I can recommend this game as a good introduction to the genre for those who would like to start their first virtual career as a football club boss, but it's still not much of a competitor for the Football Manager series. [December 2011, p.54]

The low budget feel is limited to visuals and audio – the rest of the game is a really solid rally racing experience. [December 2011, p.52]

The game is absorbing but lacks in many aspects – it seems that Kylotonn focused on the combat system and forgot about everything else. [December 2011, p.50]

I expected a game made with passion, polished in every detail, something that will set the direction for others for the coming years and threaten Call of Duty's hegemony. Battlefield 3 turned out to be just a very good shooter – and that is simply not enough considering all the promises EA made. [December 2011, p.44]

Modern Warfare 3 deserves a 10/10 in a 'Call of Duty game' category, but we already know all its tricks, strengths and weaknesses. Some of the series' elements were successfully recreated in other titles but none has gathered them all on one disc yet – and this is why MW3 still wins. [December 2011, p.38]

Unpretentious and very enjoyable game of rolling a drop of mercury through increasingly complex levels. [November 2011, p.83]

The best thing in the space shooters genre, or – to be precise – the 'bullet hell' subgenre. [November 2011, p.83]

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]

As all of us I would like games to be ambitious, unconventional, surprising and thought inspiring. But sometimes I just want to blow stuff up and this intense, good looking traditional twin stick shooter satisfies this need perfectly. [November 2011, p.82]

To use its whole potential you have to dig deep into your pockets to unlock premium content. The only thing left for the fans of the series is to hope for Age of Empires IV. [November 2011, p.80]

For many developers creating a new edition of last year's best sports game would be an overwhelming task. But not for the guys behind NBA 2K12, who coped with it brilliantly. [November 2011, p.78]

This game offers nothing that could justify spending money on it. [November 2011, p.76]

Put away Dragon Age, forget about Risen, let The Witcher be and don't wait for Skyrim. The feelings of fear and suspense that accompany you when you enter a new chamber in Dark Souls' castle cannot be described. You must experience it for yourself. And then suddenly die, of course. [November 2011, p.72]

It's a pity that a game with such phenomenal and unusual visuals has such simple game mechanics, being a simple slasher that uses just one attack button and offers a limited array of enemies. [November 2011, p.70]

Sports Interactive did not rest on their laurels and came up with a lot of new ideas. Unfortunately not all of those ideas were great and some of the changes feel forced. [November 2011, p.68]

It's a strange blend. On one hand it has a lot of bugs and a very complicated gameplay. The visuals are crude too. On the other hand it offers great atmosphere and attention to details that maniacs will appreciate. [November 2011, p.66]

You must keep in mind that this is not 'good old Ace Combat' any more. Too much chaos, scripted events and jumping between fighters, bombers and choppers but... it does have a certain charm. [November 2011, p.64]

PES 2012 fails to shift the balance – even if it's the best Pro Evolution Soccer to date it's still far behind the FIFA series. What PES desperately needs is a deep change. [November 2011, p.62]

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]

Off-Road Drive is enjoyable thanks to its physics engine and high quality graphics provided by Unreal Engine. Unfortunately the career is short and the game was unable to find any multiplayer servers. [November 2011, p.59]

Weak fighting system, sluggish controls, laughable stories and general lack of thrill make it a major disappointment. If you're a fan of MMA, buy EA Sports MMA or UFC Undisputed, because the only thing that can be fun in Supremacy MMA is its brutality (and this effect wears off quickly). [November 2011, p.58]

The Robot Entertainment crew didn't try to create anything original here but managed to combine the tried and true elements surprisingly well. [November 2011, p.57]

As an attempt to create an old school game Might & Magic Heroes VI did not sweep me off my feet. It tries to bring back the old days and sometimes it does succeed but I couldn't shake off the feeling that I'm spending too much time with it and getting not enough fun in return. [November 2011, p.52]

It seems id Software is still living in its golden days and failed to notice that times have changed since Doom and Quake. Rage is just a decent, linear, old school shooter combined awkwardly with an arcade racing game. The world is only 'kinda openish' and the story must have been written by the coders while they were compiling the alpha version. The game looks great though – if you're lucky enough to have the it run smoothly and without technical issues that haunt the PC version. [November 2011, p.46]

The only thing this brilliant game lacks is the ability to race at night or in the rain. Apart from that it offers almost everything – trying out hundreds of detailed cars on numerous beautiful tracks I felt like a kid in a candy store. [November 2011, p.44]

