Despite its modest amount of improvements, Gods & Kings is an excellent reason to come back to Civilization 5.

Blades of Time is a step forward compared to X-Blades, Gaijin Entertainment's previous offering. Alas, the hack and slash action is too monotonous to enjoy, and there is nothing else to draw you in.

Remove the original premise and beautiful sand-swept skyscrapers of Dubai, and all that remains is a humdrum TPS with Marcus Fenix's DNA at its core.

Fray in its current state is hardly a game at all - just snippets of code and someone's unfulfilled dreams.

"Just another Sonic game" is the best description of Episode 2. A colorful, but flavorless platformer.

The game's endearing visual style and amusing (albeit clichéd) story are let down by the overall laziness of its creators.

And yet again, the only bright spot in a game about zombies is a CG promo that has nothing in common with the actual gameplay.

There is a guy with a gun, and he is going to punish anyone who stands in his way, be it corrupt politicians, New Jersey gangsters or rotten cops of Sao Paolo. Max Payne 3 is basically gun porn with a semblance of a dramatic story. It looks and plays like a Hollywood blockbuster, though.

Close Quarters was definitely made for fans of Call of Duty – it offers everything that Modern Warfare had from the beginning. Smart tactics is thrown out the window and replaced by confined spaces and fast-paced shootouts.

I'm not sure if we should be calling Iron Front a game. It's more like a huge target range where people can run around, drive tanks and shoot each other.

Captain Morgane is a bland story with one-dimensional characters, weak attempts at humor and mini-games that reek of desperation.

Repetitive levels, same-looking explosions and faked car damage kill all the fun.

You will be done with eight maps in just one evening. It's a nice game, but it could have been longer.

Derivative, buggy, boring. N.O.V.A. 3 is nowhere near console quality.

Is it worth it to release a Quake 3 clone in 2012? I don't know. In fact, Nexuiz is doomed not because it lacks fresh ideas, but because it lacks people who want to play it.

A really boring TD game that wanted to be original.

Burnout CRASH! is just a silly mess of fire, numbers and wrecked cars.

A well-written story could have transformed Rayman Origins into a beautiful fairytale. Without it, it's an incredibly fun ride and a great party game.

Rich atmosphere compensates for poor gameplay mechanics of The Walking Dead.

Warlock is just a failed attempt to reproduce Master of Magic.

For an official game, UEFA Euro 2012 is chock-full of unlicensed teams. It's easy to swallow false strips and fake player names in a team from, let's say, Lichtenstein, but when the tournament's host nations, Poland and Ukraine, get the same treatment, it's just bad.

Advanced ballistics system, Sniper Elite's saving grace, does not hide the game's flaws, but rather puts them out for all to see.

Swordigo is a prehistoric platformer without a single new idea; a hardcore journey through dark fairytale worlds, and a bow to arcade hits of the 90s.

A relatively successful attempt to liven up a (still) mediocre game.

A solid expansion pack, although it is not as game-changing as Victoria: Revolutions was.

So far, Cubemen is the best "tower defense" of 2012.

MLB 2K12 is a classic case of "more of the same".

Modern Times is a good excuse to return to the familiar world of Tropico, but, frankly, the game has almost outstayed its welcome.

Stacking is a great "sandbox" game for kids and adults alike. It tests your patience rather than wit, though, and after defeating The Baron, there is no reason to come back to it.

Get hooked up on Legend of Grimrock, and it will not let you go until the end.

Even a great graphics engine can become a basis for a horrendous game.

The worst thing about JASF is not that it's an unrealistic arcade game. It's just very, very boring.

You will not remember Risen 2 when you're done with it. No exciting moments, no pleasant surprises, no great one-liners, not even hilarious bugs… Twenty hours of your life will drown in dark waters.

Warp is a unique example of a stealth-based arcade game.

A simple, yet very endearing game. If Botanicula were a living creature, you'd want to hold it in your arms and pet it around the neck. What a cutie! If only it were a wee bit smarter.

A couple of hours into the game, monotonous running back and forth, punctuated with repetitive encounters, will inevitably put you to sleep.

A Valley Without End is your typical ugly duckling; an intriguing concept marred by shoddy execution. It's worth a brief look just to see how they managed to mix all these genres, but not exciting enough to play it.

