God of War returns to the scene suddenly, and in a form that few would have expected. Contrary to first impressions created by the setting, Sons of Sparta turns out to be quite an elaborate metroidvania-lite.

Volker Wertich has earned my lifelong respect for his past attempts to breathe life into the genre of games widely known as RTS. His new project belies the image that had formed in my mind – that of a bold, creative, ambitious creator.

This game should particularly appeal to fans of „Judgment Day”. It plays well on nostalgia, briefly presenting the most important scenes from the film. However, it is too short, and the additional game modes only mask the growing monotony.

Where Winds Meet tries to do too many things at once, which ends up in a way typical for this approach – there are many activities and mechanics, but none of them are particularly impressive.

Of Ash and Steel aspires to be a juicy gothiclike product, but numerous bugs and flaws test the player's patience. A lot of work still needs to be done here to make it enjoyable to play.

A great, naturalistic alternative to Anno, though it doesn't quite reach the level of the greatest strategy games.

Football Manager 26 never made it out of beta – the game is so unfinished that it cannot be considered a full-fledged product. Wait a year, maybe two, until „early access” ends.

A tasty but ultimately low-calorie addition to the excellent Kirby and the Forgotten World.

For over two decades, Syberia has been moving and thought-provoking, and now it can reach new generations, although I am aware that many new players will bounce off it, unable to swallow a certain dose of naivety in this story.

Obsidian has run out of steam when it comes to storytelling, once again delivering a distinctly flat world within The Outer Worlds universe and prioritizing form over substance. Fortunately, the polished gameplay allows you to enjoy the sequel.

EA Sports wants to please everyone, which is why FC 26 is caught between two game modes representing opposite extremes. It's good that the developers are trying, but unfortunately, the results of their work are rather disappointing at this point.

Both parts of Super Mario Galaxy are still phenomenal 3D platformers, worth playing even today. The problem is that the anniversary compilation looks like it was put together in a hurry, and its price is more off-putting than appealing.

Bloober Team focused primarily on combat, which, due to several frustrating design choices, is more irritating than satisfying. However, the game excels in terms of its world, music and atmosphere — these elements are sensational.

Hell Is Us is a game difficult to ignore, even though it is far from perfect. It certainly excels as puzzle adventure game and leaves the player with a lot to think about, not shying away from provocative statements about the nature of war.

The Fall of Avalon starts promisingly, but the contender for the title of Polish Skyrim exposes itself to an underdeveloped second half of the game. Still, it's worth giving it a chance.

Such a simple, visually blank and short game, which is essentially a tech demo dressed up in walking sim robes, should be free. Even the minigames showcasing the console's new capabilities prove insufficiently attractive to explain this cash heist.

Mario Kart World is an exciting racing game, especially online and in couch co-op. It's not the Nintendo's Forza Horizon though. We only got a mere substitute for it.

Visually, Croc is just severely out of date, and the gameplay itself seems too archaic to retain for long. I would only recommend it to turbofans of the original, if only for the extensive collection of bonus material.

Origins can be a lot of fun, but the game lacks freshness and boldness. The mechanics turn out to be underdeveloped and glaring with numerous bugs. Commandos fans will find something to enjoy here, but it is not the refreshing breath the genre needed.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a moderately successful soulslike game and is far from perfect. The game's biggest flaws turn out to be the unpleasant platforming elements and the repetitive minibosses.

An engaging, intriguing story in which every element seems well thought out and fits in with the rest: from the audiovisual setting, to the authentic characters, dialogue and the plot. It's a pity that the story moves too slowly at first, and when it speeds up, it speeds up too much.

Another example of a game that was not saved by a well-known creator. The author of the excellent Dragon Age has come up with a title that is a tiresome in the long run, although it has some interesting ideas. Unfortunately, the gameplay is too repetitive, and the fun quickly becomes monotonous.

The End of the Sun could be the truly Slavic game that fans of Eastern European culture have been waiting for. Folk history, a realistic depiction of a bygone era, and objects scanned by photogrammetry - it may be a simple walking sim, but it is also a remarkable project of craftsmanship.

