And if I were developer Jonathan Mak, I'd ask for a lot more than $9 for a game this fresh, this unique, and this enjoyable. [Aug 2008, p.62]

A greater focus on raiding tombs, and massively improved stealth combat, make this one of Lara Croft's best modern adventures.

Rage isn't a complicated game. Despite what the developers might have suggested and we might have assumed, it's still set in a corridor. Fortunately, id still make some of the finest corridors in the world. [Holiday 2011, p.72]

A heartfelt and hilarious couples therapy session, disguised as a stylish RPG. A gem.

The immersion of VR elevates this strong action RPG journey into something special. [Oculus Tested]

A varied, challenging platformer that's adept at forcing improvisation and punishing mistakes.

Battle of Britain II's enhanced stability and updated graphics are compelling enough on their own, but when you toss in a 140-page printed manual and a bonus 52-minute "Battle of Britain" DVD, that $50 game box starts to look even better. [Oct 2005, p.66]

If you missed Col the first time around (and most of you probably did), now is an excellent chance to pick it up and dive into the colonial era. [Nov 2008, p.62]

A significant step forward for the king of military simulation offset by inconsistent graphical performance.

An above average game that doesn't rock the boat. [Feb 2003, p.84]

A powerful generator of gnawing tension and tough tactical decisions, Aliens: Dark Descent is a script pass away from being an all-timer.

Until they make a game out of the movie "Eraserhead," this is as weird as it gets.

I went straight from "Neverwinter Nights" to Divine Divinity, and I enjoyed them equally. [Dec 2002, p.108]

The Dead Space remake sets a new standard for the future of the survival horror series⁠, even if it isn't the sequel I've been pining for.

There's a good wedge of new content and some polished visuals in the Shrouded Isles package, but what's missing is any sort of improvement to the game's Realm-vs.-Realm premise. [Mar 2003, p.108]

An adept and satisfying puzzle game with a narrative that requires a bit of player investment to yield its biggest rewards.

As a game, there's not a lot of challenge to Eden--but as an experience, it's well worth spending time with. [May 2012, p.67]

Dungeons of Hinterberg is a beautiful puzzler—and a satisfying riff on the Austrian tourist economy.

Forget about the Xbox version. Enclave is an action-packed joy to behold on the PC. [Apr 2003, p.98]

An improvement in every area, including The Journey mode.

Work through the presentational ugliness and technical awkwardness, and you’ll find an experience of frightening depth.

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

Short, sweet, and utterly charming, Herdling's evocative beauty more than makes up for its superficial gameplay.

Genshin Impact's open world and clever combat are fantastic, but its endgame tries way too hard to milk you for cash.

Race 07 may not reinvent the genre, but for $29.99, you won't find a better new PC racing option this year. [Holiday 2007, p.74]

It stays close to its inspirations and risks growing repetitive, but Anodyne’s darkly surreal atmosphere is gripping.

A satisfying farming and tea-shop sim inside a well-written adventure with meaningful themes.

An overhaul of the match engine and lively attacking play bring PES back into contention, but don't expect much from the AI.

A beautiful remaster of a great game that leaves some very old, obvious issues untouched.

Titan Quest doesn't do much more than "Diablo II" did to innovate in the action RPG space, but it's still a hell of a good time. [Sep 2006, p.70]

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

A delightful visual novel and a great deckbuilder combined. What more could you want?

At last, Ensemble fully capitalizes on the game's setting, and the result is most satisfying. [Holiday 2003, p.96]

Don’t let some clunky inventories scare you off from this excellent strategy RPG.

A CPU- and GPU-draining masterpiece that's about a year ahead of its time. [Holiday 2006, p.110]

With a huge load of content comes unforgiving difficulty and complexity. Challge seekers inquire within. [July 2008, p.58]

An exceptionally generous free-to-play action-rPG. What it lacks in punch it makes up for in depth and value for money.

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]

Northgard is a surprising, elegant RTS that's laden with a very dull story.

The most any studio has done to open up a complex genre to a new audience. Inviting, entertaining, and deceptively deep.

Living as a werewolf is still pretty cool. You can inflict serious damage with those claws, leap amazing distances, and take on more enemies than would be possible in your human form. [Sept 2003, p.74]

A smart and thoughtful science fiction mystery featuring a cast of believable, nuanced characters.

An excellent beat-em-up with tons of wit and great combat, Full Metal Furies belongs on any couch co-op playlist.

Hyperbeat is brief and a little twee at times, but its lively musical flights are one-of-a-kind.

This is the detective game L.A. Noire claimed to be. It doesn’t have the inflated budget of Rockstar’s game, but it makes up for its rough edges with quality detecting, compelling cases, beautiful world-building, and and endearing gusto.

An ambitious and mostly successful—if a bit buggy—expansion about expansion.

Victoria 3's attractive historical sandbox is filled with potential, but it's on you to unlock it.

Not the most advanced F1 sim on the market, but it's the most immersive and enjoyable. [Nov 2000, p.143]

Fantasian will make you work hard for every win, but the reward's always worth the effort.

