Although some sequences in the second half may have players running to find an FAQ if they don't skip the puzzles outright, I found The Testament of Sherlock Holmes to be an enjoyable, offbeat experience that serves as a great change of pace for players who don't mind putting the guns and explosives aside once in a while.

Thirty Flights of Loving is precisely as long as it needs to be, and contains exactly what it needs to contain. This efficiency makes it a richer experience, not a poorer one, because it insists that the player engage with the story and piece it together himself, rather than sitting back and absorbing an endless train of cinematics.

Not only is Dishonored a strong game set in a fascinating universe, it's one of those rare and incredible titles that holds the player's attention right from the start and then leaves them wanting more as the credits roll.

In any event, The Walking Dead has been one hell of a ride up to this point. Even the less-intense episodes are better than the vast majority of releases in 2012.

For most of its length, FTL is good, bordering on great, but the end is so poor I'd rather quit than win the game.

Fractured Soul is not a bad game by any means, but its keen concept is played out again and again with a taskmaster's sternness, and little else.

There are endless variations on the small level/three star structure made popular by Angry Birds, and I've come across many that don't warrant a second look. That's not to say that the structure has nothing left to offer, however. Creative developers can certainly put a new spin on things, and that's just what's happened with Space Holiday.

It's easy to learn, it's got a sexy design, and it's entertaining alone and with friends. Without a doubt, this has been one of the best iPhone games I've come across so far.

Players should be aware that the first batch of twenty levels are free and function as a demo. It's over pretty quickly though, and the remaining areas of the game are split into two in-app purchases at .99 each.

Gamers who can't stand reading should probably stay away, but for everyone else, Judge Dredd is great stuff.

After all is said and done, Resident Evil 6 isn't a runaway success, but most of the time, it succeeds at what it sets out to accomplish. Unfortunately, it's such a departure from the rest of the series that those expecting more of the same will find themselves frustrated and foiled-despite the "6" in its title, this is an entirely new animal, and the developers have hamstrung their own work by doing an unforgivably bad job of explaining what the game is, and how they intend it to be played.

Neon is probably the best Double Dragon game yet, and it contains enough great elements it to warrant a sequel or two.

Tokyo Jungle is exactly the sort of unconventional project that I live for, so it's easy to forgive its issues; the low-end production values, two extremely ill-conceived stealth missions that don't suit the mechanics, and a few boss fights that were more frustrating than fun. Although irritating, none were dealbreakers-just be prepared to restart a few missions here and there.

While the developer is on the right track, Risen 2: Dark Waters feels choppier than the last game, and will test those with little patience.

Deponia looks lovely, but it squanders its wonderfully screwball setting on unremarkable puzzles and unlikable characters. In the end, that all adds up to a game that's completely disposable.

Issues aside, it's hard to discount the feeling of nostalgia that permeates Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time. Gamers like me, who experienced the golden age of the JRPG firsthand, will undoubtedly enjoy this title despite the occasional misstep.

Speaking frankly, there are certain levels of expectation associated with any given piece of hardware, and games which don't live up to that standard will inevitably suffer. Legasista is a solid title that knows what it wants to be and hits that target... It's just that the bullseye isn't hanging in the right place.

In any event, my quibbles with this series are quite small, and easy to forgive when compared to the overall experience that Telltale is crafting. There's nothing else available today able to affect me to a similar degree, or that can resonate with me as a human being. That's the sort of thing that carries a great deal of weight, and it makes The Walking Dead easily one of 2012's best.

In general, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 should be seen as a master class for Tekken devotees, and is certainly one of the best titles the genre has to offer.

Its stealth-as-power mechanics perfectly articulate the mystique of the ninja without compromising on challenge.

Rising from the ashes, Sleeping Dogs has proven just how wrong Activision was to cancel it 18 months ago. It takes several gameplay styles from many of the best open world games of this generation and gives them a distinct Hong Kong cinema feel.

For those who haven't completed the game, or for those who who eat, sleep, and breathe Mass Effect, the information in Mass Effect 3: Leviathan is a must-see. For players who've wrapped Commander Shepard's adventure and long since moved on, there's nothing here that truly warrants reopening those old wounds, although it remains an interesting, well-crafted quest in and of itself.

It's a great idea and proves the case that there is potential for stealth play on the iPhone, but Robbery Bob doesn't feel like it's quite there yet. Still, it's fairly interesting and there isn't much like it on iOS. It sort of wins the genre by default.

The Last Story feels like a JRPG that took incomplete notes as it tried to learn from Western design. The simplistic implementation of massively multiplayer online (MMO) combat motifs makes battles boring or frustrating. The character customizability, though wonderful, is purely cosmetic, never really extending into the play or storytelling. Worst of all, the gameplay and story might as well be two ships passing in the night. While Zael confronts the game's real antagonists in cutscenes, the player simply sits on the sidelines. In games, that's the last way you should try to tell a story. Ra

I'm definitely a fan of the autorun genre, and out of all the ones I've played, I feel pretty comfortable in saying that this one is the best I've tried. Toss in the fact that the in-app option to purchase currency comes off as a nice option to have rather than something that's necessary to fully enjoy the game, and One Epic Knight is a can't-miss no-brainer.

It's still worth it to see what it brings to the genre, but don't expect to finish it without significant financial investment.

Any fans of hand-drawn animation should download it immediately.

The only downside to the game is that the "Extreme" levels must be completed in order to get the real ending, and a few of them seem impossible for a human to complete.