Avowed delights and disappoints. This mix of RPG and action adventure offers a great deal of freedom in terms of exploration and character development in the beginning, only to fail to exploit the full potential of the systems implemented later on. Such a shame.

Civilization VII commits the greatest sin of all strategy games - it's boring. A few tweaks to the formula have worked out well for the series, but this is the moment for either a major revolution or the development of well thought-out mechanics that worked in Civilization VI. No more half-measures.

It is strange to call Farming Simulator 25 the next instalment when –in terms of content – it is a rather large update. On top of that, it's incomplete, ill-conceived and also suffers from poor optimisation. If you're a fan of the series, you'd be better off waiting for the big sale.

Marvel Rivals isn't just another clone of Overwatch or Team Fortress 2. Sure, it's still a classic hero shooter, but one with some fresh ideas in terms of level and character design. There's a future ahead of this game.

I feel that instead of building on the experience gained with Planet Coaster, the developers have taken a step backwards. While they added a handful of improvements to the game, they also made poor design decisions. The predecessor was groundbreaking; its sequel is merely okay.

Alaloth has shortcomings, but is pretty addictive at the same time. If you care mostly about gameplay and character development, and the storyline is not that important for you, you will have a great time.

Life Is Strange: Double Exposure is an interesting and partly successful attempt to recall what the first instalment of the series captured players with - full of well-written characters, with excellent voice acting and an atmospheric soundtrack.

The audiovisual beauty, the diversity of the gameplay and the dynamism of the combat system make Neva a worthy representative of the artistic platformer genre, but it lacks the visionary element known from Gris.

The graphics have been refreshed beautifully, but I don't think it is a necessary change, as the original still stands up well. Not mentioning the optimisation problems and the exaggerated price... Eh, Sony, why are you doing this to yourself?

Lego Horizon Adventures is a heartfelt attempt to retell Aloy's story. It can get tedious with short and not very varied levels, but it also offers a lot of fun in combat and co-op. It's a shame that it all only lasts a couple of hours, and that Sony went too far with the release price.

Dragon Age: Veilguard leaves us with the impression that we bought the wrong title. Instead of a true RPG, we get a mediocre action adventure game. A scenario stretched to the limit, a poorly constructed world and monotonous gameplay bored me to tears.

It is a properly restored platformer. The game tries to mix the sweetness of old Disney animations with a pinch of darkness, which at times makes it resemble American McGee’s Alice more than an arcade title for children. And while I love this kind of atmosphere, the gameplay quickly began to feel repetitive.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions has easy-to-understand mechanics, is extremely simple and matches do not take long to complete. Muggles will get bored quickly, while potterheads will drop out soon after.

The racing itself is good enough, but the not-so-abundant content and the terrible technical state of the game effectively hinder the fun. I really would be able to wait longer to get something better, and at this point I can only wish myself and you that the studio improves the condition of Solar Crown.

After whopping 10 years spent in Steam’s Early Access, 7 Days to Die still feels unfinished, which makes it quite difficult to evaluate. My reason tells me to tear this game apart for tons of bugs and pretty much non-existent optimization, but my heart wants to give it a high rating. After all, I spent over a hundred hours in it and had fun for most of that time.

When I look at fantastic Schim screenshots, I wonder if I was too harsh. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a pretty and charming game. However, a moment later I recall that after the first 30 minutes of euphoria from playing it, monotony and disappointment took over. Completing this game was neither a relaxation nor a cool challenge for me.

At first glance, The Sims 4 Lovestruck is a very good expansion, inviting players to delve deep into gameplay and explore the new mechanics. However, the closer I looked at it, the more shortcomings I noticed. EA took a step in the right direction, but still failed to offer us a full-fledged add-on worth its price.

The writers created a great setting, had a good idea for the plot and prepared excellent dialogues, but at the end of the day Nobody Wants to Die resembles an impressive technology showcase more than a proper game. I had fun, but the gameplay’s limited formula and modest length of this adventure are significant drawbacks.

