The fable where innocence is punished, purity of heart is tested, and good guys strive for victory by all means. [Sept 2015, p.79]

Capcom doesn’t fund Revelations series properly, so Revelations 2 at times looks too old-fashioned and underpolished, – yet it still manages to be sufficiently tense, difficult and interesting for a series’ fan. [May 2015, p.66]

Many games go for the cyberpunk vibe lately, but few can live up to this style as good as The Ascent does. [Issue#255, p.44]

HeadLander is unfortunately uneven: at first, you’re thrust into a parody of the seventies, where robotized populace dances disco and enjoys weird art. But once you get used to the atmosphere, game forces protagonist to investigate some elevator shafts for an hour. Then game picks up the ball and becomes more dynamic and interesting, only to drop it again soon after – and that process repeats itself until the very end. [Issue#212, p.61]

Third season ended just like it began: with no spark or an underlying idea. Stuff just happened. Here are the events, here are your decisions; as for conclusions – draw your own, because script writers have already moved on to Minecraft Story Mode – Season 2. [Issue#221, p.84]

The main game’s innovation – "open world" which actually is not so open and certainly is not the world. Honestly it is not even residential district despite the fact that city’s 3D-map contains hundreds or even thousands of buildings. Most of them just will flick on the horizon in the best case. [Issue#210, p.78]

Are we going to choose which of two Batman’s signature villains will be saved from predestination? That’s one thing that can keep viewers interested in Telltale’s latest product. And it’s really “viewers” instead of “players” – QTE, that little remnant of interactivity, has almost no bearing of the events. [Issue#212, p.45]

Thanks to its memorable characters, distinctive art and quality gameplay, Partisans 1941 proved to be much better than expected. [Issue#249, p.66]

Until now, Famicom Detective Club duology had never been officially released to the western market. Now these adventure games from late 80’s are here with new graphics and full localization, and they’re well worth your time. [Issue#253, p.68]

If you grade Master of Orion on its own, not as a part of renowned series – it’s surprisingly alright. For a debut game, such amount of polish and depth could even be qualified as an all-around success. But publisher definitely shouldn’t have touted it as the return of a beloved franchise. [Issue#212, p.46]

Open world in New Dawn exists for one single purpose: to let player engage next group of enemies on his own terms. Hopefully, in next game Ubisoft will finally get rid of RPG elements (mainly, bizarre multi-tiered guns) and go back to the formula of first Far Cry. [Issue#236, p.54]

It seems that after Hearthstone’s success even Scrolls’ developers have lost all interest in their game. [Feb 2015]

For previous Just Dance games you had to use specialized controllers like PS Move; now you can make do with a smartphone. Problem is, when you’re holding the phone in your hand, it’s very hard for it to know what your left leg is doing, so JD 2016 assumes the best and awards you much more score than you deserve. [Issue#203, p.68]

Beneath the simple “match-three” surface lies a very conscious attempt to subvert the traditions of this trite genre. [Issue#243, p.58]

Day 4. I’m still in the shop, watching tutorials, writing down names and brands. Of course, proper tools are way out of my price range, so I’ll have to go with cheap equivalents. …Have you ever tried to find cheap equivalents for stuff you’ve never even heard of before? [Issue#234, p.50]

The adrenaline-fueled action of Mad Max is marred with grind for scrap, all-too-similar side activities and flaws in game logic. [Issue#201, p.52]

Medieval Dynasty delivers a nice blend of survival sim and economy game with a story layer behind it. The only thing that’s lacking is social aspect: Stardew Valley proved how important are neighbors for a farming game, but in Medieval Dynasty they’re just puppets with some basic needs and no actual character. [Issue#258, p.56]

We've got a game that is easy to learn, but hard to master. It offers exciting entertainment for a couple of evenings, but developers did not manage to fully unfold its features. A greater variety of opponents and a wider range of equipment would be appreciated. [September 2014, p. 81]

Frankly speaking, we did not expect much from "The Dark Side". Therefore, the adventure of dark trinity – orc, vampire and she devil – became a pleasant surprise primarily due to the unexpectedly well-designed questing system. More good news – tactics have remained virtually unchanged. [September 2014, p. 68]

The easiest way to describe Fantasy Life is “Skyrim for children”. The developers were aiming for a game where a world would be as open as possible, and where a player would be offered a variety of interesting activities not necessarily related to monster-slaughtering. And they hit the mark. [Dec 2014, p.76]

This new Kirby had the potential to become another great entry in the series, but that didn’t come to be. The blame lies on the difficulty: when you play Star Allies with friends, it’s just too easy, but when you play it with AI-controlled teammates, Kirby basically plays itself. [Issue#228, p.62]

