This is the typical small online action game that is destined to be part of a console bundle: Here and there it delivers a nice distraction, but overall it lacks content and variety.

You have to play it to feel the impact: Technically horrible action-adventure with a small, but open world that draws ist string from ist absurd characters.

You feel like a babysitter for an undisciplined Roman legion that got lost in antique texture forests. Between micromanagement and visual boredom the fun is lost too quickly.

Although the heroes are interesting on many levels, the action is not diversified enough, is missing tactical options as well as technical finetuning.

Iconic monster trucks competing in repetitive events. Steel Titans 2 shows too much untapped potential when it comes to the interesting licence.

Strangely compelling art design is not enough – Drawn to Death is proof to this like almost no other game. While the brutal gags grabbed my sympathy the technical flaws made me turn away too often. This simply can’t keep up with Garden Warfare or Overwatch.

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.

And yet another lackluster Tennis game. A lot of stars are playable, but the presentation is stiff and the mechanics are almost like the players are on rails.

If you like the tension of Alien Isolation, you will like Syndrome. But you have to be able to ignore the frequent trial & error, which in combination with long loading times can get to you.

Stylistically Suda 51 proves with Short Peace once more that he is a visionary. But in terms of gameplay and technically this short runner leaves a lot to be desired.

Nice adventure remake with the trusted Al Lowe humor. The technical improvements are what you could expect so it would have benefitted from additional content as well.

You can sense the good will and the intention to deliver a decent shooter . And while the splatter factor is satisfying and the shooter mechanics well thought out, technically this needs a lot of work – or the change to the newest version of Unity as BadFly implemented it on PC in September already.

You don't have to be a Star Wars fan to have fun with the lightsaber battles for Kinect – but it helps tremendously so one can ignore little faults like the bad storytelling in the campaign. Even with the mostly entertaining minigames the game rarely taps its full potential.

This is yet another one of those games that suggests easily accessible racing fun in the tradition of Maicro Machines or Mario Kart, but fails to deliver on a wide scale.

It starts as an idyllic walk of a dreamer, but soon becomes an occult ghost story with a touch of thriller. Albeit being a classic adventure at its core, Anna shows off a very dynamic orchestration of the supernatural.

Humans Must Answer wants to celebrate old school action, but too often it just feels old, especially when it comes to level design. More fresh air like the interesting turret system is needed.

Shinobido 2 is like a journey in a time long gone – also technically. But even if you can't shake off the feeling that the makers of Tenchu are somewhat stuck in the PSone-era, you'll find some morbid fascination lurking behind the next corner along with your victims.

A solid railshooter in a fascinating fantasy world. But it can’t compete with the likes of Panzer Dragoon Orta, Rez or Child of Eden.

While the humour is back to its sarcastic bite and the visuals are improved, Neptunia still suffers from old problems: incredibly boring quest and level design.

Ambitious mix of shooter and slasher, but extremely short and technically only mildly interesting. As a demo it would be interesting, as a full-fledged game it is insufficient.

While the visuals and the control scheme are well executed, storytelling and puzzles lack challenge and depth. [Tested on Rift and Vive]

Koei is Koei is Koei. Kenshiro’s second fight for vengeance is rich with content, but he just can’t step out of the poor base mechanics that make all that content so repetitive.

While art design and location are the same as in Akiba’s Trip the fighting system as well as the narrative have changed and take their inspiration from Atlus’ Persona-series on one side and Groundhog Day on the other. Unfortunately this mix doesn’t bode well.

Beenox didn’t reach the peak with its reboots yet – especially if you compare it to Peter Parker’s free-roaming adventures from two console generations ago. But they are on their way.

The interest that gets sparked by the sheer “weirdness” of Touhou Genso Rendo goes as fast as it appears. Lack of content, lack of variation and especially lack of balancing take this generally interesting bullet hell mix out of the skies.

If you look hard enough, you'll find the fun in Fable Heroes – especially with friends. But in the long run the lack of variety and more so the lack of content will keep you from going back to Albion.

At its release Iron Front: Liberation 1944 is plagued by a number of bugs. Mission triggers don't work, the AI leaves a lot to desire and so does the story. The game works well in multiplayer though, where the scale of huge battlefields plays to the strengths of the complex military simulation at its heart.

The story is not noteworthy and visually the Wii heritage shines through. But nonetheless the mix of conquering uncharted territory, collecting rare materials, finding treasure, recruiting monster comrades and taking care of your property is motivating.

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

While most of the core mechanics are at least solid unfortunately what sticks in mind is the primitive portrayal of women.

If you dissect Warfighter, every little aspect is better than in its predecessor, which in the end only means minimal progress. As a whole it is nothing more than an average shooter that has problems in leaving its mark.