Still Wakes the Deep’s interesting setting and successful mix of a cosmic horror and a drama are enticing. Although it’s set at sea, the game manages to avoid Lovecraftian tentacled clichés. The great foundation for a survival horror was there, but sadly the final result turned out to be a walking sim that completely lacks any sense of threat and fails to pose a challenge.

Another Crab’s Treasure neatly combines soulslike basics with accessibility and friendliness towards novice players, including young ones. It offers a cheerful story in an interesting setting and deserves to at least be checked out.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau offers a typical metroidvania experience and it’s a shame that the team led by Abubakar Salim lacked the courage to put some kind of a twist on the genre’s formula. Surgent Studios has the potential to create amazing games, but unfortunately this isn’t one of them.

Broken Roads is narratively competent, philosophically aware and relatively complex in terms of dialogues, while the moral compass mechanic stimulates the player intellectually. However, all the other elements of the game are not as exciting (or even solid) and gameplay is marred by bugs.

A very interesting attempt to combine a hack’n’slash with a rhythm game. The mechanics of striking enemies to the beat work great, but Beat Slayer disappoints by artificially dragging out playtime, which results in a series of monotonous, identical battles.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance for Nintendo Switch remains a large, slow-paced RPG full of numbers and choices, set in realistically depicted Middle Ages. The resolution obviously took a nasty hit, so I don’t recommend playing this version on a TV, and the controls are not very intuitive, but I’m still amazed that the whole experience is available on a handheld console. Nevertheless, while the game is definitely worth playing, you should consider whether to play it on a Switch specifically.

The phenomenal combat system is not enough to rave about Rise of the Ronin. The chaotic storyline, boring open world, clunky gameplay and outdated graphics distract too much from what works well in Team Ninja’s latest game.

A quarter of a century ago, the original Outcast made its mark on games, but since then its core strengths have become commonplace in the industry. Its sequel is merely an average title done by today’s standards. The overall quality of execution is there and the developers were obviously committed, but A New Beginning doesn’t offer anything that will make you remember this adventure for years to come. However, as soon as the bugs are fixed, you can give it a chance, as long as you have some time on your hands.

Alone in the Dark is a mid-tier title that successfully blends together elements of survival horror and adventure games, dripping with atmosphere but full of discouraging bugs. If you’re able to turn a blind eye to the noticeably limited development budget of this reboot, it can be really enjoyable.

Clash 2 has some advantages, including great music and neatly designed tactical combat, but it still needs a lot of work (especially in terms of AI and difficulty level) before it can challenge titles such as Heroes of Might and Magic or King’s Bounty. It’s quite enjoyable though and didn’t frustrate me even once.

Not as bad as some claim, but also not as good as its supporters believe. Skull and Bones is, above all, a solid base for further development, because it is through the prism of the announced improvements that we will judge this project in the future. For now, the game is okay, but only okay.

Quite an enjoyable remaster made with respect for the originals. However, the first game in the series was released almost 30 years ago and there’s no way to hide it, so you’ll endure some jarring here and there, sometimes painful. The collection will probably attract veterans and retro enthusiasts, but I doubt younger gamers will find it appealing.

The Thaumaturge is a game of undeniable cultural value, and the opportunity to explore early 20th century Warsaw (realistic, but enriched with fantastic elements) alone made it worth my time. I wish I could tell you that the rest of the game – the story, the mechanics – is on par with the unique setting, but sadly, that’s not the case, as we’ve already seen all of it done much better elsewhere.

Suicide Squad is neither a very good single-player game nor a convincing multiplayer title. You can give it a chance if you like the DC universe, just don’t expect to be blown away. Kill the Justice League scores points for humor, a couple of fun battles or the opportunity to see iconic heroes portrayed differently and Metropolis razed to the ground, but in my opinion this is not enough.

I criticized War Hospital quite a bit, but I enjoyed this game. I don’t have any major complaints about the gameplay, but I was bothered by the sometimes annoying flaws, missing features, and bugs, as well as ugly cutscenes. It’s obvious that the developers ran out of time to properly polish the game but the overall concept and the most part of its execution are great. I felt similar discomfort while playing This War of Mine and Frostpunk and I think that speaks well for War Hospital.

