There is a lot to love about Resident Evil 7, from the spooky atmosphere to the many nods to the classic formula. Yet it stops just shy of being a masterpiece, mostly due to the disappointing second half, where the enemies lack variation and the story doesn’t fulfill its early promises. Even so, Resident Evil 7 is a must-buy for fans of the horror genre. While the missing virtual reality support on PC is a big letdown, Capcom did their homework in terms of performance and mouse controls.

An almost perfect remake of a timeless classic. It captures the look and feel of the original game while it benefits greatly from decent new graphics and top-notch voice acting. If only Lucas Arts hadn't changed the control scheme! The use of that clumsy Xbox 360 interface in a adventure game (!) for pc is just ridiculous, it really brings down some of the fun.

Homeworld Remastered is a no-brainer for anyone with a passing interest in science fiction and space strategy games. Gearbox did a terrific job with the HD visuals, but the original Homeworld suffers from some cuts to the core formula in terms of the now useless formations. Yet, those kind of details will only really bother the most hardcore of fans – everyone else is in for a sometimes unforgiving, but unique RTS.

Thrilling story and interesting genre mix: Tower of Time does not reinvent the wheel, but comes up with some nice innovations and ideas. Especially the combination of real-time strategy and role-playing elements provides a breath of fresh air.

A successful and faithful relaunch of the series. Tropico 3 delivers nice graphics, entangling music and a gameplay that makes you feel El President-ish at once! Go buy, or else…!

Just Cause 2 is a very good, humorous sequel with a vast open world and a wonderful destruction system. The downsides though are a miserable AI and a lack of variety concerning the mission design.

A dark and brutal superhero-comic come alive. Prototype offers more than enough room for criticism due to its simple mission-design, unlovely graphics and boneheaded AI. Nevertheless it also copes with creating the intensive atmosphere of a city on the brink of disaster and of the player being the ultimate superhero, therefore resulting in a gameplay experience that is by far greater than the sum of its parts.

With improved exploration mechanics, richly detailed locations and intriguing puzzle design The Room Two surpasses its predecessor in every way. Storytelling is still a weak spot though.

I am almost completely satisfied with the new and revised functions of the strategy card - and spend most of the game here.

Age of Wonders 3 is everything fans of the series wished it to be: a deep and complex turn-based strategy game with lots to discover, a true PC Game with beautiful graphics. Although its campaigns lack a certain something and the economic part of its gameplay never reaches the excellence of Civilization 5, Age of Wonders 3 is still a challenging game you don’t have to regret sinking many, many hours into.

Thanks to its beautiful pixel art, charming characters, diverse environments and great design, Owlboy lives up to the expectations, even though it is far from perfect.

Once again the player embodies an evil Overlord and threatens a colorful fantasy world with its destruction. Compared to the prequel, Overlord 2 has been improved in many small details, but none of those big enough to haul the game up to a new level. Still, the mixture of genres like action-adventure, strategy, action and rpg paired with the black humor captures the players attention from the beginning to the end.

An astounding variety of ethical decisions, a wide range of believable, fun characters and a thrilling 24esque storyline make Alpha Protocol one of the most compelling role playing games of the last years. But be warned: The artificial intelligence is at times dumb as a rock, the save system seems rather antiquated, the graphics don’t hold up to the genre standard and the mini games are clearly not made for PC gamers. However, Alpha Protocol combines an enthralling storyline with a functioning role playing core and the highest grade of replayability in years! Well made, Obsidian!

This last episode is the finale of the trilogy and completes the story of the three main characters. Although there is still not much gameplay, the story is beautifully written. Although the ending is pretty sudden, the game comes to a satisfying conclusion.

Compared to its highly addictive prequel, Armored Princess goes one better and adds a lot of previously missed features making the game an overall better RPG-experience. Although AP is less comprehensive than its 2008's predecessor, you will still have fun for days!

From my perspective roguelike is a rather frustrating genre. I find it annoying to lose my progress all the time and don’t get much from the randomness of the procedural generated worlds in most of these games. However, because of my fondness for space shooters, I gave Everspace a chance – and to my surprise, it convinced me.

Despite the outrageous elimination of an online-mode while some features are only available online and some minor bugs, the game enthuses players through depth and new features. A strong editor and a tremendous long-term-motivation make Fifa Manager 13 a great example of its genre.

The beautiful visuals look even better on the PC and the controls are smart and responsive. There are some flaws, though, in particular the short play time, some stiff level design and the overall potential for frustration. But if you manage to go with the flow, you will find Mirror's Edge to be a thrilling and unique gaming experience.

