Atmospheric, mature, detailed, classy and intriguing, but let down sorely by short-sighted design and sloppy mechanics, the worst of which is the feeble AI. [Issue#76, p.84]

You're likely to have as much success doing this as trying to watch a 3D movie without the free Sugar Puffs glasses - it amounts to much the same thing. [Issue#32, p.116]

When it's good, Black Ops shows the world that Treyarch is far more than just the B-team. [Issue#66, p.70]

This gorgeous game takes a little too long to crank up the difficulty for our liking. [Issue#79, p.79]

Frustrating. [Issue#89,p.82]

Borderline broken as a fighter, but, taken on its own meagre merits, a giggle to mess around with. Still, though, it falls a long way short of what could have been. [Issue#72, p.80]

The way the levels unfold, literally paving the way out before your feet, removes any sense of exploration. [Issue#76, p.100]

The only thing we can definitively say is that if publishers are going to begin overcharging for slight next-gen upgrades, then this is going to be one hell of a long generation.

While GRAW 2 is a good game, it doesn't make for a great game of 'spot the difference' with its predecessor. No advancements as such, just more of the same. But shorter. Whoops. [Issue 18, p.74]

Another highly competent sports sim from EA. We've obviously gone back in time without noticing. [Issue#25, p.102]

A top pinball game to play with friends, but on your own it can get boring. [Issue#116, p.80]

A competent if unspectacular return. Dragon Age: Inquisition offers an abundance of things to do but its pick ‘n’ mix approach undermines any wow factor.

A charming and often ingenious little game. [Issue #81, p.90]

It's the kind of old-school outing that will frustrate and satisfy in equal measure, above control issues proving the major reason behind such frustration. [Issue#38, p.115]

Far Cry 2 is a drawn-out yet ambitious FPS that doesn’t quite align its many ideas into an effective game, due to the confused nature of the open world. Nice atmosphere, though.

Enough of the old charm shines through for the eight online or local players to have a blast. [Issue#24, p.100]

Like playing through a slideshow of a friend's apocalyptic holiday snaps: beautiful at first, but you'll be tired of it by the end. [Issue#71, p.80]

While BF3's multiplayer will speak for itself, very rough scripting and level design mean its single-player campaign is good, but far from great. [Issue#79, p.74]

343 Industries is clearly passionate, but it’s shown a criminal misunderstanding of what makes the franchise work. Halo 5: Guardians has moments of greatness, but it’s a shadow of its former self.

A game with such subtleties and fine detail as Civilization IV would never have worked on a console, and so while purists might carp at Revolution’s necessarily stripped-down feel, its injection of pace makes for a more exciting – if marginally less cerebral – strategy game. And more importantly, it’s still as life-suckingly addictive as ever. [Issue#34]

A good game, but a familiar game. [Issue#90, p.84]

Love it, loathe it or ignore it, the formula always works. [Issue#47, p.100]

Little mis-steps in design and pacing make it non-essential, but definitely recommended. [Issue#116, p.75]

FIFA has PES beaten when it comes to attention to presentational detail and atmosphere, but maybe that isn't enough anymore. For flowing football, though, you should look elsewhere. [Issue#130, p.71]

It's hard to justify it as a full release due to its repeating material and its short length. [Issue#51, p.76]

Not quite enough variety twinned with not quite enough freedom leaves DIRT as merely a snack between Gothams and Forzas. But then we all eat badly, once in a while. [Issue 21, p.82]

In truth, we’re in distraction territory – beyond (admittedly quite a few) graphical changes, its only substantial addition will feel to football veterans like throw-in training might feel to, er, football veterans.

There are enough major improvements to the mechanics to appease your average pucker on the street, but fans of the series' casual roots will be left out in the cold. [Issue#90, p.79]