The design is as old school as the difficulty level. As a homage to Castlevania it serves its purpose but compared to games like Fly’n or Guacamelee it falls short.

The hack&slay formula is simple. But Blood Knights doesn’t deliver. That this game and Venetica come from the same dev team is hard to believe.

It might look like its big brethren, but this is an uninspired light version of everything that made the franchise successful.

It is entertaining as before, but don’t expect any progress of the snowy mascot battle.

On consoles Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 was the best appearance of the beloved ninja so far. And on the PC nothing has changed.

This is more than just an interactive book, this is an experience with loads of meaningful decisions – between the lines there is more suspense and ambiguity than in Mass Effect.

It is content rich and delivers a solid turn based strategy experience with gorgeous battles. Story and presentation are not the strengths of these battle worlds.

A charming post nuclear adventure.

At its content core, this a beautiful conversion of a very polarizing game. But with more technical problems than expected for the first time this game also feels very old.

It is a nice stroll down memory lane through 30 years of WrestleMania history. Unfortunately the publisher change didn’t result in a change of direction yet.

This is not your run-of-the-mill hack&slay. The combination of the magic globe, special attack and environmental puzzles is worth a look – especially if you can look beyond the weak online-mode.

Quotation forthcoming.

If Dear Esther is a dark audiobook, Proteus is an interactive painting. Small things combine to build a living world.

With over 80 minigames you get a lot of content. Unfortunately most of the games are short and simple.

Eleusis is an atmospheric, but mechanically very superficial adventure.

Sports Interactive continues to push the boundaries. On the surface this is just a collection of visually enhanced excel sheets, but under the numbers and tables you find a lot of personality. This is a gem from soccer crazies for soccer crazies.

Device 6 is a very interesting, creative storytelling experiment that combines old school text adventures with the interactive capabilities of a touchscreen.

Solid conversion of the 3DS vampire hunt. Unfortunately you won’t get any new content nor improvements in any form.

It’s enough milestone. While on one hand it is good to know that visually you finally reach a point which you should have passed a few years ago. And I also appreciate that at its core WRC4 is a decent game. But in the end this is little more than overpriced recycling of previously released tracks.

The story of this anime-style rogue-like is quirky and the characters and locations are positively freaky – but the visuals are completely outdated.

A charming surreal puzzler that lacks polishing.

In times of The Witcher or Dark Souls this is hard to bear. The dialogue is below daily soap standards, the fighting system as superficial as any, visuals are outdated. This is gruesome.

You’ll get a mixture of everything that people want from a new Assassin’s Creed. But all the known challenge-free mechanics fail to impress me like they did in older games of the franchise, although I like the rediscovered focus on stealth – as semi-automatic as it may be while the few new ones are not strong enough to carry the burden. There is no doubt about the excellent visuals though.

It is short, it is uninspired, it is non-credible: The once entertaining franchise doesn’t deserve this boring episode.

You might miss optimized configuration options, but otherwise you get the complete package of this soulful action-adventure.

Kudos! It takes some effort to demolish a franchise – even if it was mediocre at best. The flight model is simple, the controls are gruesome and the visuals are as outdated as the planes you have to fly.

How to fall asleep – that would be a more suitable title. Or: Uncle Kovac’s island hopping for stressed out zombie tourists… You will stumble over the occasional good idea. But good execution should mean more to development than another way to dismember the undead.

It is simple. It is fun. Simple racing fun.

Phoenix Wright as you know it: Surreal characters, great dialogue, interesting cases and top notch anime artdesign.

If you like your futuristic tower defense with a little “extra hard”, go for it. With Defense Technica you won’t see anything new, but you will definitely get a challenge.

Due to missing feedback in certain situations Rocksmith is still not able to replace the teacher, but if you have basic knowledge of using a six-string you will get a lot out of this. And it is darn fun, too!

Improved boss battles, audio commentary, well integrated controls via WiiU-GamePad: The Director’s Cut is without a doubt the best version of Human Revolution.

More pirates, more text adventures and more upgrades: Space Rangers HD benefits from additional content. While I don’t see anything that would justify the “HD” label this remake is worth a look.

While the core mechanics hardly make any progress, in terms of storytelling Origins is definitely worthy of concluding the Arkham trilogy in thrilling fashion.

At first, this tower defense is entertaining, but it is rather short and becomes quite tiresome.

Arma Tactics is a catastrophe. Cover is ignored, enemies can shoot through walls and ceilings, they act like suicide commandos. Balancing is simply bad.

