Operation Raccoon City is an endless chain of bland and repetitive shootouts filled to the brink with zombies who are nothing more than lambs to the slaughter. Rooms seem to be randomly filled corpses, Lickers and commandos, all too dumb to even tie their own shoes. [April 2012, p.72]

When it comes to action, Team Ninja pulls out all the stops. One moment you're jumping out of a C-130, ripping apart Apache helicopters, pile driving K9 bloodhounds into the concrete. The other, you're escaping an exploding lab, being chased by a T-Rex. [April 2012, p.68]

Those who do not care about the crazy Japanese aesthetics or the not so subtle references to popular anime, may ask them the question if the actual gameplay is any good at all. Well, it is. Sort of. [April 2012, p.66]

The RGP elements have been toned down considerably in favour of more action. For some this will sound like a bad thing, but trust us when we say that Bioware has thought this through. With the Reapers invading, it would be kind off silly to go on a shopping spree on the citadel. [April 2012, p.60]

The weapon selection is varied, but only has a few standouts, like an explosive catapult or an tranquilizing boomerang. Most of the rifles seem to have been lifted straight from some generic shooter and feel a bit soulless. [March 2012, p.102]

Not only does feel great just to hack away at your enemies with your knives, the finishers look absolutely fantastic. They look so good in fact that you'll want to try them out with every weapon and counter in the game. [March 2012, p.100]

A giraffe is hungry and it's up to you to do something about it. By stuffing yourself with food your neck will grow and move toward the top of the screen. A simple, but fun mechanism that has already proven itself on tablets and smartphones. [March 2012, p.99]

Just like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons Arcade Game is only for the most hardcore fans and nostalgic players who used to spent as much money on playing this game in the arcade as Homer does on donuts. [March 2012, p.99]

Sexy Kitten Yamgasm has you spinning a ball of yarn (Katamari-style!) through town leaving a trail of destruction. Sad Panda Skyblazing has you floating through the air chasing mascots with a chainsaw. Just a regular day in Steelport. [March 2012, p.98]

Ryder White is enjoyable company, bringing along more explosives than we're used to on Dead Island. There are still a lot of technical mistakes, just like there have always been. But hey, we're sure Techland will fix that with Dead Island 2, right? [March 2012, p.98]

Can't stand Nathan Drake? Well then we have some good news for you. In the latest DLC for Uncharted 3 you get to play as Zoran Lazarevi, Eddy Raja and Harry Flynn. Unfortunately the price is a bit too steep just to have the opportunity to play as a bad guy. [March 2012, p.98]

Two shoulder buttons to tilt the screen left and right are all you need to play Puddle. It looks neat, but Puddle is a little bit too much like a really hard alchemy exam. Too much trial and error for our taste. [March 2012, p.98]

Underneath all the unforced errors there's some entertaining gameplay to discover. We battled out numerous exciting sets filled with well placed slices and top spins. It doesn't take much effort to dish out some impressive and varied moves. [March 2012, p.96]

Even though 'saving the world' is like really important and good fun, you probably won't have time to actually save it. Reckoning's plains and villages are filled to the brink with humans, gnomes who all need your help. They are just side quests, but also the most fun we have had in Reckoning. [March 2012, p.92]

Kojima-san spent most of his childhood in front of the television and always wanted to be a movie director. Even though he might not have made it to Hollywood, his genius and cinematic talent are what made this series and its characters so iconic. [March 2012, p.90]

Quad wielding is The Darkness II biggest selling point. Nothing is more fun than shooting two enemies off a balcony with your Uzi's, while one of your tentacles grabs another of their buddies by the leg and the second one tears him apart. [March 2012, p.86]

After finishing Binary Domain we remember its great setting and atmosphere, but that's only because the overall story is the only thing worth remembering. No matter how exciting the setting may be, the characters populating it have the psychological depth of a goldfish. [March 2012, p.84]

There are small mistakes everywhere. The occasional glitchy corpse is to be expected (and even entertaining). Less funny are the times when you are stuck trying to solve a simple puzzle because it's impossible to see which objects are interactive. [March 2012, p.80]

Prolonged hugging sessions on the tatami, barbaric fist fighting marathons in the octagon: you will experience it all. We even won on points on time. And that was only the second round! Saving your energy for the next round isn't an unnecessary precaution. [March 2012, p.78]

SSX may not be the same party game it used to be, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun. The first time you jump out of a helicopter, you feel butterflies in your stomach, like only SSX can give you. It feels a bit like coming home. [March 2012, p.72]

