Gears does what it does flawlessly. It's not the best shooter ever, but it's definitely the best Gears. [Christmas 2008, p.50]

A decent, mindless rampage online for the converted. [Feb 2009, p.104]

Endwar is a lesson to all, then. You can make a strategy game work on a console; you just have to speed it up, dumb it down, and somehow keep it smart.

A frustrating mix of good and bad - we'd take it over "Blacksite" and co though. [Christmas 2008, p.63]

The GoldenEye curse continues - just keep parying for a Rare XBLA release instead. [Jan 2009, p.76]

A curio piece lacking enough quality games to justify the price tag. [July 2009, p.83]

Unleash this on an unsuspecting child and social services could very well come knocking. [Feb 2009, p.81]

Bang for your buck - but the bang of a party popper rather than a nuke. [Mar 2009, p.79]

Great music, but this is prime DLC material and definitely not worth 30 quid. [Mar 2009, p.82]

Smarter, cheaper, longer and funnier, but the combat's just as dull and there's just as much of it. [Jan 2009, p.104]

Well-made and well-presented, but there's not nearly 1,200 points worth of game in there. [Jan 2009, p.104]

In almost all respects, Fallout 3 is a staggering, genre-defining achievement - marrying an utterly immersive world, memorable characters, incredible production values, some of the most inspired RPG mechanics ever devised and so much heart. It might not steamroll the epic "Oblivion" in the manner we all hoped, but maybe that was simply asking too much. Instead, Fallout 3 stands as the perfect companion piece - a near unparalleled RPG that stands so far ahead of the majority of the games on 360 that it would be a crime against gaming not to laud this title as anything other than a masterpiece.

A sorry excuse for a 360 title. [Apr 2009, p.92]

A slick and well-presented game that entertains without alienating hardcore bikers. [Christmas 2008, p.77]

An essential rhythm action game. [Jan 2009, p.80]

A flawless two hours of fun, made all the better by the extra challenge stages. [Jan 2009, p.102]

A rollicking good adventure. [Christmas 2008, p.56]

By yanking the dragon's latest into adolescence, both kids and adults will be disappointed. [Jan 2009, p.75]

Tether the choreography to controls and you'd be on to something. [Jan 2009, p.78]

Far Cry 2 is a resounding success. It looks incredible, and the attention to detail is staggering. All it really needed was the added spart and thrill of a really, really good shooter underneath it all. But if you can live with the game's start/stop gunplay you're going to have some real fun playing with fire. [Jan 2009, p.78]

Not pretty, but smart as a whip, and constantly quick and accessible. [Christmas 2008, p.74]

A dull, expensive experience, but it's faithful to the board game, at least. Yawn. [Jan 2009, p.70]

Just don't bother playing alone. [Christmas 2008, p.94]

Rock Revolution is ruined by its painful visual style, and is nearly unplayable on the higher difficulties. [June 2009, p.83]

It takes the "worst game on Live" title from "Rocky and Bullwinkle", by some margin. [Jan 2009, p.104]

Another 'classic' Sega franchise turns to bum gravy. Sonic, eat your heart out. [Jan 2009, p.67]

So, turns out there's room in this world for both GTA IV and Saints Row 2, then. Truly, they are utterly opposite sides of the same sandbox coin. If you were in any way disappointed with Rockstar's return with Liberty City then we have absolutely no hesitation in recommending you buy this.

The very fact that we wish Dead Space included more of its original features and less content pulled from the last generation's greatest game speaks volumes for the quality on show. [Issue # 71]

Entertaining, ultra violent American sports without a great deal of depth. [Christmas 2008, p.73]

Rather than simulate a playground game we never played in the UK anyway, pay the extra and import the brilliant "MLB 2K8." [Jan 2009, p.104]

An idea too small to sustain an entire game. [Jan 2009, p.104]

Its well made and has some clever ideas...but still a very average shooter. [Christmas 2008, p.82]

A dull, dreary game. [Dec 2009, p.88]

A fun-packed playable cartoon. [Jan 2009, p.74]

Impressive basketball sim that manages to be instantly accessible. [Christmas 2008, p.76]

Speedy shooter much in common with cack like "Outrigger." Get your mech fix elsewhere. [Christmas 2008, p.94]

Too hard to be fun, too mean not to frustrate, but challenging enough to be rewarding. [Christmas 2008, p.92]

An okay-looking action game. [Apr 2009, p.90]

It's a bridge between loon-o-shooters and interactive modern FPS'. That's it, though. [Christmas 2008, p.60]

Even the most hardened Brothers In Arms fanboys out there will more than likely get the feeling that this belated entry should have strived for so much more than this.

A stunning extreme sports title that nicely fills the void left by EA Big. [Dec 2008, p.80]

Regains the silliness lost in Indy, and tightens up the formula neatly.

A semi-decent racer hidden behind layers of bad design and presentation. [Christmas 2008, p.72]

If you've played Feeding Frenzy, you'll be okay doing without the sequel. [Christmas 2008, p.94]

Underplayed. [Feb 2009, p.104]

The Force Unleashed is more of a highly impressive tech demo with a great narrative tagged on, with any actual game present inserted only as an afterthought.

