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For 924 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 56% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 39% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.7 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 74
Highest review score: 98 Grand Theft Auto IV
Lowest review score: 5 Xiaolin Showdown
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 548 out of 924
  2. Mixed: 299 out of 924
  3. Negative: 77 out of 924
924 game reviews
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    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Lord of the Rings: Conquest
    Bottom line with Lord of the Rings: Conquest is that it fails on almost every level to re-create the breathtaking scale and impact of its source material. Generic at best, the game's poorly staged battles and uninspired set pieces drag the player on a plodding journey through a world of imagination and invention where both of those vitally important facets have clearly been lost in translation.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 69 Critic Score
    Mirror's Edge
    Mirror's Edge is an impressive feat as a realistic first-person simulation of parkour across the towering roof-tops of a dystopian future. Unfortunately it's also fairly dull and frequently doesn't do enough to motivate the player to continue, this is not a game I was thinking about when I wasn't playing it.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    FIFA Manager 09
    In a sense, it seems that FIFA Manager 09 is more a lifestyle than a game - to get the most out of it you need to put in some real time. A season, if played thoroughly, will take as long as most full games these days. This makes it an absolutely incredible management simulation, but simply too much for all but the biggest fans.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Rise of the Argonauts
    This kind of thing has been done so much better so many times before there's no reason to invest your time and money here, even if you've a hankering for ancient Greece.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 93 Critic Score
    Grand Theft Auto IV
    It loses a few marks for being so technically daunting, but if you haven't had the opportunity to play GTA IV yet, and you've got a PC that can handle it, then this is probably the best version of the game.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Prince of Persia
    Despite cynically poking Prince of Persia in the ribs for a significant chunk of this review, there's little doubting that Ubisoft's latest offering is one of the year's most staggeringly beautiful releases.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    SingStar ABBA
    It's a little sneaky that you can't buy the game complete with microphones but the chances are most people interested will already own a pair; otherwise this is as close to a sure thing as you can get with SingStar. The winner does indeed take it all.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 68 Critic Score
    The Last Remnant
    Just don't expect too much from it. It likes to give with one hand and take away with the other.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 48 Critic Score
    Sonic Unleashed
    It's too fiddly and obtuse to appeal to children, and too generic and tacky to cater towards the discerning taste of a gaming adult. The only possible reason you'd have for wanting this game is because it's cheap.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Skate It
    This is a game that will appeal most directly to the Wii's casual market. But anyone who enjoys an innovative game should spend some time here. In staggering their releases on Wii and 360/PS3 EA have certainly kept Skate in the public eye.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tomb Raider: Underworld
    Underworld is impossible to actually dislike, as at its core you know this is what games should be about, pure escapism, discovery, immersion. This doesn't stop Lara's latest failing to be greater than the sum of its parts, however, and while this is unquestionably a step forward for the series, Crystal Dynamics could perhaps have gone a few inches further still.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 92 Critic Score
    Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009
    If football management is your thing and you have a whole load of free time, you don't really need to look further than the new Football Manager.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 35 Critic Score
    Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge
    Ignoring, as is really only fair, the poor timing of its release there's still a multitude of reasons why you shouldn't spend your hard earned money on Winter Sports: The Next challenge 2009. Mow the lawn, look at the lambs or just enjoy the extra daylight, whatever you do with these warm spring days make sure it's more enjoyable than playing this.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 91 Critic Score
    Left 4 Dead
    There's so much tension and just pure fun to be had here that it is quite impossible to ignore, and if you're a player that craves genuine team cohesion then this could be one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences you've ever had. The only thing this game is missing is a G-String clad and rotting Jenna Jameson.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 86 Critic Score
    The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria
    It's a pity that there is no new PvMP zone but I'm sure it will be added in future expansion packs.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Need for Speed Undercover
    It's a sparse game, and after you've sunk about ten hours into it you'll feel suitably empty, too. It's not rewarding, satisfying or endearing.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    You're in the Movies
    As a family game with a really low barrier of entry this game is a reasonable success. It does a great job of involving everyone in the room, as a part of the scenery if not in a starring role. Hopefully this isn't a flash in the pan and is a sign of a more healthy supply of games using the 360's previously dusty camera peripheral.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Shaun White Snowboarding
    Impressive visuals and physics don't make up for frustrating controls and a sense that the game is lacking a certain congruency. I'd rather be playing one of the old SSX games to be honest.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 64 Critic Score
    Animal Crossing: City Folk
    The basic gameplay appeal lives on in City Folk, but Nintendo's laziness is there for all to see.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 92 Critic Score
    World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
    World of Warcraft may never look realistic but it will always have a very unique charm, and Lich King has certainly improved upon this.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Mirror's Edge
    Clunky physical combat, lifelessly linear level design, horridly ill-fitting segue animations, a bland narrative, shallow characters, and an unforgiving first-person viewpoint all conspire to shatter the game's wafer thin novelty value, which all-too quickly reveals Mirror's Edge to be a fabulously innovative concept mired by the old 'all style and no substance' adage.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 55 Critic Score
    Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
    Five, perhaps even ten years ago Dawn of the New World would have seemed somewhat mediocre, in 2010 is just depressing.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Pro Evolution Soccer 2009
    This game has graphical beauty but in many other areas it fails to excel. On the other hand, it is still a good game, but it's just a few levels below where it really needs to be to compete with the reborn version of "FIFA."
    • 84 Metascore
    • 87 Critic Score
    Call of Duty: World at War
    CoD 5 is a very solid FPS that can sit proudly enough on the shelf next to it's predecessors. If you are not turned off by the idea of returning to WWII, you'll have five or six hours of enjoyable shooting in solo mode, and probably many more in the team deathmatch and war modes online.
    • 93 Metascore
    • 96 Critic Score
    Gears of War 2
    I pity the developers that have to release their games around the same period as this, because Gears of War 2 is magnificent.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tom Clancy's EndWar
    The online multiplayer is addictive and fun too, thanks to the context provided by the evolving world, and although the game is marred by weak singleplayer narrative and lacklustre AI, the lasting impression is still well within the positive.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 65 Critic Score
    Monster Lab
    There's a lot of competition in the DS market, and Monster Lab doesn't quite have the raw talent to go up against that. But, there's a good amount of fun in there that a player could eke out if they were so inclined, and I'm certainly glad I got to play it. It's fun atmosphere can't ultimately redeem the fact it's too confused by its own design.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 86 Critic Score
    Valkyria Chronicles
    Visually and aurally it's a real tour de force, the plot pretty much stays the right side of the crazy line and on the whole combat feels fresh and well designed. There are a few hiccups and they do take the gloss off things more than the rest of the game deserves, but they shouldn't be enough to put you off.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    007: Quantum of Solace
    Its playable, its easy, its simple, its entertaining, and its got a bit of good multiplayer; but it wouldn't challenge an amateur gamer and it'll most likely be back in the box and filed away as "done with" faster than a day in the office.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 86 Critic Score
    Resistance 2
    Where it fails, it is very difficult to criticise, simply because the premise offers little room for Insomniac to really shake things up. Number two represents a leap over the original Resistance, and although some may bemoan the lack of a main campaign co-op option, some of the multiplayer choices implemented instead are bold and highly enjoyable.
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