Asterix & Obelix Slap Them All! 2 looks gorgeous and makes pummeling Romans fun, but it is painfully derivative and repetitive and doesn’t deserve the 2 in the title. It would be more honest to call it a standalone expansion and sell it for a lower price rather than pretend it’s a full-fledged sequel.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is not terrible and I’d be lying if I told you I suffered through it, but I expect more from a AAA title than a semi-polished gameplay, a run-of-the-mill story and environments that oscillate between breathtaking and mediocre. Ubisoft Massive’s game has moments showing it could have been great, but overall turned out uninspired.

For Rent is the antithesis of a fresh and interesting expansion pack. Everything about it seems overly simplified and ill-considered, vast majority of its contents recycles known features to various degrees and places them in a world that feels like a cardboard cutout, while the only major addition is supported by gameplay mechanics that are just not satisfying enough.

Were the gameplay limited to survival elements and managing the titular mobile base, Last Train Home would have been great. Sadly, missions focused on combat are really disappointing and ultimately all the advantages of the game come from its atmosphere and skillful use of historical and geographical setting.

In terms of improvements and the overall quality of the remaster, Nightdive Studios did some really solid work. The problem lies in the game itself – Acclaim was overly fixated on Valve’s success and as a result published something that was neither a good Half-Life nor a particularly satisfying Turok.

Super Mario RPG is a creative and very accessible take on the RPG formula. You’ll traverse many lands and fight tons of battles to save the kingdom, while enjoying a hefty dose of light humor. If you’re looking for unwavering positive vibes, you will definitely find them here.

Despite the cumbersome interface and some weariness that creeps in later on, World of Horror is worth checking out thanks to its art style and well-written, weird, spine-chilling stories. Even though I know how the game ends, for some masochistic reason I want to relive this nightmare over and over again.

Stronghold is one of the best real-time strategies of the turn of the century. The Definitive Edition may be a nice way to revisit this beloved classic, but it can also be disappointing if you expect a polished game that’s free of bugs and imperfections of the original.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III lost the chance to be great when Activision Blizzard decided to turn a DLC for the previous installment into a stand-alone title. As a result, Sledgehammer didn’t have enough time to properly polish the game, and that took a heavy toll across the board, from the absolutely deplorable story campaign to the disappointing Zombie mode to the multiplayer.

Warcraft Rumble has solid gameplay mechanics and very nice audiovisual side, as expected from Blizzard. However, its economy is rather unfriendly. While it’s not a pay-to-win situation, the game forces you to grind heavily and turns fun into a chore.

Web of Wyrd is the best Hellboy game, but that doesn’t mean it’s great. It’s an undemanding roguelite that can provide a couple of hours of simple, rather repetitive entertainment. However, it has strong points too, namely the atmosphere and the art style which makes it look like Mike Mignola’s comic book in motion.

The best parts of Under the Waves are the moments when you can peacefully explore the depths of the sea and observe the creatures that inhabit them. The story about an evil corporation and a man who can’t cope with loss is clunky and introduces an unnecessary emotional weight that spoiled the whole experience for me.

Initially, the game is solid, but it quickly starts to lose its identity and alternates extremely difficult moments with childishly easy ones. In addition, an interesting setting and nice-looking environments are dragged down by outdated graphics and poorly designed gameplay mechanics. Achilles: Legends Untold had the potential for greatness, but ended up being a middling game that you can enjoy only if you’re ready to constantly turn a blind eye to its flaws.

RoboCop: Rogue City is an uncompromising shooter that became my guilty pleasure. It might lack high production values or the spark of ingenuity, but you can clearly see heart and soul put into it. The game was obviously made by RoboCop buffs for RoboCop buffs, because the amount of fan service it contains is overwhelming.

I see a parallel between Lords of the Fallen and Dark Souls II: there’s something amiss here and there, but the game is trying its best. Everybody knows there are better, more polished titles in this genre, but what LotF lacks in terms of gameplay or technical execution, it makes up for with interesting ideas, solid boss battles or the unique atmosphere of Umbral, the realm of the dead. I recommend giving it a chance, because in most part it is a decent game.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series works well as a tie-in, because it recreates the atmosphere of the series and explores the past of a loved character (Cara Gee as Drummer is amazing as always!). However, as a whole, it is a middling game that ends before it really gets going. I also regret that the developers missed the opportunity to delve deeper into The Expanse’s universe, as this setting has a lot to offer.

