As promising as Iron Harvest’s setting is, the story just can’t keep up, while gameplay is a straight copy/paste from Company of Heroes 2. [Issue#248, p.50]

A great way to dive into the folklore of the Russian North. The setting is remarkably fresh, the story is well-written, and while the card battles are rather mediocre, the game doesn’t penalize the player for skipping them. [Issue#255, p.50]

To increase gameplay speed, Stardock had to sacrifice a lot; perhaps, too much. Building variety went down the drain, you don’t have to balance the budget because concept of money is gone, and tech trees regressed back to Master of Magic-style magic books. [Issue#201, p.66]

It feels like interface was developed by a saboteur, while another one was in charge of the tutorial: it barely covers the basics before dumping you right into a sink or swim situation. And even if you do manage to swim, you’ll face a myriad of annoyances. [Issue#227, p.50]

While some of the wood-and-metal pinball tables are true mechanical marvels, video game environment allows for a far richer experience, with actual enemies, leveling up, items and even a nice storyline. [Issue#259, p.58]

Nice remaster of an unusual game that successfully blends together platformer, strategy and god-sim genres. Playing as an omnipotent deity is a rare treat these days, and the great soundtrack makes it even better. [Issue#256, p.59]

Echoes of moral ambiguity are still noticeable: for example, supposedly democratic president is definitely disappointed to hear that dictator’s WMD research is getting destroyed. But it seems that Avalanche got scared at some point and tried to cut it all out, so now populace is universally enthusiastic about Rico raising hell in their country. Result is weird, and not exactly in tune with previous JC’s mood. [Issue#204, p.58]

If the first Blackguards was practically rail RPG with a well-developed tactical battles, then the offspring suddenly revealed some features of Jagged Alliance. After capturing the town in the lower right corner of the map the following Cassia’s trip to the capital can be laid as one please: horizontally, vertically, diagonally or as cunning sinusoid. [Issue #195, p.75]

On its own, HM2 could be classified as an ‘indie hit’: it has challenging gameplay, great soundtrack and even a nuclear blast, – but it cannot hold its ground when compared to the first Hotline Miami. [May 2015, p.70]

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]

Looks like Crazy Monkey Studios sacrificed quantity for quality: Guns, Gore & Cannoli lasts only four hours and doesn’t have alternative modes (besides coop in the same campaign), but the time you’ll spend with it will be a blast. [June 2015, p.85]

Frankly speaking, it’s just a collection of short stories. But what it lacks in action department, it makes up for in atmosphere: if you’re longing for campfire tales, pour yourself a big mug of tea and launch this game. [Issue#228, p.45]

Previous game from Logic Artists, Expeditions: Conquistador, didn’t leave lasting impression on me, so I didn’t expect much from Vikings either. As it turns out, I was wrong – developers really nailed the setting and gave some mechanics a much-needed makeover. [Issue#220, p.52]

Primitive gameplay cycle of Far Cry, placed in primitive world, suddenly starts to make sense, and even story doesn’t feel as barebones and perfunctory as usual. Here, you’re not playing as a skinny frat boy who suddenly discovers a talent for killing hardened soldiers but ultimately just wants to get back to civilization – you’re a hunter who simply wants to become respectable leader of his tribe with a personal luxury cave. [Issue#207, p.46]

Although you can blunder you way through first few missions, soon Crookz turns into a challenging tactical game that requires careful planning and individual approach to every mission. [Nov 2015, p.81]

It’s disheartening to see that Codemasters wasn’t even trying. On its own, new Grid is an okay arcade racing game, but it’s hard to ignore that the previous one was far better. [Issue#242, p.56]

Experiments with “add as you go” model of development (for example, it means that we won’t get arcade mode until June) may very well spell doom for the project – which is too bad, because basic mechanics and battle dynamic of SFV are almost perfect. [Issue#207, p.52]

Back in the 90’s, a lot of games were made by small teams or even a single person who did what felt right, creating entirely new genres in the process. It’s hard to imagine something like that happening today. But with Highfleet,it did happen: it’s a truly unique blend of arcade, strategy and fleet management. [Issue#256, p.46]

“Yesterday” already showed in broad strokes how John has gained his immortality. Evidently, Pendulo decided that it wasn’t enough; so Origins explains in painstaking detail how exactly that happened. Fans of Spanish studio will probably enjoy it, but everyone else really should ask themselves if they want to make that close of an acquaintance with John Yesterday. [Issue#215, p.72]

Turning Fire Emblem series into a Warriors game should’ve been an ordinary task for Omega Force’s – after all, they’ve done it time and again with other franchises, and more often than not it ended up being a fun fan-servicey game. But Fire Emblem Warriors is nothing short of a fiasco. [Issue#226, p.61]

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]