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.

It’s quite rough around the edges, it lacks variety and the balancing could be better, but nonetheless this is an interesting turn-based-strategy set against the backdrop of 80' slasher movies.

A very unique experiment with you at the center.

Ugly, generic, boring: Even the cool mech builder can salvage this dud.

A great ending of the bizarre science fiction adventure with a plethora of funny ideas and loads of challenging puzzles.

The story is the usual weak point while the visuals are as outdated as ever. But that shouldn’t keep you from playing this gem.

It still looks great, it still feels great and it still is the best basketball game out there.

This is the well rounded Pokémon adventure I was longing for. An absolutely worthy gift for the 15th birthday of the series.

A very good start. This is no pretty fairy tale, but a gruesome thriller with a fantastic parallel world New York as a background, where you meet characters from Snow White to Grendel.

Marlow Briggs is not a new experience nor is it original in any way. But the mix of games like Shadowman, Soul Reaver and God of War is well-composed and gives you a decent amount of fun for a reasonable price.

As annoying as the high tolerance level and missing error analysis are: Just Dance 2014 is the best rhythm game when it comes to the pure joy of moving to music – especially in a group.

Even though I am sad, that after ten years there isn’t any additional content (actually the number of dungeons is reduced), I am overjoyed that this GameCube-classic shines in a new HD light and is visually more impressive than ever.

VanillaWare did it again. Their signature visual style is more beautiful than ever and the mixture of side-scrolling brawler, item hunt and character development is as motivating as anything . If you compare this to Odin Sphere or Muramasa though, the story telling falls rather short, while the number of dungeons is very limited.

This surreal trip delivers an interesting rhythm of puzzles and platforming.

The re-imagination of 3D Realms’ classic is an interesting mix of old-school action and modern elements: One man, loads of weapons, even more ammunition, arena battles against a plethora of enemies, one-liners (even though they need improvement) and character upgrades. This is basically the gaming version of The Expendables. So if you liked them, give Lo Wang a shot.

Unlike Devil Survivor Soul Hackers isn’t plagued by technical faults or glitches. So if you’re a fan of classic Japanese dungeon crawlers and also like the slightly bizarre, this is definitely for you.

Without a doubt this is the most complete Formula One package from Codemasters yet. But nonetheless it feels like the team in Birmingham doesn’t do anything more than what is absolutely necessary to justify a new game.

The turn based movement is flanked by a trading card element, which makes the hunt for new cards quite motivating. But be aware that the campaign is rather short and the multiplayer mode restricted.

Jodie suffers, she fights, she cries and she loves – but over a long period of time you’re reduced to being a spectator. There is no emotional link like towards Clementine in Walking Dead or Ellie in The Last of Us. There are moving moments and the visuals are impressive, but David Cage sacrificed his trademark design with its fascinating emotional focus for the sake of lackluster action.

It is short, but Rain gives you tons of magical, suspenseful and emotional moments.

Stylistically this rogue-like/dungeon-crawler-mix is interesting, but the mechanics are too basic to keep you captivated over a longer period – even if you play together with three friends.

While the theatrical design is quite charming it is not as elaborated as in the Puppeteer or Black Knight Sword, while the side scrolling brawler feels generic at times and lacks the esprit of games like Castle Crashers.

Unfortunately this is more recycling than a new beginning. You have more options to influence the character and even the village, but the daily business is as bland as ever.

The fighting system is solid, the online mode is lag free, the character design is as good as the story is bad. But overall the fighting ladies (and gents) of Tecmo's once proud beat-em-up franchise are just not as entertaining anymore…

It doesn’t rock and it doesn’t shock. The biggest scare of Doorways is imagining that there will be more episodes like this one.

EA continues where they left off last year: Recycling the old engine while only updating the rosters.

FIFA 14 still is a very good, very complete soccer game. And whilst the tweaks, changes and additions to the core mechanics are well executed, overall the progress made is smaller than last year.

The sci-fi design is as generic as the story. And as if this isn’t enough, the frantic action suffers from bugs and crashes.

In terms of content you’ll get more Inazuma than ever before. But unfortunately it is also more of the same.

Lone Survivor is a unique and very intense horror trip into the human psyche.

This retro platformer is as short as it ridiculously difficult, as cool as it is wacky. Nice!

If you like your old-school RPG with a big helping of classic dungeons, cartography and party-management than look no further. Under the colorful surface is an experience that is more demanding than anything that Legend of Grimrock can throw at you.