No matter how hard you slam your car into a concrete wall, you will never lose control over it (no matter how fast you are going). You don't even feel any difference between cars. You just have to floor it, boost it and drift it. [March 2012, p.65]

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance does nothing similar games didn't already do ten years ago and stubbornly refuses to make use of the unique capabilities of the PlayStation Vita. There are no voice-overs, there is no visual flair whatsoever and there is very little strategy to be found. [March 2012, p.65]

Pretty funny and even entertaining at first. Unfortunately it also gets boring pretty fast. Army Corps of Hell lacks variation by recycling the same environments over and over again and lacks a certain tactical depth you'd come to expect from an RTS. [March 2012, p.65]

As expected, Shinobido 2 is no return to developer Acquire's former glory. A lot of gamers will be bothered by the unfinished look and feel of the game. Sometimes you even wonder if the developers remembered to program the AI. [March 2012, p.64]

Instead of focusing on Ridge Racer's strengths, Namco Bandai decided to try out a bizarre new business model. The game ships with just a measly five cars and three tracks. Yes, you read those numbers correctly. [March 2012, p.64]

Michel Ancel and his team members have delivered a near perfect port. The only thing bothering us about this Vita version is the lack of any form of co-op, undoubtedly the most entertaining feature of the PS3 game. [March 2012, p.64]

Aiming at the goal with the rear touchpad works incredibly well. Driving the ball into one of the top corners can be considered a work of art on the PS3, but on the Vita the game almost does it for you. It might be even a little bit too easy. [March 2012, p.63]

The game feels right at home on the PlayStation Vita, with its short levels that only last a few minutes and intuitive combination of the classic controls and the touchpad which you use to expand or shrink your rolling ball of mayhem. [March 2012, p.62]

Aside from the flawed touch controls, there are a few forgettable minigames using the motion sensor. Virtua Tennis 4 may be a fun tennis game, but it is definitely not a great showcase for the PlayStation Vita's capabilities. [March 2012, p.61]

Super Stardust Delta is one of the few Vita games that allows you to customize the controls to your liking. As a matter of fact it is the very first Vita-game ever to do that. Ideally for those among us who have been cursed not with clumsy hands, clawing away at the touch screen. [March 2012, p.60]

Except for a few missing background animations, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on the Vita is an exact copy of its bigger brother on the PS3. A technical marvel if you ask us, since Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 isn't known for its static gameplay. [March 2012, p.59]

Not changing a damn thing about your initial game formula in over seven year means you are either an extremely lazy designer or that the formula is so genius it doesn't need to be changed. Luckily designer Mizuguchi is anything but lazy and Lumines is still a winner. [March 2012, p.58]

Escape Plan's visual style is so well done, you will probably fall in love with it at first sight, just as we did. The game's opening has you waking up Lil by tapping the touch screen as he tries to push your finger away. He is absolutely adorable. [March 2012, p.56]

Judging by how bizarre some of the fighters are (like a Polish punk rocker who also happens to be a dentist) we're guessing that the guys over at Novarama are definitely on some kind of drug. Which would also explain why the actual fighting is so crappy. [March 2012, p.55]

Everybody's Golf is the premier example of a pick-up-and-play game perfectly suited for a handheld console. Despite its initial appeal we got bored pretty quickly due to a lack of variation and innovation over the previous installments. [March 2012, p.54]

Creating your own track has never been easier or faster. Use your index finger on the front touch screen to draw the track. Then add some details and an impressive mountain range using the back touchpad and you are set to race. [March 2012, p.53]

Sometimes the touch controls work magnificently, like in a game of Wac-A-Mole. At other times, though, they drive you crazy because the creators tried to cram every single feature the Vita has to offer into their collection of minigames. [March 2012, p.52]

Deploying a series of a deadly mines and hearing that soft, distant bang behind you when your opponents run into them is still as satisfying as ever. The same goes for taking the top spot in the final seconds of a race thanks to a conveniently placed speed pad. [March 2012, p.48]

Certain gimmicks however do show some creativity. At one point you're required to hold the Vita up toward the sun to reveal a hidden text on a piece of parchment. It goes to show that the Vita does have the potential for some crazy puzzles. [March 2012, p.46]

Unit 13 is the first proper shooter on a handheld console and, if we have anything to say about it, it certainly won't be the last one. If they are all as good as Zipper Interactive's latest outing on the PlayStation Vita, of course. [March 2012, p.50]

