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]

While holding hand on the sacred Mario cap we should admit that SSB is not the most suitable game for small screen 3DS, even for XXL versions. It is so difficult to follow flickering characters on the background of richly animated arenas. Especially when opponents flee in different corners and the camera drives away. [Nov 2014, p.104]

Hyrule Warriors – not the kind of game that fans of the series expect. But while the new Zelda is forged under strict secrecy in the Nintendo workshops, why not revisit the familiar locations with the sword and bombs? The storyline with clashes during different eras of Hyrule and meeting of the characters who could never meet is rather entertaining and capable to provoke the idea to finish at least a Legendary mode. [Nov 2014, p.102]

The last hope of Ancient Space is the storyline which is called exciting by its creators. In fact it is rather beaten and absurd. There is scientific expedition sent to certain zone that is absorbing human colonies. Some sensors are not working and therefore scriptwriters assume that some pirates should take the blame. So player confronts these abstract leaderless robbers for a major part of the plot. Can somebody explain why scientists should fight pirates? [Nov 2014, p.101]

Indisputable evidence of Ed’s hard work is the appearance of the game: nice graphics with a decent development of the landscape and models and simple but functional interface. However, we doubt that a handful of Meridian nice features will attract anyone but the most devoted fans of game design of the early nineties. [Nov 2014, p.100]

When it comes to the fight the game remains as clueless as before. An attack resembles a mob hit on the madhouse watchman's post: confused fighters run toward the target and drop dead on the way. All three formations are designed to provide a semblance of order, but after right click on the enemy such order immediately thrown into chaos. And, just as before, two dozen archers on the wall solve most of the issues of defense. The visual part of the game just aggravates the impression that ... Oops, there is no impression actually. Nobody creates games in this way anymore. [Nov 2014, p.99]

EA Canada has done an excellent job. Yes, there are some rough edges like too many player errors during throw-ins or kicking the ball over side line in cases where it would be better to kick it to the middle of the field. Too many hits on the goal posts and bar. But developers have managed to conquer new heights where they will sure nest and polish this flagship series, until the time comes for a new breakthrough. [Nov 2014, p.96]

D4 is a silly and frivolous game, but charming in its awkwardness. Part of the charm lies in the fact that it blends the absurd and serious things in equal proportions, so absurd ones look even more grotesque while serious ones suddenly became more meaningful. The selected method of narration with trips in time and space is able to reveal the most non-standard locations, and the author's story can go in an absolutely incredible jungle. [Nov 2014, p.94]

Game has the original setting, the normal economic part, many of the small and large original features and unusually lax battle system. It means unambiguous excess of debit over credit, at least – in absolute terms. But... niche is quite filled today, and everyone can find a game to his liking and suitable for his style of play. And Amplitude Studios definitely should not feel the shame for its creation. [Nov 2014, p.90]

With Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate developers shipped so many game modes and new features that most of the hopeless fastidious fans of the Dynasty Warriors genre just had nothing to complain about. In fact, very rarely under the guise of the new revised and enlarged edition of the old title developers offer as many as three different games. [Nov 2014, p.89]

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]

The game is not technically astounding, even against the backdrop of last year's Need for Speed Rivals. Horizon 2 is certainly very beautiful, but its beauty comes not from technology, but from artistic field. There are very soft and warm sunsets, refreshing summer rains, and really dark nights – every detail done in the right color and carefully accentuated. Each element works on a holiday atmosphere and you absolutely do not want emerge from it into the dank October evening. [Nov 2014, p.82]

Little by little Wasteland 2 wastes away its charm. It wants to be good, and it tries to be. But sometimes the efforts to make a great game are obvious – and sometimes it’s obvious that someone in the team had really been slacking off. [Nov 2014, p.78]

One of the major Gauntlet’ problems is a small amount of content. Game offers just three locations divided into four levels with three short stages in each that could be finished in a couple of evenings at a leisurely pace. And then Gauntlet asks to repeat the same thing at the next difficulty level. [Nov 2014, p.76]

