It's the sort of embarrassing piece of schlock nobody needs when there's games like Shovel Knight around.

Divinity: Original Sin is not necessarily better than the classic RPGs it's bowing its head to. It's not even on eye level with some of them. But it's coming at the right time, knowing exactly where it came from and where it wants to go.

You are not Columbo with muscles nor are you Sherlock in a pelt. You're a charismatic version of Chazz Palminteri dropping the coffee mug at the end of The Usual Suspects.

Expressive design like this might get you into the MOMA, but in the end good looks aren't all that matters.

Yet another one of those licensed games no one really needs. It's a shame, really. I actually thought the Transformers games had gone beyond that.

Shovel Knight is all that we once held dear at the tail-end of the eighties, distilled into one beautiful new game.

EA Sports UFC is more talent than real contender. 2012's Undisputed 3 still looks great, gives the new kid a bloody nose in the octagon and is only a fraction of the newer games' price. Posthumously the THQ game still lives up to its name.

In some weird way all of Lost Swords bad ideas remind you why you once loved the series.

The new fractions and maps play well and distinguish themselves from the pack, while complementing quite well what's already there.

It's a valiant little game, then. One you won't begrudge for its final monologue about honor, homeland, and freedom -- words that usually have my eyes rolling whenever lesser games dare to utter them.

If GRID Autosport is Codemasters' way of saying 'sorry' for the last one, consider the apology accepted.

Where Fallblox was a step forward, Pullblox World takes one to the side, once again tipping its hat to a simple but entertaining core mechanic.

There's some almost sublime moments in this, inviting you to think about the more tenderly alluded themes. But you don't really bother, you're just too bored. And if you're honest, you don't really care.

Enemy Front has some decent ideas, but ultimately wastes its energy on redundant stealth when it should have gone the all-out action route.

By no means is Murdered: Souls Suspect one of the best titles of the year, but it's one of the most likeable ones.

Considering this is their first game, Among the Sleep suggests that a bright future lies ahead for the talented developers at Krillbite.

In the end, Ultra is a game growing old with grace and dignity, going in for one more round before retirement, signified by the inevitable arrival of SFV. Nothing more, nothing less.

Scram Kitty and his buddy on rails is a decent, but ultimately disappointing experience, that almost had me break my Wii-Tablet over my knee.

Granted, in terms of gameplay there's still really not too much here and I don't think Telltale is about to change that. But if you can live with that, the story will continue to suck you in like little else.

Van Helsing 2 is a charming and solid piece of hack and slash, spiced with interesting gimmicks and a good dose of humor.

Never once does Watch Dogs raise a finger to show the rest of the world which way to take the genre. Instead, it is somewhat of a Best-of across a multitude of thematically and systemically similar games. A highly polished, and entertaining, cross-section through all things 'open world'. I'd lie if I said I hadn't gotten a few really satisfied sighs out of it. But sometimes that's just not enough.

Conceptually, DreadOut is interesting, but it's hamstrung by weak execution.

Don't let the minimalistic visuals fool you, as a strategy game, Panzer Tactics HD knows every trick in the book.

The combat feels slick, the design mirrors the anime really well and there's enough content to keep you going for weeks. Just know that the experience starts to drag after the exciting opening levels.

When the moment comes and you find the solution to a problem that's been bugging you all these hours, you can get awfully narcissistic and self congratulatory. You know, just like any old island dictator probably would.

I do agree that the biggest horror is the one you cannot see. But that's not the same as making essential puzzle pieces hardly distinguishable.

If you're the exploratory type, you'd do best to direct that particular urge unto Transistor's elegant and stimulating combat system. Just smile past its empty corridors and thinner-than-you'd-like fiction and Red will glowingly smile right back at you.

In Harm's Way is so outstanding, it'll be interesting to see if Telltale can keep up the excellent tension for the remainder of the season.