Chaos Rising’s single-player campaign is too short to call it a breakthrough. The show ends just when you get the taste of it. Here’s hoping that the next expansion will be more epic.

The drama is well-directed, but as soon as The Walking Dead tries to straighten its shoulders, it immediately runs into technical issues, like stiff animation, poor facial gestures, and the lack of ambient sounds.

Volition wrote a more or less coherent story, squeezed 101% out of the "sandbox minigame compilation" concept, improved the physics engine, and finally made a decent PC version, but the end result feels too derivative and forced. The surprisingly short single-player campaign (15 hours if you're not trying to comb an entire map) doesn't help.

Technically, New Vegas is a spin-off, but in fact, it is the real third game in the Fallout series.

Instead of cloning Puzzle Quest, Capybara Games took the concept and elevated it to a new level.

To avoid the risks while working on an expensive next-gen sequel to Resident Evil 4, Capcom recycled the previous game. The developers moved the action from Spain to Africa, replaced Leon Kennedy with Chris Redfield, brought back Albert “Duke Nukem” Wesker as the main baddie, added co-op, and rested. Look past the pretty graphics, and you will see a shameless clone.

UFC Undisputed 2010 is definitely a step above its predecessor.

Programmers, designers and other people at Sports Interactive worked even harder than last year, and improved the game with several great features.

Unity of Command is a looker. Its minimalistic, but stylish visual design is sure to please the fanciful "iPhone generation" of gamers. The map is clean and accurate, and the interface is a picture of user-friendliness. Beyond this delightful façade, there is a wargame that's deep enough for experienced armchair generals and welcoming for newcomers.

If clichés that permeate Killzone 3's story and gameplay do not turn you off, than, by all means, plan your trip to Helgan today. Its denizens sorely lack in originality and intelligence, but they still manage to entertain.

Battlefield 1943 is the best multiplayer shooter for XBLA and PSN, but only by virtue of having no formidable competitors, except for the crippled CellFactor: Psychokinetic Wars.

Excellent helicopter controls and highly polished code are, unfortunately, the only things that put Just Cause 2 above the other GTA clones. If you’re in the mood for silly fun, the game’s simple “jump-shoot-explode” routine will be more than enough, but it could have been much more than that.

Unlike its rogue-like brethren, FTL is not a game that you'll be enjoying for hundreds of hours, but still, saving The Federation is a lot of fun for a first few times.

Rise of the Samurai is a great excuse to return to Medieval Japan.

Half-Minute Hero is brilliant parody of genre clichés, sped up 10000 times. It will take you just a couple of tram stops to save the world twice, break the analog nub, and learn to value time.

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

The biggest merit of Undisputed as a simulator - you can’t beat it using the “arcade” approach. To win a serious match, you will have to use tactics that place your opponent at a disadvantage.

Instead of cloning Puzzle Quest, Capybara Games took the concept and elevated it to a new level.

Shift 2 is Need for Speed: Shift with some welcome upgrades and old issues. The overall experience is not as fresh and intense second time around, but multiplayer races are a blast if you play with friends.

If you're still itching to waste a few hours on Vanquish, here's some advice: wait until the inevitable price reduction.

Shatter’s Story Mode is really just an appetizer. Additional modes are the most addictive things in this game.

If you're still itching to waste a few hours on Vanquish, here's some advice: wait until the inevitable price reduction.

Battlefield 1943 is the best multiplayer shooter for XBLA and PSN, but only by virtue of having no formidable competitors, except for the crippled CellFactor: Psychokinetic Wars.

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.

Point Lookout is a miniature copy of Fallout 3. Alas, just like the original game, the wrapping is much better than the contents, but even this result is a great achievement for Bethesda Softworks. Not only they managed to produce a decent expansion, but finally added their own ideas to the legendary post-apocalyptic universe instead of ripping off stories about supermutants and The Brotherhood of Steel.