Fascinating experiments with spheres are clouded by the vastness of locations, the lack of clues and ingenuity of puzzles. And if you get used eventually to the intricate brain-teasers with their dreamlike logic, then boring mumbling narrator keeps you annoyed until the very end. Hero spits stamps like a fifth-grader and cites quotes on about everything. But this is forgivable minus, because Carlos Coronado did programming, game design, script and music himself. And games that made with love are rarely bad. [Nov 2014, p.75]

F1 2014 could be almost a perfect game with a much higher rating if it were not for two things. Firstly, as with any serious simulator, F1 2014 is designed for high-end PCs with the decent wheel and analog pedals that allow precise acceleration and braking. When you try to play on the console or with a gamepad, you’ll be severely disappointed: the game even on the Very Hard setting will became much easier. The second major drawback is the lack of full replays. [Nov 2014, p.70]

Alien: Isolation can serve as an example of a solid adaptation of movie features to the game format: Creative Assembly have managed to recreate the atmosphere of the original film. They did not try to squeeze Alien within the frames of existing genres, but took the events of the original picture as a basis while not limiting themselves to them. [Nov 2014, p.68]

After you get used to the world of Shadow of Mordor understanding comes: there is nothing to do in it. Chieftains – pretty serious opponents at first – in the end due to the lame balance become the whipping boys. Storyline is buried under muddy reasoning about rings, elves and dark lord. As a result you like the Shadow of Mordor gameplay but you do not want to go to the finish. [Nov 2014, p.64]

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]

The thing that irritates the most is that in The Sims 3 you had the feeling that you're writing a story, and not for a particular family, but for the whole city. But The Sims 4 carved out the lion's share of content and broke a beautiful open world into couple of dozens of tiny paddocks. Therefore, instead of the epic story you are able to write just a pair of episodes for a B-Rate sitcom. [Oct 2014, p.94]

However hard you may try you will not find any reason to play Sacred 3. It is completely unclear why it deserves full price, when its natural place is among the f2p mobile games. There’s nothing left in Sacred 3 that we used to love in previous installments. And there’s nothing new that could inspire our love for the Sacred 3. [Oct 2014, p.92]

Flaws in gameplay and storyline are compensated by the great skill of designers who have managed to deliver the spirit of spy adventure. Each level reminds the satirical Cold War Museum, whose exhibits can be examined for hours, and even angular character models do not spoil the experience. Of course, CounterSpy cannot boast of Evil Genius’ madness or No One Lives Forever’ charm, but it definitely shows the romance of the sixties. [Oct 2014, p.90]

The debut project of the independent studio Xaviant turned viable, albeit boring due to rudimentary plot and rather empty world. Locations turned to be beautiful but no one is found there with exception of few enemies and even in the city you’ll not see a living soul. [Oct 2014, p.89]

The final choice of Clem is the most powerful moment of the second season. All the preceding gameplay (or we’ll better name it "watching") does not affect the outcome in any way: the epilogue is determined by three possible Clem’s actions at the very end of the game. Despite the fact that there are just five endings and it’s so easy to replay the last scene and see other four, it would be better not to do it because the second time you will not cry so heartily. [Oct 2014, p.86]

Conception II just offers tedious repetitive fights and a lot of useless features, not mentioning the plot with a predominant theme of teenage promiscuity. As a result, if the endless wandering around the randomly generated dungeons will not force you to throw the cartridge away, then most likely you will be finished off by endless dialogues of "coffee, tea or me" type and discussions on the anatomical aspects. [Oct 2014, p.84]

Implementation of difficulty levels gives an unpleasant aftertaste: on easier modes developers forcibly cut from the game some locations and puzzles, leaving a lot of useless items that litter the inventory starting from the second hour of gameplay. [Oct 2014, p.83]

In regard to the real-time strategies there is one sure sign: if you defeat real opponents much easier than the AI - there’s something wrong with this game. If you ask yourself what’s wrong with this gamma-version pretending to be final release, you have to admit – anything bad with exception of engine. We are convinced that after the current gamma version the delta version will follow, then epsilon, zeta, and so on until the omega one. There will never be a final PA release because developers have no idea about the final state of their game. [Oct 2014, p.80]

Even at first glance, it is clear that it is an expensive and very ambitious project from a team of highly skilled professionals. But the lack of an exciting plot and thoughtful combination of RPG and FPS can’t be compensated for by just a huge budget. [Oct 2014, p.76]