Ultimately, Endless Space can be a fun experience, even though I disliked the superficial combat mechanics and the skinny tech-tree. Yet the game's biggest problem is the low replay value, with each game being eerily similar to the previous one, which is not a very bright point for a 4x strategy.

It truly deserves applause for the courage to confront us so harshly with our own character, even if our choices sometimes seem forced or useless. But if it could have found another way, less tiresome and monotonous, to let us get to them, it would have had substantial chances to become a classic.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is no exception, and the small unaesthetic or functionality mishaps don't change the basic fact that it's a well-done title, with multiplayer modes that will probably be played long after the campaign credits scroll down your screen.

But yes, I do recommend it to anyone passionate about spatial puzzles that require switching dimensions (and more). Some of its shortcomings, like the platforming sequences, could be regarded as relative, because some people will be better than others at appreciating distances and the moments at which they need to react.

So the bottom line is that, depending on how much you love the franchise, Gods & Kings can be seen as a sum of natural improvements for an add-on or a breath of fresh air for the series as a whole.

The story is interesting and you get lots of reasons to go through it again at least twice or go for headshots in multiplayer.

Far from being a relic of a forgotten era and way more than an ordinary game where you shoot strangers online, it's a very tough test, one in which you need to have your wits with you. Because Tribes: Ascend is the Zen FPS par excellence.

The difference between Diablo III and II isn't as big a leap as the previous iteration, but again, nobody can say it's a surprise. The modern Blizzard plays it a lot „safer" and they've mastered that art. The final product, however, was lighter than I expected and a lot more shallow in points where I'd hoped for more from one of the biggest juggernauts in the videogame industry.

The matter is simple – the game is free to play and, if you take my word for it, an excellent shooter. In a perfect world, it would knock the CoD series on its ass. Of course, in a perfect world its name wouldn't be Blacklight: Retribution and in a perfect world, it would have better ballistics and the graphics would be equally as good on all lanes.

Even so, Rayman: Origins is the best designed, most accessible, vast, gameplay rich and fun platformer that I've played in a very long time. It's nothing short of a Nintendo A-list (which I still think of as the best platforming game developer ever to have graced the market) and could be the beginning of a beautiful series.

And taking into account that dungeon-crawlers were considered dead and buried, Legend of Grimrock does a very good job of reminding new RPG players why the genre was so popular in the Golden Age.

So Wargame: European Escalation isn't revolutionary, but it can hold its own against current strategy games and has a community with a passion for war that goes beyond history books and Discovery documentaries.

Yet as a finished result and, finally, as a product with an interactive purpose, Alan Wake suffers enough from trying to mix so many influences, ending very close to the "you love it or hate it" model. Eventually, maybe these are just the "pains of childbirth" for something more complex or for something else as deserving as interactivity, a new „species" that needs to be judged less for its interactive aspects and more for the ones that regard its style.

The Darkness II is indeed short, but it does achieve part of its goals: a few fun hours for a rainy spring afternoon, with some interesting characters, a dark story and, most of all, two demonic arms always hungry for beating hearts.

Thus, I can't recommend buying this unless you (still) like the fast pace, the customizable weaponry and the short matches, of about 10 minutes each. With the very important mention that, essentially, nothing has changed.

The short duration of the adventure is balanced by the constant number of puzzles and the fact that they had to be designed for solo and co-op play. But the first time you fire up Trine 2, the best way to do it is with patience and taking time to contemplate the scenery.

Ultimately, Revelations leaves behind a bittersweet taste: it's the end of a saga (or two, depending on how you view things) and integrates fairly well in the timeline of the series, but... it's nothing more than a detour that answers a few questions, not an actual step forward.

So that's the story of Mass Effect 3, turned from potential masterpiece into a game sabotaged by greed and the „it's good enough" approach. It's unbelievable how easy BioWare passed over the opportunity for greatness and, despite the sales, I have a feeling that their reputation as great RPG makers is going downhill fast. Especially after this "back to back" performance with the fiasco called Dragon Age II.

It's all a matter of taste, after all. They each provide a certain type of entertainment – when talking about Battlefield 3, it involves a bigger game, more open in its possibilities and more spectacular. But on a longer timeline, less frantic and with fewer Bruce Willis scenes than the mass appeal beast it set itself to dethrone.

Ultimately, whether you like Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning or not depends on what you want from an RPG: a special story and endless hours of reading or spectacular action, tons of items and great hero customization, but at the expense of the narrative.

Though the ending is surprising, in a way, the story isn't the main focus of Batman: Arkham City. Exploring and adventuring come first, you have so much to do that you that the hours just slip by you. Yes, the boss fights are probably too easy, the narrative too short, the framerate goes down on occasion and not all the players will appreciate searching through every nook and cranny to find trophies. But it's all up to you and Arkham City offers a variety that not a lot of new games have nowadays.

Even so, Anno 2070 is one of the best titles released in 2011 and without equal when compared to other games in the genre. The three defining elements of the series (alongside the almost infinite replay value) – urban planning, commercial routes and opponent interaction – are now more complex.

Ultimately, Skyrim is a spectacular game. Huge, full of rewards and things to see, read and do. Still, the "console friendly" approach did leave its mark and the technical problems, coupled with some excessive simplification don't bode well for Bethesda's reputation.

World of Tanks is a nice alternative for anyone who is passionate about armored mayhem, with a good mix of fun and strategy to meet every gamers' expectations. The large number of vehicles, the customizing possibilities and the variety of equipment will please every action and strategy passionate. It all depends on how willing are you to grind your vehicle into the upper Tier, how much can you stand a faulty matchmaking system and disregard the curiosities of Clan Wars, but overall I can only recommend the game as a solid product.

Dungeon Defenders is quite addictive, but after you spend enough time, this attribute dilutes its fun factor, turning what was initially a tactical advance and collaboration effort into a repetitive farm meant to improve your attributes, gear and obtain achievements and mana.

If you've never played Heroes though, the current installment isn't that bad: 50 campaign hours, Hot Seat to keep my friends close, online multiplayer and many customization options. If the bugs are solved and the designers actually listen to the criticism, the next game will gain more favor.

The humor never gets tiresome or done poorly, which, if you're asking me, is pretty rare in the array of overused jokes in the recent mainstream market. Another memorable advantage Orcs Must Die! has is the pretty good replay value, guaranteed by the presence of a score and global ranking tab, aside from the achievements that require finishing the game on Nightmare or getting a five star rating (or skulls, in the game's visual grammar) on each map.

So despite the odds being stacked against it, Eidos Montreal accomplished the impossible and brought us a Deus Ex in the true sense of the word, probably the best one that we could have hoped for considering the current "requirements" for being commercially successful nowadays.