The biggest advantage of Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 is that it lets you play the early installments of the series on modern platforms. As a fan of the franchise, I enjoyed additional content such as Master Books, screenplays, visual novels, and the soundtrack, but unfortunately this is not enough to rave about this bundle. Konami could have done much, much more for these classics but didn’t and missed the opportunity to reach younger players with them.

The gameplay of EA Sports FC 24 differs from FIFA 23 in nuances only and the overall changes are minor. While the game can be impressive thanks to the most realistic animations to date, it is just as often irritating due to its erratic physics engine. All that’s left for football fans is to hope that next year’s edition will be bolder, because this new start under the altered title is underwhelming.

The Switch edition of Gothic offers comfortable controls, improved inventory system, a quick save feature, and everything the game’s admirers love about it. If you’re a die-hard Gothic fan and you’re enthusiastic about crossing the Barrier again on Switch, go for it. Everyone else should bear in mind that it’s a pretty basic port of a 22-year-old game and carefully consider spending their money on it.

Sea of Stars is a flavorful game that tries to imitate jRPG greats with varying degrees of success. It has some obvious flaws and treads a beaten path in terms of the story, but it is also beautiful and boasts an interesting combat system. I recommend it especially to newcomers to the genre. Sabotage Studio seams to be heading in the right direction and if it decides to evolve their gameplay mechanics in a sequel, the effects may be impressive.

More a movie than a game, Fort Solis surprises with top-notch acting and creates a pretty decent atmosphere, but doesn’t offer any real challenge. It focuses on exploration but the protagonist’s sluggish movement effectively discourages it. This walking simulator will either captivate you enough to finish the story in one sitting or bore you in the first fifteen minutes.

I wish Mirage were the game I’ve been waiting for as a fan of the franchise, but it’s not. The developers’ desire to make it similar gameplay-wise to classic installments of the series is obvious and welcome, but as a whole, this is a surprisingly bland product with an average story, poorly written NPCs and embarrassingly weak dialogues. Moreover, Basim’s adventures do not bring anything valuable to the series. It’s a hollow, shallow and basically unnecessary game developed to showcase the Middle Eastern setting.

Immortals of Aveum’s quality is very uneven and for every well-executed element there’s a “but” of some sorts. The combat system is great but not as unique as the developers claimed. We get 60 fps but at the expense of blurry graphics. The game’s intriguing lore deserves attention but is obscured by silly humor.

The beginning of Atlas Fallen is simply awful but later, when the story unleashes the player on the open world, the adventure becomes more interesting. The game features a clever character development system, dynamic combat and very enjoyable exploration, but the developers forgot to polish all the other elements, which sadly represent the level of lower-budget sandboxes from a decade or two ago.

Unholy’s puzzles are trivial, combat is very basic, and stealth elements are simply annoying. There’s also a seemingly tangled story which I stopped caring about after the first hour. Unholy had potential, but I feel like the developers weren’t entirely sure what kind of game they want to make and went overboard with excess ideas.

The latest expansion pack has a couple of shortcomings but brings a whole lot of fun. It enriches the game’s world, provides many activities, offers different ways of running a backyard business, and gives a lot of freedom in how you handle the horses.

This game could have been on par with Theme Park or Rollercoaster Tycoon and maybe someday – after numerous patches – it will be. But for now, it is a disappointment to all the fans of amusement parks, rollercoasters, and haunted houses.

Layers of Fear combines both games (properly remade with Unreal Engine 5) and DLCs in a slick, reasonably priced package that binds the two stories together. However, neither the new content nor the graphical upgrade justifies the expense if you’ve already played the originals.