While the art design truly captures the manga/anime source, the mechanics never really stand out and try to accommodate fans of beat-em-up, musou and 3d-brawling - all at the same time.

Quotation forthcoming.

The extraterrestrial arachnid follows the tradition of easy to pick up, but difficult to master games like Angry Birds or The Splatters. With more accurate controls it would even be able to give them a serious run for their money.

You know something is going wrong in a horror game if you actively have to pursue threats for body and mind.

This side-scrolling action adventure shows a lot of promise. But numerous bugs and lack of variety kill the fun.

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

In theory Mugen Souls offers everything fans of tactical adventures crave for. But in the end the humor seems too forced, the tactics are as superficial as the story.

You fight through ugly visuals and repetitive battles just to find yourself in the overpriced real currency store.

It's hard to find reasons to play this standalone add-on. It is outdated, visually not really appealing, offers no challenge and minimal multiplayer options.

The Park is atmospherically tense and suspenseful, but the trip into the depth of the human mind stays very superficial in terms of actual gameplay.

Platinum and Activision deliver again. But even with the action flowing fast and an art design straight out of the comic books, this brawler lacks the certain “something” that is evident in Platinum’s proprietary franchises.

The art direction is worth mentioning but not worth the entrance fee since the mechanics of this vertical shoot-em-up are as basic as anything.

This is a mechanically one-dimensional, visually unimpressiv horror-adventure without an interesting cyberpunk world or mean spirits.

The years of changes of direction and publishers didn’t leave the shooter unscathed. The stealth mechanics are superficial, the AI comfortably dumb and even the visuals are not up to par. Which is even worse considering that you’ll encounter the occasional tense moment, where you feel what this revolution could have been.

The combination of racing and roleplaying elements made Milestones Scar something special. The attempt to transfer that formula into the dirt racing of MUD didn't work out that well.

Generic level design, a world without magic, technically weak: This is an exclusive disappointment for the new system.

There is no creative construction and the resource gathering is rather bland. And on top of that, the social component feels superficial. There is hardly any fun found in this society. Just tedious work.

Even with a few bugs and a rough multiplayer experience this is an entertaining remake of a true classic with pirate flair.

It can be very entertaining like its predecessors. But while there you could focus on rescuing civilians here the game needs to be rescued and revitalized. Too many bugs and crashes keep the motivation down.

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 concept is interesting: Who doesn't want to see themselves in a cow costume with a sunflower hat and a guitar on your back throwing kicks that are as deadly as they are elegant? Unfortunately the execution of that concept is far less interesting.

Nice setting, flat economy, boring real-time strategy. The Settlers - New Alliances is not a total catastrophe, but far from "good".

There is no comparison to its entertaining HD-brethren. The visuals are a joke, there are less puzzles and more senseless fighting – which is not entertaining at all, thanks to the imprecise controls. But even if you don't know the other versions, this is not worth the name.

Very tragic: There is actually an interesting game hidden somewhere in Valkyria Revolution. Well, sorta - there would be, if all the elements and layers would be connected.

It is short, it is unspectacular and it doesn't show the quality that other Kinect games established over time. There is nothing magical here.

Quotation forthcoming.

With less focus on unspectacular Augmented Reality and more focus on suspense, psychological terror and atmosphere this could have been a great horror game for Nintendos mobile system.

On the surface all the elements that made the former Army of Two games such interesting experiences are still there. But the deeper you look the more superficial they get. Resident Evil 6 might have failed because the vision couldn’t be executed. But here you’ll miss the vision in the first place. This is a run-of-the-mill shooter with big explosions and little depth.

Headstrong Games catapults you right into the action: Rocket after rocket, hard-lock-mode, barellroll, Immelmann, BOOM! But if you're looking for a challenge, find other skies to conquer.

While the changing biomes and surfaces are a nice idea, the core with its simplified farm labor is presented too lackluster and monotonous.

At its core Hybrid Wars shows a solid twinstick shooter foundation somewhere between the classics Expandable and Desert Strike. But the pace is off for most of the time while technical flaws, mostly framerate issues, make you want to look for alternatives.

Visually old-fashioned offroad sim located somewhere between Trials and Spintires. The tracks littered with obstacles are cool, the driving physics as well as the reset mechanics not so much.

This action-adventure sports some interesting ideas. The execution leaves a lot to be desired though. Technically and mechanically it feels outdated.

It could have been a modern version of Hothouse Creations’ Gangsters 2 mixed with XCOM. But what you get is rather superficial in every aspect. The turn based battles suffer from an inconsequent and sometimes broken cover system, while the business aspects don’t offer any challenge at all.

