Whacking Hobbits, looting houses, causing havok - being evil can be fun, sure. But who'd expect that being evil can even cause tears of laughter?

It offers a fascinating world to explore, but the gameplay isn't very challenging.

A largely captivating, bizarre and pretty adventure. The great finale disappoints in many ways, though.

Masterfully crafted industrialization utopia offering high complexity and enormous freedom for players.

Darkest Dungeon 2 does its own demanding rogue-lite thing. You can love it or hate it just as much as its predecessor.

Although Chuchel is short and hardly demanding, it still works because of the clever puzzles, the humor and the lovely graphic style.

Even better than its predecessor: this remake is on its way to the high score.

Broken Steel raises the maximum level to 30, adds 14 new special talents and allows you to explore the world even after finishing the game. That’s all good, but it’s probably coming out too late for most Fallout gamers.

Hidden behind nasty menus and a rocky start you'll find superb gunplay and fantastic world-building in true Bungie style.

Apart from a few minor annoying issues with AI and Interface, the game is absolutely right for me and is exactly the Borderlands comeback I've been wanting for years.

A delightful 3D variant of RimWorld with some fresh ideas, but it needs more variety in combat and everyday life.

Huge and challenging RPG including a great pawn system. Give this title a chance, despite its average looks.

Mouse is a motivating single-player shooter that breaks new ground in terms of visuals and sound.

Even more funky levels, ingredients and characters: Overcooked 2 will please anyone and should not be missed at any co-op party.

Blood Dragon is art.

Enchanting and motivating JRPG with a varied genre mix and a inspiring fantasy world.

Visually impressive dieselpunk Metroidvania with stimulating combat, challenging bosses and a varied level design.

Great, relaxing sandbox game with no serious weaknesses that is just as complex as it needs to be. Now also with multiplayer.

Hopefully the game grows as well as Civilization 5 with future patches and add-ons for the game that satisfy my inner Jean-Luc Picard.

On the pitch, Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 is the undisputed king, but all around it there's far too much standstill.

First-class sequel with dramatic turn-based tactical battles, a well thought-out strategy section and the same cool mercenaries from the old days.

That Halo: Reach for PC is a must-have for fans, I do not have to tell you here again.

Ferocious turn-based strategy game with incredible Warhammer flair, encouraging upgrades, diverting segments and a few balancing flaws.

Wasteland 2 is like a granny. A bit shaky, and you have to understand that she comes from a different generation - but lovable and sometimes blessed with impressive age wisdom.

Rarely before has it been so hard for me in my game tester career, not to award a 90s rating.

Infinity Ward has thrown overboard ballast that has been dangling into Call of Duty in recent years and at the same time manages to bring back the fascination and feel of the first Modern Warfare parts.

Fallout's jolly little brother has grown up. The Outer Worlds 2 impresses with a unique sense of humor and great freedom for players, but falters in the final act.

It can be fun, even addictive, but the overly complicated controls and bugs prevent it from being a great game. Wait for patches.

A wonderfully unusual experience with spectacular art design, but practically no gameplay.

Creative tribute to text adventures and an in many ways surprising storytelling experiment with a well-done 80s-like scary atmosphere.

Planet Zoo has instantly awakened memories of carefree childhood.

Exo One delights with innovation and an immersive atmosphere - if you let it.

Currently the best Formula 1 racing game thanks to an entertaining story and a greatly expanded My Team career.

Age of Empires 4 brings classic real-time strategy back in top form, but misses the chance for a rousing campaign.

Sure, there are a few quirks, but Mirror's Edge is a well designed and well presented elaborate game. And it's fun, too. It's plays a bit like Tomb Raider, just faster and without ruins. Not a perfect game, but perfectly designed and it stands out from the mass of uniform games like a white skyscraper.

Crazy robot tactics game with clever ideas and very fair mission design.

Trackmania 2 builds on the strengths of the predecessors and offers even more fun, experimentation, races decided by milliseconds and a powerful track editor. There's fun for months in it.

A motivating manager game that offers a lot of fun despite the missing Formula 1 license and invigorates the genre.

With the return to World War 2, Battlefield reaches a new zenith thanks to meaningful innovations - if one disregards the single player.

Because the core of My Friend Pedro is its aestheticized, cartoony action, complemented by amazingly well integrated into the game design puzzles and a wonderfully trashy story - and thus the banana ballet hits me completely on the bullseye.

A surprisingly complex RPG that combines an exciting story with wicked humor.

On the pitch, it's a real improvement of the usual strong FIFA package. Off the pitch, however, the innovations are missing.

Dynamic real-time battles with many useful improvements and a turn-based Italian campaign à la Total War Light.

Stellar Blade likes to exaggerate at times, but is essentially a sophisticated action game with stylish battles and a touching story.

The journey of the two siblings is an intense experience that resonates for a long while.

If you like sea battles, you shouldn't miss World of Warships even though it lacks a bit of variety and realism.

Quotation forthcoming.

Death of the Outsider doesn't offer a better story than Dishonored 2, but more freedom in terms of gameplay creates better entertainment.

The most beautiful nightmare of the year, which masks a mediocre game concept with stunning graphics and unparalleled sound design.

Co-op mode, RPG elements, items and level ups - this game almost has it all. Almost, because team work isn't really encouraged. But it's still fun for weeks for a low price.