Arkham City is a wonderful game that we expected it to be but regrettably despite all the enhancements it introduces it is not clearly better than Arkham Asylum. [November 2011, p.36]

Makes a very bad first impression with its horrible visuals. The gameplay mechanics are rather shallow. I've got prettier, more complex and cheaper games on my iPod touch. [October, p.80]

A solid game that ticks off everything on the things-you-need-to-have-in-a-twin-stick-shooter list. Doesn't stand out from the crowd though. [October, p.80]

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]

The N64 classic looks good with revamped visuals and stereoscopic 3D but the only substantial addition is the multiplayer mode – one cartridge is enough to play with 3 of your friends. [October, p.78]

I thoroughly enjoyed playing through Ghost of Sparta for the second time and Chains of Olympus for the third time, in Full HD for a change. A must-have for all Kratos fans and for action games fans in general. [October, p.78]

This cleverly designed game works great as a supplement to a diet consisting of blockbusters titles. [October, p.77]

A real treasure that requires constant focus and more tactical approach to fighting – button mashing will get you nowhere. Offers fantastic retro visuals and online mode that works great. Third Strike gave me as much fun as Mortal Kombat or Super Street Fighter IV – not bad for a 1200 MSP remake of a 12 years old title. [October, p.76]

It seems NHL 12 and FIFA 12 teams were sharing ideas, as the hockey game also boasts of tweaked defending and a new physics engine that works good usually but not always. In general there are a lot of enhancements but the game plays more or less the same as the last year's edition. [October, p.74]

The game is repetitive but its ingenious absurd humor can keep you in front of the screen. [October, p.73]

A polished, pretty and enjoyable game that could benefit from more content – 5 courses (plus their mirrored versions) is just not enough to fill the single player campaign, so you get the impression that you're doing same things over and over again. [October, p.72]

The development team failed to turn Stuart Black's concept into a complete, rich, deep experience that could offer anything apart from bare frantic shootouts. What's worse, Bodycount suffers from split personality disorder – on one hand it lets you wreak impressive havoc and on the other tries to hold you back with a skillshots system that requires precision. The game also recycles a couple of sceneries, the story is nonexistent and the multiplayer mode is very modest. [October, p.70]

It brings back memories of Painkiller and Serious Sam – again and again you get drowned in enemies. From time to time Hard Reset will beat the hell out of you but it does it in a quite pleasant way and graphics are very nice. The game has two substantial flaws – the single player campaign is short (ca. 6 hours) and there is no multiplayer mode. [October, p.66]

The game's real resolution seems lower than 720p but still cars are very detailed and the dynamic weather system is unrivalled. Overall, Codemasters did well to improve on F1 2010 but there still are some minor issues to be dealt with. [October, p.64]

After the first hour I really wanted to hate this game, because it hated me and did not teach me how to play. Don't confuse high difficulty level with realism though as the latter is sometimes questionable. After all I gave Men of War: Vietnam a second chance and it returned the favor with a couple of satisfying moments. Only Men of War fans prepared to be driven into the ground by enemy forces should play this. [October, p.62]

There are not many games out there that make drifting so enjoyable. But bear in mind that Trackmania may throw you off if you're a fan of traditional racing games. It's also a pity that the puzzles from the previous game in the series are now gone. [October, p.60]

It's worth to take a look at this title and its unique art direction. Unfortunately it quickly becomes clear that Rock of Ages' rules are too simple to provide a deep enough gameplay. [October, p.59]

A boring, repetitive and generic action game that's just a shadow of what I believe it should have been. I can recommend it only to Warhammer 40,000 maniacs. [October, p.56]

The single player campaign is a thrilling ride through incredibly varied locations. I would rate it 8/10 but the multiplayer unquestionably deserves 10/10 – I can't think of any way to improve it. Especially the Horde 2.0 and Beast modes are terrific. Visuals are fantastic too – one glance is enough to notice the improvements in the Unreal Engine. As a whole Gears of War 3 is an outstanding, platform defining game. [October, p.52]

Two main new features – tactical defending and physics engine – are a bit disappointing for me. The direction itself was right but the execution leaves room for improvement in FIFA 13. It's still a great game though with a lot of minor enhancements and additions. [October, p.48]