The second addon for famous The Sims 3 brings you new career choices for your virtual family - among them jobs as firefighter, ghosthunter or stylist. Sounds cool but the fun of playing the job routines day by day vanishes too quickly. The Sims 3 Ambitions is solid but nothing more.

Hitman 2 is a good stealth playground, although it missed some of its best chances to be a great game.

Although the time-bending-feature isn’t as game-defining as it seems (at least for now), Chrysalis is a great first look into the world of Life is Strange. Only time – and future episodes – will tell if the story is strong enough to make the game as a whole worthwhile. But for now, thanks to an intriguing mystery plot and clever dialogue fans of adventure games can’t go wrong.

Reasonable advancement compared to the predecessor. Ships and planes deliver more variety and opportunities. The campaign alone challenges the player for a lot of hours. It still has some flaws though, especially with the track building.

The Definitive Edition captures the romanticized memory that we had of this 20 year old classic and puts it in a modern game. The reworked graphics are marvelous and despite some badly aged mechanics like the path finding it is still fun to build your own ancient empire.

While The Whispered World, the successful predecessor to Silence, was a classic 2D-point-and-click-adventure, the developers now are heading into a more modern way of adventure-storytelling. This ends up in a most beautiful designed world with 3D-modelled characters. Using a brilliant way of camera-zooms and –angles, the presentation is a great cinematic-experience. The gameplay itself is focused on an emotional story and filled with more casual puzzles and dialogues than before. We’ve missed some more challenging riddles and more story-depth concerning the side-characters. Depending on how many in-game tips you’re using, Silence took you just about 5 up to 7 hours to complete.

It's just remaster, not a fully fledged remake. Keeping that in mind, I had a great time with the new, old Grim Fandango: Bursting with creativity, lovable characters and a jaw-dropping soundtrack, the game still stands as one of the best in the genre - especially with its vastly improved controls. A shame that the puzzle design did not age as well as the incredible story.

Wargroove knows how to entice the player with a cute pixel art style, loveable characters, well written dialogue and a strategy experience that will satisfy newcomers as well as seasoned veterans. The story is simple, yet enjoyable ,and the editor - in which you can design you’re own campaigns –, whilst extensive, could be more enhanced on a technical level. A charming Indie-Strategy-Game that leaves room for improvement, but still manages to be a lot of fun.

Legacy is the "return of the old-school rpg”. The turn based combat is well done, but not perfectly balanced. The development of the four hero-characters, chosen from 12 playable classes, is motivating, because there is much room to specialize them. The story is classic fantasy stuff, mostly told within text windows. Some technical issues like the bad performance in the open-world areas can be frustrating sometimes. But in the end, Legacy offers much old fashioned and charming rpg content from good old M&M-days.

The Darkness 2 introduces stunning new comic-book-graphics and some subtle, yet reasonable gameplay-changes. Further strong points are superb English (and solid German) voice-acting, an entertaining four-player-coop-mode and the bleak atmosphere throughout the game. The story is interesting, but not as gripping as in the prequel, and most of the boss-battles are pretty lame. Furthermore, the USK-version is heavily cut.

A well-executed overall concept á la Black Mirror and Altered Carbon.

Sweet design perfectly combined with destructive mischief.

A bit on the pricey side, Metro Redux is nevertheless a meaningful remake of Metro 2033 with the added value of its successor Last Light including all its – albeit mediocre – DLC. The graphics are simply spectacular, the atmosphere is great and the AI tends to be horrible, just like before.

Crosscode is an amazing adventure with more than 50 hours of content, charming retro graphics, likeable characters and tons of challenging puzzles. Jumping and aiming can get a little fiddly and a bunch of the brainteasers are simply too demanding, but if you bite through these slightly frustrating moments, you will get more than your money's worth.

Thanks to an engrossing story and some tricky choices Thronebreaker kept us hooked for the 30 hour campaign, even though some of the puzzles can lead to frustration and the map exploration gets old pretty quickly.

Great mixture of tactical turn-based strategy and Cyberpunk-Espionage. Though the story and overall presentation is lacking in details, the game offers deep and rich gameplay-mechanics. The great variety of campaign-options offers lots of individual challenges for beginners and hardcore-fans as well.

Valiant Hearts is an emotion-driven and beautifully presented game that deals with World War 1. It combines action-adventure gameplay with great storytelling and imparts knowledge of the historical background. Although the gameplay itself and the puzzles are simple and some action sequences are annoying, Valiant Heart is a clear recommendation for players above 12 years with even the slightest interest in history.

