Decent, but no improvement on the (now cheaper) earlier games. [May 2011, p.117]

RUN/r is never disastrously bad, it just lacks ambition. [Apr 2016, p.92]

While this unlikely combination works well enough in quick bursts, you'll breeze through the quest in around six hours. [May 2016, p.92]

Sker Hotel is a beautifully realised survival horror location to get lost in for an afternoon– it’s just a shame about the monstrous staff. [Issue#179, p.81]

Sadly the repetitiveness of the gameplay, despite team attacks and unlockable special moves, gets tiring long before the charms of the world. And so, ironically, Luffy just doesn't quite have the legs

Sadly, unless it manages to pick itself up pretty sharpish, Dead by Daylight may well be dead on arrival. [Sept 2017, p.91]

Binge on it and you'll be done before your thinking walnut's sizzling, as there simply aren't enough different mini-games to satisfy in the long-term. [Sept 2007, p.107]

A solid idea, but that's all. [Dec 2016, p.73]

An escape room adventure that’s thrilling, frustrating, and rewarding. Last Labyrinth is an enjoyably disturbing workout for the brain that ought to go a little easier on you. [Issue#170, p.87]

There's enough ambition here to elevate Mulaka above a disappointment. [May 2018, p.88]

Sadly, Liberation can’t escape its limited gameplay, technical unevenness and poorly told story. While Black Flag kicked the series on, the past holds no glory for Aveline.

Weaves Lovecraftian mythos into an interesting setting. But it frequently veers into being dull and repetitive, which isn’t what you want from dreamlike horror. [Issue#165, p.89]

A very well-made motocross game that is disappointingly familiar, but thanks to the new physics and better movement of bikes and riders, it's still a class act. [Issue#152, p.87]

While it offers enjoyable and challenging platforming with a delightful visual style, the overall experience is hampered by the frustration at having to repeatedly redo the same gruelling sections. [Issue#150, p.90]

When a game brands itself "bizarre", I expect something a little more off-the-wall than a 2D fighter. [Nov 2012, p.119]

By far the biggest blot on WRC's copybook is the lack of variety on display. [Dec 2011, p.114]

A PlayStation comeback that’s welcome yet undercooked, almost as though it was released three months too early. Keep track of patches and rejudge in August. [Issue#163, p.87]

The decision to stick with the series' standard FPS format on PSP, rather than a clever perspective switch in the style of "Killzone Liberation," is a major tactical error. [May 2007, p.107]

Storm's thunderthighs remain strangely alluring though. [Apr 2011, p.118]

If you can live with the pervading sense of confusion, there’s a lot of game here for no money. Whether it convinces you to part with some cash or not, you’ll still keep coming back.

The decent script and original cast won't disappoint. [Sept 2009, p.106]

For those who value and atmospheric adventure and inventive puzzles, there's a lot to love. [July 2016, p.96]

Though technically unpolished, at at times frustrating, Kholat's imposing mountain is impressive. A good few hours of horror, hiding, swearing and reloading await. [May 2016, p.86]

Often it simply feels like too much work for a single player, as you're constantly bombarded with conflicting tasks.

It's hard to look past the massively fugly engine. While the copious cut-scenes are pleasing to the eyes, the in-game visuals look like a glorified, smudgy PS2 game. And yet for all its flaws, Dead Souls still lets you battle women in bloody cocktail dresses and wannabe Lickers with a sympathetic loan shark. It's this ludicrously bizarre charm that makes Dead Souls more than the sum of its reanimated parts.

A formulaic adventure lifted by some fantastic design, then brought down to Earth by bugs and technical limitations. Still, there’s great fun to be had in Darksiders III if you can overlook its shortfalls. [Issue#157, p.86]

Only its lack of depth prevents Impact from troubling the top tier of wrestling games. [Nov 2008, p.104]

A strikingly beautiful game that suffocates its solid action core with clumsily scripted waffle and a hodgepodge of bizarre ideas. [Oct 2013, p.90]

Even if you only want to do the main missions and enough side-content to level up sufficiently, you’ll get at least ten to 12 hours of play. What’s interesting is the endgame, providing daily and weekly challenges, and allowing you to replay missions for extra XP. Solo this will become tiring, but with a friend? Any excuse to kill Nazis is a good excuse. [Issue#166, p.79]

Played in small bursts, EDF's knowingly daft, trashy action is an unapologetic hoot. [Sept 2011, p.107]