Resistance 3 failed to outmatch its main competitor – the Killzone series – but still is a great game. It's got a tangible atmosphere of threat, a personal story that does not drip with cheap pomposity, a set of 12 fantastic upgradeable weapons that are fun to use and very good visuals (if you don't look at textures up-close). Boss battles are somewhat disappointing though and enemy AI leaves much to be desired. There's also nothing groundbreaking here but good old FPS standards were put together brilliantly. [October, p.44]

The latest Tropico's sole problem is the fact that the visuals are not very different from the previous game in the series. Other than that it's an immensely absorbing title and the built-in editor along with the ability to share user created scenarios will guarantee its longevity. [October, p.42]

This game would benefit from one more year of development to iron out some shortcomings but its essence – slaughtering zombies with customized weapons in close combat – is almost perfect. The 'just one more quest' syndrome is here along with fantastic, detailed environments and enjoyable 2-4 players co-op. May the sequel be even better! [October, p.34]

A rhythm game that would not work on any other platform but is simply great on a smartphone. Inventive graphics changing music into vectors and some awesome ideas make Groove Coaster a worthy purchase. [Sept 2011, p.76]

A little better than the first Shift for iOS – new tracks, new cars, very similar visuals and a bit more fun. [September 2011, p.76]

The War of the Lions is definitely not worth eight times the price of an average iOS game you have to pay for it. Despite two years of development it's no more than a crude port of the PSP version. [Sept 2011, p.76]

Every level of this platform game brings a new challenge and a new surprise and that results in an extremely high playability. [September 2011, p.75]

A tower defense type of game with some action elements – it allows you to actively participate in battles as a unit of your choice. Works best in multiplayer. Fun! [September 2011, p.75]

Fuelcell Games managed to create a really memorable game. Planet's tunnels are varied and surprise you with something weird all the time. Exploring this world is the most important aspect of the whole experience. Shooting constitutes for about 1/3 of the gameplay, leaving a lot of room for thinking and coming up with the ways to progress further. [Sept 2011, p.75]

When it comes to core gameplay Bastion is rather simple and does not offer anything really new. But it shines in the story department or rather in the way this story is being told. Narrator's voice accompanies you in every step of the way adding to a wonderful atmosphere of Bastion. [September 2011, p.74]

You can't come up with an idea for an interesting, varied gameplay, your budget is very limited and your breathtaking script is being digested by a dog? Don't worry – just make another mediocre zombie game and publish it on Steam. Someone will buy it. [September 2011, p.73]

There are some fun hidden object games out there but Vampire Saga: Welcome to Hell Lock is not one of them. It makes you return to the locations you've already explored (sometimes even look for the objects you've already found there!) and listen to a single music track for over 4 hours. [Sept 2011, p.72]

Patrician IV combined with the add-on is one of the best economic strategies I encountered during the last couple of years. Those of you who are into such games will have a lot of fun with it and probably will be able to let obsolete graphics slide. [September 2011, p.71]

It seems that the vision of a perfect, expansive game merging features of an FPS and a nonlinear RPG just outgrew the capabilities of a small studio. To start the adventure you'll first have to face one of the most inconvenient and ugly user interfaces I've ever seen. Then you have to create a character without a decent explanation of the game's RPG system, so you can end up with one that doesn't suite the playing style that E.Y.E quickly forces you to adopt. You can easily lose track of the story because the game fails to present it properly. Shooting works fine but the enemy AI sadly doesn't and Source engine delivers outdated visuals. [Sept 2011, p.70]

We waited a whole year for the PC and PS3 versions of Limbo, but it was worth it – it's a pearl one in a million. Games like this just don't age. [September 2011, p.69]

Intriguing visuals, great music and an interesting concept. Unfortunately Trauma is too short for its price and shallow – no matter how hard I tried, I was unable to see any deeper meaning to this story. [Sept 2011, p.68]

At first I planned to turn my whole review into a vivid description of all the bugs that Gods & Heroes charmed me with, like holes in textures, missing descriptions on the map, misguiding signposts, running through lava rivers unharmed, fighting hand to hand against an owl that was floating 30 feet above the ground or chasing a snake that managed to climb on top of some shed. What's even worse, God & Heroes looks awful. It should have never been dug up and resurrected by Heatwave Interactive – it reeks and its jerks poorly imitate life. [September 2011, p.66]

It spawns enemies behind your back, fails to improve lame AI and contains a range of bugs (e.g. enemies hitting you through a closed gate). BioWare failed to convince me that they are capable of learning from their mistakes. [Sept 2011, p.65]

