If you can struggle past the interface, the game itself if baseball gold. [Sept 2009, p.71]

Ceville is a pleasant enough game that doesn't demand to be played (and, let's be honest, is too expensive), but adventure fanatics should get enough joy out of it to warrant a purchase. [May 2009, p.65]

EndWar's a little too repetitive and you'll probably end up using the same basic strategy in every battle. [June 2009, p.69]

A worthy follow-up and well worth your time if you are an enthusiast of the gem-matching genre. [June 2009, p.75]

A solid game, but one that suffers somewhat from stilted gameplay and a cliched plot. [May 2009, p.74]

Relic have made an admirable stab at redefining the single-player action-RTS experience, but they haven't managed to nail it just yet. [Apr 2009, p.56]

If you want something to put on the box, Mr. Marketing Man, try this: "This is so bad, it is like beating old ladies to death with hammers." [May 2009, p.77]

What it adds - the more capacious level design, the daylight, the mech bits, the cover system - doesn't amount to much more than a garnish of new ideas on an old chicken salad of a game. But as I said, the magic of F.E.A.R. is certainly in position. That basic pleasure of time slowing, of watching a death ballet unfold as glass shatters, masonry crumbles and bodies cartwheel with morbid elegance - it's all intact, and it's as incredible to behold as ever. [Mar 2009, p.56]

The maps are boring, units weedy, AI absent, trooper non-responsive, graphics dire, sound effects pathetic, music repetitive, resource gathering system incomprehensible, and the storyline, as mentioned, is woeful. [Aug 2009, p.75]

There's really no reason you'd want to play this, unless you like looking at the pert buttocks of a young girl while clicking the mouse button a thousand times a minute. [June 2009, p.74]

Undeniably fun; a slick arcade racer from an impassioned and talented development studio. [May 2009, p.66]

I can't deplore enough how little story there is. [Apr 2009, p.66]

Vast database. [Apr 2009, p.62]

LOTR deserves a better action game than this, and with the rich source material available to them, Pandemic and EA should be ashamed of themselves for unleashing this on the general public - even if we know it'll go straight to the top of the charts regardless. [Apr 2009, p.52]

Much as I was thrilled by the action, I was equally nonplussed by the lack of emotional connection to the characters and the plot. [Mar 2009, p.64]

As long as you realise that Crayon Physics Deluxe is a sandbox in disguise, you won't be disappointed by this charming physics puzzler. [Apr 2009, p.70]

The levels are uninteresting, the enemies unsatisfying, and the story non-existent. [Aug 2009, p.76]

A hastily-ported and frustrating slap in the face for PC gamers, and I cannot gather enough venom towards how little respect there is here for the PC platform. [Apr 2009, p.46]

We'd like to see Bright Future focus on improving the in-game engine, scale back the extraneous nonsense and provide a better core game experience. [Feb 2009, p.85]

Persevere a little and you'll soon be having a lot of fun. [Apr 2009, p.72]

Some of the most polished and laugh-out-loud writing that Telltale, or any other devloper, have made for a game since LucasArts in the '90s. [Mar 2009, p.75]

It's undeniably charming, but how long you remain charmed depends largely on your patience. [Feb 2009, p.68]

Handling is fiddly too, on both control pad and keys, and it doesn't feel as fun to play as Tony's series. [Apr 2009, p.70]

The PC version brings enough additions and improvements to the fundamental GTA IV experience to make it an essential purchase for anyone who hasn't played it yet. [Feb 2009, p.74]

Refreshing. [Mar 2009, p.73]

Entirely average. [Feb 2009, p.83]

Excellent despite niggles. [Jan 2009, p.66]

Even without the 3D engine, Football Manager 2009 is still fully deserving of its classic rating, providing a staggeringly comprehensive simulation of the complex world of management. We predict a few patches before the match engine is fully functioning, but even in its current state, it tangibly enhances the experience.