The magazine used to be awesome a few years back when Whitta used to be Editor-in-Chief. But since then, Rob Smith has been put in charge, all the staff except for two of the originals have moved on, the magazine has shrunken considerably and the writing quality has gone down massively.
You couldn't have described my opinion better.

When Whitta left, that was the beginning of the end. Then the PCXL group moved in...oddly enough, I liked PCXL - it was juvenile and fun. But PC Gamer was the opposite - it was aimed at the intelligent gamer. But once Whitta left and the PCXL crew moved in, they ruined the mag.
Where is Whitta these days, anyway?
Supporter of the "A fredster By Any Other Name Is Still The Same" fan club.
http://www.loopz.co.uk/