If it’s been awhile since you picked up a Madden game, you might want to give Madden 15 a look. It’s definitely grown beyond what most people think of Madden NFL games.

The level design is not always top-notch and occasionally, the game might lose some of its pacing, but in the grand scheme of things, it all balances out nicely with the unique and fun bosses and some frantic over-the-top shooting, slashing, breaking and stabbing action.

The improvements to the interface, speed, etc. make this a superior game to the original without adding significant difficulties (which it already contained in spades). It doesn't make the game easier to learn, but if it's your cup of tea, consider this a bigger, nicer looking cup.

In the end, flaws like repetitive missions, dumb enemy AI, in addition to generally poor graphics, prevent Saints Row 2 from joining this year's list of top releases. Mind you, it doesn't stop this from being good clean fun.

All that aside, Lone Survivor is solid. It delivers in all the areas a horror game should. You'll feel fear, loneliness, desperation and those of you who aren't familiar with the Silent Hill formula will also be intrigued by the narrative.

Technically speaking the game is the best Call of Duty to date and even the story issues can’t detract from that.

Players get frustrated, scared and upset, and it all feels very convincing because they also get outsmarted by an AI and there are few games that can make such a claim these days. Creative Assembly gets a huge plus for enhancing the fear factor in this one.

Take notes, Obsidian. This is how stuff should be done.

Those who like mysteries and point-and-click adventures do not want to miss what Life is Strange has to offer.

Jade Empire: Special Edition still has strong replay value, with different characters to choose from and different paths to take in terms of alignment.

The right choice for anyone who's out for an action-packed arcade racer with smooth gameplay and miscellaneous tasks and challenges to complete on the road. The accent in this game is on addictive, high-paced arcade-style driving.

A game with great potential that sadly hasn't been fully developed. No matter how much you may like certain aspects of it, the fact that the retail code feels so incomplete and technically lacking is inexcusable.

I felt like Ubisoft Montreal has made this game exclusively to be shown at gaming conventions. They have this great tech demo, this one looping level complete with cool graphics and gameplay mechanics, but they ultimately had no idea what to do with it. They just kept on going with these derivative missions until you become fed up with it.

My final score will be a compromise between what the game meant to me and what I believe it will mean to a hardcore puzzle gamer. If you feel like testing yourself, you'll enjoy Vessel. But if you're in the mood for adventure and relaxation, avoid it or you'll be disappointed.

Polarized has solidified Life is Strange’s spot as a frontrunner for best adventure game of the year.

The 3D engine looks unbelievably good! The surroundings are impeccable, and bear a surreal and depressive atmosphere. All the objects and buildings look just as great.

May not be as involving and complex as the Microsoft’s classic "Rise of Nations" or Creative Assembly’s epic "Shogun: Total War," but it does blend many different gameplay elements that make it an exciting RTS experience. Visually breathtaking scenes coupled with intriguing scenarios and a well-structured storyline should be enough to satisfy any RTS fan.

One of those games that deserve to be played for a long while.

The good part about this game is that it is fun, looks good, sounds great, and plays exactly like one would expect a game of this magnitude to play, minus the aforementioned technical issues of course.

Dark Room is the longest episode in the Life is Strange series by a long shot. Every time I thought the episode was over or nearly over, I suddenly had another 45 minutes of gameplay. This wasn’t a bad thing; every section of the episode had me on my toes and guessing.

Annoyances aside, this is the game for anyone itching for something that not only refuses to be taken seriously, it embraces its ridiculosity with open arms.

The linear nature of the main campaign and the occasionally confused AI, often ruined the experience for us.

It's got a surprising amount of depth and innovation in a lot of different areas of design, excellent humor, art work and sound.

With both the beauty of Firewatch and its varied tones and exploration, this is one game that will resonate with players just as variously.

Its versatility, non-linearity and great replay value make it an excellent choice.

What RollerCoaster 3 lacks is some excitement that can't be artificially created with some clever scenarios. The biggest drawback of this game is the fact all scenarios tend to play the same no matter what the goals are, otherwise I'm convinced I would have enjoyed it even more.

While some features reflect the students' life accurately, the general atmosphere makes the experience rather childish and not very varied, as there are simply not enough elements from the college life.

While the atmosphere can be great from time to time, on the whole, we just missed the post-apocalyptic sci-fi flavored ambience that’s heavily incorporated into games like Fallout.

Has a lot to offer to every strategy fan despite its downsides, such as the unreliable AI, its rather linear campaign and lack of practical use of many of its units. It is still a very good and addictive game, with many improvements made - in the gameplay as well as in the most obvious factor, the graphics.

The multiplayer has one great option -- players can choose any nation from any period of human history, which means you can try out German plains from WW II and employ them against fierce Russian futuristic tanks.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is short, but anything longer would most definitely be padding.

The game is fun and amusing after so many years of waiting for a decent adventure, but it still doesn't manage to stand up to the traditional and utterly absurd puzzles the old LucasArts game is famous for.

Again, the PC version itself is entertaining. Still, it would've been even better if the developers put in additional content - a bonus chapter, anything really.