MotoGP 14 is a real lifeline for all fans of the main motorcycle racing championship. To learn all the hardships just switch physics to Pro mode, turn on the tire wear and disable all sorts of helping options like Ideal Trajectory. [September 2014, p. 70]

Fans of the DS originals will enjoy the remake, but for people who got into Pokémon franchise only recently, the game would probably feel empty and repetitive. There are considerably fewer Pokémon too. So unless you’re ready for a trip down vintage lane, you should opt for Pokemon Legend: Arceus. [Issue#258, p.50]

Instead of building upon Guardian of Light’s ideas, Square Enix produced a rushed rehash, turning Aztec pyramids into Egyptian ones. Those who played the original game won’t find anything new here, save for some puzzles with mirrors. [Feb 2015]

Combat boils down to cutting off and devouring everything that can be cut off and devoured. It’s enjoyable for a while, but there’s a lot of missions in the game and not nearly enough variations of monsters, so hunts quickly become very MMORPG’ey in terms of predictability and routine. [Issue#219, p.74]

Who would have thought that the union of two studios which didn’t have a single prominent game between them will yield a game worthy of all possible attention. This exciting and entertaining Action RPG adopted some Dark Souls’ basic mechanics but managed to preserve its own unique face. [Dec 2014, p.60]

To be able to walk around your own starship, to enter your quarters and study SDF command structure, to choose your new mission yourself – all these possibilities feel so fresh for Call of Duty. [Issue#214, p.68]

Rocket Arena is a promising junior, but will it get to the major leagues? With the right amount of balance adjustments and content patches, it’s totally feasible. [Issue#247, p.52]

Level design never rises above corridors and boxy rooms, and graphics are almost the same as they were ten years ago. On the other hand, there are a lot of various enemies to beat and secrets to find, so in the end, MUA3 still makes for a memorable adventure. [Issue#240, p.48]

Searching for clues and interviewing witnesses isn’t all it takes to beat this game, you’ll also have to solve hundreds of puzzles – most of them random and not tied into the main plot at all. [Issue#242, p.60]

Time rewind mechanics and focus on maneuvering bring a welcome spin on an otherwise tedious gameplay formula. [Issue#245, p.56]

Unfortunately, Spellforce doesn’t qualify to be neither titular nor spiritual successor of the series. It’s made by different people, on a different budget, and let’s be fair – the times are different too. [Issue#226, p.52]

Studio managed to do the impossible: turn a difficult subject that's of interest only to specialists, into a product that doesn't feel like "edutainment", but rather like a touching indie game. [Issue#236, p.37]

Beautiful and varied world, high-speed vehicle combat, fine-tuned gunfights - on its own, every aspect of this game is great. But Rage 2 as a whole is somehow less than sum of its parts. [Issue#238, p.34]

Introduction of Luck parameter, coupled with other mechanic novelties, turns familiar XCOM combat into something rather unique. Other differences aren’t so positive – there’s no procedural generation of missions, and the playthrough will be a breeze on any difficulty other than hard. [Issue#204, p.74]

Civilization-like games have long since established that settler can turn into a flourishing town even if you place him in the middle of tundra. Thea adds a healthy dose of survival gameplay to the established formula by making you worry about things that are usually glanced over – like having enough wood for building your settlement in addition to basic workforce. [Issue#205, p.52]

Encased has plenty of polish, but not enough substance beneath it. The game never goes anywhere with its 70’s setting, and, despite the “sci-fi” part of the name, doesn’t even try to consider the scientific implications of the premise. [Issue#255, p.60]

Interesting visuals are perfectly complemented by sound design. Too bad that it’s only 4 hours long, with maybe an extra hour or two if you want to try all the alternate paths. [Issue#251, p.66]

Fans of the DS originals will enjoy the remake, but for people who got into Pokémon franchise only recently, the game would probably feel empty and repetitive. There are considerably fewer Pokémon too. So unless you’re ready for a trip down vintage lane, you should opt for Pokemon Legend: Arceus. [Issue#258, p.50]

Flame in the Flood doesn’t burden player with too many details: there simply was a flood, and now a brave girl and her dog are trying to get as far as possible downstream. Good Samaritans are all but non-existent, waters are rough and shores are rougher, so survival isn’t going to be pretty. [Issue#208, p.56]

Story and exploration in Kingmaker are grade A. Adaptation of Pathfinder system is probably even A+, since it’s simplified, yet still incredibly complex and satisfying. But. Some elements, like titular kingdom-building, are astonishingly bad, and overall technical execution is subpar at best. [Issue#234, p.76]

