Mario Party 10 stands out from the roster of great Wii U party games. [07/2015, p.71]

RPG elements, coherent story with twists, exciting battles spiced up with magic and great visuals make King Arthur II a game that's hard to put aside. [March 2012, p.70]

The last time I saw such a bad game was... damn, I don't even remember when it was. It's boring, ugly, suffers of bad programming and violates your ears with abysmal music. [October, p.80]

It's basically the same game we had fun with a year ago – it features the same city and almost the same story with a new main character. It's not a bad game but I can recommend it only to the diehard fans of the series. [November 2011, p.61]

Even a low budget Assassin’s Creed is more enjoyable than most AAA games. There’s not much to do besides the main story and you can deal with Liberation in less than 7 hours, but it will be time well spent. [03/2014, p.56]

Visuals are A Bird Story’s biggest strength, and as far as the story goes... Well, I simply don’t know why someone decided it’s worth sharing with me. [01/2015, p.73]

The latest Need for Speed feels old in every aspect. The driving model, the AI, the story and the characters, the environments – all of it is simply poor. [13/2015, p.68]

It’s not a title you need to play to stay up to date with gaming trends. It’s a typical representative of the hack’n’slash genre, solid in every aspect but not unique in any. If you enjoy such games, walking the wolves in Midgard will be fun, because the essence of the genre was conveyed proficiently. [06/2017, p.73]

Taking part in this virtual play was fun, but the story lacks pace (apart from the ending), the visuals are far from stunning and the game could use voice acting. [09/2015, p.67]

Lightning returns for the last time, as a PC port, and wow, Japanese do not understand computers at all. Not even mouse support!? [02/2016, p.59]

To say the game is already doomed may be premature but it has no chance with Overwatch and will probably share Battleborn’s (which was a much bigger game itself) fate in the upcoming months. [06/2020, p.46]

This 'LittleBigLego' turned out to be one of the best Christmas gifts for the whole family and a great journey across six Disney and Pixar worlds especially enjoyable in 4 player co-op mode. [December 2011, p.88]

One of the few games in which ballistics really matter. Long range combat is very rewarding thanks to great X-ray animations depicting deadly shots. Close quarters combat on the other hand is terrible. [June 2012, p.62]

Flockers is not an original game (it uses the concept introduced in Lemmings over two decades ago), but it’s a polished one. It’s a cute puzzle game that is also so brutal that it earned a PEGI 16 rating. [Dec 2014, p.80]

Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong perfectly reflects the atmosphere of a tabletop RPG session set in the World of Darkness. Sadly, graphics and animations sometimes spoil the impression, certain gameplay mechanics are hard to master and I couldn’t complete some quests because of the bugs. It’s a shame, because the writers and the voice actors did a commendable job.

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.

Young skateboarding enthusiasts will be better off playing Skate 3, which is a better game in every aspect. THPS HD might be fun for those who remember the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. [10/2012, p.58]

The game was designed with high replay value in mind (one playthrough lasts ca. 15 minutes), but the second time I played it part of the situations repeated and with every subsequent attempt it got worse. [06/2014, p.61]

Average gameplay time is around two minutes but it is as intense as Lindsay Lohan’s parties. [CD-Action 05/2014, p.64]

If the game makes you think about Journey, Mirror’s Edge and Antichamber, it must be great, right? Right? RIGHT?! [CD-Action 05/2014, p.71]

A spin-off that lacks the scale of the main Halo games – you rarely fight alongside other Spartans and when you do they are usually passive and act as animated props. [07/2015, p.52]

It starts as a somewhat boring, unpolished scary game but soon turns into a fascinating, engrossing equivalent of a TV show. And I couldn’t wait to see the next episodes. [07/2020, p.60]

I did complain in this review but as a whole Shades of Darkness is the best thing Heroes VI has to offer. [CD-Action 08/2013, p.84]

Although first impressions are good, it soon becomes obvious that the ‘simulation’ is shallow, there’s too much chaos and the mech controls are not intuitive. [CD-Action 03/2013, p.60]

Gameplay is repetitive, level design is not too good and the player's influence on what's happening is limited, so the game gets boring very fast. [November 2011, p.83]

Intrusive microtransactions make Angry Birds 2 a game for either rich or patient. Without paying it’s almost impossible to play for an hour straight. [10/2015, p.74]

Pleasant exploration and interesting turn-based combat are unfortunately counterbalanced by too much backtracking, over-the-top number of fights and not very functional map. [05/2015, p.65]

I appreciate the solid research behind Bounty Train and pleasant music, but when I failed at the end of the game I realized I’m not willing to sacrifice over a dozen more hours to try again. [09/2017, p.45]