For me, it's still not the best Trine, but rather a kind of dignified Déjà vu, a mission CD (who knows that yet?) To earlier parts, a nice reunion without surprises. As meaningful as it may be, the step back in this case also means that you end up back where you were eight years ago.

Sifu is one of the best martial arts games ever, though getting to the fun part is (somewhat unnecessarily) tedious.

And the mod-tweaking of my science fiction troops and commanders brings additional depth.

It was good as a beta, now at release it's very good. All that's missing are more game modes.

Lost Ark is a good MMO with tons of content, alas unnecessarily complicated and repetitive endgame mechanics.

A game like a comic book, driven by its snarky story. Gameplay suffers from weak gunplay and repetition, though.

Quotation forthcoming.

A stylish action adventure with stunning graphics and exciting fights that sometimes gets too carried away with details.

The time for original concepts and new genres is not over yet. Defense Grid: The Awakening is a highly motivating game, it's not easy, but not unfair and there are always new elements added to the game. There's no story and the controls are not perfect, but the game can still glue you to your chair for days.

Looks like FIFA 15, but it's a better game. FIFA 16 improves the gameplay and is on par with PES 2016 again.

Completely well-made indie-building strategy game that doesn't have to hide from genre competition. Odin would be proud.

With the Champions League, new modes and fine gameplay innovations, FIFA 19 continues to evolve in small but noticeable steps.

Barotrauma is an exciting, cooperative resource management game that is also captivating in Singleplayer thanks to its deep atmosphere.

An entertaining game, but no revolution of the adventure genre and quite similar to the first game.

I particularly like the playful freedom that the flexible 3-action system offers.

A thoroughly integrated and refreshing mix of classic 4X turn-based strategy, role-playing elements and varied events.

At its core, a superb Battle Royale that currently suffers from technical issues and some unfortunate design decisions.

Very atmospheric trip to ancient Japan, where graphical flaws are compensated with vast content and plenty of gameplay.

The most beautiful landscapes, the most captivating sword fights and the most believable online world to date. Age of Conan is still a work in progress, but already fascinating and managed to captivate eight of our editors over the last few weeks. There are some technical problems, but if Funcom keeps on improving the game it could be the other big MMO next to World of Warcraft.

Quotation Forthcoming

My Time at Sandrock sends the idyllic farmstead simulation genre into the desert. Sounds risky, but it pays off in full even in Early Access.

Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined is a wonderfully nostalgic, yet old-fashioned journey back to the heyday of JRPGs.

Quotation forthcoming.

Charming puzzle strategy that, like a good tabletop game, is a delight to play again and again.

Then of course there are the dragons: Every fight against the monstrous Flutterviecher feels really epic to me.

The game is never boring and always impressed by cool ideas, and diversity.

Halo: Infinite falters at its open world, yet it delights with sophisticated shooter gameplay and a varied arsenal of weapons.

Good 4X game with some interesting changes, but it can't surpass the predecessor due to a lack of innovations and the old-fashioned presentation.

Trials Fusion has some problems regarding missing content, but there's hope the community will create lots of it. At the core it's a very entertaining fun-racer already.

I would recommend Ground Zeroes without hesitation were it not for the extremely short playing time.

The action-based battle system is still a lot of fun. No skill, no kill, that's a lot more entertaining than standing around and clicking to rotate certain actions.

Idyllic farm- and country life with a fun treats feature. Authentic animal husbandry and sophisticated gameplay are, however, left out.

Gripping investigation and courtroom game that deals with the subsequent prosecution of Nazi crimes in a tangible and interesting way.

Well done RPG with a great story and its very own universe. Lots of decisions with comprehensible consequences.

Thanks to improvements to details and the extensive solo mode, Soul Calibour 6 is a very good continuation of a Beat'Em Up classic. Soul Calibur is alive! Also on the PC.

Did you spend countless hours with tower defense games? Anomaly: Warzone Earth turns the tables and offers tower offense. Presentation, controls and mission design are well done, so it's well worth the money.

The long, beautifully varied campaign combines party sections and real-time battles to form a complete, complete picture, driven by a really exciting story.

Tempest Rising works as a stand-alone game, but does not come close to the brilliance of its role model C&C.

Shadows impresses with its story and open world, but struggles with the technical limitations of the Switch 2.

An entertaining, professionally produced mainstream racing game for a mainstream audience. 95% may rejoice. I am one of the other 5%. [Heiko Klinge]

Excellently playable survival horror that skillfully combines its fascinating (linear) plot with an open world.

This game is not for everybody. It's painfully unfair, has a unique graphics style and tells its story in windows full of text. But it's an unforgettable experience once you give it a chance.

It's more of the same but still better than the last episode, because Moai Better Blues offers more demanding riddles than its predecessor "Ice Station Santa" and the weirdest story since "Abe Lincoln must die". But it would be better still if it were at least as long as the other episodes. It's over far too soon.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Reneimal is a horror fairy tale that captivates with its atmosphere, but leaves much of its potential untapped in terms of puzzles and co-op play.

Playing cards, throwing dice, swinging pendulums and spanking villains: it's great fun if you can live with the random element of the game.

Behind all the action there's an amazingly large and deep game. Of course it's also possible to play it simple and concentrate on the main story, but if you start building your own weapons, it's even better.