I can’t recall any recent game that made me cuss as often as Trackmania: Turbo. I constantly managed to ram my vehicle in to walls, trees, chasms and other obstacles. Therefore, the reset-button became my closest friend during my time with Trackmania: Turbo. But in similar fashion as Trials Fusion, Trackmania: Turbo engages you fairly quickly with its concept. Pretty soon you find yourself itching to satisfy your ambitions to become the very best at the game. One of the few gripes I do have with the game, are its courses, which can be very confusing at times. Other than that, Trackmania: Turbo is a highly enjoyable and challenging arcade-racing-game.

An atmospheric journey through a desolated world. Wonderfully calm and relaxing.

Superhot manages to squeeze an astonishing number of brilliant ideas into its short running time. It’s the most innovative shooter since Doom, but the fun ends way too soon. Even if you only play in slow motion.

With good graphics, smart puzzles and a ton of secrets to discover Legend of Grimrock pretty much hits the mark. Sure, it may not be for everyone, storytelling is weak and to call it old-fashioned would be an understatement. But if you ever cared about classics like Dungeon Master, this one is for you. Not only a love letter to Old School Dungeon Crawlers, but also fine game in its own right.

Leisure Suit Larry is back and that’s a good thing. The game keeps the charm and humor of the first games and puts it right into the 21st century.

Overall, I'm happy with the third part, which is mainly due to the epic plot and the strongly drawn characters.

Killing Floor 2 is a pleasant surprise. Tripwire manages to get the fundamentals so, so right. Fighting zeds is a pleasure thanks to guns that are satisfying to use. If there is anything wrong with Killing Floor 2's dumb, yet addicting co-op fun, it's that there simply isn't enough variation, both in terms enemy types as well as game modes.

An inferior sequel to 2012’s surprise hit, Hotline Miami 2 nonetheless shares many of its predecessor’s qualities. The soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission and the mosaic story makes for some very weird, albeit fun to interpret scenes.

Solid action for fans of Warhammer, but lacking in atmosphere and finesse. Graphic and textures are a little outdated but not a huge obstacle when it comes to the simple fun the game promises.

Payday 2 is a great Coop-Shooter with many well designed Missions and a unique setting. The only flaw is the Team-AI – what is not a huge shortcoming for a coop-based game.

Harkening back to the first game in the series, Valkyria Chronicles 4 does very little to improve upon its tried and tested formula. A new set of characters and a few welcome additions however are enough to make this one just as enjoyable as the original Valkyria Chronicles ten years ago.

Criterion Games hits the old and trusty NfS-Series with a welcome and refreshing blast from the past. It offers fast and furious oldschool-action, plenty of mileage and an overall good ride. A lack of modes, some rather bland racetypes, the always present rubberband-A.I. and a lack of challenge bothered us. But overall we liked what Hot Pursuit had to offer. A lot!

With dark atmosphere, good puzzles and excellent mouse controls this adventure game easily exceeds its mediocre predecessor in every way.

Style over substance, but fans are going to love it.

We tried to love Far Cry 5, but because of a bunch of technical as well as gameplay issues we just couldn’t. If you were looking forward to the game and think about buying it, don’t hesitate, though – it’s still quite good! However, it surely isn’t something that will be remembered for long.

Nex Machina hits the bull´s eye! At least for gamers who don’t expect more than shooting-fun to the core, just like in the old arcade days.

A solid update that brings the slightly better visuals from the WiiWare version back to the PC. While it's not as pretty as the 3DS version, the challenging gameplay remains intact: Cave Story+ is a successful tribute to console classics like Metroid and Castlevania.

Superior to its predecessor in every way. Amazing cutscenes, a fun (yet very short) campaign, lots of fan service and decent multiplayer come together in a robust RTS package. Due to its lack of depth and content, it probably won't win the hearts of many C&C or Starcraft 2 veterans, but at the same time it presents a great entry point for newcomers to the genre.

A nice sequel, especially for co-op-fans, but not good enough to surpass its predecessor.

While smaller in scope than Obsidians last RPG, Tyranny astonishes with its clever way of handling choice and consequence. There are so many variables in Tyranny, you just have to play it twice.

A solid third-person shooter that delivers intense action and a compelling setting, but relies too much on established mechanics, rather than delivering something new. The story however really stands out - a grim and challenging reflection on violence is something you won't find in any typical shooter. Fortunately it's also missing that dull patriotism you've come to expect from today's military action games.