Crow is just like its titular character – dark, gothic, and unfriendly. It's an uninvited guest that you can't stand in your house, but something compels you to get to know this person better.

Don't trust the bad first impression. Napoleonic Wars is not a re-skinned version of Mount & Blade, but a self-contained game. Give it a chance, if you're interested in the 19th century history.

Binary Domain has its share of weird concepts and one-dimensional characters, but they're better than "let's kill some terrorists who stole nuclear warheads".

I'm sure that for some of you this product will be more than enough to kill some time after a hard day's work, to meet up with your friends online, to drown in nostalgia, reminiscing about great action/RPGs of yore... Yet it's a Blizzard game we're talking about, and, as such, it was expected to be better than just a rehash of old ideas. Instead of bringing the genre to the next step of its evolution, Diablo 3 dwells on the past.

An urban version of Split/Second from the creators of FlatOut. This sentence evokes two distinctly different feelings, depending on when you read it, before or after playing Ridge Racer Unbounded.

Angry Birds Space introduces enough changes to avoid being called stale, but, ultimately, it's more of the same.

If all you have ever wanted is to create a superstar of your own and to socialize with your friends without leaving the Sims universe, then, by all means, have at it. But there is nothing else.

Paradox Interactive still cannot produce a decent third-party game (see also: Majesty 2, Sword of the Stars 2, Magicka).

Fans of the Men of War series have already had their fill of World War II long before Condemned Heroes, and newcomers will get stuck on the very first mission. There's no life left in this concept.

Hunters is a good strategy game, but this jewel needs a good setting. Rodeo Games doesn't have to create something epic like X-COM or Jagged Alliance 2, but it would be nice to see a captivating campaign that takes more than 3 hours to finish it. With a multiplayer cherry on top.

In its current state, MotoHeroz cannot rise above the crowd of faceless short-lived arcades that fill App Store every day.

Yesterday is an underripe, silly, laughably short adventure. It's as if you're watching a cheap thriller on fast forward.

Wargame is definitely not a masterpiece, but for is Eugen Systems it is the first game with such a high level of quality.

A poorly-made virtual shooting gallery starring U.S. Marines.

The Steam version of Jagged Alliance 2 Gold is two times cheaper and at least two better than JA: Back in Action.

This cute platformer is worth a look regardless of your taste in music.

Short development cycle or utter lack of talent? The abrupt ending supports the first of these theories. But, no matter the case, $6.99 is way too much for this piece of "entertainment".

Finishing a trilogy is always difficult. Tying off dozens of story threads which had been woven by players into many different tapestries is a daunting task. Mass Effect 3 is the first game that succeeded at this colossal undertaking.

It is so nice to finally stumble upon a game with a well-written, well-presented story, even though To the Moon is more an animated movie than a videogame.

Bend Studio brought not only Uncharted's familiar gameplay mechanics, but also its rich atmosphere to Vita's 5-inch screen.

Poor selection of gameplay modes is not the worst offense of Gotham City Impostors; its numerous technical flaws are the real culprit.

The developers of iBomber Defense still can't find the thin line between simplicity and triteness.

Fall of the Samurai is what every expansion pack should be. There is nothing that will make you gasp with awe, but every one of the new features fits the game perfectly. Evolution at its finest.

Ghost Trick is a story about loneliness that leads to unnecessary aggression and stirs the appetite for revenge. It's a touching tale of kindness, loyalty, and redemption. Only after experiencing a shocking number of secrets at the very end, you will realize how many metaphors are hidden within this game. And it's enough to forgive Ghost Trick for its stringent linearity, unskippable cutscenes, and a penchant for overly chatty dialogue.

Journey can be a commentary on human life, a story of redemption, a parable on futility of all efforts, or, quite the contrary, perseverance in the face of obstacles – even if you're not into waxing philosophical, you will still discover your own meaning of this three-hour journey.

The best Paradox Interactive game to date. No game has ever explored feudalism so deeply.

By switching their attention to the story and the overall atmosphere, the developers lost sight of what had made the first King Arthur so fun. Technically, the sequel has everything a good strategy "sandbox" should have: dozens of units, a huge map, and the diplomacy system. The only thing missing is the sandbox itself.

Syndicate is amazingly dull and thoughtless for a game where you can kill people with your brain.