A splendid narrative experience that is not to be missed.

Successfully builds upon the gameplay in "Jedi Outcast," offering a variety of new features, an involving and masterfully presented plotline, on top of many new planets to explore throughout the far regions of the galaxy.

Ninja Gaiden 2 is a button-mashing fest, but one that gets increasingly fun if you stay with it, regardless of how difficult it gets sometimes. Simultaneously, it is a great challenge, most of all for newcomers.

It’s a solid and well-polished shooter.

I cannot say it has many faults, but its AI is lacking and it definitely needs more polish. The thing with Codename: Panzers is that it is very playable, though not revolutionary or original in any way.

In the end, Prince of Persia is nothing more than a beautifully animated and brilliantly directed ride through impressively designed environments. The problem strictly resides in its watered down gameplay mechanics, which, although well-executed, did not exactly meet our expectations, let alone provide a decent challenge.

Ghost Master turned out to be a successful mixture of various genres, which establishes excellent gameplay mechanics and presents an extremely challenging experience.

It just lacks the depth and growth potential to have any genuine longevity. Do yourself a favor and wait for this one to hit the bargain bins. It is worth playing, but if its predecessor was any indication, you won’t have to wait long to get this experience at a far more acceptable price.

The single-player campaign is extremely lengthy for an expansion pack. You'll be getting your money's worth in every way. It took me hours just to get to the second act. Really nice job by Ensemble to offer this much quality content for their fans.

If you've already played Bully on the PS2, it's safe to say you'll find all the new elements a rather cool addition to the game.

Ghost Recon's Interface is the smoothest I've seen in any of the titles in the genre.

The game flows beautifully and it is a joy to play. The game world is rich and detailed and backed up by some good narrative, excellent art design and sound work. The only real gripe I had with Syberia II is that it doesn't bother to hide the fact it's a niche product.

Our general feeling about Assassin's Creed: Revelations is a positive one, even though Ubisoft Montreal made more of an effort to extend the life of the franchise by polishing the multiplayer, rather than adding something new and exciting.

We also couldn’t tear ourselves away from the breathtaking background drawings and impressive character art that portray a new and mysteriously beautiful world that awaits to be discoverd.

Gameplay wise, younger gamers should be in love right out of the gate regardless which version you opt for.

It has some clear and often inexplicable drawbacks, and yet it still manages to deliver a deep and immersive single-player gaming experience that had me glued to my monitor screen 'till the wee hours of the morning.

The short lifespan of individual episodes is a drawback once again. But, even with all the glaring omissions related to mostly unchallenging puzzles and a generally repetitive setting, Telltale Games is successfully keeping up the pace and continually offers splendid dialogue and trademark wisecracks from the two main characters.

Dead Island's saving grace is its open-world approach, cool custom weapons and fun coop. Nonetheless, Techland created a perfect foundation for a cool, RPG-flavored survival horror game, but forgot to polish it, in addition to providing a dull narrative.

It's hampered with a number of issues that originally wouldn't have existed if only the game was designed with the PC in mind. But even as it is, Deus Ex: Invisible War is an intelligent, mature and engrossing project that deserves the attention of every self-respecting shooter/adventure game fan out there.

The new additions are fun and fairly innovative, but I doubt they'll be enough to hold the attention of even slightly jaded Sims players for long.

The game does, however, take a significant step forward in terms of first-person combat realism.

The whole game looks and sounds cool. In fact, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is excessive, cheesy and utterly ridiculous, but above all else, it doesn’t take itself seriously and that’s really all we ask for, seeing as we’ve been killing dinosaurs with lasers for the last several hours.

A good game. It will likely be a very good game after a couple of patches (it is damn buggy on the PC and slow as hell), so I'd advise you to wait a while before you actually buy it.

Hella fun to play. This is a quality title with some nicely designed missions that gradually increase in both difficulty and pace, making the single-player game well-balanced and engaging throughout.

Outlast is a game designed to frighten even those who deem themselves hard to scare. What we have here is a proper survival-horror game that thankfully doesn’t make the transition to the action genre like so many other horror-themed games these days.

Oxenfree creates suspense and tension as the player experiences numerous unexpected events. This is Oxenfree’s greatest strength. The slightly questionable dialogue mechanics and relatively short story are generally the only downsides here, but otherwise, you really might want to consider being part of this adventure, because you never know what might happen.

Probably one of the best tactical military shooters I've played. It's authentic, gritty and highly original in the way it was executed. And it requires you to use your brains for a change.

The one area where this updated "Hitman 2" code shows great improvements is in the rag doll physics model.

A complete game. It looks good and it plays great. A few AI drawbacks aside, this is hands down the best basketball simulation on the market.

LEGO Dimensions is a great first start for TT Games with the toys-to-life genre, but since their game is the most expensive of all of them, it makes it a hard recommendation, especially for parents. Once they find a nice balance between promoting other packs and their paywall to unlock other areas, it will be the best of the toys-to-life game out there.

Single-player missions are dynamic and exciting, and the multiplayer is excellent, especially when you're playing the co-op.

