The first Sims had a holiday add-on, the second Sims had a holiday add-on and now Sims 3 has one, too, and it’s the best one so far. The touch of adventure works miracles for Sims 3, but the stories are goofy and some missions boring. It’s still great, because it’s full of new things to explore.

It’s like a browser game with improved graphics. The upside-down look was a bad choice, everything except the survival mode get boring quite fast. So it’s just the hunt for a new high score or rank. Boring.

This game is a very intense experience, no doubt at all. It mixes fast action with slow passages and perfectly done scripts. But it could have been much better had someone with talent written the story. It’s full of logical errors and gaps the size of the Grand Canyon… and the massacre on the airport only serves to show the missing tactfulness of the developer. But it’s a brilliant game, nonetheless.

It's very thrilling for a short time, but the limited amount of weapons and levels will bring you back down to earth quite fast. It's still a dynamic and action-packed shooter with great graphics, but doesn't offer much in the long term.

This is the best game by Bioware since Baldur's Gate 2. It's a highly motivating and excitingly told adventure for adult gamers. You'll experience rage, anxiety, inner conflict, loss, sympathy, bafflement and joy in this epic drama. Probably the role-playing game of the year.

More than a year after the console versions, the Ultimate Sith Edition arrives for PC. The game suffers from problems with controls and balance and because it’s a quite linear game. But it’s Star Wars, nicely presented, with great atmosphere and new missions. And that’s more important in this case.

It's World War II once again, but this time it's not D-Day again, it's the 22th of September, 1941 and we are Black Jackets, Russian marines fighting Romanian infantry or fighting on virtually every other Russian frontline up until August 1945 against Japan in the Pacific. But it's a hardcore game with no tutorial at all. You will need patience. But this game is a rough diamond.

This action adventure is just like the movies: dark, bloody and always copying itself. The villain of the game and his plots are the game’s greatest asset. But there’s not enough substance behind the great presentation.

Forget logic or the laws of physics, you won’t need them in this game. It’s an absurd action feast where you play a super ninja called Ken Ogawa. The only problem with this game are frequent crashes which are annoying because you the game is only saved after completing a mission

FIFA Manager 10 brings a new visuals with a powerful 3D engine for the matches. We can be a football player, a coach or the president offering many options perfect for the soccer fans. Sadly It has several problems in the matches engine but the game is more focused to the spectacular way than realistic. The best addition is the multiplayer online mode. The best FIFA Manager untill now.

Worldplay, grog and atmosphere, but still quite weak puzzles - the fourth episode of Tales of Monkey Island offers good entertainment, including the well known problems of all episodes so far. Only the great presentation prevents the game from mediocrity.

The game is finished and at least sometimes it' even possible to buy additional content. As far as the shop problems go, it almost seems fitting that the game is called LoL. Still, the fast battles between the heroes are highly motivating.

Torchlight is not just a clone of Diablo, it's a very good clone of Diablo, offered at a very low price. The game feels like a modern remake of Diablo, which is no big surprise, because it has been developed by former Blizzard employees Max and Erich Schaefer. The gameplay is so smooth it makes other games feel like work.

The fourth part of the Painkiller series plays just like the other ones. Using weapons like the painkiller you're fighting lots of weird opponents like axe-wielding monks or pirate zombies. As usual they act dumb, there is no AI to speak of. It's a game to play casually for 30 minutes now and then and doesn't aspire to be anything else.

Gearbox mixed a first person shooter with a role playing game and slightly missed the mark. After 20 levels you've basically seen everything, the story is very thin and still you keep playing to collect more items. The setting and the good graphics deserved more than that.

FIFA 10 offers a few small improvements like new tactical options, but compared to Pro Evolution Soccer 6 it looks very dated. All in all, it's not enough to improve the rating compared to FIFA 09 and the series really needs a graphical update.

Despite the 3D graphics, Tropico 3 is basically the same game like the first version eight years ago. A lot of things are not up to date, but the mix of politics, economy, development and black humor is ageless. If you liked the first Tropico, you will love the new one.

Machinarium is the most unusual adventure of 2009. It's part of the game to find out how everything works and what you have to do. What happens if you turn this machine on or pull that lever? Bit by bit everything makes sense and only at the end of the game you'll understand it. This game is a step in the right direction to evolve video games.

Good ideas, mediocre implementation. There's a lot of blood, a solid story and well done cut-scenes. Dreamkiller tries to be different, but in the end it's just short-lived fun for players who enjoy games like Painkiller.

Cities XL plays like Sim City from 1988 of City Life from 2006: Building streets and industrial, residential and commercial areas. But once you start building, you realize that a lot of things don't seem to work - because they only will after you've bought playtime. And only then you will be able to buy extra packages. To be fair, one month is included already.

The game can't keep up with Operation Flashpoint from 2001, everything seems to be smaller. There is also no real story, just one mission after the other. It's still fun to play and not bothering you with micro management problems.

This game could easily win a title for the most extensive and absurd key assignments. You’d need Jedi fingers to play the game without a gamepad. There are far too many key combinations. The result: pure chaos.

Piranha Bytes stayed true to old virtues and delivered the role-playing game one would expect: very old-fashioned, very German and very good. But this game requires you to be very active, to explore a lot. If you need to taken by the hand by a good story, then Risen is not for you. The game isn't fun because of the story, but despite it.

What did 49 Games do during winter? Summer Athletics didn't change a lot compared to last year. Presentation, the frugal graphic and the disciplines only show slight signs of further development. It's still fun with when playing with others.

It's half-time for Tales of Monkey Island. The third of five episodes is good entertainment, but the puzzles are getting worse. Most of the fun comes from comical situations and the weird characters, not from the game itself. Instead of getting harder, it gets easier.

On the one hand Aion offers great player versus player combat, on the other hand the quests are quite boring, like quests to collect a certain amount of items or to kill a certain amount of monsters. But once you're in a great group fighting other players you'll forget the weaker points of the game.

Order of War is like a popcorn war: fast and tasty, a nice little snack, but not a full meal. It's too easy for veterans and not impressive enough for casual gamers. But if you are looking for occasional fast battles, it's a good choice. It won't get less complicated than this.

Indirect controls, random battles, no diplomacy – can this be fun? Yes. Lots of upgrades, exploring the map and the colorful fantasy setting will get you hooked right from the start, including the just-one-more-mission effect. A real insider tip.