Never-quite-stellar puzzling fare punctured by erratic physics and makework. The scenery is nice, though.

Under-delivers on the promise of the licence. A middling action-RPG that you’d have to be a Marvel fan to love.

This is yesterday’s MMO by the merits of its own content, but compensates by potentially ushering in a DIY revolution.

There's nothing wrong with Uprising, but neither is there enough right with it to make it worthwhile for any but serious fans. [Aug 2013, p.75]

The Old Gods does just about everything you could ask for in a sandbox strategy game expansion, and with far fewer initial bugs and technical issues that any previous release of the series. [Aug 2013, p.75]

The ambition of Signal Ops is admirable, but playing it is like trying to paint your hallway through the mailbox. [Aug 2013, p.73]

Starseed Pilgrim is composed of interesting elements and neat twists, but suffers from the assumption that you can encourage exploration simply by refusing to tell the player what to do. [Aug 2013, p.73]

Kudos for the ambition and price, but Mars: War Logs needs more work. A game that succeeds almost in spite of itself.

Some omissions and flaws, but balanced by excellent alien races and ship design. A welcome addition to the crew.

Rise of the Hutt Cartel is decent in its own right, but ultimately too little too late for all but the most dedicated fans.

A good shooter that’s buried under a baffling UI, confusing rulesets, and a movement scheme that’s needlessly complex.

The last few herbs and spices that Civ V’s epic stew was missing. A recipe for hundreds of hours more delicious turn-based strategy.

Highly entertaining, substantial and a visual treat but with a slight whiff of Gorgonzola in the story department.

Another incremental upgrade, Magic 2014 is still just the bastard child of Magic Online and the physical card game.

Grid 2 is an accomplished and visually strong racer let down only by a bafflingly lame Career mode narrative.

A fantastic return of The Walking Dead, letting Telltale experiment with form without losing any of the magic.

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

Wargame AirLand Battle is European Escalation escalated: more Cold War kit, more tactical tension and more replayability.

With its visuals, music and play all working in lockstep, this is the kind of game you can get completely immersed in.

Company of Heroes 2 is the USSR of real-time strategy games: huge, powerful and just a little bit broken.

Engrossing, lovely to look at and with a potentially healthy shelf-life, if the multiplayer gets a toehold and gels cross-platform.

Minimal game mechanics with no depth whatsoever, but a tense, well-made survival horror game just the same.

A gritty, brutal WWII shooter that uses its scale, setting, and fidelity to great effect.

Remember Me is a third-person action-adventure teenager. It tries to act insouciant, and tells its story with the breathless zeal of a youngster flushed with first love. But ironically for a game that requires you to build ‘Focus’ in order to achieve great things, it feels greatly lacking in that department.

Fiddly at times, and cursed with a lousy tutorial, the intricacy and scale of Cities in Motion 2 eventually shines through. [July 2013, p.74]

An apocalyptic disappointment that never rises above mediocrity, but often sinks into tedium. [July 2013, p.72]

Emotive storytelling that puts the tedium and stress of work before pleasure, but somehow still has a lightness of touch. [July 2013, p.70]

Merciless, frustrating, and harder than dry cereal, but exquisitely balanced. Few games are so rewarding. [July 2013, p.62]