Jurassic Park: The Game is best described as a low-budget Heavy Rain knock-off filled to the brink with quick time events. But where the buttons you had to press in Heavy Rain made more or less sense, they are completely random in Jurassic Park: The Game. [February 2012, p.104]

Trine 2 still is a very beautiful game with some very entertaining gameplay even though there aren't any significant improvements over the original. The newly added online co-op sort of ruins the game as puzzles become very easy to solve when playing with one or two friends. [February 2012, p.102]

Psycho Soldier is a straight forward port of 1986 SNK-classic and is still an entertaining side-scroller, but only for those who have embraced their inner nostalgic self. You do have to face the fact that this the exact same game you played all those years ago, without any improvements. [December 2012, p.101]

This SEGA-classic is considered by many to be the best Sonic-game ever made. Sonic goes so fast in this iteration that he can even travel through time, making the pimped out DeLorean from Back to the Future seem like a pushover. [February 2012, p.101]

Dungeon Defenders consists of two phases. First you strategically arrange your defenses, then you use the abilities of your characters to repel every goblin coming your way. Playing Dungeon Defenders in co-op is a must, since you can combine the powers of certain characters. [February 2012, p.101]

The basics of Choplifter haven't changed one bit since its debut in 1982. You still control a helicopter on a 2D plane, rescuing people. Unfortunately you don't always feel in control of the chopper you're flying, which can lead to some unnecessary deaths. [February 2012, p.100]

With the exception of a few scary moments Amy is anything but frightening. The puzzles are uninspired, the controls awkward, the voice acting horrible and the checkpoint system is one the worst we've ever encountered. [February 2012, p.100]

We had to wait nearly seven years for this former Xbox-exclusive to return and even after all this time the strange mix between third person platforming and first person shooting still works fine. You'd have to be crazy not to download this title after such a long wait. [February 2012, p.100]

Yet another twin-stick shooter involving brainless, brain-eating monstrosities. All Zombies Must Die tries to change things up a bit by throwing in RPG-elements en co-op, which unfortunately you can only play locally. [February 2012, p.100]

In Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat you control your superhero by drawing lines en symbols unto the uDraw-tablet. It's surprising to see the developer making such great use of the uDraw this early in its lifespan. [February 2012, p.99]

Drawing with the uDraw-tablet is not that easy and can lead to some less than stellar results, making us wish we were playing the real deal. On the other hand, watching a drawing on your television is a lot easier than having everyone gather around a small piece of paper. [February 2012, p.98]

Neverdead is a strange, but fascinating creature. Originality is hard to find nowadays, but Neverdead has plenty of it. Many of the game's puzzles require you to deliberately grab hold of an electric conductor until your body explodes into a flaming spark. [February 2012, p.94]

The rush you feel when striking down an opponent with a perfectly timed swing from your mighty sword remains one of the best and unique experiences in the entire beat 'm up-genre. SoulCalibur still can't compete with the likes of Capcom's fighting games, but it's getting close. [February 2012, p.90]

We were relieved to discover that FFXIII-2 had much more to offer than its sterile CGI-driven predecessor. Not only are there some great mini-games in the form of time paradox puzzles, there are also plenty of side quests. It goes to show that Square Enix truly listens to its fans. [February 2012, p.84]

This game is aimed at players aged 3 to 6, so the protagonists are all cute little animals like a rabbit, a panda and a turtle. There are several minigames that can be played with the Sixaxis or the Move, but only the latter is actually fun to do. [January 2012, p.88]

This is a bargain if you look at what you get. This shooter is long, challenging and has a great sense of humor thanks to cutscenes that remind us of Ratchet & Clank. Mega Man was also an inspiration: you get to use the weapons of every end boss you defeat. [January 2012, p.85]

We don't want to offend the longtime fans of the series, but we honestly can't understand why anybody would want to play an archaic RPG like Wizardry when there are fantastic games like Skyrim around. Being nostalgic is one thing, being ignorant another. [January 2012, p.85]

Voltron is an anime series from the eighties in which a team of fighters controls tiger-shaped (we 're not making this up) vehicles that can combine with each other to form a huge robot. The sad news? We've waited 20 years for this and the result is rubbish. [January 2012, p.85]

Based on the movie. In 2020 boxing is no longer practiced by humans. Matches are fought by huge robots controlled by humans outside of the ring. You build your own robot and gradually unlock more parts. It's a shame that the fighting system sucks. [January 2012, p.84]

