With an impressive AI, clever campaign and focus on gameplay, Elven Legacy is well worth the asking price. [Aug 2009, p.59]

While it's clearly not a game for everyone, fans of the original series will find a lot to fall in love with, and at a bargain price to boot. [Apr 2014, p.54]

This shoddy console port has cast a shimmering invisible cloak over what would have been a serviceable third-person shooter. [Sept 2012, p.55]

Be a Lethal Weapon in single-player, enjoy a different take on multiplayer. Visceral gives you the best of both worlds. [May 2015, p.57]

A very basic adventure game, but more than capable of planting a big dumb grin on your face for its duration. [June 2012, p.64]

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

It was a nice idea, no doubt about it. It just wasn’t presented in a way that it deserved. PC shooters have done some amazing things, but Timeshift, ironically, seems like a bit of a step backwards. [Jan 2008, p.51]

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

Okay, so there's plenty of irritating stuff but we're here for the clicking, and there's plenty of clicking to be had. This is no challenge to Diablo or even Dungeon Siege, but the world is big and there's plenty of stuff in it to murder. And isn't that, at its heart, the essence of the action RPG? [Christmas 2008, p.79]

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

A solid strategic base brought low by cheap AI and some shonky net code. [March 2014, p.56]

Aimed towards a younger audience but still has enough depth to appeal to mature gamers. [Dec 2015, p.62]

Fun enough for some dedicated campers, with some truly tense multiplayer action. [Aug 2014, p.50]

Pretend you’re buying it for your kid brother, or spare your blushes and order online because there is a surprising amount of fun to be had in loading this chubby bad boy up and thrashing the hell out of pigs with sticks for an hour or two. [Sept 2008, p.61]

It bothers me that it seems to think it’s an update, not a rehash, of the dungeon crawl formula. It bothers me that it could have been so much more. But it is what it is: a good game which doesn’t bother with the bits it thinks we don’t care about. [Jan 2008, p.49]

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

An excellent free-to-play game, but a less than stellar paid experience. Definitely worth the download, but not worth your cash. [Nov 2011, p.44]

Terrible pings, no servers and a tiny player base. [July 2010, p.58]

Despite some niggles, Sanctum is a solid PC debut for this indie dev. Recruit a friend and get ready to lose a few hours! [June 2011, p.66]

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

Instead of reinventing the wheel, Hi-Rez just painted it silver, added some bling, and called it a velocity-transfer-disc. [Apr 2010, p.54]

The take down system is cool, and the hacking has its heart in the right place. But the developer has been told: this game accompanies the film. Bond can't change the story. It's play it like you saw it on the silver screen, or reload from the last checkpoint. Fortunately, the production, the gestalt of this new-era Bond is strong enough to make QOS a pile of fun. [January 2009, p.49]

A beautiful expansion of a franchise hampered by its history. [Oct 2014, p.60]

Neither hardcore sim nor arcade fun, Take On Helicopters can't even get in the air. [Jan 2012, p.46]

Unique, arty, and ambitious, yet awkward. [Sept 2011, p.68]

Crippled by performance issues and bugs, there's an incredible game waiting to emerge if Rocksteady can remedy the Bat's woes with patches. [Aug 2015, p.55]

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

Difficult, nerdy, tedious but satisfying. What more could you want in a lover? [May 2011, p.70]

Complex without being deep, Brink is a hollow interpretation of Splash Damage's classic teamplay formula that speaks to the very core of what is wrong with multiplayer FPS today. [July 2011, p.58]

Gone are the open environments. Gone are the police chases. Gone are the FMV cut-scenes. Prostreet probably excised so many features with a view of taking things in a fresh direction, but the result is a bewildering one. [Jan 2008, p.60]

Minor gameplay changes mark this as one for fans only. [Sept 2011, p.69]

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

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

Ronin's turn-based combat is a breath of fresh air. A solid game in spite of its brevity. [Aug 2015, p.64]

A realistic, but relatively bland title that's part recruitment poster and part tame FPS. [Sept 2009, p.62]

Look, there is nothing wrong with Halo Wars 2... as a bonus game that comes free with Halo 6 or whatever. But as a premium, full-priced title? No. No, we deserve more than this. A franchise like Halo, with its rich fictional universe, its cool unit design, its super-clear mix of human and alien factions, deserves more than this.

