The setting aside KickBeat is as conventional as a rhythm game as the songwriting of Jon Bon Jovi. You know what you get but don’t expect any surprises.

Kholat’s strength lies within the atmospheric loneliness in big areas. Horror and suspense unfortunately fall short.

It is surprisingly content-rich and can be entertaining, but the controls take getting used to, the fights are redundant and the loading times are straight out of hell.

Very basic and simple mixture of strategy and action-roleplaying.

A nice little game of skill with a forklift that could have been more "extreme".

The name says it all. You definitely have many robots to shoot. Unfortunately dozens of enemies on the screen can't save this title from long-term boredom, especially if you're hunting the metal beasts alone.

The visuals and fighting system are worth the admission fee, but story, presentation and AI leave a lot of room for much needed improvement.

The concept is timeless, but more variety and a little progress would have gone a long way.

In the end it feels more like a map pack than a sequel. But nonetheless with a full group of four people you’ll get quite some fun out of sniping a few zombie heads.

It is atmospheric, it is intense and mysterious. But it is also too simple and too linear. A solid adventure for 3D-detectives.

The no-frills fighting system welcomes beginners and experts alike. But they will find hardly enough content to keep them busy.

While the content is reduced compared to its’ DS-brethren, the series’ 3DS premiere shines when it comes to visual presentation. Pikachu and friends look cuter than ever.

This is no quaint river rafting trip where you can sense the spirit of Huckleberry Finn. This is a relentless beast that let’s you die without warning. But even once you got the basics covered this is not as engrossing as Don’t Starve – even though artdesign and music are top notch.

It's a bit of a shame that Tamagotchi Plaza didn't take a few crucial extra steps, which I don't think would have been too much to ask. But the basic framework alone is satisfying enough to have fun with.

Demonic hack&slay action with a neat anime design and an interesting story premise, but a lot of mechanical repetition.

For me this Need for Speed is the equivalent to a Honda Civic or Toyota Prius: You can take it out on the road, but there are so many better cars out there. While borrowing heavily form the Fast and Furious franchise as well as from games like Forza Horizon, Burnout Paradise and The Crew it misses to establish its own identity.

If you like games like The Witness, The Talos Principle or Obduction, this solid puzzle-adventure might scratch your itch.

American Horror Adventure: Grotesque, bizarre and disturbing. But on the other hand hopelessly outdated and too conventional in its puzzle mechanics.

The campaign is sterile, the presentation mediocre and in the long run the battles don't reach genre standards. A lot of good ideas are sabotaged by annoying flaws.

Quotation forthcoming.

Technically and playfully conservative third-person shooter - everything works properly here, but if you expect highlights or surprises, you will be disappointed.

This still shows off one of the deepest characters in franchise history, but came across (and still does) mechanically as old-fashioned.

A solid, yet bland 3d platformer.

This could have been one of this winter’s sleeper hits. And I really want to like it with its interesting theme and art design. But while everything looks like a magnificent Thief-Witcher-Shadowrun mash-up, the result is rather disappointing. No element is really fully matured and sometimes just buggy. More would have been less. Or it should have been given much more time...

Solid action, that mixes retro-action à la Xevious with a 360-degree camera control and a hint of bullet hell. After Project Root this is a clear step forward for Opqam.

Even with improved visuals and enhanced physics this is Worms as you know and love (or hate) it.

Mechanically and in terms of storytelling you get the same experience on PS5 like on the other platforms. The newly added DualSense functionality feels out of place, though.

Quotation forthcoming.

Haunt is a surprisingly solid Kinect spook, which uses the hardware in a clever and accurate way to pilot the player through a haunted mansion. Fights, puzzles and story deliver, although more of everything would be desirable.

This is a good looking but foul compromise. It replicates the atmosphere of Human Revolution but in terms of gameplay this is just second class.

On the surface Impire shows some promising ideas. But the deeper you dig the more you realize that almost everything stays superficial and offers hardly any challenge.

Quotation forthcoming.

Visually Robinson proves again, how beautiful and immersive a VR adventure can be – on a potent PC it looks plainly awesome. Unfortunately the exploration and puzzles can’t live up to this.

