As if you need further proof that episodic games can enhance the experience in terms of dramatic and narrative value. I can't wait for the finale.

This is a charming puzzler with a unique setting and varied tasks. But is also rather short and a little too easy.

I want to find 'em all, catch 'em all and train 'em all. But on the other side I dread the level grind, the shallow role-playing and the rocky online connectivity. Then again you get solid and motivating entertainment over weeks, months, if not years. But I am not as euphoric as I thought I should be.

It is tremendous fun to cruise through a breathtaking virtual Colorado, explore and listen to the fantastic soundtrack. On top of that the brilliant driving physics show that the Forza-DNA is still intact and working. But AI problems, a missing split-screen and the reduction to a maximum of eight players online eventually show that there is still room for improvement.

In his best moments Sam is still Sam, with action as shallow as powerful. But most of the time he feels like a shadow of his former self.

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.

For an eight year old game, this action classic has aged well. But nonetheless this seemingly complete package is disappointing, mainly because id decided to improve most of its content to the worse.

The motion recognition works well, the choreographies are as varied as they are challenging, plus you can import the predecessors' tracks (for a small fee). And even this year Harmonix moved forward in terms of party-play there is still lots of room for improvement in this area. Four players simultaneously anyone?

Start up, choose your song, have fun. It is as easy as that. And you can even enjoy the dancing with up to four players. Nonetheless Just Dance could improve on a level of motion recognition. Sometimes it still is too easy to mislead the system into giving you credit for something you didn't do properly.

Mists of Pandaria is an extensive expansion going further than just adding raids and dungeons. The mechanical simplifications and the ridiculous amount of standard quests are annoying though.

This is like a visit to your favorite burger joint: Once you start, it is hard to stop. But unfortunately the shark rampage doesn't last too long, leaving you hungry for more.

Slightly disappointing adventure sequel which doesn't reach the standards set by part 1, but is saved by the bizarre humour.

This is a fascinating experiment with great ideas. Unfortunately story and game get lost in a superficial void.

Will there ever be a good Bond game again? With Legends, new lows will be reached. A lot of potential shines through, but in the end the poor visuals, the useless stealth mechanics and the sluggish controls gain the upper hand.

This is by far the best rally game by Milestone yet, offering a solid experience with challenging track design. But even though it is vastly improved, visually it still is not up to challenge the likes of DiRT, Gran Turismo 5 or Forza.

Naughty tries hard to step out of the shadow cast by his first outing, which hasn't been received well. And for the most part all mechanical changes seem to work out fine. Unfortunately you can't say that for the ridiculously stupid AI.

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. And compared to its cousins on stationary systems you'll get a halved starter grid.

Thanks to Kinect you can take over all of your favorite characters. But nonetheless this is an uninspired and disappointing first person-brawler.

Unfortunately all the good elements are overshadowed by the stupid AI routines.

The gesture recognition works well, the pacing of the fights in this fantasy rail shooter is well executed. The coach riding as well as looking after your horse lacks variety though. In its best moments, this journey delivers a solid experience, in its worst it is just boring.

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

Even with receding quality in the series over the years in mind I was looking forward to this game. But just like the 19th century became a cultural breaking test for Japan, this becomes a breaking test for even the hardest advocate of samurais in an open world.

At first, all the new features don't sound very thrilling. But Deep Ocean expands the Anno-mechanics where it is needed most: The economy gets new wares and needs. And to be successful you need to develop even more elaborate trade routes and production lines.

It takes a while to notice that behind all absurdity and craziness hides an interesting fight for survival.

Once you get used to the new controls it is hard to get away from this excellent, incredibly intensive basketball experience.

Intense turn based tactics combined with challenging funds and army management – XCOM portrays Earth's defense as a comprehensive SciFi-thriller.

When it comes to art design, the architecture and fashion in Dishonored are among the best I have seen in recent years. The stealth-action starts promisingly but you become too powerful too soon. Nonetheless, this is a thoroughly entertaining game.

It lost a bit of its former magic, but Re-Volt Classic delivers a solid racing experience.

Almost seven years passed since Dead or Alive 4 – a long time in which beat'em ups progressed quite a bit. This progressed seems to have passed by Team Ninja. A little more action, a little less counter attack. The unique fighting system still is tremendously motivating and delivers. But that aside this T & A show doesn't have much too offer.

I love Arkedo: For five years they keep doing what they love most – and that is goofy arcade games, in this case a ludicrous 2D-platformer with a high amount of cartoony violence.

So this is what it looks like if Resident Evil goes back to its roots? I am disappointed. Why does Capcom take a military shooter as a blueprint when they have a precious tradition?

The recognition works well and with the added bass guitar mode (which can also be emulated with a six-string) as well as the coop-option you'll get a lot of content. Unfortunately the game part of Rocksmith still needs polishing while the guitar coach has its flaws.

You want to explore space, push your crew to the limit and improve your vessel. From sector to sector you find new challenges, although none is bigger than the save system. You die, you have to start over.

Great atmosphere, beautiful animations, skillful goals – this is top notch soccer.