The question is, will user created content be enough to keep the less hardcore Spore fan interested? [Sept 2009, p.66]

A thoroughly enjoyable, if somewhat diluted return to a cult favourite franchise. [Apr 2014, p.50]

Thematically undercooked, but this clever puzzler does feature progressively exciting level design. [Oct 2013, p.85]

Evochron gives you the tools and the universe, but it's up to you to find a purpose. [Issue#185, p.66]

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

The high price and lack of polish make this one to avoid for now. For art-deco die-hards only. [Jan 2014, p.93]

A promising start to an atmospheric series, ironically let down by its puzzles. [Sept 2010, p.63]

An astounding story wrapped in frustrating, illogical adventure gameplay. [July 2010, p.59]

Beautiful graphics don't make up for the oddly empty feeling inside. [Issue#185, p.68]

If you haven’t played Lost Planet before, and mindless shooting of various people/things in some gorgeous locales is your cup of tea, the budget price sounds just about right. But for everyone else, it’s safe to give this one a miss. [Aug 2008, p.62]

Mercenaries 2 put me off from the get go, however it has an ace up its sleeve. Yep – explosions. Right at the start of the game you pick up a grenade launcher, and start gleefully blowing stuff away. [Dec 2008, p.74]

Dracula: Origin is an average point-and-click Adventure game with a few cool new features. The Dracula theme is the game’s biggest plus, and starved adventure fans may have fun with it as long as they think outside the square. [Jul 2008, p.56]

If you're going to buy Homefront, do so for the multiplayer. The campaign is six hours you'll never get back. [Apr 2011, p.52]

Intricate detail and strategy make for an excellent value release for the serious war-gamer. [Sept 2011, p.62]

The Last Starfighter of Political Science. [June 2011, p.68]

A poor interface and repetitive, hard-to-follow action unfortunately limit Sengoku's already niche appeal. [Dec 2011, p.64]

Versatile, detailed play combines with alternative history to provide hours of squishing little men under heavy automatons. [Nov 2013, p.84]

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]

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

Beautiful to look at and stunning to listen to but lacking any real depth when it actually comes to play. [Sept 2014, p.52]

As a singleplayer campaign, Gratuitous Tank Battles is a glancing hit, but it still offers a deep and intricate take on tower defence. [Aug 2012, p.59]

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

An enjoyable, finely crafted puzzler that's over far too soon. [March 2012, p.66]

Despite the puppeteer's strings getting caught, Risen 2 puts on a good show that you'll see through to the end. [June 2012, p.58]

In a post-WIC world, it's hard to consider this much more than average. [Dec 2009, p.60]

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]

Overture deals a winning hand with this gem, delivering addictive gameplay in spades. [Nov 2011, p.52]

World of Warplanes is a P-51B Mustang; out-turned, out climbed and outdived by the superior P-51D that is War Thunder. [Nov 2013, p.82]

Try again after a few months of patches. Maybe. [Mar 2011, p.67]

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

A brilliant idea brought down by its visual style. Fun for its adventure mode, but otherwise buy a Wii and stick to Smash Bros. [Oct 2013, p.87]

When it's not going out of its way to be terrible, Syndicate is simply mediocre. [May 2012, p.54]

If you found Proteus poignant and Gone Home felt like going home, Shelter will break your heart. [Nov 2013, p.88]

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

Intriguing idea but in terms of execution: this ain't no SimCity! [Christmas 2009, p.60]

The guiltiest of pleasures. Indulge yourself and a few friends, but go read a book afterwards or something. [March 2012, p.62]

Like finding out your happy childhood home was full of asbestos. [Sept 2012, p.60]

Add another [10 points] if you can find other people to play with. [May 2015, p.60]

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

It's exactly what fans of the franchise have grown to expect. No surprises here, folks. [Jan 2014, p.90]

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

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

A competent take on precision platforming with creative use of stealth elements, but one that offers little reward for taking its punishment. [Oct 2015, p.60]

The lack of focus can be frustrating, but the world is so interesting that it'll draw you back in. [Issue#269, p.55]

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

Solid gameplay marred by clunky controls and an almost painfully generic story. [Apr 2011, p.68]

An incredibly well-made puzzler. [Jan 2010, p.67]

An unfortunate step backwards for Bethesda. [Nov 2009, p.58]

Less Hot Shots and more Hot Fuzz. [July 2012, p.66]

Gorgeous levels, light story and simple puzzling, though necessary replayability is undermined by backtracking and repetition. [March 2013, p.93]

Richly detailed graphics don't make up for the shallow, simplistic trading and combat. [Nov 2010, p.60]

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

Proves not every game needs to innovate to be entertaining. [Mar 2010, p.66]

Don't let the name fool you: Unepic is huge, but whether players will want to see the quest to its ends is another matter. [Apr 2012, p.66]

Borrowing heavily from past survival horror games, The Evil Within still manages to create fear in its players despite some clunkiness. [Dec 2014, p.58]

Far from a perfect sim, but as a commentary on the industry we follow and love, it's enough to give you pause for thought. [July 2013, p.90]

A short experiment based around a fairly oblique puzzle system, Litter Inferno succeeds as a compelling curio. [Feb 2013, p.75]

Rather satisfying post-medieval combat sim hidden behind jank, bugs, and general awkwardness. [July 2011, p.64]

Though not without problems, Songbringer is a charming, challenging and addictive old fashioned ARPG. [Issue#266, p.64]

A dazzling reminder of what FPS as pure entertainment can be. Serious Sam is still relevant, and this remake is a real blast. [Feb 2010, p.62]

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

A space diamond in the rough, Pandora may not get everything right but exceptional combat and city management shines through. [Feb 2014, p.86]