The AI routines and its "wealth" of strategy elements are nothing to write home about, but the fun and dynamic mission design as well as its great looking maps and spectacular battle sequences will keep you glued to your screen while it lasts.

The sequel is not extraordinary in any way, but it is bigger than the original in almost every way.

A well-balanced amalgamation of RTS and RPG ingredients, set in a unique universe. If you're prepared to shell out 40 bucks for this one, you should know that the game is worth every dime, featuring plenty of content and solid replay value.

It reminded me a lot of Lost Vikings, which is nice.

Company of Heroes 2 feels much like playing the same game we’ve played all those years back. Apart from that, it honestly doesn’t offer any changes to a familiar formula.

We have the fantastic visuals, sounds, and atmosphere on one side, and some obvious gameplay drawbacks on the other.

Samorost 3 is a work of art, I like to think. Right from the first challenge I fell in love with the game and I enjoyed how the world is presented. Take my word for it, some of the wacky creature designs are sure to bring a smile on your face.

What's more, Fable 3 is definitely a beautiful-looking game, with incredibly imaginative and well-designed locations where players may lose themselves in.

Sound is what makes this game unique however. You’re made very aware of gunshots almost everywhere to varying degrees of loudness.

Bottom line is I had loads of fun playing BF 2142 in multiplayer.

I applaud and congratulate the writers and wholeheartedly recommend this title to those of you who can look past its many technical drawbacks to see the game for what it truly is - probably one of the most mature titles (in EVERY sense of the word) I've played in a long, long- long time.

The gameplay mechanics are there, but the essence and soul of a true RPG, is absent. The world is beautiful, but somehow feels like you've been there before.

Given Ubi's reputation and the game's undeniable success on the Xbox 360, we were disappointed to encounter so many technical disadvantages. This will undoubtedly ward off a majority of gamers, especially those who had their heart set on playing a decent bug-free PC game.

Forget working on my backlog this next month or so; I’m going to soak in as much inFAMOUS as I can.

The game has it all: the lush surroundings will create a perfect atmosphere of medieval England, and together with the well animated characters they will make you feel a part of Robin Hood's adventures.

The "deadly" combination of awesome and versatile weapons..., fantastic model animation and gore effects, coupled with incredible outdoor environments and highly realistic weapon and environmental sound effects is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat right till the end.

Even though The Suffering does most things right for a survival horror game, it sadly lacks more replay value and is just too damn short. It's still a hair-raising and very fun experience, but I suspect many people will be discouraged by how quickly it all ends.

With all of the content packed in at launch, the solid gameplay mechanics, tactical co-op experience, and gorgeous open world, it was more than a great idea for Ubisoft to delay Tom Clancy’s Division as long as they did. Everything about this game was far more than I could have expected, and it’s definitely worth the wait.

Challenging combat is just one of the high points of ED.

A technically polished title which made amends for all of the flaws the original game had, yet which is still far from appealing or capable of holding gamers' attention, and I'm speaking even of the hard-core BattleTech fans.

One of the reasons why this game received a lower score is because it left too many things untold and, while I appreciate the effort to create an immersive authentic world laid to waste by a nuclear disaster, I simply can't escape the recurring feeling that something is missing in this game.

It’s a sensation few games can match.

If you want an action strategy with unique moments, and you don't mind stupid camera placement, and you're not too much into online fighting, and live in Europe, Hostile Waters is a decent choice.

With all its fancy visuals and some properly directed cinematic moments, in addition to all the features packed into the solo mode and multiplayer mode, Hitman: Absolution can still get tedious.

The advanced diplomacy options, the solid AI and the inclusion of some realistic elements, such as weather conditions, make it truly enjoyable to play. On the other hand, its complexity will tend to bore you rather than intrigue you after some time, and I cannot tell why it is so.

Every second of the game, it vibrates with the desire of programmers to make you feel the pure, clean fun of the adventuring.

Gamers who are out for classic real-time strategies, might be repelled by the overwhelming Star Wars lore and the relatively steep learning curve. Still, once you get the hang of it, you're sure to find the game a rewarding experience, both in single-player and multiplayer.

It seems like every aspect of the game from its’ backwards compatibility for both instruments and DLC, to its playable music platform approach, ultimately has every Harmonix fan at heart. This culminates in a very welcome return to form for the series, and a very worthy first entry to the new console generation.

An extremely fun game setting new standards in 3D technology and good Westwood-like gameplay.

The designers went to the extent of checking the weather conditions for every single day of the Battle of Britain. The weather conditions will influence the plane performances, and can be used to determine proper tactics.

With one new rich location and a lot of opportunities to enter show-business, playing Superstar can be an interesting venture.

The story isn't brilliant, but definitely interesting enough to make you play on. But don't forget, you'll also need a powerful PC to run the game smoothly with all the visuals maxed.

Fundamentally, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is a shooter with relatively familiar action game with standard cover-based mechanics. This shouldn't discourage your from giving it a try, because unlike a majority of shooters today, Future Soldier makes you scratch your head a bit before sending the Ghost Team into action.

I especially hope that another cross-over comes down the line, as these two finger-pointers make mystery-solving magic together.