Sometimes it was hard for me to shake the feeling that I'm playing a new rendition of the Destruction Derby series. Driving experience is good, but most of the story missions are boring and require you to crash into other cars after using the Shift feature to 'possess' some unfortunate random driver. Additional challenges that the city offers (e.g. races) also quickly become tiring. Music is good though and multiplayer is well designed. [Sept 2011, p.62]

The story is not only engrossing but also adapts to your actions (e.g killing an important NPC) and lets you make decisions that really do influence the future. The game is nonlinear – every problem has a couple of possible solutions (including violence and stealth), some of which were prepared by the designers while other result from your own creativity. This freedom is the game's greatest strength, but not the only one – dialogues are excellent along with the character development system and the visuals are very nice. Human Revolution is not perfect though – it could benefit from a more modern approach to some elements and more spacious hub areas. It's as good as the first Deus Ex but could have been even better! [Sept 2011, p.54]

They say size isn't important but clearly 9mm is not enough. A major failure by Gameloft – the game is mediocre at best and laughable at worst. [August 2011, p.74]

Assassin's Creed meets Grand Theft Auto in the world of Pirates of the Caribbean and tells the story with Uncharted's flair. No, it's too good to be true. Simple gameplay mechanics, plain character models with lifeless faces, weak voice acting, faulty camera and bugs make BackStab a disappointment. [August 2011, p.74]

This fitness game will teach you humility in a couple of minutes and prove that in terms of shape you're not very different from your grandpa. Unfortunately UFC Personal Trainer is not so personal – coaches don't notice and can't correct your mistakes and their vocabulary is very scarce so some of their comments are nonsensical. And there's too little game in this game so you have to find motivation to practise all by yourself. [August 2011, p.73]

Punches, kicks, blocks and dodges in front of the Kinect translate surprisingly well to Po's movements. Loading times between these 1 on 1 fights are very long though. [August 2011, p.73]

Fantastic Pets is similar to Kinectimals but allows you to create your own pets by choosing body parts (legs, wings, tails etc.). In addition you can see them running around your room, but these Augmented Reality elements are rather weak as the real world appears very dark on screen. Still I can see a big group of 3-, 5- or 7-year-olds that will enjoy this game. [August 2011, p.73]

As consoles lack really good strategy games, their users have to resort to half-measures – and 'half-measure' is a word that illustrates Under Siege perfectly. [August 2011, p.72]

A platformer with a distinct graphic style. Gameplay-wise it resembles Sonic as the character can accelerate to great speeds. Real fun starts in multiplayer mode. [August 2011, p.72]

Unfortunately the only thing that differentiates Kill Team from other twin-stick shooters is the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The game is very short and you can find fault in its every element. [August 2011, p.72]

I tried to criticize this game for something but it really does age like a good wine and today tastes even better than in 1998. In most cases digging up the gaming past leads to disappointment but this time I was having a blast. [August 2011, p.71]

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]

As a sandbox game No More Heroes is extremely bad – the city is ugly, repetitive and almost completely empty. Those who dig the Japanese craziness will appreciate the game's biggest treasure – its atmosphere and absolute unpredictability. First you save your progress in a toilet, a moment later you run around with a lawnmower doing a side quest, then you agree to assassinate a corporate boss and at last you listen to the protagonist's philosophical monologue about the meaning of life. [August 2011, p.69]

It's been a long time since any triple A title gave me as much fun as this humble indie game did. It will keep you entertained not for hours or days but for long weeks. It's worth every penny. [August 2011, p.68]

Cartoony graphics contrast with a mature story that deals with a serious subject of climate changes caused by human carelessness and is devoid of humor. Instead of puns and wordplays we get well written, intriguing dialogues between believable characters with vivid personalities. [August 2011, p.66]

Its action is more intense than Charlie Sheen's weekend – and this is Jamestown's biggest strength. If words 'Contra' and 'Metal Slug' send shivers down your spine – buy it! [August 2011, p.64]

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]

Although it's just a movie tie-in with noticeable budget limitations, it's solid, especially in the combat department. I was surprised by Super Soldier's rich combat system obviously inspired by Batman: Arkham Asylum. It can offer a couple of hours of mindless but decent entertainment. [August 2011, p.62]

Battle for Hogwarts is the most game-suitable fragment in the whole Harry Potter saga. Unfortunately Electronic Arts' vision is bland and uninspired. There's no feel of grandiosity and significance whatsoever. Just like in the predecessor the gameplay was boiled down to ducking behind covers and zapping enemies with spells. The saga is over. We can only regret the style. [August 2011, p.60]

