The folks at Q may understand better than any other developer how to squeeze maximum impact out of the minute details of a “small” game. Every sound effect, musical refrain, or graphical flourish is a delicious little treat for the senses—and they retain that impact seemingly indefinitely. The gameplay in Shooter delivers in a similar fashion. Equal parts game and science experiment, the fun with physics in Shooter sticks with you long after you’ve completed the game. I only wish it were slightly tougher and lasted a bit longer.

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About our scale… the number of words in our review reflects the score of the game. In practical terms, you could assume that games reviewed in 49 words or fewer should be avoided, games reviewed in 50-75 words would make a decent rental, and games reviewed in 76 words or more would make a solid purchase.

While it’s relieving to discover that The Saboteur is a fun and fitting send-off for Pandemic (after the trainwreck of Mercenaries 2), it’s also frustrating—because it could have been something truly memorable. The volume of things to explore, drive, scale, and blow-the-fuck-up (and the beautiful WWII Paris setting) are a joy to experience. However, the nagging meters, zones, gauges and other inorganic artifices never allow you to feel like you’re in the world, or completely buy into the story.

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About our scale… the number of words in our review reflects the score of the game. In practical terms, you could assume that games reviewed in 49 words or fewer should be avoided, games reviewed in 50-75 words would make a decent rental, and games reviewed in 76 words or more would make a solid purchase.

On paper, Borderlands has everything I could ever want in a game. You say “Diablo-style, loot-grabbing dungeon crawler done as quasi-cel-shaded, co-op FPS,” and I say “SOLD.” Who could have guessed that the loot would be so uninteresting, the environments so relentlessly bland, and the enemies so brain-dead (especially the bosses)? It’s really a shame that while the concept is a solid A, the execution is a total Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

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About our scale… the number of words in our review reflects the score of the game. In practical terms, you could assume that games reviewed in 49 words or fewer should be avoided, games reviewed in 50-75 words would make a decent rental, and games reviewed in 76 words or more would make a solid purchase.