This latest entry offers plenty for fans, but makes no concessions to anyone else. [Feb 2009, p.80]

A fantastic old-fashioned fighter that's maybe a little too...safe. [Mar 2009, p.78]

HG's victory is an academic one. [Jan 2009, p.81]

How a game which looks like this can have a framerate like THAT is beyond us. Knock yourself out, though. [Apr 2008, p.96]

An essential for any 2D fighting fan, even with the fairly bare-boned Neo Geo port. [Dec 2008, p.103]

It'll be big in Japan; over here, not so much. [Christmas 2008, p.94]

No more than a tech demo for the next game - "Smackdown 2009" preview code is twice the game this is. [Dec 2008, p.90]

Lacks the epic feel and skills of "NHL 09" but does offer lots of goals. [Christmas 2008, p.62]

Perversely, and in spite of its difficulty, Facebreaker can still be completed with just two buttons.

Nothing other than nice graphics. [Dec 2008, p.103]

Exciting, but the real battle is against the controls. [Dec 2008, p.103]

Only those who have invested in the Warhammer world can really overlook its flaws as an RTS. [Dec 2008, p.82]

Kudos to them for trying, but the action/RPG mix doesn't quite convince. [Dec 2008, p.84]

Swallow the shame of buying this and you'll own one of the 360's finest. [Dec 2008, p.94]

Shabby around the edges - but that only adds to the charm of this daft playground. [Dec 2008, p.86]

The grind-heavy mechanics may be for online obsessives, but solo players shouldn't bother. [Dec 2008, p.103]

The series' next gen debut plays it safe, but will doubtless charm the pants off fans. [Aug 2009, p.80]

The same great game it was last year, only with more pointless bolted-on bits.

Inventive fun, just not the pure twitch shoot-'em-up that the name suggests. [Dec 2008, p.102]

Ultimately though, when you start to crave any given section of the game to end just because you're so utterly bored of it, when you're hacking your way through another swarm of metal enemies utterly identical to those you fought in the last twelve (almost) identical rooms, you're inevitably going to start to feel like there's something not quite right with Too Human. And you'd be right.

A good game, but one which feels eerily out of place and out of time. [Sept 2008, p.79]

The retroest modern game you'll play and not nearly as updated as it could be. [Oct 2008, p.101]

Individually this game should be superb and if you’ve never played a previous version this should be your first point of call. However, taken as part of a continuous series, this is a fairly pointless offering as it offers very little in terms of innovation.

Amazing ideas, achievement, logic, pride, beauty, and a game so good it makes every other Xbox World five-star game look a little silly. In a world without Mario and Valve and the Bethesda hit factory Braid is indeed the best game ever made; in this world, it's among the best games of the generation, and is unquestionably and immediately the best game ever to have been released on Xbox Live Arcade.

Frustrating, cheap and lacking any real depth. A modern "Chase HQ" this isn't. [Aug 2008, p.80]

It's dumb enough for anyone to play, smart enough for anyone to master, and broken enough to keep the frame-counting Virtua nerds out - which is pretty much the whole package, really.

Well-made with fun co-op, but not as good as it should be. [Oct 2008, p.101]

A totally competent golf game which ultimately does too much wrong and to little right. [Sept 2008, p.97]

A lukewarm experiment, and while a partner is required for fun, everything is fun with two. [Oct 2008, p.102]

While far from as deep as the PC games, Revolution is a fine achievement, extremely accessible and great fun to play.

Dry, charmless rundown of the Olympic events with a direction-less single-player. [Aug 2008, p.49]

Everything just feels so tight, so slick, so-self assured. Yes, it might take you five minutes to get used to the lightning quick, almost slippery feel to the controls, but when those controls 'grip', you start to realise you're being guided by one of the best.

The world needs more risk-takers like Wideload. But this gamble didn't pay off. [Dec 2008, p.83]

If you'd had enough of ogling at "Calibur 4," cop a feel of SC Arcade. It's still a handful. [Oct 2008, p.100]

Do you like Guitar Hero and Aerosmith? This is the game for your. But everyone else? Give it a miss. [Sept 2008, p.78]

Perfect fodder for a FREE online flash game. [Oct 2008, p.102]

Nothing clever and nothing new; it's everything you've seen many times before, but done very well. [Aug 2008, p.99]

One of the smartest board ports yet, with a cracking interface to go with it. [Oct 2008, p.102]

Not terrible, just utterly mediocre and, crushingly dull throughout. [Oct 2008, p.92]

A potentially not bad Pixar tie-in that gets very average, very quickly. Shame. [Sept 2008, p.82]

As much as Alone In The Dark deserves to be criticised for its problems, it equally deserves to be lavished with praise for some outstanding ideas and set-pieces. A gracious failure, AITD should stand as a lesson for other developers to see what they should be striving for.

Fun enough, but not the facelift we were hoping for. Plus, online totally carries it. [Sept 2008, p.70]

A revolution. The controls alone render the competition obsolete. [Aug 2008, p.82]

An entertaining expansion, but it needs to be gack to the drawing board. [Sept 2008, p.74]

A thoroughly average change of pace. [Sept 2008, p.97]

Soulless stuff. [Sept 2008, p.95]

Sadly short on ambition. [Sept 2008, p.97]

Eschews the pugilism of "Fight Night" for top arcadey street fighting. [Sept 2008, p.84]

Staggering to think that EA bare behind this tosh; hang your heads in shame, boys. [Sept 2008, p.86]

Too much Ball Z and not enough brawl. If you know what we're Saiyan. [Aug 2008, p.85]

Hulk himself is a terrific creation. The game that surrounds him? Not so much. [Sept 2008, p.75]

Other on-rail shooters are a lesson in design Aces of the Galaxy must have skipped. [Sept 2008, p.95]