The Sydney Morning Herald's Scores

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For 862 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 31% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 65% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 71
Highest review score: 100 Shadow of the Colossus
Lowest review score: 20 Seven Samurai 20XX
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 403 out of 862
  2. Mixed: 401 out of 862
  3. Negative: 58 out of 862
862 game reviews
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    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    TOCA Race Driver 3
    Car handling is impressive. You can really feel variations in surfaces and the car losing traction if pushed too hard. Passing in heavy traffic takes skill and patience.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    FIFA 07 Soccer
    Convincing physics have been brought into play to improve the feel of passing, crossing and shooting - a feature that brings FIFA more in line with the current simulation champ, "Pro Evolution Soccer."
    • 82 Metascore
    • 85 Critic Score
    Shadow of the Tomb Raider
    Dark and dirty but also full of fun and discovery, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is rife with jungle mysteries, embellished history, gratifying puzzles and Lara Croft's personal struggles. With more open world exploration, more climbing, more tombs and more options for combat, it's a familiar but improved adventure and a gripping conclusion to the trilogy.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Madden NFL 18
    Overall, Madden 18 offers some fun new additions. 'Longshot' isn't perfect, but it's a big step in the right direction. If you buy Madden every year there's enough fresh content to satisfy you, but if you had Madden 17 and only buy the game once every few years, nobody could blame you for holding off.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
    With a rather abrupt final sequence it does seem to rush to its climax, but despite its brevity, this is an unforgettable trip through the realm of Kong.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tomb Raider: Legend
    The best new addition is a magnetic grappling device that allows Lara to move faraway items and swing across chasms. Puzzles are beautifully integrated into the environment and frustration rare.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Neverwinter Nights 2
    Role-playing addicts won't be disappointed by the scope of this fantasy romp but a certain level of perseverance is required if you are unfamiliar with the intricacies of D&D.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
    With a rather abrupt final sequence it does seem to rush to its climax, but despite its brevity, this is an unforgettable trip through the realm of Kong.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
    Some locations are dreary trudges through dull space-station corridors, but others show more imagination, such as giant pinball tables and underwater in Atlantis.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Test Drive Unlimited
    A car aficionado's paradise and a novel concept in driving games. Unlimited's online world is certain to be mimicked.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Need for Speed Most Wanted
    The addition of smart and relentless police pursuers has reinvigorated this popular driving series.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
    Some locations are dreary trudges through dull space-station corridors, but others show more imagination, such as giant pinball tables and underwater in Atlantis.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Florence
    While the deeply relatable narrative, sketchy art and evocative music could all conceivably be delivered in a short film, it's the brilliant metaphors of the touchscreen play that make Florence truly special. It's breathtaking and emotionally affirming little game.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    TrackMania Sunrise
    The best inclusion is a compulsive Platform mode requiring death-defying leaps. Trial and error repetition can frustrate but improving your scores by performing perfect jumps is addictive.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Super Mario 3D All-Stars
    It would be easy to ask for more, but as it stands these are the best officially available versions of the some of the greatest 3D platform games of all time. The HD visuals and elegant control adaptations are arguably close to bare minimum, but the charm, craft and imagination on display in these three games is timeless and undeniable.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
    Navigating the menus and many options can be seriously intimidating for the uninitiated, thanks to some complicated design features.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hand of Fate 2
    With more ways to influence the outcomes in your favour, a greater variety of chance-based gambits and a structure that almost (but not quite) eliminates the frustrating repetition of the first Hand of Fate, there's a lot to like here for tabletop devotees and action-adventure fans alike.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Death Stranding
    With intensely interesting lore and characters, an awe-inspiring aesthetic and one of the most mind-crushingly dull gameplay loops I've ever experienced in a high-budget video game, Hideo Kojima's supernatural epic is pretentious and profound, filled with tedium and terrifying wonder.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
    Patient players looking for a unique experience ultimately will be rewarded by this atmospheric and ambitious shooter.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Hitman: Blood Money
    Blood Money gives the assassin even more flexibility, with abilities such as climbing, disarming opponents, hiding, using human shields, staging mock accidents and sophisticated distraction techniques.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Tomb Raider: Legend
    The best new addition is a magnetic grappling device that allows Lara to move faraway items and swing across chasms. Puzzles are beautifully integrated into the environment and frustration rare.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    X-Men Legends
    Single-player is fun, but the game truly shines with four people in the mix. It's a little easier, but there's still about 20 hours of co-operative campaigning to be had.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sonic Rush
    Exploring as Sonic or new character Blaze the cat is rewarding, even if enemy placement can be stupidly punitive, demanding rote memorisation or lightning use of the dash attack to avoid calamity.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Need for Speed: Underground 2
    The original NFSU's city was a little repetitive, but now IT'S broken up into five distinct neighbourhoods, each is suitably spectacular. Most of the time you fly through these districts so quickly that everything becomes one big neon blur, but it's worth slowing down to soak up the sights.
    • The Sydney Morning Herald
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Spyro Reignited Trilogy
    This is an immaculate remake of a set of fun, important, though imperfect games, breathing new life in Spyro's early adventures and serving as a reminder that the franchise really was great; worthy of the same fond remembering afforded to Crash Bandicoot and Banjo Kazooie.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Streets of Rage 4
    Streets of Rage 4 is the rare retro revival that respects and celebrates the originals while also having something of its own to say. The visuals, sounds and mechanics aren't as envelope-pushing in 2020 as the originals were in the early '90s, but the balance between embracing nostalgia and reformulating the brawler for the current decade is struck wonderfully.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Call of Duty 3
    Discerning gamers will find that this third excursion to the frontline is enjoyable but a little unpolished. It is, however, the best-looking 360 game to date.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
    First-person shooter fans might struggle initially with the demanding targeting system, plus a selection of weapons that take into account the accuracy and range of their real-world counterparts.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo
    Sony has accomplished its mission. This is the best shooter yet for the PSP.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Last Guardian
    Whether or not you feel the mechanical issues will be enough to ruin this sweet, impeccably realised, emotive game is up to you. For me, they're annoying but ephemeral. There were a hundred games released this year that are more fluid and fun to play minute-to-minute, and dozens that perform with a silky smooth frame rate, yet I'll remember this adventure with Trico long after I've forgotten those.
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