Neocore hasn't changed the formula much since the surprise hit that was the first The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing and why should they? Part 2 offers loads of low-priced fun for the hack 'n' slash fan who has (played) everything else. It doesn't offer the addicting loot runs of Torchlight 2 or Diablo 3, but Van Helsing 2 is a well crafted monster slaying experience in its own right with some fun ideas like the tower defense bits and the chimera pet.

Hell is Us impresses with its symbolism, its dark world, and its free exploration, but it still has a lot of room for improvement in terms of optimization and enemy design.

Sweet design perfectly combined with destructive mischief.

Child of Light doesn’t try to be the most challenging game ever, and it doesn’t have to. Instead, it wittingly places its emphasis on accessibility and the conveyance of a strong atmosphere. Looked at in that light, it does very little wrong.

A smart blend of features that successfully captures the tension and style of the incredible TV show. But once you finished a few runs, it becomes pretty evident that the game lacks the necessary depth, speed and variety for a strategy game that aims to be highly replayable. It's not a bad game, for sure, but not a great one either.

A delightful open-world playground with terrific graphics, lots of activities and brilliant hacking gameplay. Poor plotting and the lack of a more courageous treatment of its up-to-date scenario keeps Watch Dogs from playing in the same league as Rockstar's masterpieces.

For me, the new gameplay approach was interesting because I am also a big Diablo fan and was curious how the developers implement this in the Darksiders universe. The answer is: not very thoughtful.

Titled as an action-adventure, this game is not typical. The best way to describe it, is like a modern art picture. You’ll find bizarre and beautiful elements and it his hard to understand, what the game is telling the player. The plot takes place between life and death and the melancholical spoken dialogues are good performed. So if u like to play around with uncommon gameplay, the void is a nice try.

Lara is back to her roots. The focus on adventure instead of endless fighting is fantastic and the gameplay has been evolved for the better again. On top of that Tomb Raider never did look so good.

Despite its short duration and a couple of hiccups when it comes to controls, A Fold Apart captivates players through its charming story and innovative puzzles.

2D retro games by small indie studios are a dime a dozen nowadays and compared to others, Olija looks pretty outdated. However, its focus on fluid action, combat and atmosphere are redeeming qualities that give the game a straightforward direction that many modern games are missing.

Even though it lacks fresh ideas, Spellforce: Conquest of Eo offers hours of fun with its rock-solid gameplay loop. The turn-based combat is accessible and fast, there are plenty of spells to research and things to do in every round. Just don't expect a game that you will keep revisiting for a very long time.

While the Switch version lacks some visual fidelity, the gameplay is every bit as fun as on the other platforms. Steamworld Build is a short, highly approachable city builder with polished mechanics and charming ideas. It might be too simple for expert players, but offers a great entry point for newcomers.

Revelations hits a lot of right chords with long-time Resident Evil fans who pine for a return to the good old survival horror days of the franchise. But technical flaws, clumsy controls and too much action in the second half of its campaign ultimately prevent it being an excellent horror game, instead rendering it simply a fun ride with lots of minor issues.

A great adventure game in the style of the Indiana-Jones-action-movies. The story about nazis searching for the secret kingdom of shambala and it's huge powers is thrilling and directed with lots of great cutscenes and detailed graphics. The game contains lot's of dialogues, some of them are very long though. The Puzzles are mostly fair but to easy to solve for genre veterans. If you liked the Secret Files-series, you'll have to play Lost Horizon!

Tindalos Interactive did a good job of injecting atmosphere and setting from the fine tabletop-game into a great visual and entertaining RTS on PC. There are tons of options to develop your Battlefleet in the Warhammer 40k-Gothic-Universe. The campaign’s plot is a nice adaption of the 12th Black Crusade and the battles are based on tactical decisions. Unfortunately there is lack of mission-variety and often the time-limits during the missions can be frustrating. Units/Factions are not well balanced so far, so you often have no idea, why you win or lose a battle. Skirmish and Multiplayer is quite entertaining for a while, but it offers not that many options and only the same scenarios as in the campaign mode.

Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is a very good detective game. It gives us the illusion of being a true master detective. The game world is a great alternative to London. Sadly, there’s one serious flaw: Chapter One is too easy with barely any real puzzles around. However, it’s still a must-have for any fan of Sherlock Holmes, if only to see how the young Holmes became the Detective we all love.

At the end of the test, I had the impression that Firaxis wanted to quickly publish something to stand up to Microsoft's Gears Tactics. In my opinion, it didn't really work.

Crimson Desert juggles an insane number of game elements—and some of them inevitably hit the floor. Yet the game is confident enough to keep going regardless, smiling all the while and pretending it’s all just part of the show.

