A dark action-platformer which shows fleeting signs of life, but lacks the vivacity to climb above the competition.

Has its flaws, but with more polish and improved naval and air AI, this could be one of the great light wargames.

Polished and involving, FTL spews superb sci-fi adventures like a cornered Mantis boarder spews hot formic acid.

Brutal, beautiful, emotion-wringing turn-based storytelling muffled by flat base design.

A gorgeous, complex and slick assassination sim, with fascinating systems to play with and huge open levels to explore.

A slight but fun third-person medieval melee game. It's definitely different, but needs more bulking out.

You should play this because it's an inventive story with three or four things you've never done in a game before, and because it suggests a future where games don't insult our intelligence with dull plotting, dire exposition, and endless cut-scenes. [Dec 2012, p.75]

Symphony is fun, pure and simple. [Dec 2012, p.75]

The core principles are engaging and there's a lot of superficial entertainment--I still smile at the way my crew, the trusty Rigonauts, continue pummeling the remains of my defeated, white-flag-waving opponent while I review the "level complete" summary--but it's missing the mission variety that would coax out the engineering potential Rigonauts should have. [Dec 2012, p.67]

Ultimately, TPM might give you the odd chuckle, but you're not really looking forward to it running for a second term in your office. [Dec 2012, p.67]

Unmechanical dazzles with its gorgeous artwork and smart physics-based puzzle, but its ending is ultimately unsatisfactory. [Dec 2012, p.66]

Previous World of Warcraft releases have been genuine events. This one is simply an expansion pack. A good expansion pack, for sure, with lots of content to keep you playing one of the best and most beloved MMOs ever created. Just don't expect it to be anything more.

Agreeable hack-'n'-slash fare – the puzzling and platforming is lightweight, but offsets the roaming and robust combat well.

It's a charming, sunshine-bright indie action-RPG with an old-school disregard for your time. It'll consume you with a smile, and you'll be smiling, too: but it's down to the community to turn it into something special.

A bunch of fun new abilities and cool places but Dawnguard is far too glitchy to justify its steep price.

A cynical attempt at milking players for money. Bullet Run plays like a tacked-on online mode for a singleplayer game.

It seems crass to judge a game by quantity, but this is quantity of quality. So if the amount of money you spend on games is a practical concern, it's worth saying that this one is freakishly good value. Even if it's not a concern, it's worth saying that this one is freakishly good.

Not a feast for the eyes, but there's more than a meal here if you're a glutton for clever, cruel puzzle-based punishment.

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]

A space strategy game that streamlines empire-building better than any other. Combat and AI could be better. [Nov 2012, p.70]

Awesomenauts has fantastic potential, but is not quite there. Tweaks to the balancing and AI will make this one a star.

A lightweight distraction, but adding a competitive ladder or some more singleplayer content would've been welcome.

It could have been great, but this gruesome and ridiculous power fantasy is spoilt by a disgracefully shabby port to PC.

An accomplished and rewarding online RPG that does a great deal to reclaim the promise of its genre.

A messy story and horrible characters get in the way of decent, violent action in a scintillating open city.

There are some touches that rejuvenate the game we've been playing for 12 years. The new scoreboard is terrific. There's both a server browser and a party system, if you prefer that. There's a slider for scaling the UI.

A deep, dark, challenging and impossibly rewarding fantasy RPG, sadly given a straight and perfunctory port from console.

A generic shooter with lots to say. Spec Ops: The Line trades quality gaming for quality narrative and interesting characters. [Oct 2012, p.72]