We're no diehard fans of the genre, but we can certainly appreciate a good shmup from time to time. Especially if the visuals are as impressive as those of Ion Assault. The basic idea is that you suck up ions and use them as ammunition against the enemy. [January 2012, p.84]

A simple but engrossing puzzle game in which allergic little monsters trapped in soap bubbles sneeze their way to freedom. The aim of the game is to cause a chain reaction of sneezies by strategically releasing some pollen amongst the little critters. [January 2012, p.84]

You've never player BlazBlue before? Then you are in for a shock. The action is fast and furious and the screen seems to contain more meters and gauges than a physics laboratory. Luckily, the game contains one of the best tutorials we've ever seen in a fighting game. [January 2012, p.83]

SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 was an ugly bastard. The graphical engine behind WWE '12 is much more evolved. The highly detailed wrestlers are a sight for sore eyes. There are some problems with clipping however. Arms that move through heads for example. [January 2012, p.80]

It's a pity that you get almost no information about how the drawing software works. If you know your way around Paint, you'll probably have no problem figuring it all out, but nonetheless we would have appreciated a little tour of all the available options. [January 2012, p.78]

Summarized the battle system in Hybrid revolves around tags. Get your second character in the fight at the exact right time to complete a combo and you'll be sure to win most fights. Combinations of certain fighters give access to unique attacks or powerful throws. [January 2012, p.76]

Protagonist Vincent faces the same dilemma as loads of men around the age of 30: play it safe, marry and have kids or go down the path of adventure with a new and dangerous woman who loves to play games, both in and out of bed. [January 2012, p.70]

First you are confronted by regular police agents, then SWAT-teams and in the end even the FBI gets involved. To survive the constant stream of enemies teamwork is key. Even more so because you have a long list of objectives to fulfill. [December 2011, p.104]

This feels like an educational game because the main theme is all about saving nature. You play as two clouds that have to clean up the polluted Okabu-world. The art design is quite attractive, but the puzzles that you need to solve are too simple to be interesting. [December 2011, p.101]

Arkham City is a great game, and the addition of the new character Nightwing through this DLC gives you an excellent reason to play through it all over again. You just want to spend a few hours with Nightwing? Then check out the two new challenge maps. [December 2011, p.101]

It had to happen someday. The very first version of Toki Tori was released on the Game Boy Color in 2001 and now we can finally welcome our yellow chicken friend on a PlayStation-console. The gameplay is as challenging as ever, but never gets frustrating. [December 2011, p.101]

PixelJunk has become a synonym for great PSN-games, but this time round it's better to check out the demo first. Visually this is a stunner, but when it comes to gameplay this is a lot simpler than we are used from previous PixelJunk-games. Just fly and shoot. [December 2011, p.101]

The former Xbox 360-exclusive finally comes to PS3 and the good news is that the game is a lot better than it used to be. The game received numerous patches on the Xbox 360, which are all integrated in the PS3-version. The biggest attraction are the water effects. [December 2011, p.100]

Thanks to the hit series True Blood and the Twilight-movies vampires are hotter than ever and the people from Sucker Punch have just delivered their own festival of blood. This is a nice extension to the main game, even if it only lasts for about four hours. [December 2011, p.100]

Zombies. Twin-stick shooters. Shooting. That's a good description of the gameplay you can expect in this slaughter fest. Not a bad game, but if you want to kill off zombies, you are better off with the comparable, but much better Dead Nation. [December 2011, p.100]

In this adventure game you control Rana, a pirate that battles insects on floating platforms in the sky. The game looks a bit like classic Zelda-games, but is more about action than adventure or puzzles. Nevertheless this Mini offers a lot of gameplay for its size. [December 2011, p.100]

After you finish the game – which you can do in about four hours – you can replay the special sections with Bobby, Haddock and all kinds of vehicles in the Challenge mode. But there is more fun to be had in the Haddock mode, which drops you in a dreamlike world. [December 2011, p.98]

This is a pretty good platformer, but we are appalled about how shamelessly Disney rips of LittleBigPlanet. The characters you play with look exactly like Sackboys. A nice touch: you can dress them up with all kinds of costumes from the Disney-universe. [December 2011, p.97]

Activision knows how to promote a product. There are ads running on every kids channel right now trying to convince them that Skylanders is the must-have game. Admittedly, the idea of the figurines is quite neat, but the game itself is nothing to get excited about. [December 2011, p.96]