When I read that Crusader is slowly becoming the game the developers wanted it to be, I can’t hold back laughter. What are they going to do in Crusader III? Strip the visuals of distinctiveness even more? Simplify the economy further? Remove some more units? [Dec 2014, p.81]

Forge left me with mixed feelings. It has considerable potential but until developers fulfill their promises players will have to deal with an unfinished product. [CD-Action 02/2013, p.59]

Most of the puzzles were well-designed and I appreciated the chance to put my problem-solving skills and spatial awareness to the test, but the game is insolently short. I finished the campaign in approximately two hours, but it can be done much faster even without skipping the cut-scenes. [11/2020, p.54]

I liked the economic campaign but the historical one is not as good. The AI is awful, the redesigned popularity system promotes building the same structures over and over, the missions are not varied enough, and the game lacks atmosphere, because the whole oriental setting is pretty much just a skin for the original Stronghold. All in all, it’s an enjoyable game but there’s a lot of room for improvement. [05/2021, p.32]

People who gave us the excellent Slender: The Eight Pages suddenly ceased to understand what makes a good horror. [CD-Action 06/2013, p.69]

The style of poorly executed visuals is in discord with the atmosphere that Pendulo Studios tried to create. Yesterday is also too easy and generally just not worth spending 4 hours with it. [May 2012, p.78]

Remember Me is high quality from beginning to the credits. The developers managed to squeeze out much more than one could expect from the simple formula. The fact that the game was done by the French aided by the Japanese shows even in the main menu – it’s obvious that the artistic side of the project was very important. [CD-Action 07/2013, p.74]

One of the best stories among indie games of recent years. [10/2015, p.60]

Although Never Yield is a fun auto-runner with a great soundtrack and a valuable message (it gracefully brings up the subject of racism without being pushy), it feels like a short experiment rather than a full-fledged game. [07/2021, p.61]

Boring and lazily made, Phantom Fury desperately tries to be an homage to FPS games of the second half of the 90s but in reality is only a faded copy of them. You can find shooters that are much better in every respect, so don’t waste your life on this one.

Ash of Gods is the best Banner Saga since The Banner Saga. The problem is that its developers hung on to the standards set by Stoic a bit too tight. [05/2018, p.40]

The “medieval Slavic GTA” (inspired by the early GTA games, mind you, not the 3D ones) is crude but also fun, unpretentious and full of positive energy. Chock-full of jokes, easter eggs and pop culture references, Rustler is never serious. If you enjoy such titles and are willing to accept the game’s intentionally old-fashioned formula, you could consider giving it a chance. [11/2021, p.70]

Torchlight III makes no attempt at all to introduce anything new to the genre and this lack of originality is disappointing after 8 years of waiting. It’s quite easy to point out a couple of other flaws (e.g. the shallow story), but I chose not to dwell on them, because the game delivered exactly what I expected from it – around 20 hours of enjoyable hacking and slashing that doesn’t engage the mind too much. [13/2020, p.32]

Hitting the nostalgia notes is not enough to enamour the masses. [March 2012, p.68]

In theory it’s a relaxing experience, but before you start relaxing, you need to learn to live with InnerSpace’s quite a few problems. [03/2018, p.60]

Those who played Life Is Strange will surely feel similar vibes in Dontnod’s latest release. However, this game has even more sluggish pace and although I enjoyed reconstructing events in the mind palace, I was annoyed with the fact that I had to find every single piece of a puzzle even if the solution was already obvious. The story is decent, but some of its potential was wasted and the characters are not as well-written as in Dontnod’s previous games. [02/2021, p.32]

Maize is more memorable than your usual Dear Esther clone. I imagine the developers thinking: “We’re unable to make something outstanding with our budget, so let’s at least make something funny”. And they did. [02/2017, p.48]

Usually I’m not into artsy little indie games, but I was ready to fall in love with Feist. Unfortunately it didn’t want to love me back. Its difficulty level turned tension that I welcomed in the beginning of the adventure into frustration that prevented me from enjoying this beautiful, atmospheric game as much as I hoped to. [10/2015, p.53]

Call of Duty series is undergoing a serious crisis, and the new installment of Black Ops, instead of helping it get out of trouble, only exacerbates existing problems and adds many new ones.