Accessible action RPG with lots of exploration, charming characters and stylish levels. However, it's not good enough for the upper class - and they seem to be fine with it.

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.

A charming building game that would have benefited from more depth and doesn't fully exploit its fairytale theme.

Evolve is one of the greatest and most innovative multiplayer-experiences we have ever had. The graphics are great, the maps well designed and the varied classes are all fun to play. If you are fond of online-shooters, you should definitely think about buying Evolve.

With Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, the wheel hasn't exactly been reinvented, but it's certainly been well-oiled! It takes the popular Souls formula and adds some useful innovations that make the action a bit more action-packed and fast-paced. Souls fans shouldn't miss this game.

I like spaceships and if there is still strategy, I am on board. Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock delivers a decent package that can last for around fifteen to twenty hours - once you get used to the fiddly, less intuitive handling.

Star Wars Outlaws definitely doesn't reinvent the wheel of open-world games, but it does break new ground for titles from Ubisoft. Although we have now played through the game in around 45 hours, it feels like we haven't seen everything. There is an astonishing amount of content and details in the game that you can spend a lot of time with, even away from the everyday life of a scoundrel. Have we already mentioned the arcade machines or the many Sabacc tables? And even the search for Star Wars allusions, mainly on Tatooine, is a pure joy. We can get over the minor quirks in some of the design decisions and the fact that the technology is not quite up to date. The main thing for us is that we were thoroughly entertained by Kay Vess and Nix on their adventure and we are excited to see what challenges await the young outlaw in the future.

Karma is a story about philosophy, religion, and culture, about the essence of humanity. Finally, I'd like to leave you with something unrelated to the game itself, but something you should return to after experiencing it for yourself. There's a lot to be said for the name of the studio behind Karma, Pollard Studios. Pollarding means cutting down or pruning trees so they grow back better, stronger, and denser. Perhaps things must first be destroyed before they can heal.

It's been a terrible year for Konami, they had to suffer through incredible hardship during the catastrophic tsunami events and were under constant critique for the disappointing PES 2011. But instead of despairing they just gave it all all and returned with the most precise, most fluid and most ambitious PES in years. What the game lacks in terms of licenses and presentation it more than makes up for by sheer supremacy on the pitch. Forget last year's letdown, Konami is back in the race, PES 2012 will give FIFA 12 a serious run for its money.

While Grey Goo is a solid and enjoyable RTS at its core, it simply lacks depth, fresh ideas and most importantly unit variety to have an impact on the genre.

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.

At the bottom line, I nevertheless think, that King Arthur: Knight's Tale is a real diamond in the rough. If NeocoreGames continues to improve the concept just a little, we could see a Tactival RPG milestone coming from this studio.

Dawn of War 3 is a really good RTS game und should satisfy any fan of Warhammer with its epic campaign.

Robust mechanics and some interesting ideas make Hard West 2 an enjoyable sequel, even though it does have its flaws. If you can look past the shallow character development and the occasional trial & error design, it's a solid recommendation, especially if you consider the low price tag.

Baby Steps knows what its fans value, but doesn't jump too high. It brings new ideas to the genre, but its mechanics fall short of other titles.

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.

Before the Storm is a great prequel that manages to capture the essence of what Life is Strange is. With great characters, a beautiful story, the typical atmosphere and fantastic music this installment sometimes even surpasses the first game.

The gameplay in Tales of Kenzera: ZAU does at solid job at keeping up with other platformers. The unique abilities which are each provided a nice background story benefit the worldbuilding in a way that other Metroidvanias are more than welcome to adapt. However, the story and dialogue want to be deeper than they ultimately succeed at being. The low enemy variety and their constant recycling is really annoying.

MotoGP 22 could be such a great game, if there wouldn’t be issues with the AI. The gameplay is great and a big step forward for the franchise. The extensive license package and the career mode makes the official game of the MotoGP championship long term satisfying. But the AI confouds the races most of the time with a bumper car event.

I’ve spent a considerable amount of time playing the Worms-games in my youth. Simply because they were some of the most enjoyable multiplayer-games out there. Now, after a couple of years without touching any installment of this franchise, I still think that Worms is a diverting experience, especially if you play it with some of your buddies. It didn’t really bother me that - mechanics-wise - not much has changed since my time with Worms. Being able to just jump back in there, without having to get reintroduced to the whole franchise, actually made me feel glad. But at the same time, this fact might pose a huge flaw for people, who’ve played many or maybe even every other Worms-game. So I can only unconditionally recommend Worms W.M.D to newcomers or veterans, who are returning to the franchise after taking a longer break from it.

For a few fast-paced games Lawbreakers is always good, but interested parties are better advised to wait for the more promising Quake Champions. Until that appears, the current mini-player base of lawbreakers should already have moved forward.