It's a pity that thechineseroom opted not to include anything resembling gameplay – an interaction between the player and the creators that is the foundation of an up-and-coming art called "videogames". On the other hand, the story is very touching.

If you like fast-paced combat and weird-looking worlds, and you're already tired of walking about fjords and snowy forests, move on to Kingdoms of Amalur. It's almost the same as Skyrim, give or take a couple of details.

Weak intrigue is a traditional soft spot of the Blackwell adventure games. The investigation is predictable, and all of our burning questions are answered in such a dull, ridiculous manner that all build up flies out the window.

If it weren't for the amazing Real Racing 2, we would have crowned Reckless Racing 2 the best car-based arcade for iOS.

Exhilarating in its opening sequence, The Darkness 2 quickly loses steam and turns into a 5-hour run through a long corridor.

Sameness is the worst enemy of Smash Cops. A miniscule set of missions will wear you out after just an hour and a half (yep, that's how short the game's career mode is).

The sooner you say good-bye to Mr. White, the less disappointed you'll be.

7554 deserves brownie points for trying to break the mold. Instead of the overused US invasion of 1965, the developers chose 1954 – the final year of the First Indochina War. Too bad this is the only original idea in the entire game. 7554 is just a carbon copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sans multiplayer.

Despite its obvious superiority over Handball Simulator, this game severely lacks budget and class.

Enjoyable single-player campaign, fast and fun multiplayer skirmishes, great eye-candy… It's a pity that the game is so skimpy on the content. It'll take you just a couple of days to thoroughly explore Oil Rush.

The whole time I couldn't shake off the feeling that I was playing this game on the *wrong* platform.

Jurassic Park is trying its best not to spoil the player with variety. Its three pillars of entertainment are "alternate between two buttons", "press one button to fill a gauge", and "press the same button, but very, very quickly". If not for a few primitive puzzles and the ability to select replies in conversations, it would be not a game, but a collection of movie clips.

Stylish, challenging, original, and nice to look at.

The subtitle of this expansion is way more interesting than the actual game content.

Hector: Badge of Carnage is a proof that Telltale Games knows a bit or two about mischief, and that Northern Ireland is home to talented foul-mouthed jokesmiths. Unfortunately, the combination of these two forces does not necessarily result in a brilliant adventure game.

Here is hoping that Paradox will fix the bugs, iron out the glitchy AI, and add more multiplayer modes. And if not… well, Defenders of Ardania will not be the first game with a great concept to get crushed under an avalanche of flaws.

Dark Meadow is the least milk-and-water clone of Infinity Blade that popped up in 2011.

This game is not just boring – it's disgusting to play.

I couldn't shake off the feeling that I was playing a game made by a bunch of school students.

An enjoyable and, dare I say, cozy game, even though it has neither flashy graphics, nor innovative gameplay ideas, nor much variety.

Dead Block's dullness and monotony devour the brain faster than any zombie.

Trine 2 is amazing from the opening sequence to the melody that plays over the closing credits.

Serious Sam 3 is riddled with flaws, but there is so much flying bacon that you can fill an entire meat plant. It's a decent game that could have been better.

I wish EPOCH were as bright and exciting as its explosion effects and backgrounds!

Three of four new maps offer full-scale urban combat that was sorely missing in Battlefield 3. But why this expansion is so sparse on content?

Both the gameplay and attempts at satire are equally pathetic.

Limbo is a beautiful, intense experience.

2K's NBA is still the best sports simulator out there.

Afterfall began its life as an ambitious CRPG, but turned into a mediocre shooter somewhere along the way.

On paper, Lockdown was full of promise: excellent source material, a couple of original gameplay ideas, creators of the recent hit Mortal Kombat as developers. In other words, a ready-made kit for an "iOS killer app". But what did we get in the end? A weak quasi-prequel with two lines of a story that tries to rip off Infinity Blade left and right. And it fails even at that.

Rugby Challenge is probably the best game about rugby on the market right now, and it's accessible to everyone, even complete beginners.

Sword of the Stars 2 is what happens when a space opera becomes a hostage of amateurish idealists.

Infinity Blade 2 is akin to a game of chess where the player is taking down enemy pieces one by one. This time, we can move around the board both vertically and diagonally, and getting to the end-play will take you more than 90 minutes. Alas, the formula is still too simple, and Chair will have to do something about that in the inevitable Infinity Blade 3.