New Mombasa's burning skyscrapers, neon signs and omnipresent, almost palpable curls of smoke add a sense of style and depth to the visuals. Somber piano and unexpected saxophone solos feel like this is not science fiction, but a film noir. Unfortunately, as soon as we jump into a flashback, the magic is gone. The levels withered by the African sun are a parade of the old flaws. As this short, 6-7 hours tops, draws to its end, Bungie resorts to its old tricks – unhealthy gigantism and “copy/paste” - more often.

A rare tower defense game is addictive enough to suck you into playing it for days on end. Orcs Must Die is one of them.

To avoid the risks while working on an expensive next-gen sequel to Resident Evil 4, Capcom recycled the previous game. The developers moved the action from Spain to Africa, replaced Leon Kennedy with Chris Redfield, brought back Albert “Duke Nukem” Wesker as the main baddie, added co-op, and rested. Look past the pretty graphics, and you will see a shameless clone.

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

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

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.

Shift plays to the gallery perhaps even more often than GRID. But when 16 glossy black Lamborghini Reventions, not yet spread along the track, are trying to squeeze into a narrow S-curve, high speed blurring the view, mixing dust with sun rays, and the driver is looking at the road from the incredibly detailed inside of a car… At this moment, you forget that crashes are unrealistic and that race will be over in just a few minutes. And let the theorists decide whether it is NFS or not.

Bad Piggies is a mediocre arcade/puzzle hybrid that really wants to look smart.

This update of the FIFA series on PC is far what it was promised to be. It's not the soccer that we see in life and on TV, but a tedious arcade wrapped in boring gameplay modes and half-baked engine. Only the online features save FIFA 11 from utter mediocrity.

The biggest merit of Undisputed as a simulator - you can’t beat it using the “arcade” approach. To win a serious match, you will have to use tactics that place your opponent at a disadvantage.

After having created the toughest armor deep down in Hell, you will realize that you've seen and done everything that Terraria has to offer. But it'll take you about 30 hours to get to that point, plus, free expansions are already on their way.

Mutant Blobs Attack is just as enjoyable as its console predecessor, the PS3-exclusive Tales from Space: About a Blob. Absent cooperative multiplayer aside, the game is still amazing.

Even if its multiplayer is a bit generic and bland, Resistance 3 is hands down the best game in the trilogy.

It's not easy to create a worthy sequel to a great game, but Robot Entertainment managed to go around the now-familiar gameplay formula by adding new ways to develop the characters and a very addictive coop mode.

inFamous 2 is so derivative that "2" in its title should have been an exponent. This game navigates the sea of superhero clichés as easily as Cole McGrath slides on tram cables.

Battlefield: Bad Company is the most enthralling online shooter for consoles to date, and a good role model for many of its PC brethren. While it’s hardly the best multiplayer offering in the Battlefield series, it will be remembered not for the weak single-player campaign or annoying details, but for destructive battles and great sense of humor.

Asphalt 7 is basically Asphalt 6, only with more pathetic attempts at social integration and obnoxious offers to share your progress with your friends.

By changing the setting in Call of Duty 4, Infinity Ward saved the series from stagnation. World at War is a step back. WWII has been done to death, and even the Pacific campaign feels like a retread of Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault.

You can’t deny the fact: Torchlight is a Diablo clone to the backbone. It lacks imagination and fresh ideas, but it’s a clone done well, with extra care for people’s time and nerves. And that’s worth a lot.

Conviction is just a casual-oriented actioneer with simplistic gameplay mechanic and big-budget production values.

Remedy loves to compare its game with television hits like Heroes and Lost, but if you look at gameplay rather than story, it becomes clear that Alan Wake is not a “complete first season on DVD”. It is more like an unbearably long pilot episode that gave all its cards away well before the third act. Judging by the final titles, Alan Wake’s journey through the night will continue (in fact, two DLCs are already shooting for your wallet), so it’s high time to switch gears and introduce new ideas.

If only Brutal Legend's gameplay was as imaginative as its cool look! Try not to fall into a rut of side-missions spread over 64 square kilometers, and you’ll enjoy the short single-player campaign. And yet, Shafer & Co. can do much better than this. Just ask Ben, Manny, or Raz.