We Were Here Forever is with the right partner a really unigue cooperative experience. The puzzles are difficult und sometimes even a little too hard. Don’t even bother with checking the hints the game offers you, most of the time they won’t be helpful at all. We strongly recommend finding someone to play with beforehand, because you need to communicate nonstop in order to escape. But overall We Were Here Forever feels better than its prequel.

Mario Tennis Fever combines solid tennis gameplay with fresh ideas and plenty of Mario mayhem. Despite minor technical flaws, it's a very successful installment with high long-term appeal.

The puzzles and the forward and rewinding function have been implemented too half-heartedly, for which the action ends too often in predictable and unconstrained paths.

The innovative time-altering gameplay falls a wee bit short of our expectations and there aren't any outstanding parts throughout the rest of the game either. But Raven Software know their trade and although their new game is lacking in absolute blasts, Singularity makes up for a nice pastime and satisfies with its plain good old-school gameplay.

The love for the source material really shows and it is evident that Teyon understands what fans want from a RoboCop-title... The game drifts a bit too heavily into fan service from time to time, which is excusable but still a valid point of criticism.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage is a decent reflection on the essentials, but is often too timid and unimaginative.

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.

The seventh instalment of the Jackbox Party Pack series has, unlike its predecessors, not a single bad minigame. While a quiz minigame is missing, its focus on American pop culture can make the game inaccessible for players from other cultural backgrounds. Despite some technical hiccups, the Jackbox Party Pack 7 is a delightful and diverting party game and best enjoyed with good friends.

If you are into experimental games, you will find countless things in the desert of Midden that deserve to be found and will burn into your memory. However, if you have some difficulties with rather quiet and minimalistic stories and wish for an intense and huge adventure like Breath of the Wild, you might be disappointed. Sable is a small-scale project with a lot of heart that only works if you are actually willing to surrender to emptiness and peace. But trust us, it’s definitely worth your time.

WWE 2K22 is a step forward, but not the fresh start the fans were hoping for. Although the game is much more fun than its predecessors because of the improved gameplay mechanics, it still has some technical issues and some of the game modes are rather disappointing.

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

Actually, I wasn't a big fan of battle royal games until then. But that had less to do with the concept than with the titles currently available. In my opinion PUBG is still not technically ready yet and I just feel too old to enjoy Fortnite. I love the blackout mode of Black Ops 4, because the balancing is already right for the release, the technology works well and the map is almost perfect. In addition, I've hadn't so much fun with a Call of Duty multiplayer mode since Modern Warfare 2, and the zombie fights are really entertaining - for me Black Ops 4 is the best Call of Duty in years. I have to say that I haven't missed the single player campaign. The three successful online modes are clearly more important to me than one bombastic, but very short single player fun.

The word that describes Eldest Souls best is: painful. The promising core gameplay is buried under a ton of flaws. Horrible controls, a boring story and a non-existent learning curve make it so that not even souls-veterans will like this game.

Crysis 3 is stunningly beautiful and will make your video card cry out for joy. Due to mistakes in the past this shooter lacks a good and comprehensive story (and some ground-shaking boss fights), but the fighting mechanics work perfectly, slightly improved by small but suitable changes. Crytek has outdone itself with the creation of a devastated New York that has been reclaimed by nature. This is by far the best looking PC game to date.

An impressive art style that the underlying gameplay doesn't quite live up to. Nevertheless, Replaced brings some intriguing ideas to the table.

The learning curve is high and the interface a bit confusing, but in the end Imperator: Rome is a good game for all grand strategy fans.

You should not expect a grown-up action adventure in the Zelda format, because Runic Games relies entirely on the fun exploring and leaves a lot of potential unused.

While not as good as The New Order, The Old Blood is a very entertaining, classical ego-shooter. The iconic castle and its surrounding mountainside make for a very immersive setting, although it’s not as depressing and dark as the predecessor. With its six hour story campaign, a lot of secrets and collectibles and a few (unspectacular) challenge modes The Old Blood is definitely worth the money.

The new edition is visually successful and offers puzzle fun, but the game structure is no longer up to date.

Earth Defence Force 5 is yet the best game in the series. It offers just more of everything in comparison with its predecessors.

MotoGP 22 could be such a great game, if there wouldn’t be issues with the AI. The gameplay is great and a big step forward for the franchise. The extensive license package and the career mode makes the official game of the MotoGP championship long term satisfying. But the AI confouds the races most of the time with a bumper car event.

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.