Level design also feels dated: there are a lot of ways to attract player’s attention where it’s needed, but Yooka-Laylee ignores them all: you can spend dozen minutes platform-jumping to reach a door – only to find out it won’t open because you missed something. Sure, it could be called “fair” or “realistic” – but how fun is it to run in circles? [Issue#219, p.80]

If you have played the Second Son then Abigail’s trials from the First Light will seem boring and crumpled. Otherwise the First Light will form a wrong impression about whole inFamous series. It would be the best choices for Sucker Punch do not try to squeeze out dull storyline, but offer a set of maps with corresponding trials in the form of common DLC. [Oct 2014, p.91]

Call of Duty is built like a theme park ride that goes too fast for you to examine the details closely. That went smoothly with previous installments, but WWII abandons health regeneration in favor of old-fashioned health packs, which forces you to play slowly and carefully – and that lets you notice things you weren’t supposed to. [Issue#225, p.60]

It’s easy to see Journey influences in Fe, and there was another forest we’ve been saving not too long ago in Ori and the Blind Forest. Still, even if it’s not innovative, it’s certainly charming. [Issue#227, p.49]

Big Brain Academy is sometimes advertised as a “gym for brains”, but with Brain vs. Brain, Nintendo tried to cut down on tediousness and steer it towards “party game” genre. [Issue#258, p.55]

No one does Call of Duty better than Treyarch. [Issue#203, p.50]

Liberation severed all ties with Disciples’ strategic heritage. There’s only one playable faction, and our capital exists in a separate dimension so it never gets attacked. The resources are abundant, units and items are cheap, and fights are easy, so that nothing would distract the player from following the story. [Issue#258, p.58]

Only the game’s overall idea deserves some praise, but its execution fell short: the controls are messed up, and uneven beat doesn’t make it more enjoyable.[Issue#249, p.59]

Don’t come in expecting a suspenseful horror or a psychological thriller. This time around, Supermassive Games treats us to an action-horror with adrenaline-filled scenes and great camera work. [Issue#256, p.28]

Of course, as with any episodic game, it is difficult to predict where do plot twists lead or how will we perceive this adventure once we’ve seen it in its entirety. But right now it’s very difficult to believe that this is Dreamfall we’ve been looking forward to for the last eight years. [Dec 2014, p.72]

Dead Rising 4 does not do enough to deserve a new number in the title; it feels more like an add-on to DR3 than anything else. And what it does change, it changes for worse: DR3 had had very gratifying “zombie genocide” gameplay, but now the undead are so weak, our West didn’t die a single time over the whole playthrough. [Issue#215, p.58]

Dark Souls success naturally led to appearance of imitators, some of which are worse than others. The Surge inherited everything that was wrong with the original: bugs, sudden spikes in difficulty and general lack of polish, – yet captured none of its magic. There’s no fascinating world, intriguing story or thought-out combat mechanics to find here. [Issue#220, p.50]

Layers of Fear brings Pan's Labyrinth to mind – with the caveat that there’s no monsters in it. The game’s more weird than scary, and it’s very hard to die here, yet it manages to keep players in suspense. [Issue#208, p.62]

It doesn’t look like a lot of effort went into porting a 2011 PSP game to current gen home consoles, as we got the same low-quality character models, cardboard box levels and ubiquitous loading screens of the original. Still, Final Fantasy fans definitely shouldn’t miss Type-0, if only to get a feel of FFXV’s director style. [May 2015, p.76]

Despite all the gameplay faults, Anno 2205 could become a major hit... if it had been a Facebook game. [Issue#204, p.70]

Original Mass Effect trilogy rests on three pillars: great protagonist, believable universe and dramatic story. For Andromeda, Bioware felled all three of them, raising two new ones in their stead: exploration and combat system. The resulting game is quite engaging – but not enough to overcome the nostalgia for Shepard. [Issue#218, p.40]

Gamedec’s modest skill tree not only feels tacked on – it actively hampers the role-playing aspect, because certain dialogue options reward you with leveling points, and others don’t. So there’s a strong incentive to just sift through dialogue looking for those special options, instead of doing what feels natural for the character. [Issue#256, p.52]

There are so many shortcomings in Steep’s design and gameplay, you can’t help but think it’s still a project, not a full game. The ideas are there, they’re good, they could have been developed into something groundbreaking; problem is – they weren’t. [Issue#216, p.44]

It seems that the Assassin's Creed series came to this stage when new releases should be evaluated not by the novelty of the process, but by the presentation of the game, abundance of events and action. Indeed, what new score can you give to the gameplay that essentially remains unchanged? [Jan 2015, p.66]