The only serious drawback of this DLC is that you cannot change the outcome of its story.

Global Offensive is a decent modern online shooter as far as convenience goes, but in terms of content, it's Counter-Strike v1.6 with slight improvements.

Valkyria Chronicles' transition to a handheld platform went surprisingly smooth. The developers preserved everything that made the original game so great, and added many nice little touches. The gameplay and even the key maps are the same as before, so fans of the series will feel right at home.

Geo-Mod 2.0, were it to fall into talented hands, could have given birth to a puzzle game not unlike Portal. For the sight of a high-rise building collapsing under its weight is the only thing that doesn’t get stale in Guerrilla. It’s entertaining even when feeble story and miles of boring rocky landscapes are firmly stuck in your throat and the sand from “sandbox” crunches under your teeth.

This game is definitely better than the usual drivel made in the land of bratwurst and Oktoberfest, but being one-eyed in the country of the blind is a dubious honor. The Book of Unwritten Tales is a careful imitation of adventure masterpieces from the days of yore, only, again, without a soul.

New enemies and ordeals, a bunch of killer abilities, fat loot and a couple of well-fed dragons – what else can a level 20 character wish for?

Rebellion is clearly an improvement over the original Sins of a Solar Empire, but it's still a not very successful attempt to cross an RTS with a 4X strategy game.

"Brilliant" is the best word that sums up NBA 2K11.

By stitching together successful ideas of the last decade, Vigil Games created a bulky, unfriendly Frankenstein monster, and failed to breathe life into it.

This Lara Croft is an exciting, nice-looking game. It's a pity that some of its nagging shortcomings weren't fixed before the release.

The smaller scope, a different skill system, lightning-fast battles should, by all expectations, frighten and ward off any fan of the original Dragon Age, but don't trust your initial impression. This is a great RPG, one of BioWare's finest.

If only Brutal Legend's gameplay was as imaginative as its cool look! Try not to fall into a rut of side-missions spread over 64 square kilometers, and you’ll enjoy the short single-player campaign. And yet, Shafer & Co. can do much better than this. Just ask Ben, Manny, or Raz.

It's a pity that Monday Night Combat is not good enough to serve as an alternative to Team Fortress 2.

Akella, Russian distributor of the game, pulled a crazy marketing stunt. In addition to the regular PC release, it sells the game as two independent halves – Escape from Butcher Bay and Assault on Dark Athena. My gut reaction was to scold Akella for greediness, but now I see that this is an unintentional benefit. You buy the remake of one of the best action games of 2004, and forget about its defective 6-hour appendage.

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

I don’t recommend buying Broken Steel, because it’s a matter of principle – let's not encourage trade in endings. You won’t miss anything important anyway – this DLC is only slightly better than its mediocre predecessors.

It's fresh, colorful, and funny as hell; a true successor to Painkiller, a worthy rival of Serious Sam and, perhaps, a better Duke than Mr. Nukem.

All quests, both main and optional, are simple "fetch" tasks. Once in a while, the developers break the routine with forced stealth sequences, but they're not really entertaining – you'll have to crawl through the same corridors five times in a row.

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

Red Alert 3 is a typical EA product: well-crafted, but boring for experienced players. It's clearly better than C&C 3, but it can't hold a candle to Red Alert 2. Pick it up only if you like great music, B-movie style humor, and cooperative multiplayer.

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

Each new product from Eagle Dynamics is one step closer to full-fledged training software, but game simulators are judged not only by their degree of realism. Eye appeal and diversity never hurt anyone.

Judging by the collection of excellent works published at the ModNation Racers website, this fun, half-childish, half-grownup arcade is destined for success.

The Armored Princess is only a quarter shorter than the original game. How long ago have you played a stand-alone expansion that takes 30 hours to beat it at a normal difficulty?

