The unusual scenario with its tongue-in-cheek humor manages to camouflage some of the strategic shortcomings in the realtime battles. And so does the clever combination of the political, strategic and tactical elements in Rivellon.

While the emotional storytelling, the control concept and the on-the-spot soundtrack shine, the gameplay itself is rather bland. The puzzles are not worth mentioning and even the boss fights are rather dull and predictable.

It starts slow, but no matter where you look, Xillia gets more interesting the longer you play until it hits you with its full force of different viewpoints, gripping realtime battles and customization options.

Fans will notice the mostly subtle changes that make this one of the best games in the series. But if you never were into Koei's “Warriors”, this iteration will not make you change your mind.

Steam World Dig reminds me of good old Amiga days: It is a simple, but entertaining, platformer.

Like its PC brother War Logs starts as an ambitious roleplaying game drawing me in with its opening sequence and fresh scenario. The battle system works well, so does the crafting. But too soon the plot loses its grip, the characters get stale and overall the visuals seem as outdated as ever.

Beatbuddy shows off an ambitious concept and captures your heart with its visuals. The level and puzzle design on the other hand, seems too generic and uninspired.

I like old school action. But this shooting gallery doesn’t deliver.

Some classics are better left untouched. Although it is nice to be reminded of the Amiga era, the audiovisual translation into the present is rather disappointing and stays miles behind games like Rayman Origins.

It's got smurfs, all right, and they do jump and run. What it lacks is cleverly designed levels – anything from unsightly graphics to mindlessly placed platforms carries the mark of the uninspired.

Thanks to some well-written dialogue, directing your party of four can be entertaining. However, turn-based battles sacrifice tactical depth for gadgets and gimmickry, while collision detection as well as AI behavior leave room for improvement.

Stealth Inc. requires skilful hands as much as it puts your brain to work. Complex puzzles combine cleverly conceived set pieces into challenging levels.

Not only is Citadels an incredibly awful mixture of Stronghold and Age of Empires with outdated graphics, it also features an abundance of bugs: Persistent crashes, physics errors, AI mishaps and non-existent path-finding are but the tip of the iceberg.

There are a few puzzles worth cracking, but as the scheme behind most challenges can hardly be made out at the get-go, most solutions are revealed by annoying trial&error. Serious technical issues are the cherry on top of a badly executed game.

Lifeless backdrops, a clumsy production, dry dialogue, annoying puzzles: In the age of The Walking Dead all aspects of the game lack heart as well as a modern approach to game design.

Puzzles might not be as engaging as they should be, yet the game does justice to the witty spirit of an Agatha Christie Whodunit.

Driving physics are as intuitive as they are challenging. Opponents do a good job of advancing through thick traffic, although they do tend to cause unfortunate accidents.

Driving physics are as intuitive as they are challenging. Opponents do a good job of advancing through thick traffic, although they do tend to cause unfortunate accidents.

Team players may dive deeply into the tactical and co-operative components of a game that awards planning and effective communication.

Most of the puzzles are well balanced and cleverly connected – a bit of experimenting quickly leads to the correct solution. Although finding alternative paths can be frustrating.

It's an adventure to whet your appetite: Its enchanting microcosm doubles as a vitamin shot into a genre which usually boasts soldiers and tanks.

XCOM is an enthralling experience – and a few minor omissions aside you’ll get the same gripping atmosphere and tactical battles on your iPad as on stationary systems.

It could have been an interesting combination of old school mechanics and modern hack&slay action. But starting with the substandard engine up to dubious design decisions you have to dig through a lot of coal to get a glimpse of the diamond that this could have been – or might become, if the team keeps patching for a while.

While the concept with its modern twist on the classic shmup works on the iPad as well as on any other system, technically the conversion is not as convincing.

Good clean turn based RPG fun with a celebrity cast that transcends franchises and genres.

It could have been a modern Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee. But in this form Pacific Rim is just a conceptually interesting but boring fighting game with big robots and gutsy in-app-purchases.

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.

While the concept shines, the execution sometimes is not as elaborated. Nonetheless I left this grey and pixelated world in good spirit.