X-Blades has nothing exciting to offer, although it is hardly a shoddy game. The interface is comfortable; the music is full of pep. Sometimes it’s fun to run into a crowd of stupid lizards and hack them all to pieces. Alas, thirty minutes of boring click-fest and humdrum bloodbath on each level will war down anyone.

Not giving a damn about sponsors and marketing, Pierre Gilhodes made Gobliiins 4 almost single-handedly. A classy, but ill-advised deed, because there was no one to tell him that horrible-looking 3D scares people even faster than pixelized sprites. That autosave-only policy is an insult to PC gamers. That even a puzzle game should have a coherent story.

Tracks are what makes Resurrection so memorable. It’s hard to forget battles on the decaying streets of once-beautiful cities. Forgotten, overgrown San Diego, rainy Bangkok, mysterious Prague, snowbound Moscow...These places look fantastic.

Interesting ideas, mediocre execution – it's an all-too common verdict for a game made by a B-list studio.

Once again, the excellent idea was killed by ambitions. If Stardock's risky bet had paid out, Elemental would have been a masterpiece, but to make one is not as easy as cramming a bunch of "new" features together. You actually need to glue them with a rock-solid concept. And, in violation of the second clause of its own The Gamer's Bill of Rights, Stardock had released a game as buggy and unfinished as Disciples 3.

This game will bring you only pain and humiliation. It will drive you insane, filling your nightmares with many-colored bears.

The developers promised us an atmosphere of real horror, love, friendships, suspicions, paranoia, but delivered none of these things. This game has no spark, no aftertaste... In fact, it has no taste whatsoever.

KTX Software has to draw people's attention to Haunted's original multiplayer modes, otherwise the game's already humble potential will be lost in brainless monster-bashing matches.

There is no connection between the actual investigation and actions of our zit-faced detectives. Horrendous dialogue, complete with the “American dream” philosophy, syrupy jokes about prepubescent love, and tear-jerking lectures of the characters, only widens this gap.

If it weren't for sci-fi elements, Darkest of Days would be indistinguishable from History Channel's Civil War shooters, although this game covers a wider period. Scenery changes, extras don different uniforms, but the lack of imagination is everywhere.

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

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

Legendary is a breakthrough, a revolution as compared to Spark Unlimited’s previous shooter - Turning Point. This one has a story, better graphics, more frequent checkpoints and almost no slowdowns. However, it still can’t hold a candle to more serious competition.

Lesta Studio created a decent RTS game, but, alas, Elements of War is far from the major league. Pure enthusiasm is not enough to take on World in Conflict; you'd also need exceptional talent and a serious budget.

All the charisma of the protagonists is not enough to make up for the lack of substance. The gameplay tactics are primitive, and there is no feeling of fellowship that made Army of Two so fun to play.

If only Daggerdale could offer fun gameplay, we would have forgiven it for dull story, horrible visuals and buggy multiplayer. Alas, the combat is beyond redemption as well.

Theatre of War 3: Korea brings a welcome change of scenery to the series, but the boring strategic mode is a poor replacement for the traditional single-player campaign.

Flat and boring. Terminator: Salvation fails to earn other, more favorable adjectives. The only bright spot is the soundtrack incorporating Brad Fiedel’s signature theme.

If Cannon Fodder 3 had been released a decade ago, it would have become a cult hit. Now, it's a just a decent old-school arcade game.

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

Flat and boring. Terminator: Salvation fails to earn other, more favorable adjectives. The only bright spot is the soundtrack incorporating Brad Fiedel’s signature theme.

Despite some interesting ideas and huge ambitions of its creators, APOX is just another low-budget RTS.

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.

Both the gameplay and attempts at satire are equally pathetic.

Try as they might, none can’t clear the bar that was set by Painkiller. Left to its own devices, without People Can Fly’s support, Mindware Studios created but a pale imitation. Some people can’t fly, indeed.

Stronghold 3 is boring beyond redemption. The blurb on the retail box should have been written along the lines of "We've run out of ideas, our artists forgot how to draw, and our programmers can't produce stable code anymore, but hey, a long, long time ago we made one really great game!"

The “alternative look” at the familiar events is hardly a bait for Prison Break aficionados. Other players will be turned off by horrible stealth, incoherent storytelling and outdated visuals.

It’s easier to escape death in a hyperdrive and chop twenty tons of scrap metal with a lightsaber than overcome boredom and finish Republic Heroes.