A wrong-headed sequel that doesn't really address most of its predecessors' problems. [Issue#272, p.48]

A gorgeous game in looks, but repetitive and miserly in its gameplay. And that voice acting - UGH!

Fast, intense, adrenaline pumping stuff... but without that special something that makes it a true Wipeout successor,

Some marvelous mechanics don't add up to enough to detract from stilted writing, an overly grim aesthetic, and repetitive combat.

Not the greatest writing, but the game's many overlapping mechanics make for some great emergent storytelling. [Issue#271, p.54]

There is a great game under all the bugs, but for now my experience of the game makes it hard to recommend.

A promising sequel that, despite its improvements on the original, still retains as many bugs as it does zombies.

Though repetitive with stacks of downtime, Frostpunk has a strangely addictive gameplay loop (more so, I imagine, if you emotionally connect with your people).

Revenant Kingdom is one of those games that suffers for being a sequel to something that was a bit special. It's a good oddball JRPG. But Wrath of the White Witch had great storytelling, compelling characters, and epic boss fights. Revenant Kingdom just feels... smaller.

An almost too accurate reimagination of Age of Empires, in both the best and worst possible ways.

An unflinchingly hardcore RPG that trades promises of "realism" for just another fantasy. [Issue#270, p.49]

The core gameplay loop is great, but it's too easy to plumb the shallow depths in a few hours. Sea of Thieves needs more meaningful content.

A great game held back by poor balance decisions and a layer of petty bugs.

Sold twin-stick fundamentals executed to reasonably successful effort. [Issue#269, p.62]

Some great puzzles and interesting situations can't entirely make up for Black Mirror's shortcomings. [Issue#269, p.59]

There's fun to be had, but for every step towards the Light Side, there's a foot stuck firmly in the Dark Side of bad design decisions. [Issue#269, p.52]

Familiarity breeds contempt. [Issue#269, p.49]

The world building is excellent, the game building is deeply flawed. [Issue#268, p.72]

Time is a harsh mistress, and the 11 year sleep has not been kind to Rogue Trooper. [Issue#268, p.71]

At times entertaining, but for the most part Shadow of War is an exercise in frustration and exploitation. [Issue#268, p.62]

A definite step above the original but still not without its problems. [Issue#268, p.60]

The skeleton of Auto Age is solid, but there just isn't enough meat on the bones. [Issue#267, p.75]

Not without some significant problems, Ruiner is still a satisfyingly difficult slice of twin stick grimdorkness. [Issue#267, p.73]

A surreal musical adventure that ultimately fails to capture the spirit and essence of the specific style of house music it clearly loves. [Issue#267, p.70]

A great fighting game with horrible presentation, a crappy story mode, limited roster, expensive DLC, and forgettable music. [Issue#267, p.68]

A little short but an excellent example of virtually realised physics. [Issue#267, p.62]

Specialises in trick shots before mastering the fundamentals. Deeply flawed, but hard to ignore. [Issue#267, p.58]

A fun old-school beat ‘em up with a few modern twists.

Before it resorts to some rather cliched horror tropes, Observer is a gritty, oppressive cyberpunk nightmare. [Issue#266, p.60]

A harrowing, relentlessly grim tale let down by workmanlike combat and puzzles. [Issue#266, p.58]

Unfinished and unpolished, like a poor facsimile of what came before rather than a new game. [Issue#266, p.51]

Beautiful but flawed, Sundered is too frustrating early on to be fully satisfying. [Issue#265, p.62]

A slick and stylish stealth-action game that could do with some greater depth. [Issue#265, p.60]

Tactical city-sim for the sub-menu-phobic. [Issue#265, p.58]

A chilled action-RPG that ditches combat for crafting and exploration. [Issue#265, p.56]

Too uneven to be great but there are few games that have done powerful destructive magic better. [Issue#265, p.54]

Innovative tactical RPG that rates higher on iOS coz it's cheaper. [Issue#264, p.70]

Drifting Lands is a genuinely fun shooter/RPG hybrid brought down by a forgettable story and repetitive structure. [Issue#264, p.68]

With some serious control patching, Impact Winter will be great. As it stands, it's almost unplayable. [Issue#263, p.73]

A fresh take on an age old formula, beautifully crafted for its VR approach, but the labour required detracts a bit from the fun. [Issue#263, p.72]

Sleek and competent and detailed and not really very exciting. [Issue#263, p.62]

A quirky approach to turn-based combat. [Issue#263, p.60]

Frantic action, excessive gore and challenging progression with a touch of nostalgia that is a laugh while it lasts with little depth. [Issue#263, p.54]

Shiness is a decent camera away from being a great game. [Issue#262, p.62]

If you've always wanted to do Rick's laundry, this is the game for you. [Issue#262, p.59]

When it works it works pretty darn well. Unfortunately that isn't too often. [Issue#262, p.56]

Plays like MOBA, smells like Heresy. [Issue#262, p.51]

It's not the most complex or nuanced of games, but the boss battles are great and the combat is brutally compelling. [Issue#261, p.70]

It was clearly all utter gibberish so I forgot it immediately. [Issue#261, p.69]

Utilises the amazing PC technology of today to be, eh, okay. [Issue#261, p.68]

Amazing rich gameplay that is sadly let down by an overly complex UI and hidden barely there tutorials. Sure to be a long term hit. [Issue#260, p.60]