The game itself is wonderful, still one of the best PC titles, but the HD Edition is very disappointing. Redrawing the game in higher resolution is not enough, especially that expansions are not included and program’s stability leaves much to be desired. [03/2014, p.60]

A lot of Modern Warfare, a bit of Bioshock 2 and a pinch of Team Fortress 2. It's a pity that Impostors does not share Battlefield Heroes' business model – free download and microtransactions. [June 2012, p.65]

Simplifications in London 2012 are painful (especially if you saw other similar games) and playing it alone is pretty much pointless. [September 2012, p.74]

Triskell Interactive tries to answer what would happen if Anno’s developers decided to go steampunk and do the next installment of their series in hand drawn 2D. The first impression of Lethis is good but the game unveils everything it has to offer too quickly and lacks variety. Still it’s a pretty successful debut that definitely stands out among other indie games. [09/2015, p.54]

It’s the best runner I’ve ever played. Its only notable flaw are fps drops on some levels. [03/2017, p.69]

I’ve been waiting for a good action game with mechs for quite a while and WTF did not reward my patience. It’s a simple, low budget game lacking in every single aspect and dated in terms of execution. [10/2018, p.51]

The gameplay features are so modest that you know everything you will be doing in the game just 15 minutes in. [02/2020, p.56]

No More Heroes plays with conventions and puts you on a crazy roller coaster with no safety features. Just like every Grasshopper Manufacture’s game, it’s charmingly absurd, but sadly fails in many gameplay aspects. [09/2021, p.32]

Not only Codemasters finally managed to release the game in the first half of the F1 season, and not when it ends, but the game itself has such a good driving model and is so fluent that it blows previous console editions out of the water. On the other hand, unfortunately, F1 2015’s content is very modest, with lack of a career mode being the biggest letdown. [09/2015, p.62]

There were moments when I really enjoyed the game. I especially liked the animal cast and the creative way in which the developers play with the detective story genre. [01/2020, p.50]

Almost half of the teams are unlicensed (including Ukraine – Euro 2012 co-host!), the game lacks atmosphere and real excitement and the new single player Expedition mode feels forced and would work better with clubs in normal FIFA 12. A big disappointment, especially at this price. [June 2012, p.52]

Most of the time the gameplay is irritating, sometimes it just makes you mad. And it’s a shame because the developers do try to take the sport quite seriously with all the different authentic game mechanics. [03/2020, p.59]

I fully recommend Orwell’s Animal Farm as a great way to familiarize oneself with the timeless novella. It lacks a lot as a game though, because the adaptation is completely faithful and therefore restricts the player’s freedom heavily. [02/2021, p.47]

The developer behind PUBG tried its hand at a cross between a shooter and Commandos. The result is… weird. The single-player mode is undercooked and annoying, mainly (but not only) because of the terrible AI. In co-op, where you don’t have to babysit your dumb comrades in arms, you can experience Thunder Tier One’s much better side, as it becomes really enjoyable.

If you treat yourself to the PvE campaign – especially in co-op mode – in small portions, it's a good recipe for a couple of relaxing game sessions. In the beginning at least, because over time watching the experience bar grow simply gets boring. [June 2011, p. 62]

As a Suda51’s game Black Knight Sword had to be odd. The problem is that its weirdness feels forced and the gameplay itself is very simple. [CD-Action 02/2013, p.49]

The Germans took a step back and reintroduced more of the distinctive atmosphere of the Gothic series and the first Risen, which is a huge advantage for me. The world is so vivid and lively that it really makes you want to be there and see as much of the vast content as possible. It’s a shame that the game’s engine is visibly aging and the story lacks the punch. [10/2014, p.48]

A decent, quite complex city builder that would benefit from more variety, larger scale and losing some unnecessary mechanics. [10/2017, p.56]

Antigraviator is as fast as a Wipeout clone should be, but it’s not enough to make it a great game. It simply doesn’t offer enough content to keep you interested for more than a couple hours. [08/2018, p.72]

While Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is a decent introduction to the world of Eiyuden Chronicle, it fails to use its full potential. More complex combat and varied side quests would have made it a much better experience.

This is not a product for a typical gamer and has plenty of shortcomings but it does fit lazy afternoons pretty well. But on the other hand so does blowing into ocarina… [1/2013, p.74]

Its only distinguishing feature is the story which is unusual for this genre, but also naive and full of ridiculous missions. [September 2012, p.74]

One of those games that you can play, but you don’t miss anything if you ignore it. [01/2014, p.65]

While listening to panicked screams of our soldiers, profanities, demands for support and evacuation or reports about casualties, we can really get the feeling of sitting right in the middle of the war chaos. And also – the crushing feeling of being unable to help. [12/2019, p.82]

In theory a lot has changed in the latest Dynasty Warriors (open world being the most notable addition) but in reality it’s the same game. It can be really enjoyable and at times impressive in terms of scale, but I got bored with it quite quickly. [04/2018, p.72]

In terms of gameplay, Space Assault has nothing in common with the solid 2016 futuristic racer Redout. It’s a rough port of a heavily automated, primitive on-rails shooter developed originally for iOS and disappointing even as a simple mobile game. [03/2021, p.55]