DICE is certainly guilty of taking an “if it ain’t broke” attitude to creating BF4, but its modest multiplayer refinements alongside excellent maps are enough to make it one of our favorite current FPSes. A cynic would call BF4 a deluxe map pack in sequel’s clothing. If that’s your predisposition, know that it’s at least a wonderful map pack, one with enough variety, depth, and quality to survive a year of intense play.

More wasteland to wander. New Vegas is good, but the failure to move the series on makes it feel a tiny bit stale.

This is a game perfectly suited for the tournament scene, where players are being tested for tactics and teamwork and care less about immersion. [Holiday 2007, p.76]

A quality remake that broadens the scope of the original and massively improves its final chapters.

Kingdom Come is a mess of bugs, and there’s the constant feeling that independent developer Warhorse is biting off more than it can chew. But there’s a charm to its scrappiness, and it does enough interesting stuff that I’m willing to tolerate the creaky framework struggling to prop everything up. It’s one of the most satisfying, rewarding role-playing experiences I’ve enjoyed on PC for a while, but the inconsistent performance and the game’s tendency to completely break does test my patience from time to time.

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

Stylish, succinct and spiritual, Year Walk coins its own genre: the fright of passage.

A quality adventure game with challenging puzzles, oddball characters, and an intriguing, mystery-laden plot.

Doesn't do enough to be the uncontested definitive version, but provides a fresh perspective on an exceptional RPG. [March 2014, p.72]

The new defensive controls make it a must-buy (for those with a dual-analog pad). [Holiday 2004, p.108]

A lighthearted romp, with plenty of opportunities for creative building and a surprisingly good story.

Sticking points aside, Streets of Rogue is absolutely worth playing, and once you start, it’s hard to stop. It gives you more freedom than almost any roguelike, and its varied cast of characters, combined with the randomness of traits and mutators, mean no two runs play out the same way.

Though it’s not ambitious enough for die-hard flight sim fans, the Arma 3 Helicopters DLC adds flight sim-style depth to gaming’s greatest military.

A hearty improvement on Sniper Elite 3 that embraces freeform play, gets better in co-op, and most importantly lets us shoot things from very far away.

While Rogue Legacy lacks the balance and crispness of Spelunky, it mostly makes up for its shortcomings with heart, imagination, and a killer compulsion loop. [Oct 2013, p.75]

A charming space sandbox that will keep you busy and entertained for hours.

It's a fantastic expansion that adds even more gameplay depth to a game that was already incredibly complex. [Jan 2005, p.96]

Hitman is back. Confident design and a willingness to experiment produces some of the best missions of 47's long career.

Another superlative career mode, but the avatar customisation and tacked-on supercars feel like bullet points.

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

It's another Forza Horizon, for all its faults, but also its many, many triumphs. Forza Horizon 6 isn't an ambitious sequel, but its version of Japan is still a joy to race through.

High skill cap melee combat is equally rewarding and daunting, though the archery and support roles could use some work.

Involved, spectacular, space battles packaged into satisfying campaigns, and great fan service too.

Don’t mistake price for quality – this is a top-notch shooter, limited in resources but not in heart.

A wilfully strange setting explored through a predictable but enjoyable old school RPG that's been streamlined just enough.

If you're looking for a pure action game, I can recommend no better, at least not for single-player. If you're looking for the bleeding edge of digital storytelling, however, you'll find it at Valve and Monolith. [Holiday 2005, p.60]

I'm itching to play again once I finish this. If you have someone to team up with, get it without hesitation. If you don't, hesitate slightly, then notice it's only £12 and get it anyway.

Nimble, graceful, and original, LawBreakers' movement sets it apart from other FPSes despite a few aesthetic weaknesses.

An excellent evolution of its predecessor that, while carrying over some of its weaknesses, has further strengthened its high points.

Symphony is fun, pure and simple. [Dec 2012, p.75]

Compelling, slick, handsome. The predictable campaign and so-so skirmish AI are mere flesh wounds.

If you're sick of beating swords into ploughshares in plain-Jane Civ IV campaigns, Warlords is the cure. [Oct. 2006, p.72]

Remnant 2 is a dependable looter shooter made special by its boundless capacity to surprise.

Tense and atmospheric, Teleglitch wields difficulty, action and horror to create an unsettling survival experience.

A gorgeous tactics card game that's simple to pick up but has significant depth.

A lovingly crafted action RPG with challenging, satisfying gunfights and an extraordinary cyberpunk setting.

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 worthy revision of the legendary settlement sim. Slightly less impenetrable, just as engrossing.

A deep, surprisingly sticky, truly free-to-play mashup of what you like from a bunch of other survival MMOs.

A very fresh action romp with tons of cheekiness - maybe too much. [Jan 2001, p.129]

Dazzling, dangerous, and dripping in style, Ruiner is a superb, if short, whirlwind of cyber-violence and sightseeing.

RFA is basically one great moment--destroying buildings with a powerful weapon--repeated for a whole game. [July 2011, p.58]

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

A completely welcome contrast to anything you've ever played, supported by the most intense first-person fisticuffs we've seen in a game. [July 2009, p.78]

An intriguing mystery adventure with outstanding writing and performances.

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.

The TD genre needs more like this. [July 2011, p.77]

An underwhelming story but a massive, exciting sandbox of parkour and kinetic combat.

Familiar and inventive, tough yet easygoing, World of Goo 2 is a whole world of fun.