Sufficiently good-looking, sufficiently entertaining and very antiquated. Still, it’s nice that you don’t have to buy a Nintendo console anymore to get acquainted with this part of the series. [Issue#206, p.61]

This should go down in textbooks on marketing as an example of how you can monetize the death of your own kid. [Issue#206, p.72]

In the sequel, battles became more tense, but at the same time more controllable. As you unlock more tactical options, you all but eliminate influence of RNG on your anti-alien campaign. [Issue#206, p.56]

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]

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]

Unfortunately, there aren’t that many maps available, but each one of them has lots of details and alternate routes, like basements and balconies. Even the airplane is much more complex than the archetypical “long tube with seats.” [Issue#205, p.48]

Side quests are few and don’t shy away from ending up in all-too-familiar boring shootouts. Any joy that could be found in diligent dirt-digging quickly dries up, giving way to routine. Even simple travel is all too often gets interrupted by yet another shootout. [Issue#205, p.46]

Everything is made just like fans of first few Colin McRae Rallies wanted. Now it’s up to them to reciprocate with high enough sales numbers – and classic rally sims will have a bright future again. [Issue#205, p.42]

Skyscrapers and palm trees of New Los Angeles contrast nicely with dinosaurs - indigenous species of our new home planet. Our end goal? Restoration of humanity. [Issue#204, p.82]

A game for nostalgic Settlers fans. Very, very nostalgic Settlers fans. [Issue#204, p.80]

The Park runs on standard-but-efficient horror fuel: whispering sounds and child’s cries, all-enveloping darkness and creaking of abandoned yet living park rides. Hansel and Gretel’s story, intermixed with deeply personal horrors of maternity. [Issue#204, p.85]

Tales of Zestiria isn’t a blockbuster and it won’t appear as a “Game of the Year” nominee, but if you like JRPGs, you’ll spend about 40 hours in it, and won’t come to regret a single one of them. [Issue#204, p.73]

Jack of all trades, master of none. In terms of characters and story, it’s not Baldur’s Gate. It’s not a proper construction set for DMs to make their own modules either. It doesn’t even adapt D&D rules properly. And if you simply want to kill monsters and collect loot with friends, any MMORPG will do just as well. [Issue#204, p.76]

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]

Tombs are the best thing RotTR has to offer. Compared to the previous Tomb Raider, there really are more of them, but not quite as many as we’d want. Plus, unlike the stealth/combat sequences, most of the tombs can be skipped – although the game would’ve been much better off if it was the other way around. [Issue#204, p.62]

Looks like all Codemasters’ effort went into making Fellowship of Evil look like a game. After watching a trailer you might think “Hey, it’s not Overlord that I remember, but it might be a good action-RPG”. But once you launch it, you realize that it’s not a game – it’s a cardboard cutout with zero gameplay value. [Issue#204, p.81]

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]

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]

Seafaring is passable, but on-foot exploration and dialogues evoke a broad range of feelings, from pity to loathing. As for voice-acting, well, it’s sure to cause fits of nervous laughter. [Issue#204, p.88]

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

Instead of a triumphant reboot we got a weird game that resembles Most Wanted (2012) with tuning options thrown in. [Issue#203, p.64]

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

First person perspective is not exactly the best choice for melee combat – it’s hard to keep your bearings when all you see is a mess of rat bodies. Still, this inconvenience is more than compensated by execution: there are few things more awe-inspiring than seeing your sword separate skaven’s head from body, while your pal sends a whole bunch of them tumbling down the stairs with his huge hammer. [Issue#203, p.88]

The only thing SOMA does well is monsters. If Frictional took a lesson from Alien: Isolation and let them roam the entire map, the game would’ve had a chance to shine. Alas, every encounter is totally predictable, so they fail to sufficiently spice SOMA’s totally bland and predictable story. [Issue#203, p.77]

Fancy Skyhill hotel turned out to be a roach motel. [Issue#203, p.76]

Minimalistic controls. Huge freedom of choice. Loads of fun. The only time something isn’t happening in Rebel Galaxy is when you pause it to go brew another cup of tea. [Issue#203, p.78]

A rare gem that was polished to near-perfection during its time in Steam’s Early Access. [Issue#203, p.87]

This is the first Telltale game to have such an obvious stench of “Nothing personal, just business”. [Issue#203, p.74]