But all that nice environment design is wasted by far too much wandering about, talking to people, and collecting trash to sell at vendors. Your character moves with a kind of halfhearted jog, too slow to cover ground, jerky, and unable to traverse any kind of obstacle. Meanwhile you can jump on your horse, which is much faster but handles like a stick of butter in narrow areas. It's all just kind of… slow and tedious to progress. Environments seem large simply for the sake of size. Much like the game's entire aesthetic, it's not really clear why things look the way they do.

With the set pieces all working this well, it's a shame Immortals features such a forgettable plot with so few appealing characters. [Nov 2008, p.73]

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.