Tempopo's rhythmic puzzling is undeniably great, but is let down by a lack of mechanical pacing and an absence of Witch Beam's coveted storytelling.

Satisfies as a polished-looking shooter, but needs a more energetic design. [June 2003, p.70]

Mostly delightful and sometimes punishing, Bad North is a fun alternative to more complex strategy games.

The explosions are amazing, and it’s fun in short bursts, but Just Cause 3 is ultimately an unremarkable, shallow experience.

Total War: Pharaoh’s battles may be limited by history, but Creative Assembly compensates for this with a complex, thematic, and highly dynamic campaign.

Moonlighter is a cute and casual revival of an uncommon mashup but doesn’t stick around to push the boundaries.

Its sprite-based units overlaid on a 3D field look cheesy(yet may still tax low-end systems), but stiff looks are a welcome sacrifice for historiccal accuracy and scale. [July 2006, p.67]

Kingdom is a fun, gorgeous management game, but trying to learn its mysteries eventually becomes a slog.

There may be prettier and more heavily populated first person shooters, but few reward teamwork as well as Insurgency.

Some of the puzzle solutions...are frustratingly hint-free and unintuitive. [Holiday 2003, p.109]

Colorado isn't the most visually appealing or intricate level in Hitman. But it provides some much needed variety—a change of scenery and challenge that rounds out the Hitman experience. It feels as if IO has spent most of this season demonstrating that it can still get Hitman right. It's nice to see they're now confident enough to move away from the template they've created.

Restrictive design decisions sap the energy from a series that revels in it, and technical issues deal the killing blow.

An accessible strategy game tied to a powerful, dynamic story generator.

Sega Rally Revo kicks up some of the best mud in the genre. [Jan 2008, p.74]

A creative fusion of familiar platformer elements that improves with time and investment, and proof that Evening Star is more than just the Sonic Mania crew.

Yara is super lush and wonderful to explore, but the story and main villain are predictable.

Thoughtful and packed with units, but it should be more intuitive to play. [Aug 2003, p.66]

It's not often that a free MMO shares shares space with World of Warcraft on my desktop, but Duneon Runners changed all that with a splash of Diablo-inspired gameplay that lets you roam randomly generated dungeons as one of three classes. [Sept 2007, p.64]

There are beautiful and tragic scenes, songs, and passages to find in WTWTLW's journey, but they're spread far too thin.

The subtle differences are improvements, but if you already own MLB 2K10, this edition is too similar to justify the upgrade cost. [July 2011, p.79]

Like diving into a pile of leaves from the top of Big Ben, the first time is a thrill, the fifth is a yawn. Assassin's Creed: Syndicate's new toys entertain for a while but the novelty ends hours before the game does.

A very decent Far Cry game, but its handful of genuinely fun, original ideas are overshadowed by an overriding feeling of familiarity.

If any game deserves George Lucas-style tampering, it's this one. [Feb 2005, p.53]

It may be just a pretty face, but damned if Comanche 4 doesn’t have enough hot-looking curves to take your mind off its lack of brains. [Feb 2002, p.70]

Some good fun to be had here; just odn't expect an RPG revolution. [May 2001, p.80]

The entire game is just one big jumping puzzle... Right from the get-go, Rayman 3's puzzles are irritatingly difficult. [May 2003, p.78]

A rare example of an RTS game that's a much more satisfying single-player experience than a multiplayer one. I doubt we'll see anything like the huge groundswell of online fandom and support that its predecessor earned, but solo strategists will still have a whale of a time.

We love the new look, but we're not thrilled about the tarnished gameplay. [May 2004, p.64]