A festering corpse given an unnecessary kiss of life. [Aug 2016, p.93]

A game as flawed as its protagonist. [May 2017, p.96]

Best thing about Moons Of Madness is the way atmospheric horror is gradually built up during the first two hours. Sadly, this dread slowly dissipates in the latter stages, when less ambiguous enemy encounters feel a little out of place and forced. Overall, though, this is an excellent sci-fi horror game with an engaging story and an extremely eerie setting. [Issue #175, p.70]

A linear brawl that's over in less than six hours. [Christmas 2010]

4am's unique interaction style and possibilities deserve that extra bit of polish to match their innovation. [Aug 2012, p.105]

Even an elephant chase can't save this from incoherent mediocrity. [March 2016, p.94]

You always cringe at the collision detection. [Feb 2008, p.97]

For all that grappling, it has too few hooks. [Jan 2017, p.128]

Feels solid and assured. [Christmas 2009, p.119]

The mechanics are too loose to feel properly competitive in the style of a traditional footy game, which can get especially frustrating when you're defending. [Mar 2008, p.100]

It's essentially a third-person hack 'n' slash with an RPG film laid over the top.

The Dark Below doesn't revolutionise Destiny's addictive endgame, but the superb new missions and the lure of new gear should tide you over 'til the House of Wolves. [Feb 2015, p.91]

Its biggest problem, though, is the competition that's already available on the store. [Oct 2009, p.123]

Just a competent arcade game and a dire soundtrack. [Christmas 2011, p.97]

There’s not a lot to the game besides pointing at enemies and blasting them, and it’s showing its age. But it’s so weird it’s hard to look away from, and tearing through it is a short but sweet blast. [Issue#167, p.92]

In spite of itself, it conveys and rewards a love for the sport. [Sept 2015, p.89]

It's an endearingly anarchic twist on arcade racing. [Jan 2011, p.119]

Its uneven handling of core mechanics muddles its messaging and obscures its vision. [March 2018, p.85]

It's a brilliant idea, let down irreparably by a sub-bar fighting engine. [May 2007, p.114]

Like much of WRC 3, the driving isn't bad, just ordinary. [Dec 2012, p.105]

There are some genuinely slick moments to be enjoyed. [Feb 2011, p.104]

A Move interface would have worked better. [Jan 2012, p.114]

A disappointment considering its potential. [Jan 2016, p.94]

The shooting is less responsive, because Space Junkies doesn’t allow you to use PS Move controllers. Instead, you aim by pointing the DualShock – something that can work in slower-paced VR shooters like Resident Evil 7, but just isn’t suited to frenetic head-to-head combat, especially when the game’s crossplay links you up with PC players using full motion controls. [Issue#162, p.82]

While the games vary from must-plays to weak curiosities, this collection lacks the *cough* options of newer retro collections like SNK 40th Anniversary Collection. While we get difficulty adjusts, mid-game saves, and a PDF book, there’s none of the playfulness of SNK’s release. Still, it’s enough to keep your mind off leaked Stranger Things season 3 spoilers. [Issue#163, p.86]

It's just a shame it hasn't got a faster, snappier matchmaking system. [Christmas 2008, p.104]

It's not bad. [July 2012, p.115]

A shallow hack and slash that's fun in short bursts but outstays its welcome, even at a scant six hours. A step in the wrong direction for the series. [Feb 2016, p.91]

If you like it quiet, Afrika's peacefulness and sense of freedom offer something to savour.[JPN Import; Nov 2008, p.116]

After a few hours the only thing keeping you coming back will be a furious determination to beat the sodding game, rather than actually approaching enjoyment. [Mar 2009, p.105]

Some scenarios really capture the perverse freedoms of navigating an abandoned city. [July 2007, p.106]

The biggest change is the new edition's complete graphical overhaul. [Apr 2018, p.80]

Played with friends this is excellent fun full of teamwork and panic as you manage rather than defeat the undead. [Oct 2011, p.103]

The same relatively deep two-wheel sim as ever, but with each passing year the geriatric graphics engine kills even more appeal. [July 2012, p.117]

Unevenly brilliant and infuriating, CLOS2 combines incredible, tight combat and some spectacular visual treats with ropey stealth and a clunky narrative. Thankfully, the good outweighs the bad.

