Being quite simple and with a short learning curve, it's mainly focused on players who are new to the strategy genre. Micromanagement can scare off a fresh gamer, but it can really make the difference when it comes to hardcore strategy fans.

If you are a true strategy fan you probably wouldn't want to miss this one, as it is by no means a bad game, only a mediocre one.

With many games supporting widescreen out there, it’s a shame that EA’s games still ignore it.

Surely the strategists among you will be pleased with the new content, but those who expected more from this expansion have every reason to be unsatisfied.

Since we’re in need of good games right now, I’d rather be playing an original episodic game than one of the sequels flooding the market these days.

It looks well, it moves well, the sound is good, but there are edges to be polished before it can become a serious online phenomenon.

Fable III proves to be a pretty unstable mix, with good visual value, but an excessive simplification of the gameplay. You might get to finish it once and then go on with any remaining secondary missions. Still, there's no life after that; the fights are boring, enemies stupid and the story too thin.

Battlestations: Pacific is a “light” title in all respects, but if you enjoy air and sea battles and would like an eye-candy icing, you will be fully satisfied. There is little else than that, however, and while the Island Capture mode does offer some interesting strategic features, I wouldn’t really recommend the campaigns, unless you enjoy being a simple crosshair on the screen.

In the end, I can’t really tell what was Bohemia Interactive thinking when it released this game. What were they after? Was it financial success? It’s hard for me to believe that they actually thought that such an unpolished game would enjoy any kind of success.

Political Machine has a major flaw, its low replay value, as each game varies very little, and aside the "unlockable" content, there are few reasons to play single-player.

But just as its predecessor, it remains a game sentenced to struggle on the line between interaction and presentation, a space where compromises must be made by at least one of the sides, with the game proper still taking the larger hit. Because when it comes to its interaction degree, Alan Wake really doesn't have much more than a flashlight, a gun and, occasionally, a flashbang.

So, what’s left? A decent game, annoying at times, a bit buggy, fun in multiplayer and boring in single-player, pretty to look at, which justifies the money you’ll need to pay for it only if you’re very bored, or you have nothing else to play, or maybe you’ve quit World of Warcraft, or maybe you need a gift… but overall, there are better shooters out there.

Considering the official announcement for Dawn of War 2, Soulstorm can be considered the epilogue for this Warhammer 40.000 generation, and I can’t escape the feeling that the producers wanted to squeeze the last cents with minimum efforts, especially because it's only a half stand-alone expansion which only allows the two new races to be played online, the earlier version being required if you want to play all factions.

If Grand Ages: Rome had been a real time strategy, it would have had a lot more value. But, seeing as it lacks the adrenaline, we are left yearning for details, for culturally and historically correct references, or for the magic of ancient lives.

Actually, Bugbear missed pretty much all its marks: destroying opponents isn't as fun as the Burnout takedowns; ruining the city has nothing of the adrenaline and the real danger and satisfaction from Split/Second; drifting is one more stress factor and the decision to dominate races is motivated by the points and not by the thrill of the competition. So while this mix is theoretically perfect, in reality it's just not good enough for you to spend too much time in Shutter Bay.

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix bears on its shoulders the burden of the glorious past created by its older brother and I’m sure that if it had been the first born, it would have been much better received.

As it stands, Champions Online is not meant for the elitist MMO player, who craves for a lot of sudden changes of situation and coherent universes, but rather for your everyday consumer, who can escape work in the gross quantity of perks (read Achievements), in the mini-series heroes (read Vanity Pets) and in the overall lack of sense. And that, of course, only if their personal computer can handle it. And only if the producers will put a lot of effort into keeping up with the (still) growing community.

Because no matter how you look at it, paying 15 Euros for six single-player missions and two multiplayer maps which can be downloaded for free isn’t much of a bargain. Moreover, Ubisoft already released the Complete Edition of the game, which contains both World in Conflict and Soviet Assault.

The game is full of bugs which will crash the game in certain situations, like being followed by the Police and not taking the exact route during Michael’s escape from the restaurant.

Ultimately, I was impressed by the length and complexity of Ego Draconis, and also by the stubbornness with which the producers wanted to present a high quality title. Indeed, if the game would have been bug-free, had a better voice acting and a more polished interface, it could have been a serious thorn in the back of Dragon Age: Origins.

The simplicity of the trade system, some shortcoming regarding the interface, the lack of variety for missions and solar system design – all these could have been forgiven if Darkstar One would have had multiplayer.

The overall feeling after playing this game is that I spent my time foolishly, rather than being really excited and thinking about the game every day like it happens when I play a good RPG.

So in the post-Call of Duty/Battlefield/Team Fortress 2 world of today, Nuclear Dawn will not have an easy time finding a safe place, not only because of the risk it has taken as a genre combination, but mainly because of the work that the FPS side still needs.

Similarly to Civilization V, combat elements are the most evolved and those of you who favored that particular battle system will get right down to business, helped a lot by the map's visual familiarity. The positioning of units on hexagons allows for attacks from multiple directions and, just like in the eternal source of inspiration, in the lower left you get an approximate report of a fight together with any bonuses given by unit type or terrain type.

On the other hand, Tales of Valor’s main argument for purchase is that it grants access to all the factions in multiplayer, with no need to purchase the previous titles of the series, so those who just want to see what Company of Heroes has to offer in the online mode can consider this an interesting option.

And although the game lacks the visual splendor of "Ground Control 2," or the physics engine of "Soldiers of WW2," it has a lot more problems at launch than these two titles had.

The game's strong points remain the atmosphere and the script, but if you're not willing to compromise when it comes to graphics and game length, you won't be able to enjoy the two things the producers got right.

But the truth of the matter is that I wouldn’t even recommend Mercenaries 2 to the fans of the series. Because the game might ruin the wonderful impression they were left with from the first title.