An ambitious game but one which exposes and compounds the weaknesses of solitaire.

This series is suffering from terminal welschmertz. Time to put this warhorse out to pasture. [Dec 2000, p.167]

But it feels more like a fleeting dream than a game--it needs more complexity to grow beyond a diversion. [Feb 2011, p.77]

Lovers of real-world ballistics, cautious tactics and persistent stats will be eager recruits. [Nov 2009, p.80]

Also, the stability of the mission is precarious--it may crash abruptly and cause you to restart from your most recently saved information. [Mar 2008, p.78]

Halo Wars 2's cutscenes are pretty, but the controls remains too console-focused for PC and the strategy is a little thin.

Functional, yet prosaic. Constructing robots is a highlight, but Automatron's quest is short and unremarkable.

The result is a Jurassic Park worth visiting once, but not for a long stay. [March 2013, p.73]

A slight and repetitive but cute farming game, Slime Rancher doesn't quite reach the heights of its sub-genre.

Fun in a simple, almost mindless way, the oceans of Windward are beautiful but not especially deep.

A rough-edged but worthwhile spin on historical 4Xs that oddly leaves Civ's greatest flaws untouched.

For all its many flaws, LOTR: Gollum is an oft-beautiful and oddly endearing adventure.

Each new career is entertaining in its own way, but you probably won’t want to play through them more than once.

Sea of Solitude is a gorgeous adventure that knows its way around mental illness, but doesn't make great use of the medium to tell its story.

The once proud sim-racing marque splutters across the finishing line and slowly rolls to a halt. Time for a new model.

It's worth buying if you're sick of getting shot by premium players' overpowered new weapons on regular servers and want to equip the new arsenal yourself, but Battlefield 3's hectic fighting fails at CoD's smaller scale. [Oct 2012, p.71]

Inventive in some ways and stagnant in others, Elex will appeal to die-hard RPG fans and few others.

A deep but fragmented PvP MMO that's not nearly as original as its early promise suggested.

Thrives during missions, but suffers when you're exploring its open world and bearing witness to its odd design choices. [Aug 2017, p.80]

While <i>AGON</i> is deep, with subtle clues and intricate puzzles, the story often drags, and seems little more than a preamble to the board games--which aren't that scintillating themselves. [July 2006, p.99]

Graphics and sound are passable at best, but I found it intriguing to manage the development of a burgeoning company.

An innovative format for a mystery but lacking in story and performances, and overly reliant on peer approval.

Clash’s brilliantly surreal world is hampered by uncompromising combat and level design.

In fact, everything about SoTA feels done in a perfunctory and barely interested way. [July 2007, p.58]

Layers of Fear is an intriguing experimental haunted house, but without a proper sense of pacing, it fails to scare.

There's half of an amazing game in Broken Roads. Trouble is you have to play the other half.

The Prince's royale style-makers may have done their job, but the programmers needed to take another run at it. [March 2005, p.64]

A one-trick pony of a multiplayer fighter, Gang Beasts is sometimes hilariously messy but often just a mess.