you meet it on those terms, I think you'll enjoy it.

Paradox’s biggest expansion yet brings Stellaris closer to its original promise with a stellar rework of internal politics and new endgame goals.

Peak is everything I'd want from a co-op game. It promotes creative collaboration, is cheap as chips, and with the map resetting every 24 hours there's the possibility of endless fun.

Although the vehicle dynamics are still conspicuously slot-car like, the game itself is easily one of the finest EA has ever produced. [Jan 2004, p.118]

Raidou Remastered isn't the best Shin Megami Tensei game on PC, but its live-action take on a familiar turn-based combat system is as fun as it is fascinating.

The absence of any damage or collision modeling will rankle some (cars pass right through one another), and the insane difficulty of some of the later stages - exacerbated by pneumatic Hot Wheels driving physics - will drive many players bonkers. [July 2005, p.69]

A comfortable adventure on a noble path, but wearing spurs of a squire instead of the crown of a king.

Unlike anything else, and able to meld its two disparate halves into something cohesive and satisfying. You won’t feel fleeced if you buy this.

The Bergson's are charming but their quest is a bit too lifeless. A middling dungeon crawler elevated by its style.

Below Zero is a mostly brilliant sequel to the best survival game of all time.

Fans of Warhammer 40,000 will be delighted by the spectacle and authenticity—but ultimately disappointed by messy action and unengaging multiplayer.

The best RPG combat ever. Not gaming's best story, but maybe its best storytelling. Darker, sexier, better. [Mar 2011, p.64]

There are no huge new strides in gameplay, but the story-driven campaign is top-notch -- albeit murderously hard. [Holiday 2002, p.84]

A boon to hardcore fans of the original - but probably no one else. [Feb 2000, p.122]

Joe Danger 2: The Movie manages to build on the fun of its predecessor--and make it even more preposterous. [Oct 2013, p.68]

The definitive version of Street Fighter IV, but not the best until its technical problems are solved.

Thankfully, smart as ever, Amplitude Studios has created another astounding story-driven game, that really has taken the best bits of RTS, RPG and 4X, drawing much from Endless Space, and spun it differently for every faction.

Pyre's campaign is repetitive and its combat never quite clicks, but a touching and thoughtful story makes it worth sticking through to the end.

A daring, exciting and bleakly powerful payoff that handsomely rewards your investment in its characters.

Installing and playing through S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was like discovering and opening a long-forgotten Christmas present. [June 2007, p.54]

Old-school Japanese shooting, platforming action reminds us just how fun the simple games of the ‘80s could be.

Brilliant design; a reward-happy, lighthearted multiplayer fray. One of the finest $15 shooters ever made.

It's still one of the best dungeon crawlers ever made, but now it's on PC.

A great comeback from episode two, A Crooked Mile amplifies the drama—though sometimes in the wrong ways—and confronts Bigby with hard choices and proper detective work.

I can live with a few little pissers when the overall game is so exciting, exquisitely designed, and meticulous in its historical accuracy. [Oct 2002, p.92]

Expanding a fine franchise, FT is the king of tactical combat games. [June 2001, p.72]

I listened to Wandersong's soundtrack while writing this review, and I've been happily jiggling my leg throughout.

If EA can work in some car damage, a hard-core physics option, and some proper cockpit views for the next chapter, this franchise will leap into a league of its own. [Feb 2005, p.54]

A fantastically addictive and realistic management experience. [Feb 2006, p.90]

A very devoted homage that nevertheless brings back a golden era – provided you lived through it the first time.

If you want great depth and bang for your buck, you can't go wrong with Dominions 3. [Feb. 2007, p.66]

Battlefield 6 is more about refinements than surprises, but a well-made Battlefield is automatically one of the best shooters of the year.

With unconventional subtleties like plotting, matchmaking and title distribution, CK2 never cramps your creativity with mundane victory conditions. [May 2012, p.67]

Offers some definite innovation in terms of unit creation and resource management, but the wretched unit AI and lackluster missions left me wondering what we were waiting all this time for. [Feb 2002, p.78]

Expect this one to take up a hunk of your hard drive for many moons. [Oct 2000, p.119]

The biggest problem is that it's practically impossible to walk an AI batter. [June 2004, p.76]

An exceptionally pretty if otherwise conventional JRPG with diverting combat. Not an all-timer, but worth a (re)visit.

There's the skeleton of a good Mortal Kombat here, but it's lacking in meat. Low on personality and half-baked in its attempt to reboot the story, it feels fated to be remembered as the least interesting of the modern MK games.

Aside from a somewhat anticlimactic ending, Santa ranks as one of the series' best and sharpest-written episodes. [Feb 2008, p.86]