If not for the Underrail Wiki, it would be all but impossible to complete some quests. The in-game journal keeps track of active quests, but makes no mention of their stages or received hints. Still, the game is good, from nice 2D graphics to challenging tactical combat to sense of exploration when every new location has some surprises in store. [Issue#205, p.56]

For some reason people were worried that DICE would make “a Battlefield with blasters”, both angering Battlefront fans and splitting Battlefield player-base. Of course that didn’t happen – SW:BF is a laid-back shooter that should be played an hour or two between other evening activities. [Issue#204, p.66]

Bloodsplatters, exploding mushrooms, dark humor and being able to bring katana to a shotgun fight – all that helps Let it Die get noticed. Unfortunately, substance doesn’t live up to style, as gameplay turns out to be rather shallow and considerably limited by its free-to-play model to boot. [Issue#216, p.48]

It’s basically a puzzle, but variety of situations, solutions and environments never lets it get stale. [Issue #233, p.72]

Styx is a through-and-through stealth game, so scoring system doesn’t approve of murders, and enemy placement always leaves a way to slip by. But, unlike Thief, you’ll feel the desire to cut some throats. There, stealth was like a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse; here, it’s personal. It’s vendetta, where mercy has no place. Also, there are few things as satisfying as pouring acid on still-warm corpse to completely dissolve it. [Issue#219, p.68]

Echo is basically an experiment that was made on a limited budget. Hence its unique approach to AI, which is offset by monotonous decorum and general lack of variety. To enjoy it, you have to be on the same wavelength as the developers – that is, be excited about exploring new concepts that mainstream industry doesn’t give a damn about. [Issue#226, p.50]

As long as Ultimate Team mode keeps making money, there’s little hope for FIFA series. [Issue#241, p.33]

Although Narcosis turned out to be pretty monotone, it has its own strengths: limited oxygen reserves make you think twice about stopping to take a breather, while subdued sounds keep you on edge. It probably won’t scare you, but it’s certainly an interesting experience. [Issue#220, p.55]

Outriders has its flaws, but they’re compensated with gory firefights and enjoyable co-op. Another upside is that it doesn’t try to be an open world: the levels are tight and packed with action. [Issue#252, p.44]

It’s hard to name a single thing about this game that’s worth your time. [Issue#257, p.54]

It feels like the script was written by three different people. One’s responsible for all these cringeworthy lines, another came up with some truly interesting characters, and the third one thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to preach his values: for example, at one point our strictly-rational atheist doctor will have to confess his sins. [Issue#231, p.56]

It’s a good playground for the people who like to explore the world and experiment with NPC behavior. But if you’re looking for memorable characters and thrilling story – that’s not your cup of tea. [Issue#249, p.60]

The best thing about GreedFall is that intangible thing called “flow”: it’s easy to get hooked up and just play it, even though the game doesn’t offer nuanced mechanics or meticulously detailed world. [Issue#241, p.52]

Compared to Dark Souls, it’s less hardcore and more “Japanese” – although less so than usual for Bandai Namco, as they obviously tried to make it appealing to broader audiences. [Issue#241, p.56]

Lots of side-activities, barebones story and music that’s very unsuitable for driving – Heat is basically Payback without some of the latter’s shortcomings. [Issue#242, p.40]

Do Switch players really need a very poor Zelda clone when they can always replay Breath of the Wild? [Issue#251, p.69]

Astroneer is a nice survival game that’s hopelessly behind the curve: we’ve already seen everything it has to offer in one game or another. [Issue#237, p.40]

Supermassive Games doesn’t have much competition in “cinematic interactive horror” genre, but they keep improving their product: Little Hope fixed most of Man of Medan’s problems. [Issue#249, p.46]

Styx: Master of Shadows is positioned as a prequel to the barely noticed in the game world and almost useless Of Men and Orcs. It seems that developers cut off about 99% of previous content but left untouched the most essential element – creepy old goblin with a pedigree that is longer than the history of the world. After this surgery the prequel looks much better than original and if somebody will work over next Styx series with a file it will be capable to outdo restarted Thief. [Nov 2014, p.86]

After a promising beginning the story slows down to a crawl due to the lack of conflict: our drone cheerfully explores planets, Julia and Rachel hang out in the comfort of her spaceship, everyone is happy. [Dec 2014, p.74]

The combat system is one of the best features of the series. It has nothing to do with the classic turn-based battles and resemble three-dimensional team fighting. Heroes are free to move around the battlefield, they know how to put the blocks, dodge, and not only execute fierce battle tricks but carrying out deadly team combos. All this looks very spectacular and saves from the boredom in those frequent moments when player runs out of desire for more grinding. Unfortunately local grind is a must – without it one never will be able to kill some bosses. [Nov 2014, p.106]