For a series that lets you experience how time-consuming agriculture can be, Farming Simulator 23: Nintendo Switch Edition works surprisingly well in short sessions. However, I can’t recommend it unconditionally in good conscience, because to enjoy it, you need to turn a blind eye to the questionable technical state it was released in. If you’re willing to look past its below-par graphics, poor optimization and less-than-ideal controls, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy it.

Hrot draws from Quake, Duke and Blood but does it half-heartedly and due to the setting resembles the forgotten You Are Empty more than the aforementioned classics. It holds its own in terms of level design, but you can feel it was developed by just one person.

As a whole, Wartales might not be a masterpiece, as it suffers from repetitiveness and lack of polish, but it provides lots of fun. Built on a foundation established by classic RPGs, it offers a varied world that feels alive and is rewarding to explore. The combat is dynamic despite being turn-based and the multitude of available skills lets you develop thousands of builds for your band of mercenaries. Overall, Wartales has huge potential and is definitely worth coming back to.

Redfall’s design is disappointingly safe and the whole thing is painfully unpolished. It’s a patchwork that draws inspiration from multiple games, but does it ineptly. Many of Redfall’s elements feel unfinished, ill-considered or deliberately pushed aside as if acknowledged as unnecessary by the developers. The game will not surprise you in any way, but there’s a good chance it will annoy you with generic quests, laughable AI, repetitive gameplay and botched optimization. I definitely did not expect something like this from the studio that gave us Dishonored.

Copying your own ideas is not a sin, but what worked well in a larger open-world adventure, doesn’t necessarily hold up paired with a linear story. A remake created from scratch, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is a decent game but also a significant step backwards compared to Chapter One.

Dredge is a short, humble game full of unrealized potential. The longer I played it, the more I regretted that it offers so little content. Black Salt Games also couldn’t decide whether their debut title should be relaxing or challenging, and as a result it does neither well. However, it is still a fun change from huge RPGs and open worlds that devour weeks.

I didn’t expect much and I’m still disappointed. We were promised spectacular gunfights and breathtaking heists, basically an interactive gangster movie, but instead got a mediocre game with some interesting ideas (e.g. roguelike elements) that failed to outweigh dated overall design, awful AI and poor writing. Well, at least it has co-op.

Dead Island 2 does not pretend to be anything more than just a video game, even for a moment. Its every element, from the bland story to the environments, serves the purpose of making smashing zombie heads fun. The problem is, after a couple of hours this fun starts to give way to repetitiveness.

A “Souls with guns” type of game (think Returnal), but more forgiving than most representatives of the genre. It looks barely decent and its level design is obsolete (invisible walls!), but it turned out to be quite enjoyable, although in short sessions only. A couple of original ideas make Scars Above distinct enough and ultimately it’s a shame it is so modest. It would definitely benefit from a bigger budget and more boldness on the part of the developers.

After devoting almost 40 hours to Company of Heroes 3, I’m having serious trouble rating this game, as I could easily justify any score between 6 and 7+ out of 10. Overall, it’s a solid strategy game that provides a lot of content in the form of two campaigns – linear and dynamic. I enjoyed them both but found neither of them outstanding.

Inspired by Quake and other classics but devoid of any distinctive qualities that would help it stand out among other boomer shooters, Dread Templar is pretty fun but ultimately forgettable.

New visuals look great without completely ditching the distinctive style of the original Pharaoh, more fluent animations add to the positive experience, while the gameplay is still demanding and addictive. Overall, Pharaoh: A New Era lives up to expectations for remakes of classic games, but Triskell Interactive should have worked much harder on the interface, as its new version makes the game harder to enjoy.

I appreciate the new interface (it needs getting used to though) and talent system (those dilemmas!), as well as changes to crafting that raise its importance. I enjoyed dragonriding a lot and found quests to be engaging, but was disappointed by dull dungeons and repetitive endgame content. World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is a pretty safe expansion and I expected a bit more from it, but I do feel it has a huge potential that could be fulfilled in the near future.

In some respects Forspoken is a truly modern game that ditches the past generation and its limitations. Sadly, it turned out to be no more than a beautiful foundation ultimately used to create a benchmark rather than a compelling experience. I greeted the end credits with some relief and I’ll remember this game mainly as a case of a criminally wasted potential.