A solid port that looks sharp and runs smoothly on modern PCs. Aside from the DLCs, which are already included in this version, the original game remains mostly untouched. It's no Symphony of the Night by any means, but a fun experience nonetheless, with diverse levels, incredible atmosphere and challenging combat. The awkward camera positioning, inaccurate platforming and pacing issues may turn some people off though.

You surely have made up your mind concerning a purchase of Duke Nukem Forever. So a review might sound obsolete. But it's not. The Duke-Adventure matches the expectations, the negative and positive. It's a great shooter for fans but of course suffers from the bad graphics and some boring levels.

Fun, fun, fun. Pure doesn’t want to be realistic by any means, but to be a great arcade-game. Few other racing-titles this year were that easy to get into.

Elegant game design paired with a smart interface and lots of replay value turn Slay the Spire into a fast, almost addictive experience, even though the game can be too punishing at times.

Left 4 Dead top down! Alien Swarm is fast-paced, alien-filled fun that demands cooperative gaming and delivers cleverly directed missions that stay challenging from beginning to the end. The upgrade systems serves as a motivator and the match making is quite good. Physics, sound and lighting convey a spooky atmosphere. Although there is only one campaign at release, Alien Swarm delivers more fun than most full-price games.

Obduction is fully aware of what fans want it to be – a tough-as-nails, spiritual successor to Myst – and fulfills this task superbly. Not a lot of modern-day-adventure-players will most likely appreciate this, as it can be quite unforgiving at times (most of the time, actually); but in that particular sub-genre that Obduction is part of, there hasn’t been a better game in quite some time.

Beautifully presented tactical massacre in medieval times.

A true South Park experience, brimming with crude jokes, nasty insults and crazy ideas. It's also fun to play, although lacking some depth and replay value. But even without meaningful decisions and a diverse class system this is a roleplaying game that every fan of South Park will enjoy – like a 14-hour episode of the show.

A serviceable campaign is augmented by a very robust multiplayer offering. Gears of War 4 offers spectacular graphics and great PC performance, but the story feels unfinished.

An overall well done tactical cyberpunk-RTS, that is bringing back the spirit of the 1993 released Syndicate by Bullfrog. The atmosphere is great, reminding us to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. You’ve got the opportunity to play various styles with your 4 agents, each of them equipped with special skills, weapons and augmentations. The world is filled with missions and gear to collect. The difficulty can be very hard sometimes, there is no way to pause the game or save during a mission. Some minor bugs have to be noticed, especially with lacking AI and pathfinding.

On the one hand Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning features one of the best combat systems I've ever seen in an RPG. It's fast, smooth and absolutely satisfying. The character individualization is quite big and the vast world of Amalur is a great place to sink in. On the other hand its dull story and severe lack of interesting characters are holding Reckoning back from being more than just a nice fill-in between Skyrim and Mass Effect 3.

Great action game including huge boss fights against over-sized monsters. A must have for those who like to play coop games for up to four players. In case you play the game alone alongside AI partners the difficulty level may frustrate you from time to time.

Some control issues aside, Valkyria Chronicles offers just as much fun on PC as it did six years ago on PS3.

Some may prefer the accessible Master of Orion, some may want the complexity and diversity of Stellaris. Bur for now Endless Space 2 is my first choice: challenging, suspenseful and sufficiently versatile, but still accessible enough, so I don’t tumble into one failure after another.

Racing-game-specialist Simbin upgrades its Race 07 with some new cars and tracks – that is not much for its price, but the core of the game is still fun to play if you like simulations.

A fun adventure prologue thanks to likable characters, nice production values and a good sense of humor. Writing and puzzle design are not on par with the original though.

While not quite the Freelancer killer we were hoping for, this is still one of the best space shooters money can buy. Everspace 2 is packed with content, full of areas to explore, fun combat, great graphics and a robust loot system. The story is a big step up from the first game as well, only hampered by its weak presentation and sometimes underwhelming atmosphere.

Roki’s story is dark, but also manages to bring with it the right amount of heart. The setting is also top-notch and the puzzles are a lot of fun. There are some minor things that don’t work as good as they should, especially the quest system and the item management, but they don’t change the fact that Roki succeeds in what it does.

Quake Remastered does the cult classic justice by offering the player not only the base game and all it's add-ons but also two bonus episodes, one of which is brand new. Coupled with 4K graphics, a slick menu and some nice extras it's a great package for fans. You can't deny it's age though - this is still a 25-year-old shooter.

The game combines the series‘ strategic gameplay with mythological elements and the end result is really good. It’s not quite as complex as other Total War games, but the interesting setting, the different campaigns, the resource management and more make it an adventure you can invest dozens of hours in.