I was looking forward to the new Fox-Engine as a foundation, but the next big step for the series is just not there. Instead of reaching a new level the gameplay is hindered by the teams’ problems with the engine, resulting in bugs and loads of minor flaws. That’s a shame, because the core mechanics are better than ever.

There is no doubt: This Total War has its moments where it shines in size, content and strategic power. But in the end you won’t remember all the things it succeeds at, but the plethora of annoying little things, where the Roman conquest falls short.

When it comes to content, this is a complete package. The collision physics are improved, the running game is enhanced. But overall there is little progress and an AI that seems more faulty than in the last years. Let’s hope that the focus was put on the versions for PS4 and Xbox One. Otherwise this could be a very short anniversary party.

I wouldn’t have missed a thing if this “game” would have stayed away from consoles. This is just a boring, technically absolutely unimpressive simulation that fails at the only thing it should rather do well: Simulate.

In theory this could be an entertaining coop brawler. But it lacks in technical quality, variety and esprit. “Kowabunga” alone doesn’t cut it.

Mostly the changes are subtle, but they matter. The flow is improved, the game is more tactical and faster, more dynamic.

How does it feel to be a badger facing the daily challenge of protecting and raising your offspring? While this sounds interesting as a concept the execution lacks immersion and depth.

Dark, intense and brutal: Outlast celebrates classic survival horror.

It is not as terrorizing and suspenseful as the predecessor but A Machine for Pigs still has its moments, while telling a grotesque horror-story.

This is as surreal as stylish, as uncompromising as relentless, as odd as any other game from Suda 51. But is also more mainstream than ever before, which is admirable.

So this is what happens if you mix Dishwasher with Castle Crashers and add some punk rock.

How does it feel to lead a nation over a couple of centuries? As fascinating as it is frustrating. The handling is overly complicated, you can get overwhelmed by the most simple matters. But if you’re willing to invest time, you might just etch your name in history.

The mobile killzone is not as refined as its stationary brethren. But it plays and looks well enough to make me start another one of its shortened missions.

Gone Home toys with suspense, thriller and adventure. It grabs me by the throat with its tense atmosphere. It seduces me with its side stories and touches me with its intimacy.

At its core you’ll find entertaining mechanics. But they are held back by a meaningless campaign and technical issues.

If you are (like me) a fan of the Genesis original this is more than a trip down memory lane. This is a carefully modernized old school platform adventure with a lot of personality. But don’t expect anything out of the ordinary.

If you’ve spent time with Final Fantasy 14 a few years back, you will not recognize the reborn Eorzea. Everything seems better connected, better thought through and better executed.

Except for the battle system that still shows its PC roots, Blizzard converted the mechanics almost perfectly to the gamepad. And the rest is, well, Diablo 3. If you don’t like it, this won’t change your mind. But if you do, this is not just one of the best coop games out there, but with all the little tweaks and changes this could very well be the best version.

Race The Sun is pure adrenaline. Unfortunately the challenges are rather short.

You could almost forget that Saints Row 4 started as a DLC for the third part. But even though you’ll find a lot there is to like, starting from over the top humor and super powers up to the brilliant Dubstep Gun, it can never fully separate itself from its add on roots.

If you feel comfortable with beat em ups from Capcom or SNK then you will enjoy Skullgirls with its tremendously high difficulty level and beautiful visuals.

Boring missions, boring controls and weak visuals.

It starts very promising but after only a few hours you’ll get monotonous action with framerate issues and sometimes poor visuals. From time to time you can feel the games’ strengths, but they are soon overwhelmed by run-of-the mill design.

This is legendary entertainment. Design, visuals, the plethora of things to do, the cool music levels: Every inch of the way you feel that people with bucket loads of passion are behind this living their dream.

There is no open world, there are no adventures. Instead this mobile version falls back on a rather bland variation of Mario Party.

The turn based mayhem is classic Worms entertainment as you know it for almost 18 years. Add to that some clan functions and you have a well rounded package.

Of course the Skylanders paved the way. But Disney Infinity is more than a copycat. With the addition of the Toy Box as a powerful editor and the starpower of Pixar and Disney movies this collection of action adventures can stand its ground.

A well-executed modern remake of an Amiga classic.

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

It might not be the prettiest game, but once you get the idea of utilizing the weapon changing gestures, the Centinels will keep you in a firm grip with their positively hectic battles and challenging boss encounters.