A good-looking game - more so if you're into softcore porn (to paraphrase Tom Wolfe, it's a "one-handed video game") - but "The Sims 2" still looks better and beats it by miles for depth. [Apr 2005, p.66]

The biggest problem in Conflict Zone is map design...It results in tiresome strategies and predictable battles. [Holiday 2001, p.76]

There's not an original idea in this competent but dull game's pretty little pre-programmed head. [June 2002, p.61]

Ultima fanatics might stick with it, but most players will give up in frustration. [Jan 1998, p.262]

A sophomore effort that should have been held back a grade. [July 2008, p.66]

There are simply too many flaws, and too little gameplay for even the bargain price. [Nov 2011, p.70]

The previews looked fantastic, but the final release of Lifeless Planet fails to build that potential into a worthy game.

Ghoulish creature design and fun combat are weakened by long boring stretches, clueless AI, and snickering obscurity.

Does little to innovate or excuse its technical shortcomings. [Holiday 2004, p.102]

But the sad fact remains, the intense experience we craved is just...gone. [May 2006, p.54]

It's one thing to make a bad game - that I can forgive. It's worse to take one of the great PC-game franchises and ruin the hell out of it. This isn't Leisure Suit Larry - it's just annoying softcore porn. [Holiday 2004, p.106]

Forspoken occasionally has small sparks of greatness, but then quickly douses itself in fear of ever being anything other than an upsettingly safe open-world RPG.

It's all been done before - and a hell of a lot better to boot. [Feb 2006, p.54]

Crystal Key 2 isn't an adventure; it's a slide show with the occasional puzzle thrown in. And we've had enough of these kinds of games. [July 2004, p.65]

A charming but slight co-op action game where a basic combat system is elevated by clever bonuses and abilities, and half the pleasure is the world's incidental details.

Lacking in meaningful challenge, Murdered: Soul Suspect fails to deliver on its promising premise at every step. [Sept. 2014, p.70]

Just another half-assed console port. [Mar 2009, p.74]

This is one monster mash that leaves me mortified. [Oct 2007, p.57]

If you approach Ship Simulator as educational software(albeit flawed)rather than a game, then there's definite value on tap. Those too cool for school, however, will likely want to give it a wide berth. [Dec. 2006, p.128]

Flashy weapon effects partially mask the mediocre gameplay, and to the untrained eye, Alpha Prime could almost pass as "Doom 3". I trust that PC Gamer readers are smart enough not to be fooled. [Apr 2008, p.66]

Enjoyable writing cloaked in layers of problematic navigation, tonal inconsistency and pressing A and D not to die.

A promising enough idea, Lucius shoots for the depths of hell – but poor execution lands it merely six feet under.

Inversion is a heavily linear by-the-numbers cover shooter that fails to make the most of its few high points. [Nov 2012, p.72]

And really, Lineage isn’t much fun. [Feb 2002, p.80]

Enough "StarCraft" clones. Stop the madness and offer some innovation. [June 2001, p.62]

Great for RTS newbies or serious "WarCraft" fans, but gaming vets will feel major deja vu. [May 2001, p.39]

For $5, it might be worth it on a tablet, but as a PC game Ace Patrol would be hard to recommend even if it were free. [Feb 2014, p.74]

It's a shame that a Last Of Us review has to carry such a low score. It feels like slamming Citizen Kane because its Blu-Ray features aren't up to standard, such is the game's stellar reputation. But the state of the PC version isn't just disappointing or annoying—at the time of writing it's actually a real barrier preventing you from playing the experience properly. There's an all-timer laying dormant behind all the issues, but at present on PC, this one just doesn't click.