Good dumb fun, and if you expect nothing more it just about delivers. [Mar 2010, p.119]

A short, spooky soundscape with bags of atmosphere and sterling sound design, marred mainly by a lacklustre story and corny voice acting. [Christmas 2017, p.97]

Visually it's everything you could have hoped for, but the compromises required to reach that fidelity, and moments of narcissism as a result of it, are hugely damaging. [Apr 2015, p.81]

Travis Strikes Again spends so much time calling back to other games, it forgets to be fun itself. [Issue#169, p.92]

There's a pleasingly deep character creator to fiddle about with. [Apr 2013, p.118]

Outdated and in need of a serious overhaul. [Sept 2007, p.111]

Or just implode at the superpower-draining load times. [Aug 2007, p.114]

Fugly ships chugging along even fuglier tracks. [Aug 2008, p.104]

It's a close as you'll ever want to get to an actual walking dead scenario. [Sept 2017, p.91]

Not at all flashy, but genuinely absorbing. [June 2007, p.101]

Overall, it's a deliciously addictive experience. [Apr 2016, p.92]

What still comes across is a blistering sense of speed. Sure, it’s missing much in the way of the interesting track gravity you might expect from a zero-grav racer, but tight corridors and hairpin turns can still delight as you shove your pod nearly on its side. Two-player racing is also a welcome holdover. Racer was once very impressive and it still runs well enough, but it all feels basic now. It does raise the question – why haven’t we had a new version that’s as exciting as this was in its day in 21 years ago? [Issue#178, p.76]

The extras on the basic frame mostly serve to make it worse. [Spring 2011, p.114]

Offers a decent afternoon's leisure at best. [Jan 2014, p.94]

A shiny update rather than a new game. [Jan 2008, p.114]

A competent yet ultimately insignificant addition. While the core shooting still delights, the lacklustre campaign is entirely skippable. [Issue#150, p.96]

A staccato, trick-land-trick-land experience. [Christmas 2008, p.118]

Like four boring cover-shooters layered together. Inventive firearms aside, there’s a crippling lack of ideas: the weapon interplay is mild fun, but it can’t elevate the bland whole.

IF you don't own a PS3, there's some fun to be had slinging touchdowns here. [Dec 2012, p.114]

By far the biggest problem here is how Sonic himself handles. [July 2012, p.106]

But losing it all still stings, not least since some runs stack the odds unfairly. You might wander into a room where two shooters are entirely shrouded by the inky shadows, where a wall obstructs your view of an advancing threat, or an enemy-stunning lantern stubbornly refuses to light. When the RNG is against you, too, West Of Dead feels someway south of a good time. [Issue#180, p.76]

There's potential here for a devilishly tactical racer, but the reality is dull and unbalanced. [Issue#150, p.90]

That no significant improvements have been made in five years is surely the final proof that Medal of Honor's PlayStation campaign has lost its way. [May 2007, p.92]

A simple, accessible, and fun action RPG that’s particularly good fun in co-op. Generic as they come, but what’s here is well balanced, detailed and smooth in motion. [Issue#164, p.92]

Easy there, space cadet. This platformer has high hopes and certainly looks the part but fails to stick the landing… much like we did over and over again while playing. [Issue#154, p.81]

Stop buying this crap and eventually they'll either cease making it, or make it better. [Sept 2009, p.104]

Pulpy fun that writhes in its take on Lovecraftian lore. Call Of Cthulhu is a Hammer Horror-like cult classic in the making that overcomes its shortfalls to offer an RPG you’ll stick with through its many endings. [Issue#156, p.92]

There's not much depth, but plenty of eye candy, puzzling and cute. [May 2011, p.117]

The maps and monsters are pretty lacklustre and its storyline is basically all fluff, but a unique cast of characters and a fluid aerial battle system give this one a sugary sweet coating that's hard to resist. [Jan 2016, p.94]

What's here is mostly enjoyable. [Oct 2017, p.87]

ON its most basic level, IHRB does what it sets out to do, and any excuse to play couch co-op is appreciated, but it never stretches beyond just being basic. [Issue#151, p.84]

But while it's easy to create races, playing them is another matter thanks to ruthless power ups that make racing a joyless messy chaos. Overall the experience is a mixed bag of good and evil. If you're creative juices flow freely at the thought of making beardy Gandalf drivers and courses that are Mordor-meets-Nürburgring, then lifespan is only limited by your imagination.

The quintessential "barely trying" annual sports entry. [Christmas 2014, p.95]