Black Flag is different from its predecessors, but still contains the same Assassin’s Creed DNA. The variation between land and sea missions are what makes it feel fresh. At sea we’re mostly impressed by the open waters and everything to do there, with an emphasis on the wild sea skirmishes. It’ll make you feel like a real pirate, even though it isn’t as historically rich as previous Assassin’s Creed games.

Most of you have already decided whether you’re playing Battlefield 4 or not. And for those who are riddled with doubt we have the following announcement: buying Battlefield 4 will get you a multiplayer game that’ll suck hours upon hours out of your life in the coming year.

Football Manager 2014 might not seem to do anything new at a glance, but nothing could be farther from the truth. It has many big and small improvements, that make the manager-experience better and more interesting than in previous installments. This will keep you busy for tens of hours, guaranteed.

T.K. Baha’s Bloody Harvest is a very simple expansion that offers a cosmetic sidestep from the usual. The short adventure in Hallowed Hollow is dressed up nicely with Halloween details and a few different looking enemies. Aside from that, it doesn’t do anything new and you’ll have finished it in an hour or so.

Skylanders Swap Force is the best Skylanders game yet. Graphically it’s seen some major improvements, it’s quite varied and the amount of content can keep kids busy for countless hours. Its still leaves a bad taste in your mouth though, because you’ll have to spend a lot of money if you want to get the most out of it.

Sonic: Lost World makes a step in the right direction. Sonic is mostly easy to control, the variety in the levels is there and certain actions you’ll have to perform with the Gamepad work well. The difficulty can spike though, and the cutscenes look like a twenty year old soap opera. It also goes a little too much by a trial and error principle.

Harvest Moon: a New Beginning doesn’t win any beauty contests and you’ll need some perseverance to get through the boring first bit. When you finally get through that you’ll be presented with a game that can keep you occupied for a long while. There’s constantly more things to do and you’ll always have the feeling that you making progress, which will keep you playing.

The Wolf Among Us starts of promising. Episode 1 is a gripping detective adventure with many intriguing characters, beautiful locations and important choices. The numerous action scenes provide players with some variety, but this is paired with a few hitches and long load times.

Foul Play offers a special twist to the beat ‘em up-genre by adding a Rock Band-ish system. The Theatre theme is well implemented, and that makes the game immensely fun and cutesy. The audiences responses actually make you try while fighting, but it does start to get a bit repetitive an hour or so in.

Beyond: Two Souls is amazing. This statement can be taken positively as well as negatively. Positively, thanks to its unmatched cinematic action scenes. Negatively, because of the limited gameplay. What starts as an emotional, exciting story, ends up being a grotesque tidal wave of paranormal crap. That makes this more the spiritual successor to Fahrenheit than Heavy Rain.

Shadow Warrior does exactly what it should. It's an ode to the authentic shooter genre like we've known it from Duke Nukem, Serious Sam or the original Shadow Warrior. Shadow Warrior is a surprise that remains interesting 'til the credits start rolling. The humor and story will keep your attention from dwindling, but the gameplay can get repetitive at times. The most important thing is that it's simply fun, from start to finish.

Rain is the next downloadable game by Sony, that shows perfectly why the PlayStation Network-titles are made. Short, intriguing experiences that centralize the player. This mysterious world is beautiful and creates a memorable experience for the player. It's a shame that it takes a while to get going and uses a lot of text, but after an hour or two no one will care anymore.

The Wind Waker HD is a fantastic remake. Lovers of the original can enjoy the visuals and improved gameplay to their hearts content, including the extra tough Hero Mode. New players can get ready for an amazing adventure that they'll cherish for a long while after playing.

The Path to Greatness might not be the revolution we hoped for, but the rest of a game is. The quality of its gameplay is unmatched and constantly challenges you. There's also enough to do with plenty of modes which will keep you hooked for quite a while.

EA shipped a fine soccer game with FIFA 14 on mobile platforms. It's not too complicated, so it's easy to get into and great for short games and Ultimate Team can keep you busy for dozens of hours next soccer season. Whoever wants depth in the actual soccer, like on consoles, should look to it's bigger brother though.

The addition of the FOX engine has been a dangerous but necessary leap of faith. With PES 2014, Konami made the jump, but hasn't landed safely yet. It shows many positive things, such as the renewed gameplay that feels deep and strong, new tactical options that really add something and a human aspect. Unfortunately, it still doesn't feel like a finished product.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn shows that FFXIV can be saved. The game was declared dead, but with the perseverance of Square Enix a strong game rises from the ashes. There'll be a few lingering annoyances for players here and there, but the beautiful world and typical Final Fantasy elements will keep you hooked for long.

Worms 3 is exactly what you know it for. The map-system and the different classes offer a little extra depth, but this only has longevity when playing it online. The predictable enemies only keep the single player fun for a few hours.

Pod is an awful map, but the rest are very enjoyable. It does come off a bit cheap, with two of the maps being remakes of existing ones, but the Zombie-mode is once again original and offers a new piece of game, and the quality the series is known for.

Call of Duty: Strike Team is another example of how shooters don't work on a smartphone. Shooting is sluggish and slow, which has you relying on auto-aiming throughout the entire game. The uninspired story is just as boring as the gameplay, which won't have you clamoring for more. The RTS-elements could offer some form of redemption, but these hardly work because of the average controls.

FIFA 14 has a lot of new elements, but unfortunately the most prominent new elements aren't executed flawlessly. This makes FIFA 14 a very enjoyable soccer experience, but with bizarre situations arising from time to time that mess things up quite a bit. The new additions to FIFA Ultimate Team are successful though.

Editing the GTA formula has been done with love and care. Playing with no less than three main characters works well in every thinkable way, and after finishing the compelling and sharply written story, there’s enough to do in the wide world of Los Santos and environment. GTA 5 simply offers an ambitious, successful experience of a rare quality level.

Puppeteer is a rare experience that shouldn't be missed. The gameplay is very varied and the changing of decor prevents boredom from setting in. No matter how young or old you are, there's something for everyone in this magical and beautifully animated world.

Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time just works well in every way. The game makes good use of the Free to Play-model, with which you'll only pay for something to make it a bit easier for yourself. The game is just as enjoyable without spending a dime though.

Blizzard shows with Diablo III that they know how to create a console game. With a few good improvements and additions, we’ll let the few slip-ups slip by. Diablo III on consoles is better than the PC-version in pretty much every way.

The biggest compliment that I can lodge against Killzone: Mercenary is that is simply works. It’s a complete FPS-game that wouldn’t be misplaced on consoles and works excellently on the Vita thanks to the hardware’s features. Visually it’s stunning, but the game is a bit short and the touch controls do annoy slightly from time to time. The very entertaining multiplayer more than makes up for that though.

Don’t be misguided by the haunted house vibe: Gone Home uses traditional adventure elements to tell the tale of a young teenager. It’s an interesting and innovative combination, that is held back by conservative gameplay and storytelling.

Charlie Murder is an absolute must for many gamers, especially if you’re looking for a new beat ‘m up or a fun co-op game. By combining simple action with loot and extensive character classes, Charlie Murder offers more depth than you might expect. It pays to think about how to level your character and selecting the right items. With a lot of content and diversity, the cool style and great humour Charlie Murder adds up to a great XBLA title.