Too often pioneering in the games industry is based on technical achievements: bigger, faster, more polygons. But true magic begins behind the obvious – when the artistic vision starts taking shape in a virtual creation. Trico for me is the most fascinating creature in video game history. The Last Guardian is the counterpoint to the loud and hectic game design that tries to show off its bling on every corner.

Kudos to Schell Games. The “Escape the Room” concept works well with VR, while the puzzle experience is immersive and the Oculus Touch controls are intuitive and spot-on.

The pinball experience behind the lenses of PSVR is just as great as it was on Rift. But here (and even on PS4 Pro) you get jaggy visuals that make sure you don’t play as long as you intended.

At its core this is a decent port of the intuitive touchscreen jump-n-run-builder: Proven mechanics, technically sound and easy to control. Unfortunately Nintendo decided to take the online level exchange out.

If you ever wondered what would happen if you cross the minigame madness of Wario Ware with a ridiculous story and add rhythm game mechanics, this is the one to look out for.

Yes, the visuals are far from perfect, the multiplayer is scraggy while the character editor is superficial, but on the other hand the MMO atmosphere is convincing and the scenario is interesting.

Killing Floor 2 can be a neat but casual online gore-fest. But even with the interesting classes it lacks variety in terms of enemies, bosses and thrills, so you’re limited to hours of grind on the same maps against the same groups of enemies.

Together with the omission of Move controller support this mainly lacks immersion. The visuals are nice and the headtracking used for control is spot on, but with only four mini-games this is very short-lived.

This is the essence of everything Assassin’s Creed – good and not so good. While it is nice to see Ezio again and sneak as well as fight through dozens of hours of proven gameplay elements, you can’t help to think that even back then the progress within the franchise was limited.  


Barth doesn’t reinvent his concept of “creative work”, but extends it in the most comprehensive way, thus making Shenzen I/O to one of the best puzzle games around.

Of course I would like to talk about a sequel. But nonetheless six years after the original again I had a lot of fun with War and his improved visuals within the timeless comic design. Unfortunately some mechanical flaws remain untouched.

This is a paradise for park designer, a dream come true for coaster architects. The challenge level is quite low though, and there is just rudimentary economic management.

Headlander is a uniquely funny, sometimes weird and visually very distinctive action-adventure.

If you like your realtime tactics with a flavor of old school like Commandos or Desperados then you can look forward to intense infiltration with challenging missions and superb AI.

Visually this is the best mobile Pokémon adventure yet. And while the new pocket monsters with their final forms are creative as always the island hopping lacks the challenge of older Pokémon games.

Visually this is the best mobile Pokémon adventure yet. And while the new pocket monsters with their final forms are creative as always the island hopping lacks the challenge of older Pokémon games.

In theory, this is the climax of the 2D fighting that Arc System Works executed so flawlessly over the years: More fighters than ever in the series, refined mechanics and beautiful visuals. But be aware that beginners will hardly understand anything within the visual novel style story, while even veterans mourn the decision not to include English voiceover for the seemingly final chapter.

Even after ten years the campaign is as engrossing as ever while the multiplayer focuses on classic gun battles on huge maps. Unfortunately this is not yet available as a stand-alone.

Unfortunately, neither story nor VR implementation work in this space opera, that makes desperate efforts to please the EVE: Valkyrie clientele.

Initially I was skeptical as to how Phosphor would adapt the 360 degree room scaling of Vive for the limited capabilities of PlayStation VR. And even though their 180 degree turn solution can lead to the occasional disorientation, it is a good idea, so you can experience this intense horror shooter in almost all its glory.

A proper sequel to the anime civil war drama. More playable characters, new options within the turn based battles and a flexible skill system offer more variety for mobile strategists.

While the staging and the characterization of the fractions still is sub-par, this is better than Ashes of the Singularity in every aspect, especially in terms of the large scale skirmishes that give you an optimal strategic viewpoint.

The star is the level design that gives you some of the most memorable locations in recent years. This is an atmospheric, visually gorgeous and mechanically diversified stealth adventure that puts competition like Styx, Deus Ex or Thief in its place.

This is a short yet intense challenge that mixes elements of Homeworld with Eve: Valkyrie, but it lacks variety and a narrative.

This is better than expected, especially in terms of track design. But nonetheless Kylotonn is miles away from the quality that Milestone delivered with Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo, while Codemasters’ DiRT Rally is a whole different league altogether.

Ubisoft is definitely on the right path with their newest interpretation of open world action. For a metropolis like Frisco the streets could be more crowded, but the interactions you can actually witness are giving the impression of a breathing living city. That aside the hacking action relies a little too much on too similar patterns within the main missions, although in the last third there are enough pace changes and surprises to keep you going, while the script as well as the characters keep this more light hearted and cheek-in-tongue hacker tale alive.

In times of roomscale tinkering like Fantastic Contraption the conservative experiments of Crazy Machines 3 feel a bit outdated, but still manage to deliver solid puzzle fun.

A very entertaining and charming fantasy adventure with nicely constructed puzzles. It lacks the punch of the predecessor, though.