The concept was solidly transformed to VR and delivers nostalgic but sweet dance fun. The price tag isn’t worth the admission though...

All the interesting ideas get lost in a clutter of ugly backdrops, cumbersome controls and meaningless fights against never changing foes.

If you need an example for a funny idea that should have stayed a funny idea, look no further. All the new influences are definitely not enhancing the gameplay.

This stationary, wave-based shooting gallery starts out slow. But thanks to the dynamic weapon changes and the overall fault-free movement detection this delivers decent no frills arcade shooting.

Reincarnation is trash and proud of it. It celebrates its roots and is consequent in what it tries to achieve: To be a thoroughly entertaining waste of time. Well… Mission accomplished.

The werewolves deserve better... Cyanide cannot keep the quality level you got used to after games like the Styx franchise.

I don't know if it was the best idea to move away from the comic style of the predecessor. But this engine with its' technical problems starting from bland textures up to framerate issues, not to mention the really bad voiceovers certainly won't help Ayumi to find an audience. Too bad, cause the core with linear exploration and fighting works surprisingly well.

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 a small game, but it is so beautifully crazy that you find yourself goating more often than you want to admit.

This re-imagination of the SNES classic ActRaiser feels sluggish and superficial.

In theory Shadwen sounds interesting. But in reality this expedition into stealth-action from the makers of Trine suffers from problems within AI, controls and the general flow of the game.

Quotation forthcoming.

Lost highlights are ever-the-same clashes of enormous fleet formations, during which tactical orders are either ignored or negated by mistakes in AI behavior. Lots of shortcomings as well as a number of bugs add to the frustration.

The action takes its inspiration clearly from games like Gears of War, mixes it with a little Rage and adds Army of Two as garnish. The problem: It rarely achieves the quality of the originals. Vector and gravity changes are interesting elements, but are just tapping their potential.

Natural Doctrine shows a lot of potential – mainly thanks to the complex battle system with its focus on cooperation and positioning. But the game design (or more so: lack of) leads to a lot of frustrating moments and useless grind.

The controls are well conceived, but the puzzles as well as storytelling are without any challenge.

I didn’t think I would enjoy VR Ping Pong that much. But the physics and control at its core are spot-on. Unfortunately it is harmed by a serious lack of content.

While the minigames clearly don’t manage to reproduce the fascination of the “old” Rabbid days on Wii, for kids and families the screaming bunnies deliver some short term entertainment.

Yes, architecture and costumes are adequate. And yes, you can influence little things while both storylines offer interesting twists and turns. But the combat system in this superficial fantasy adventure is one of the worst in years, while the stealth and dialogue systems don't live up to their potential.

The foundation is rock solid and the premise with its mix of city-building and real-time strategy is still interesting. But the execution lacks finesse, while bugs and a steep learning curve take their toll on the motivation.

In theory, D&D: Dark Alliance is a decent action rpg with hack&slay appeal. But server problems and bugs are annoying while the chracter development is rather puristic.

In theory this is pleasantly presented no-frills coop-action with cartoon visuals. But the technical foundation is not sound enough. Loading times, camera positions, framerate and collision detection are substandard.

Controls are simple, character development is just doing enough to keep things interesting. From a technical point of view this hack&slay would leave a solid impression if you wouldn't encounter invisible level borders that restrict you. But what annoys me most is the completely useless experience system, where the points you get seem to be dished out at random.

It’s better and more focused in the sniping core mechanics than its predecessor. If you can ignore the irrelevant story and the minimalistic multiplayer you might discover a decent shooting experience.

This is pure fan service - nothing more. The show is better and more entertaining than the accompanying game.

Operation Raccoon City failed! Fans of Resident Evil will be just as disappointed as anyone hoping for a Left 4 Dead challenger. It is a disgrace for the franchise.

Mighty No. 9 suffers mainly from one problem: An identity crisis. Technical difficulties aside Mighty just can’t manage to step out of MegaMan’s shadow. It feels more like a solid homage than a serious contender.

Soccer management meets The Movies – while the concept seems intriguing, the execution isn’t. The mechanics are superficial and for every aspect the game introduces there is another game that does it better, the mix just doesn’t add up.

Visually dowdy, full of grind and filled with daft decisions for the couch co-op. Even if you are a hardcore-fan of the franchise, you don’t need this. Even less, if you are looking for a decent twinstick shooter.

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.

Everything is reduced to the absolute minimum: character development, story, presentation. Luckily the tense turn-based firefights work well enough to save the game. Nonetheless you’re better off with Wasteland 2.

There are not enough building options, it lacks content in general and it is not very pretty.

The over-the-top humour still is omnipresent but the minigames lack the extra portion madness which made the former Rabbid games so special.