Like other InXile games, Bard’s Tale IV lives and breathes oldschool design decisions, which is a rare and valuable thing these days. Where else would you find a party-based RPG that focuses on puzzles, music and unusual combat solutions instead of common grind and hunt for loot? [Issue #233, p.68]

Lo Wang is a child of another age, when shooters were lightning-paced and enemies had no qualms about hitting you from behind or covering the entire area with projectiles. So, it will be difficult for him to gain popularity among the crowd raised on slow-paced cover-based shooters, but hey – Wang never backs down from a challenge. [Issue#259, p.70]

Bend Studio made a great game with a rich, believable and captivating story. They’ve also resisted the lure of trends: there’s no multiplayer, no lootboxes, no “game as a service” plans – just a very solid (and finite) singleplayer experience. That makes it a rare gem these days, maybe one of the last of its kind. [Issue#238, p.42]

First episode of Chapters turned out to be a huge prologue, aiming to introduce new players to setting and characters, while story stood almost still. There was a hope that Book Two will change pace, and it partially came to be: there are some surprising developments, but Dreamfall still fails to truly engage players. [June 2015, p.78]

The world isn’t big, but it’s well lived-in, you can feel for its inhabitants, and it’s nice to see how Delta gives them a bit of hope and warmth. All in all, it’s another good Daedalic adventure game. [Issue#262, p.85]

A faithful remaster of a game two decades old, with all its ups and downs. Poor controls, bad UI and pixelated characters will definitely take some time getting used to, but in return you’ll get a true old-school experience with some very interesting puzzles. [Issue#257, p.62]

As heroine dives deeper, she keeps seeing new undersea wonders. Too bad that many paths are blocked off by various hazards – but for every hazard there is a mean to bypass it, and crab will happily sell Marin necessary upgrades for coins she finds. It’s worth mentioning that there is no predetermined order to this – you can choose which new abilities you want right away, and which can wait their turn. [Issue#212, p.62]

“Think like a snake” – that’s the motto of this game. No, that doesn’t mean you should hide in the sand behind some rock and wait for an opportune moment to snack on eggs of our calibri pal. Instead, you need to guess how many times you need to wrap yourself around some beam to avoid slipping into the abyss. [Issue#219, p.86]

Games by Double Fine have great visual style and often feature fresh gameplay ideas – but their execution is usually sub-par. RAD is no exception: beneath an acid neon mutant-punk mask hides a very generic indie roguelite. [Issue#241, p.59]

Amazingly, endless stream of conversations that has become a staple of Telltale’s products is interspersed with some real gameplay in Season 2. In the very prologue we’re asked to create a lawn decoration, which we do not by mashing Q or choosing an option from a given list, but by placing actual blocks one on top of the other. There’s also non-QTE combat and even an actual puzzle! Too bad that it all goes down the drain due to lackluster story. [Issue #222, p.62]

As it always is with Battlefield, Hardline relies on multiplayer to push its rating and sales. But, in contrast to its predecessors, Hardline’s online battles are much more dynamic and more akin to Call of Duty’s shootouts. [May 2015, p.54]

Willy Morgan tries to ride the wave of nostalgia for old-school adventures like Broken Sword, but the comparison is clearly not in its favor: characters lack charisma, and the story isn’t even close to being intriguing. [Issue#247, p.55]

Too bad that when you really get in gear, end credits will start rolling all too soon – but it’s a common thing for beat ‘em ‘ups. Also, when a game feels too short – it’s a sure sign that it’s good. [Issue#249,p.58]

Numerous combo chains are simply useless – dummy-enemies could be scattered effortlessly. If you are really tired from crowd pummeling you can combine efforts with two other characters to depopulate surrounding area quickly. Bosses are the only worthy opponents, especially those who greatly exceed Luffy in size. [September 2014, p. 66]

Perhaps the only area where Evolution Studios has not deceived players is the graphics. Attention to automobile details is on the crazy level, and manifested thoroughness for design of salons needs a standing ovation too. At an average speed under 160 km/h and taking into account the sinuosity of local trails one can’t afford to feast of surrounding area beauty but even the catchable details are definitely nice. [Nov 2014, p.108]

Breathedge has great visuals, engaging story and good humor, but its survival elements prove to be more of a burden than something that enhances the experience. [Issue#252, p.58]

Despite less-from-stellar controls, missions that actually ask player to destroy all humans are fun; too bad that they are heavily interspersed with absolutely uninspired stealth segments. [Issue#247, p.71]