An amazingly deep and unique roleplaying experience but marred by roadblock mechanics and repetitive game elements (Hollingworth). A deep and fascinating world with a compelling narrative and large degree of player agency (Wilks) [Issue#260, p.53]

Neither funny enough to forgive the easy puzzles, nor hard enough to get away with meh jokes. [Issue#259, p.64]

An intriguing, if routine, adventure game where opera-singing cats and the ghosts of WWII soldiers are commonplace. [Issue#259, p.63]

A great idea with excellent presentation hampered by some iffy controls. [Issue#259, p.60]

A great game for dedicated fans of the Warhammer 40,000 setting, but a poor narrative and structure may get in the way for casual players. [Issue#259, p.55]

Great old fashioned stealth built on a wonky, badly optimised game engine.

The story and characters are excellent and the game is enjoyable, but the open world detracts from the experience rather than adding to it.

A pleasant trip down memory lane that’ll appeal to nostalgics and casuals.

Your typical Obsidian experience sans compelling companion characters. The foundation's there for a good sequel, at least. [Issue#258, p.70]

While not exactly fun in the traditional sense, FS 17 can be a very satisfying way to pass the time. [Issue#258, p.64]

Exploding heads and taking drugs is fun for a while. [Issue#256, p.65]

Evokes the spirit of Riven, but fails to recapture its soul. [Issue#256, p.60]

As it stands, Eternal Crusade is far too unpolished to be much fun. [Issue#256, p.55]

FM 2017 is the best the series has been, and thus the best football management game around. But the improvements are too incremental and the new features too disposable to make this a value-for-money day one proposition.

A disjointed first episode that makes Bruce a monster and Batman a button mash. [Issue#255, p.64]

For rogue-like obsessives and robosexuals only. [Issue#255, p.62]

It's partially broken, shallow, repetitive and aimless, but hang me, I still kind of love it. [Issue#255, p.56]

A potential classic, hamstrung by unkept promises made during 2.5 years of Early Access. [Issue#254, p.64]

Substantial expansion with significant new content. But price is very hard to swallow. [Issue#254, p.58]

I Am Setuna might fill a current market gap, but it doesn't do anything new or interesting. [Issue#254, p.53]

The difficulty makes Furi pretty inaccessible, but if you like to be punished, this is the game for you. [Issue#253, p.64]

Mostly great bosses and some nice narrative flourishes do a lot to make up for the fairly repetitive combat and generic story. [Issue#253, p.63]

Survival mechanics obscure an otherwise competent but uninteresting adventure. [Issue#253, p.62]

While the first few hours are incredible, sadly a lack of depth in handling and content leads to a game that needs a few more hours in the oven. [Issue#253, p.58]

The movement in Mirror's Edge: Catalyst is still strong, but the unlikeable characters and clunky combat get in the way of complete enjoyment. [Issue#253, p.56]

Although hobbled with a dull combat system and voice work that lacks any real emotion, the story of The Technomancer is a real pleasure. [Issue#253, p.53]

A great premise hampered by a smirking script, repetitive combat and arbitrary questing. [Issue#252, p.64]

Enormous potential, but desperately needs a modding community to realise it. [Issue#252, p.64]

A competent enough shooter, but perhaps a touch too ambitious in its scope. Still, it's a massive improvement on the first Homefront. [Issue#252, p.62]

A tribute to Doom that leaps to great heights, but fails to fully stick the landing. [Issue#252, p.60]

Not enough content and too much grinding detracts from the great cast of characters and great presentation. [Issue#252, p.58]

Fun combat and a genuinely funny script rescue this incredibly lazy port. [Issue#251, p.63]

A little too ambitious for its own good, Aurio still shows serious promise for Cameroonian game development. [Issue#251, p.62]

Investing in this quirky take on RTS risks a return of buyer's remorse. [Issue#251, p.58]

Quantum Break is a great game on Xbone, but shoddy PC optimisation and the issues associated with the Win 10 store fundamentally break the game. [Issue#251, p.55]

Yeah it looks amazing but [*FISTBUMPS*] do not a good racing game make. [Issue#250, p.69]

At times too slavish a recreation of tabletop action, Armada is nonetheless entertaining and challenging. [Issue#250, p.68]

A disappointing collection of technical issues mar an otherwise beautiful cover-based shooter that still kicks arse. [Issue#250, p.62]

Fun for a while, but less than the sum of its parts. [Issue#250, p.57]

An immersive environment and interesting story. It can be hard and could do with clearer text. [Issue#249, p.64]

A fresh take on survival, but narrower in scope than it should be. [Issue#249, p.61]

A bold experiment in semi-interactive narrative that doesn't quite succeed. [Issue#249, p.58]

At its core, Street Fighter V is a great game, but the lack of meaningful content makes us want to wait for updates. [Issue#249, p.52]

A curious relic, uncovered by a freak sandstorm, and soon to be reclaimed by the desert. [Issue#248, p.58]

Animal Gods is little more than a disappointing glimpse of what might have been. [Dec 2015, p.60]

An ambitious game hobbled by laborious, unsatisfying combat and a "ready-made" approach to quest design that undermines player autonomy. [Dec 2015, p.58]

Everything in Sword Coast Legends works as intended, but that only serves to highlight that the games that inspired it are still better. [Dec 2015, p.56]