Were it not for obtrusive hints and copy/pasted design, Prince of Persia would have taken its rightful place in our Hall of Fame.

There is a deep chasm between Halo Wars and its PC brethren. Yet Ensemble's swan song is strong enough to entertain a hardened RTS vet for a weekend or introduce newcomers to the genre.

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.

The Dragon Knight Saga is a rare game that received massive fixes not from desperate fans, but from the developers themselves. The decent expansion pack improves things as well.

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.

Darksiders 2 managed to rise above the original game by fixing broken gameplay elements and adding good new ones.

Metro 2033 is a collection of unforgettable images, a shining example of a great book-to-game conversion, and last but not least, amazingly gruesome post-apocalyptic world.

Online multiplayer is what keeps Blur afloat. Without it, this somewhat blocky and unshowy game would have been forgotten even faster than a one-trick pony called Split/Second. So far it is the best online racing experience you will have this year.

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.

Borderlands is as empty as eye sockets of bodies “adorning” bandit camps. Gearbox chose the silliest approach to game design: made a bunch of same-looking levels, where colored explosive barrels are the only interactive objects, placed quest-giving NPCs made out of cardboard, and churned out lots of “fetch/kill” missions. Borderlands has only one active ability per class and no character stats, while skills increase automatically as you use different weapons. Imagine Diablo 2 where Barbarian is limited to just “Bash” or “Leap.”

Napoleon is a great gift to fans of the genre. If only at least some of its innovative ideas would seep into Empire.

I don’t recommend buying Broken Steel, because it’s a matter of principle – let's not encourage trade in endings. You won’t miss anything important anyway – this DLC is only slightly better than its mediocre predecessors.

The most shocking surprise in Black Ops is a full version of the classic text adventure Zork: The Great Underground Empire, hidden deep in the CIA computer. The game that 30 years ago created an entire genre and stood at the very frontier of electronic entertainment, is now embedded in a derivative, formulaic, overwhelmingly linear shooter. I imagine that this irony is lost on Treyarch.

The only drawback of Darkest Hour is that it has only two starting points – 1914 and 1936. If you are completely new to the Hearts of Iron series, this is game you need.

Mirror’s Edge feels like an 8-hour ad for another, much more thought-out product. It has many things that blockbusters are made of: stylish visuals, elegant stunts, and great music. All it needs is to firmly land on its feet.

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

Despite a few questionable ideas, Dungeon Defenders is an entertaining, fresh, vivid (and I mean literally vivid) game. It lacks the ingenious simplicity of Orcs Must Die, but if you prefer to play with friends, then this is what you want.

Puzzle Quest 2 offers more tactical variety in battles, but it is best consumed in small chunks, otherwise endless skirmishes with goblins and orcs will put you to sleep.

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

The title Sleeping Dogs is a reference to "let sleeping dogs lie". Well, the developers should have heeded this ancient wisdom and let True Crime: Hong Kong die.

Outdated visuals, sloppy innovations, dead multiplayer… no, that’s not the way to continue a great series.

Akella, Russian distributor of the game, pulled a crazy marketing stunt. In addition to the regular PC release, it sells the game as two independent halves – Escape from Butcher Bay and Assault on Dark Athena. My gut reaction was to scold Akella for greediness, but now I see that this is an unintentional benefit. You buy the remake of one of the best action games of 2004, and forget about its defective 6-hour appendage.

It's impossible to take Anomaly: Warzone Earth seriously. It's a distraction for a couple of evenings at best, and I wish it had more emphasis on interesting gameplay modes than superfluous radio chatter. Alas, as soon you move on to skirmish battles, the game quickly loses its sparkle.

PES 2013 continues the course that Konami charted three years ago. It's more confident, makes less mistakes, but still, it lost the final battle for soccer domination in this generation of gaming platforms.

It's a pity that for such a good-looking game, Lili is absolutely lifeless.

Dead Island is yet another tombstone upon a grave of excessive ambitions. Our condolences to those who fell for that excellent cinematic trailer – it has nothing to do with the actual game.

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