The conspiracy story is interesting, the detective work is very entertaining. Unfortunately the designers decided to lengthen the experience with frustrating moments and a changing difficulty level.

It looks great, it plays surprisingly well, but there is still quite some distance to the likes of Infinity Blade 2, which simply offers more of everything.

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.

This is hardly a shining star when it comes to arcade dogfights. But nonetheless it delivers: You'll get solid action and well mixed mission design. The campaign is a bit short, though.

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.

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.

I hate you. More than anything else. I don't want to play anymore. Okay. One more time. Really. I promise. Okay, now only one more time. Damned, I can do better than that. This is really the last time. Oh man, that was close. Just one more time, I can do it. I hate you. I love you. One more time. Damn, you look good.

You will need training. You need skills and lightning fast reactions. But in return you'll get magical moments that only Pro Evolution Soccer can deliver – even though the engine and overall presentation need an overhaul.

Charming, diversified and incredibly versatile. Sackboy's Vita adventure adds small, but well working touchscreen improvements to the powerful editor/game.

Especially in areas where Diablo III disappointed, this small gem from Runic Games displays its strengths: There is more than enough useful loot, thus motivating the hunt for the bigger better item, you need to make decisions when it comes to character development. Choice and balancing of the difficulty levels are also well-conceived.

When the moving light sources break through the darkness, you'll get drawn into a fascinating puzzle world filled with abstract brain teasers. But compared to the likes of Braid it lacks good storytelling.

The experience on the track is more refined and better than ever. But why am I restricted in a lot of areas, e.g. game modes? Why can't I just take Michael Schumacher and go for the eighth championships? If you don't need the up-to-date license you might as well go back for last years' version.

Like the Trials games, Joe Danger delivered simple but exciting fun. With the sequel you'll get even more goodies and options. But for me the lane changes, unicycles etc. were just a distraction from the neck-braking stunts.

As an old-school beat-em-up Double Dragon Neon delivers – sort of. But if I have the choice I rather turn to Shank, Scott Pilgrim – The Game or the Streets of Rage-Compilation…

The mixture of simple switch puzzles and jump & run is entertaining, but the fun is short lived. Missions, areas, tasks: Everything gets monotonous too soon.

I like the open character development where I don't have to wear a class straitjacket as well as the quiet discovery of mysterious dangers. But more often that it wants to, The Secret World is "just" an ordinary MMO.

Pandora is more colorful and more vivid than ever before. The enemies act smarter and they attack in mixed groups so the team of up to four heroes has to work together - elemental damage and positioning are keys to survival. Unfortunately the storytelling takes a while before it gets interesting (although the humour is top-notch) and sometimes you get stuck in a mission treadmill.

For me this is the best and most important online role-playing game since Mythic's Dark Age of Camelot. ArenaNet managed to eradicate the grind-treadmill with simple but very effective attention to detail. This excursion into the fantasy theme park named Tyria, where on every corner there's a new ride to experience in form of the many things you can discover, is well worth its entry fee.

On consoles you won't have the opportunity to challenge your friends online, but otherwise you'll get a straightforward port of a well-crafted PC-strategy with focus on economy.

The real-time battles offer countless variations, you enjoy a lot of freedom. The monumental story about the power of true friendship delivers memorable moments full of humour and drama. One of the best role-playing experiences on the PS3.

When it comes to the technical side, Sega did a good job with lifting the Dreamcast classic into the HD era. But the fascination is gone nowadays while the problems with the controls and the camera move more into focus.

Driven by an incredibly tight and accurate fighting engine you'll find only minor flaws – but quite a few of those like the online mode that can't compare to the likes of BlazBlue. But even with all the rough edges, this is Tekken in its purest form.

The manual boost results not only in a more dynamic offense, but forces you to anticipate on defense. With the enhanced mechanics and the improved AI there's no way around NHL 13 if you're remotely interested in this sport.

In times where Sam Fisher is a mere shadow of his former self, this two-dimensional ninja steps into the limelight, proving that old school-stealth is far from being dead.

The arcade dogfights deliver quite a punch, the mission design is simple, but effective. It reminds me a little of Crimson Skies, although it never even remotely reaches its brilliance.

Even with its irritating design decisions I am Alive gives you intense, well-presented survival action in an apocalyptic setting.

This is the most dramatic episode of the season so far.

Do you feel like a helping of Edgar Allan Poe? Do you feel like experiencing a quiet, but complex storytelling? A creative developer demonstrates how much atmospheric force can be put into one pixel.

It's easy to say that this years' Madden is the best football that you can get. But then you should take into consideration that with the lack of competition the feeling of stagnation is very dominant – even with the new physics engine.

If you like 3D-puzzles like Kula World or Pullblox this is definitely worth a look.

If you like point&click-adventures, this might be a decent addition to your library. But be aware that the puzzles embedded in the mystery story are fairly easy to solve.

I expected more from Symphony. Compared with colorful spectacles like Child of Eden or Gridrunner Revolution this music shooter seems blend. It's nice to see the action develop to your personal soundtrack though…

I should have been warned by the logo on the box: Trickstar Games. The team that basically ruined the Jane's franchise. And they keep doing what they do best – which is not too much. The presentation is awful, the engine is outdated, the mission design is dreadful.