From Dust is hugely satisfying and might herald the revival of the almost forgotten god games. It's a damn intelligent game and Eric Chahi did not forget how to build an extraordinary atmosphere of another world. [August 2011, p.59]

Slow pace wouldn't have to be a drawback if it wasn't for sparse checkpoints. In case of suffering defeat just an inch from one you just don't want to waste your time on trudging across the same area. [August 2011, p.58]

Nightmares turn to reality. People start dying. Mainly of boredom. Sluggish story is Alpha Polaris' biggest drawback – you can fall asleep in front of the screen before things start to get interesting. Some ideas (like the possibility of solving some puzzles with a couple different objects) deserve acknowledgement but it's not enough when everything else is lame. [August 2011, p.57]

Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 is – just like its predecessor – just an introduction to the world of Magic: The Gathering. For instance, it does not let you create your own deck from scratch. But what it does offer is enough for many long evenings and I can recommend it not only to the CCG fans, but also to everyone who's keen to see what's it all about. [August 2011, p.55]

The first F.E.A.R. was scary and good. The second one was scary-ish and good-ish. The third one is... well, indistinct. F.E.A.R. 3 is a generic shooter devoid of atmosphere, built correctly step by step but lacking any quality that could prevent you from forgetting this game. [August 2011, p.52]

Puzzle Agent 2 combines brilliant story and clever puzzles – and that's the Holy Grail of adventure games. It does, however, recycle some of the challenges from its predecessor. [August 2011, p.50]

The story is decent but lacks a spark. Supporting characters and dialogue are flimsy and uninspired. Shooting is solid – especially the slow-mo moments – but that pretty much exhausts the topic of the core gameplay elements. I have to admit though dual wielding is fun. There are a couple of car chases that were supposed to raise your adrenaline level but their execution is poor. And there are bugs and run-of-the-mill graphics that add to the smell of low budget that hangs over The Cartel. I hope Call of Juarez 4 returns to the Wild West, because it seems that's where Techland feels much more confident. [August 2011, p.42]

What makes Capsized a challenge is the planet's fauna. Developer's creativity in that department is really impressive and combat is difficult but rewarding: well balanced, fast, based on instinctive responses. The score would have been higher if it weren't for half-baked additional game modes but low price and a really good campaign let you easily overlook that flaw. [July 2011, p.82]

The Tiny Bang Story is something between a traditional point'n'click and a 'hidden object' type of game. It's biggest flaw is its length. It can be completed in 2 hours and although every puzzle enthusiast will find this time enjoyable, you have to decide whether such a short adventure is worth your buck. [July 2011, p.81]

A grotesque game that makes you run around in circles in three small areas filled with endlessly respawning enemies and proofs of developer's incompetence. Daggerdale is dumb, tiresome and extremely bugged. [July 2011, p.80]

Given the amount of puzzles tied to light and darkness I would risk a statement that has the Shadows of the Damned been developed using the fantastic Alan Wake's engine, it would be outstanding. What other game offers you gross visions of hell flavored with crude humor? Where else can you find a horse pooping spheres of darkness? Or an infernal lord called Fleming? [July 2011, p.78]

Gloomy atmosphere was achieved with a well written story, sedulously drawn backgrounds and great audio. It's also a satisfying finale of the trilogy. Over 10 hours offered by this game is a time well spent. [July 2011, p.76]

All the fights against generic enemies look the same and get boring even faster than the shallow plot and repetitive quests. If you're looking for sleeping pills that also induce nausea I can recommend Faery. [July 2011, p.75]

The freedom to move around the city and the ability to use powers that everyone would like to have as a superhero are this game's undeniable pros. It does not overwhelm you with activities though so those who enjoyed training assassins and renovating shops in Renaissance Rome will probably be disappointed. [July 2011, p.72]

Your choice of the character (Caddoc, a warrior, or E'lara, a ranged weapon specialist) determines whether Hunted turns out to be a generic hack'n'slash or a quite decent fantasy themed shooter. I was surprised how much I enjoyed scoring headshots with a bow. [July 2011, p.70]

Order & Chaos Online is not yet perfect but in its current form is already a mature MMORPG not very different from what World of Warcraft had to offer on the day it came out. Which is even a bit scary considering that consoles are still waiting for a game like this and on PCs Blizzard's masterpiece doesn't have a really worthy competition. [July 2011, p.69]