Despite its remaster label the Switch version is rather comparable to its siblings on PS3 or Xbox 360. AI-problems, framerate issues and crashes take another toll on a theoratically solid port.

Petroplyph captures the spirit of Command & Conquer almost perfectly. Nonetheless it feels unfinished: 8-Bit-Armies offers only one faction, not a lot of troop types and generally not enough content.

If you can look behind the flaws, you will spend a lot of time with Agarest. The fighting system and party management offer a lot of freedom, while the vivid anime style goes beyond voyeuristic effects.

The small challenges are entertaining, the confused concept is not. The hidden shortcuts that need to be discovered and the lack of clues make it hard for me to appreciate this charming puzzler.

If you don’t need modern elements like a career mode, character development or golf lectures this is for you. Especially if you also don’t need licensed players or courses. Or up-to-date visuals.

Quotation forthcoming.

Yes, engine and presentation are old-fashioned. But the mixture of exploration, hunting, gathering and fighting still works. The turn based battle system was tweaked here and there and is more attractive than ever.

Entertaining management of a flight crew thru military missions, hampered by clunky controls and harsh difficulty spikes.

A solid alchemist adventure that sticks to the formula. Don’t expect anything new.

A fast-paced, brutal, straightforward shooter spectacle – the kind horror film alumnus John Carpenter lends his name to. If you want to unleash Snake Plissken-style co-op mayhem, you'll love it. Solo players should look elsewhere.

Is it a shame to get “inspired” by Capcom’s Monster Hunter? No. It is even more accessible than its inspiration. But it also lacks the depth.

While the visuals are sub-par at best, Battle Brothers is an interesting turn based tactics beast with a multi-faceted battle system but also serious balancing issues.

Visually impressive horror on Mars, which takes inspiration from Lovecraft, but unfortunately never manages to create panic for the player.

Quotation forthcoming.

As far as Karaoke games go, at its core SiNG Party is as good as any: The recognition works well, the tracklist is as big as varied. Unfortunately you won't see any original videos and the lyrics of some songs have been edited to become family friendly. On top of that I miss the community features that the competition on other platforms introduced.

Mechanically monotonous endless racer with charming visuals and loads of cool unlockable cars. Harmless entertainment, but not really a good racing game.

Supercross brings you solid motocross action with a decent track editor. AI, collision detection and presentation still need work, though.

A decent addition to your library of classic point & click adventures, without anything spectacularly good or bad worth mentioning.

On Vita this is an almost heartless and technically questionable conversion of what once was a very interesting mix of tactical battles and a kingdom builder.

Quotation forthcoming.

This is a convincing excursion on one of the most difficult and challenging motorcycle tracks in the world. But as a game it shows a serious lack of content and would significantly improve with a decent career mode.

This is pure mediocrity. The simple driving physics deliver solid arcade feeling, but the boring story and some disputable design decisions throw a spanner in the works.

A weak campaign and a fun but unimaginative multiplayer mode and the addition of zombies make Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 a mixed part of the series.

As good as the concept was three years ago and as entertaining a successful coop session may be, in the end this is little more than an interesting design study.

This old-fashioned platformer draws its motivation mainly from the steep learning curve and the high difficulty level.

A large chunk of the atmosphere as well as parts of the playability of this at its core still great rpg are destroyed by the abysmal technical conversion.

Technically solid 3-vs-3-shooter aimed at a younger audience. Unfortunately there are no unique features found anywhere, be it weapons, abilities or arenas.

There are slight improvements but (like its predecessor) this is still stuck in the mud of mediocracy.

Stellar Impact is a great example for the run-of-the-mill online multiplayer strategy formula. On one hand you'll always be able to find players, but in the end you don't rely much on tactics but on sheer firepower.

Solid battle-royale with comic visuals and stronger survival influences than the competition, but also a serious lack of variety.

Even though this is a standalone expansion, there is hardly anything that makes it special – it would have been better off as DLC.

Authentic anime soccer with plenty of story dialogue. On the pitch it is rather average, though, and doesn’t give you enough options in front of the goal.

Quiplash still steals the show, but together with Blather Round it is not enough to save this rather weak selection of party games.

Although it is a little lackluster, the mayhem and destruction are quite entertaining. Unfortunately you'll get tired of the tracks quite soon.