Kids might enjoy this game, especially the fact that the developers made an effort to preserve the movie's atmosphere. Gamers will not find anything worthy in Cars 2 though. [August 2011, p.63]

Jet Kave Adveture is a fun, vibrant, varied platformer that brings to mind animated movies. It is also easy and its cartoon violence is very mild, which makes it great for young players. Seasoned gamers may find it not challenging enough, but still Jet Kave Adventure made me realize how much I miss such titles on PC. [03/2021, p.48]

Creative Assembly was searching for their own formula for a slasher but kinda got lost along the way. Viking can be fun but calling it a 'Nordic God of War' would be an exaggeration. [CD-Action 13/2012, p.50]

Way of the Hunter is an engaging hunting game. You’ll skulk around the bushes, experience some breathtaking views and unfortunately step not only in animal feces but also in a couple of bugs and simplifications. It’s obviously not a game for everyone, but it’s plenty satisfying and might devour a lot of your free time.

Frogwares proved with The Devil’s Daughter that they understand neither Sherlock Holmes nor adventure games and the logic of detective novels. I say we unleash the hound of the Baskervilles on them. [08/2016, p.63]

There’s a decent game in there somewhere, but it’s hard to notice it under all those bugs and shortcomings. [06/2015, p.75]

If the developers keep their promise to constantly expand this Diablo-like action RPG, it will stay on my iPad for long. [12/2015, p.72]

Apart from the great Starfighter Assault mode Battlefront II is a mess of conflicting ideas, uneven mechanics and of course questionable monetization practices. DICE is facing long months of salvaging the game and the studio’s good name. [01/2018, p.32]

Released 16 years after The Guild 2, the third entry in the series disappoints. Dated graphics, simplified gameplay, unintuitive interface and various other flaws greatly diminish its substantial potential. The Guild 3 spent six years in Early Access and judging by its state, it should have spent there an additional year or two.

As of now the game is crawling with bugs but developers eradicate them very ably. There’s something charming in Defiance and I will keep playing it. [CD-Action 06/2013, p.72]

It captivates you for an hour using the element of surprise. When you shake off the hefty dose of absurdity, you quickly become bored as the gameplay is uninteresting and looks like a bunch of random (and often nonsensical) ideas crammed into one game by force. [June 2011, p.79]

Freedom of exploration, complex ecosystem and breathtaking visuals result in an unbelievably strong sense of communing with nature, but horrible UI, some design flaws and common glitches undermine theHunter’s value. Nonetheless it’s a unique game worth checking out. [04/2017, p.52]

Shadow of the Beast has the atmosphere and raw beauty of an alien, hostile world going for it, but other than that the game is simply boring. [07/2016, p.61]

A beautiful, well animated visual novel that fails at everything that could really make it stand out from the crowd. [08/2015, p.75]

A girl the size of an insect searching for her father’s bug-like mech in a forest where nature meets sci-fi is a great concept that makes Stonefly worth checking out. Too bad the developers’ creativity ends pretty much right there. While the game is a clever mix of genres and offers an original twist on hack’n’slash combat, it does next to nothing to evolve the gameplay or the story, so sooner or later monotony will set in. [08/2021, p.70]

Controls are not as superb as in Trials Evolution, physics engine not as perfectly precise and the challenges not as insanely over the top. That’s why Urban Trial Freestyle is a rival for Joe Danger rather than Trials Evolution. [CD-Action 06/2013, p.75]

The flight model is Microsoft Flight's biggest advantage, as the game is very enjoyable regardless of whether you're a newbie using a mouse for a controller, or a simulation maniac. A promising start to what might evolve into something big. [May 2012, p.73]

The problems of this game are rooted deep within and were caused by the developers’ self-admiration, their overambitiousness and poor sense of the whole medium. [03/2019, p.53]

When I look at this game it reminds me of the humorous Diablo 3 logo. The one with the sun, rainbow, clouds and unicorns. It's this game! Having in mind that it wasn't designed for hardcore gamers, I can let some of the boredom resulting from the combat system's simplicity slide. But only some. [August 2011, p.70]

Achieving success in Farming Simulator 15 comes down to repeating a couple of actions mindlessly and pertinaciously. [13/2014, p.53]

A reasonable driving model and more attention to details would be enough to make this game significantly better. It seems that at some point the developers ran out of time and as a result the new Need for Speed is decent at best. [December 2011, p.70]

WWE 2K18’s price gives you the right to expect a triple AAA product, but instead you get a shabby game that looks like it was thrown together hastily and as cheaply as possible. [13/2017, p.61]

Although lack of experience and some unexpected clichés can be painful, The Silver Case is like a debut punk rock album that was way ahead of its time. [13/2016, p.63]

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.

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.