Blitz proves that rhythm games can work without additional hardware, but even though it reminds sometimes of Harmonix' early masterpieces Frequency and Amplitude it lacks substance as a stand-alone-game. But throw the cross-compatibility with the instrument based brethren in the mix and you get more than 20 new songs to play for a fair price.

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

Colorful, charming and full of atmosphere: The fluid rhythm of fighting, looting and upgrading has been a hit on the 360 and PC and is as convincing on the iPad.

Level- and mission-design are incredibly boring, the technical foundation is gruesome. Even if you replace the AI-idiots with human friends, the entertainment value is not worth mentioning.

I liked Mad Skills Motocross, but I can't get into the Swedes' BMX title. While the first races are quite entertaining, the controls are not precise enough for the later challenges.

Even though Marvelous relies heavy on recycling once again, The Tale of Two Towns entertained me more than its' predecessors.

Dust is not only an excellent 2D-adventure for Fans of classic action-adventures like Metroid or Castlevania, but also an incredibly charming declaration of love to the whole genre. It plays great, looks damn fine and motivates you from start to finish.

Fall of Cybertron didn't manage to surpass Melbourne House's eight year old action-adventure on the PlayStation 2 as my favorite Transformers game. Nonetheless High Moon Studios' interpretation of the conflict between Autobots and Decepticons is definitely worth a look.

Despite problems like the resolution limitation and the missing PC optimization this game is still excellent. Courageous heroes can delve into a mysterious and dangerous world where greed and impatience are bad companions.

It was a futile idea to release this on the PC. It just shows you the difference between an entertaining, but meaningless mobile spacetrip and a full-fledged space opera à la Elite. In this case almost everything is missing.

You like board games on your iPad? Then get this one. It is as simple as captivating and even though there are some usability flaws Le Havre is very well executed.

On the surface this is "just" another jump&run – one that wouldn't stand a chance against Mario & Co. But add imagery, unusual metaphors and a simple but very moving story you'll get a fairy tale that reminds me of ICO in its best moments.

The semi-automatic rush from cover to cover gives this arena shooter a unique rhythm while clever drone deployment leads to tense moments. Unfortunately the battle arenas are as conventional and predictable as the weapons or the game modes.

The fights, the gun battles and all the little tasks are quite entertaining, but they all lack depth and finesse and often feel separated from the main story and its emotional impact. This is a solid but very conventional open world action.

The dynamic fights could have been more challenging but the bosses deliver and in the grand scheme the fighting is just a small part of the complex Darksiders mosaic. If you like exploration, puzzles, secrets, the hunt for the bigger better loot plus the occasional scythe wielding, this year it will probably not get much better than this.

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

Don't get me wrong: This was and still is a solid action adventure. But the decision to split the Japanese original into two separate games leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Alien Breed was and still is very challenging dual-stick-action. Unfortunately the virtual sticks are not as accurate as needed to survive the tough enemies. Nonetheless even over 20 years after its debut Alien Breed is still cool.

On Vita Puddle is as much a thrill as it is on consoles, featuring an abundance of clever twists around gooey liquids. Some stages you might solve in an instant, others may take a number of attempts – while unfortunately you will recognize many traps only when it's too late.

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 charming art-design has been refined, surroundings appear more lively, the battles are more diverse, the difficulty level is more challenging, while new towers, units, rewards and unlockables offer increased tactical depth – an installment which clearly surpasses its predecessor.

Iron Galaxy knows how to make the most of Kinect as simple gestures make technical shortcomings of the motion detection hardware almost disappear. However, good controls don't constitute a good game: The deconstruction of too many similar castles does not translate into the same kind of ridiculous fun you get from Pain, Flatout and others.

Its over-the-top presentation as well as the sardonic smirk after dozens of enemies died in a well-constructed labyrinth of traps make most tower defense contenders look bland. However while an update of maps, tracks, weapons and game modes is a welcome addition to the original, the sequel offers too little to be considered a full-fledged successor.

Anyone on the lookout for technical problems might consider starting a list: Stuttering? Check. Tearing? Check. Pop-Ups? Check. Blurry textures? Check. Erroneous shadows? Check. Clipping? Check. Faulty collision detection? Check.

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.

Tequila Works show how to inject fresh ideas into a theme as worn-out as the zombie apocalypse. The mixture of puzzles and challenging fights works extraordinarily well to make Deadlight one of the most atmospheric XBLA games of the year.

A slick interface allows you to easily govern an entire empire and to direct its people like a crafty strategist would move chess pieces. The game misses tactical and diplomatic depth, but this is what an excellent spreadsheet program might look like!

Even though enemy waves are being generated from mp3 music, they hardly reflect its rhythm and sound. Co-operative play is a plus, while unlocking and combining an abundance of specials will keep you playing.

If you got a weak spot for goofy slapstick comedy, you are in for a treat! A smooth interface complements the old-school approach, although puzzles should have been more of a challenge.

The rules from one of the best tactical fantasy board games have been faithfully translated onto PS3, online play adds depth and replay value. However missing challenges and a lack of story keep it from being a complete package.

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.