We had the most fun playing the game with just one other player. Four players on screen is too hectic, two is just right and a lot more fun than taking on the enemies on your own. The only thing we miss is online co-op for when you don't have a friend handy. [December 2011, p.94]

A heartwarming story is what we miss the most. You get the feeling you are doing the dirty work for the real Fellowship. While they are making history in the south of Middle-earth, you need to cause some diversion in the north. [December 2011, p.93]

Like in the previous Eyepet-games you never really get the feeling that you are actually petting the animals. Yes, the animal reacts to the Move, but the interaction is very limited. It's fun to toy around with the technology for a while, but after that it gets boring. [December 2011, p.89]

Lemmings is the big stinker in this collection. This puzzle classic will always be a good game in its own right, but trying to control the suicidal Lemmings with a PlayStation Move actually makes you want to kill yourself out of pure and utter frustration. [December 2011, p.87]

The exercises offer a lot of variety, but sometimes they are too alike. Jumping away from a ball or catching it for example may seem different, but boils down to the same thing. The exercises are also very intense for people who aren't used to working out regularly. [December 2011, p.87]

In a lot of the minigames a second player can use the regular controller to hinder the main player in various ways. It's a nice way to keep everyone entertained, but actually it is a lot more fun to shove or distract your friends in real life to get them to fail. [December 2011, p.86]

If you are an adult, you have to be in a really good mood to survive all this over-the-top happiness. But it is however a wonderful game to play together with your kids. The minigames are challenging, but easy enough to be enjoyed by players of all ages. [December 2011, p.86]

This is the kind of game that you play for only short periods of time. Partly because of the repetitive nature of the gameplay, but also because of the physical pain it can cause you. Play this for a few hours on end and you will definitely suffer the morning after. [December 2011, p.84]

A mere three hours after our departure from the Bay Area we already arrived at Empire City. Outrageous, especially because The Run is the main mode of the game and the story wants us to believe that we just travelled a whopping 4,000 km by car. [December 2011, p.80]

A cool twist is that you have to play every level twice, once in 3D and once in 2D. There is a strong feeling of recognition here that will make fans of the Mega Drive-games feel really nostalgic. Dashing through the good old Green Hill Zones for example is a delight. [December 2011, p.78]

The nine multiplayer maps seem to be designed specifically to let players come up with their own creative strategies. Compared to COD, this gives the player a real sense of freedom. There is no such thing as a perfect strategy or a trotten path. [December 2011, p.74]

Do you scour the internet daily for new combos or strategies to use in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, then you should buy this update blindly. There is no doubt about it: this ultimate edition of Capcom's beat 'm up is in every way superior to its predecessor. [December 2011, p.72]

This is a game full of emotions for gamers who are willing to embrace it. A beautiful fantasy land that makes loading times a thing of the past and is full of surprises. Not only do you get a lot of variety in the locations, the gameplay offers a lot of different experiences as well. [December 2011, p.66]

The thing we love most about Golden Eye is the split-screen multiplayer. You don't see this enough in shooters anymore. Luckily Eurocom can be counted on to deliver the goods: four people can fight it out on one screen at the same time in several exciting modes. [December 2011, p.64]

The old Ezio has a few new tricks up his sleeves: he plays around with a wide array of explosives and makes use of a brand new gadget, the Hookblade, to travel around town much more quickly. The only downside to all of this is that it doesn't add much to the gameplay. [December 2011, p.58]

The biggest positive about COD has nothing to do with gameplay or graphics. It's the all-inclusive social service Elite. Activision has learned a lot from the likes of Facebook and Twitter. You get loads of ways to connect to and interact with friends who are playing the game. [December 2011, p.54]

People who fear that half of the missions will be things like 'pick this guy up', 'deliver that package', needn't worry. Ninety percent of the story consists of missions full of tension and over-the-top action. There is hardly any filler. [December 2011, p.46]

We've always been huge fans of the Burnout-series and we were hoping for a new installment. This isn't it, but nonetheless it is a masterfully crafted spin-off. [Nov 2011, p.98]

Although you kill loads of evil penguins along the way, the gameplay is mainly centered around rather basic environment puzzles that get boring quite quickly. [Nov 2011, p.98]

You run, sneak and drive around an island that is so beautiful that you would gladly trade in your weapons for swimming trunks and have the rest of the day off for some sunbathing. [Nov 2011, p.98]