Tense and stylish adventure with entertaining, yet a little to easy solvable puzzles – but held back by a multitude of bugs and technical problems.

In its best moment Through the Woods is an atmospheric trip into the world of Norse mythology. But what this adventure desperately needs is depth. While the simplified story premise is very interesting, the actual storytelling is as shallow as the stealth mechanics.

As an interactive movie experience The Complex is an entertaining thriller with some twists, but also plotholes.

The classic concept motivates, but Shin'en stays safe. With more content, more diversity and only a few fresh ideas this could have been a download gem in the early life of Wii U.

Instead of an open world Big Robot should have worked on variety. But even with the predominantly simple run-and-gun-mechanics it is quite fascinating to unravel Tölva's mysteries.

An unexpected surprise: Even with its old-fashioned visuals and storytelling you‘ll encounter quite a few tense moments in this stealth-charged Sci-Fi-shooter.

An atmospheric, empathetic but playfully limited indie adventure.

Trailblazers shows not only a lot of potential, but also its share of unnerving flaws.While this could have been the ‘Splatoon of fun racers’ in the end you’ll remember it mostly for technical shortcomings, harsh AI and bugs.

Since Itakagi-San left Tecmo, the Ninja Gaiden series fails to impress. And so does Yaiba, even though the comic design is as consistent as impressive and the bossfights remind you of the past. But whenever you don’t need skills or good reactions to get through a fight but pure luck, a game is in trouble. And the ninja-cyborg is in grave danger.

Entertaining action platforming with random levels and little diversity.

Snack size puzzler with too little variety in every aspect, whose challenge levels are as high as the potential for frustration.

Solid brain-training with varying entertainment factor and small problems in terms of input recognition as well as online connectivity.

Yakuza’s comeback shows off a great fighting system, while the tasks that you’re following are tedious and boring.

This is not the spiritual sequel to MotorStorm that I hoped for. Instead you’ll get solid motorized arcade-action with too little content for soloists. It lacks in diversity depth and defining racing DNA.

Not again. On one hand you got loads of interesting puzzles and a bizarre atmosphere, on the other a sometimes totally useless touch or gesture control.

In the beginning you experience a lot of fun and a decent amount of arcady excitement. But rather sooner than later you discover that all the elements seem hastily connected, thus giving the impression of a disharmonic gaming experience.

The surreal fantasy world shows a lot of potential, but battles as well as puzzles are too simplistic and monotonous.

Visually this is one of the most beautiful and atmospheric VR titles so far – Crytek is a master of the craft. But when it comes to puzzle design and storytelling, it is too obvious that they are not in the top tier.

Game progress that is too slow, little co-op mechanics and a lack of incentives to grind are sobering.

The storytelling keeps you interested but neither the shooter nor the tactical elements live up to their potential.

There are mechanical as well as technical flaws. But in its good moments Distortions delivers a strangely bizarre action adventure like no other.

The surreal world shows a lot of potential but fights as well as puzzles are too simple and too monotonous too often.

After the slow descent of indie horror games Stairs is a ray of hope. The atmosphere is tense. Exploration, puzzles, suspense and dramatic getaways are well balanced. But the story lacks depth and I actually could do without the bugs.

The latest Sonic expedition sports a lot of good ideas, variety and beautifully designed worlds. But the overloaded controls and confusing camera make sure that the hedgehog can’t live up to the potential.

This homage to Micro Machines works surprisingly well – until you hit the in-app-purchases wall.

This is not a worthy successor. Extremely simplified controls as well as an unsteady difficulty hamper precision and rhythm in this partially randomly generated auto-runner.

Visually beautiful 2,5D-platformer that suffers from a very simple fighting system.

Conceptually this is a beautiful adventure set in an interesting futuristic world, but suffers from narrative weaknesses as well mechanical problems.

Pioneers of Olive Town is a solid agricultural adventure - despite the lack of new impulses and too much monotonous button pushing.

In some respects, it’s certainly a nice treat, but the bottom line is that it’s not an unreserved recommendation because there are too many half-baked game elements.

The concept is clever, but the execution lacks finesse. While the turn based stealth action is a great idea, the controls as well as the game flow are sloppy and incoherent.