Gibbous is a charming, old school point&click-adventure with a Lovecraftian twist. Despite it being very much inspired by older titles, Gibbous, for the most part, avoids overly complicated and farfetched solutions to its riddles. Instead, it relies on a lot of wit and attention to detail. The humor is a tad too meta in the beginning of the game, but feels a lot more natural later on. While the story is decent, its ending leaves a bit to be desired.

The motivating RPG part, the good graphics and the family revenge story make Grand Ages: Rome a real competitor to "Caesar 4."

The third part of the series cannot quite reach the success and brilliance of its predecessor, but still manages to impress with a spectacular presentation. The amount of content is relatively small and one recycled area from the second game simple laziness. Nevertheless, disgusting enemies and Nemesis take care of a tense atmosphere and exciting combat encounters.

The cute shell holds challenging combat and a mature story. The turn based fights are fair, due to their transparency and calculability. Nevertheless, the lack of proper replayability and endgame as well as the small amount of dialogue dull the experience a little.

Stray is a fairly common adventure from an uncommon perspective and always at it's best, when that is shown off...The very first interactions with objects and characters in the game world have something magical and playful about them. Later in the game there are less and less new functions to discover and we instead get classic gameplay of running, solving puzzles and stealth. It is still absolutely servicable and cute, thanks to the cat protagonist. The last part oft he game feels rushed though.

An innovative genre mix that excels in both the rice-simulation as well as in the fast-paced 2D combat. The real time aspect can be a little pressuring, but the charming presentation and a surprisingly high level of complexity make Sakuna a game worth your time.

The LWS 25 does a lot right and expands a proven game concept with useful innovations. Fans get their money's worth.

Tomodachi Life 2 stays true to its unique formula while meaningfully expanding upon it. Greater freedom, new options, and its signature quirky humor combine to create a charming life simulation—one of a very special kind.

Sniper Elite 5 has a few weaknesses like the cliche story, the frumpy graphics and some bugs. But overall it’s a great game with a lot of gameplay variety and a great amount of content.

Last year’s Guardian of Light was quite the surprise hit for me: the mixture of arcade-shooting and interesting puzzle-segments was a lot of fun – especially in coop. With Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Crystal Dynamics didn’t focus on anything innovative but rather on delivering good gameplay, beautifully designed levels and cool coop-puzzles (this time you can even play in a team of four). So if you don’t expect Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris to add mind blowing new elements and are satisfied with “only” a solid sequel, I can only recommend it.

New Tales from the Borderlands is a coherent adventure game that manages to convey the wit and charm of the Borderlands universe. Also because the game doesn't take itself, its universe and video games in general too seriously. As gamers, we quickly warmed up to the excellently written protagonists and rooted for them as they tried to master the imponderables of their adventure. However, the developers could have done a bit more with gameplay and scope.

Sniper Elite 5 has a few weaknesses like the cliche story, the frumpy graphics and some bugs. But overall it’s a great game with a lot of gameplay variety and a great amount of content.

Silt is an atmospheric and surreal experience with an outstanding artstyle and a lot of well balanced, creative puzzles. Unfortunately the controls are quite imprecise, so that some parts later in the game are a bit annoying. Silt is not a masterpiece like Limbo, but definitely an amazing experience.

A satisfyingly good action-adventure with a fun combat system, sleek graphics, and enticing world design. The atmosphere is right, but the narrative struggles to get going.

But the relaxation comes to an end very quickly and highly concentrated brooding takes its place.

A fine Metroidvania with only a few small but excusable faults. The great characters, a nice atmosphere and good Dungeon Design compensate the very easy boss fights and a rather flat story by far. Not to mention the wonderful soundtrack and art style.

Forget about the chatty characters, those are fine. But a lifeless open desert in which you'll spend most of your time driving through green crystal formations? That is something no Metroid fan has asked for, ever. But when Metroid Prime 4 stays close to its roots, it is still a great action-adventure game, with tons of atmosphere, style and exploration, despite the somewhat linear level design.

Now and then the gameplay is a bit repetitive, but on the whole it hardly bothers.

With its charming pixelated look and a great sound design, Discounty is a welcome change from the many farming sims.

The Crew Motorfest doesn't reinvent the wheel and the simple controls put off anyone who likes demanding simulations. But the size, fleet and playlist variety are enough to keep up with the racing game competition.

If you weren't expecting anything too new, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is as fun as ever.

Oxenfree 2 is a great time. We enjoyed the gripping story with significant decisions that promise a high level of replay value. The art style and the characters are also very well done. The only major problem are some pacing issues. But especially for the price with that amount of playtime, you can hardly complain.