Multiplayer is where it's at and For Honor certainly delivers some compelling online duels. The stabbing can get a bit repetitive after a while - much like the short singleplayer campaign -, but learning the intricacies of For Honor's complex combat system nevertheless makes for a fun experience. Ubisoft had better release some more modes and maps post-launch, though. Otherwise the game may shortly find itself without a player base, once the novelty has worn off.

We really hoped, that Codemasters would have been able to create a worthy sequel to the classic military-simulation OFP: Cold War Crisis. The first impressions have been great, but in the end, Dragon Rising is just a common tactical-shooter like a Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. It is far away from a real simulation. The campaign has its ups and downs, but you’re always just the leader of a little infantry-squad, you don’t fly exciting helicopter-missions, you’re not involved in huge tank battles. There is no storyline and there are no cutscenes that would give you the feeling of playing an important part within a big military campaign. You just finished one mission and get to the next, that’s it. The game has so much potential, but the developers just didn’t use it – a pity!

Planet Coaster 2 could be a first-class theme park simulator, but it still needs some fine-tuning. Menu navigation and handling contrast with the fun park building, the great creative options and the pretty presentation.

A great game for fans of economy simulations and model railroads alike, with lots of meaningful improvements, new features and a really good campaign. Unfortunately it is plagued with regular crashes that denies the game a better rating.

Ride 4 is tough, really tough, but not always in a good way. The penalty system is confusing, the driver’s A.I. is quite stupid and some parts of the game aren’t explained enough. However, if a challenge is what you seek, this might be the game for you.

Quotation forthcoming.

Weird West is a mix between Red Dead Redemption and Desperados. The five episodes of the game are telling a brilliant story and it’s amazing, how every choice you make, has consequences for the outcome. The dynamic world of the West makes the game to one of the best RPGs of the year.

A well-made nostalgia-trip with all the strengths and weaknesses of the original games.

Satisfying, brutal combat and fun exploration paired with some clever improvements make The Surge 2 a deeper, better experience than the first game, even when the story falls flat and forgettable most of the time.

Are you looking for a party game for a Saturday night with friends? Then Party Animals is just the right choice! Provided there are not more than four people. For some casual fun, the party brawler is definitely worth the money. However, long-term motivation is not its strongest suit.

With Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I basically got exactly what I had hoped for from a sequel to Inquisition. An epic story about elven gods, the end of the world and the previously little-explored nations in the north of Thedas. Plus a wonderful cast of companions who all grew on me in their own way. All of this, embedded in the same attention to detail that made Inquisition one of my favorite games. Rounded off with very satisfying gameplay that works wonderfully in its mechanics. I simply had a fantastic time with Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Despite its highly repetitive nature, I had a great time with Dragon Commander. It may lack a good story, but interesting characters, carefully written dialogue and a smart way to handle some pretty sensitive issues more than make up for that. As a strategy game, Dragon Commander is not as good as it could be. The overall experience however feels fresh and memorable.

Evil Dead The Game is great and bloody fun for an occasional session with friends. After a while though the gameplay gets too repetitive and the game lacks content. It's okay for now and then, but it fails to motivate over a longer period of time.

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 typical Deponia with a lot of black humor, crazy characters and the narcissistic and clumsy Rufus we all love. The adventure stays true to the series in all aspects.

Star Trek Voyager: Across the Unknown let's dreams of Trekkies come true. Thanks to the faithful and loving adaptation of the series fans can overlook the mechanical weaknesses of the game.

The new Farming Simulator gives fans exactly what the want.

Boring old WW2-RTS? Think again! Ruse combines the tactical depth of classical Panzer General-fame with the action-packed, hectic gameplay of modern day real time strategy games. The story might not make you wet your pants and the main character is a eccentric old prick, but the missions are cleverly designed, the interface is genius in its minimalism and the ruse system allows for strategic gameplay that one finds rarely in modern RTS. If you want to buy only one RTS this year … buy Starcraft 2. But if you want to buy two, Ruse is the game of choice!

While the superb atmosphere and the sheer (and surprising) tactical depth easily manage to engage anyone somewhat interested in strategy and/or Warhammer games, this one of a kind symbiosis of fantasy football, over-the-top bloody humour and smart gameplay does struggle with console hardware, loading times, rather mediocre graphics and an annoying DLC species roster.

Heading Out is a beautiful mix between racing game and visual novel. The gameplay makes a lot of fun and the story delivers a great experience. The style of the game is absolutely amazing and matches perfectly all other parts of the game.

An ambitious, beautiful and rewarding experience with great atmosphere and enjoyable quests, if you can overlook some of its questionable design choices and technical shortcomings.

The game features good writing, interesting characters and a charming retro style. It's fine for a couple of hours, but don't expect a lot of depth or variety: For a roleplaying game, Shadowrun Returns is exceptionally linear. Most levels consist of confined rooms or streets with no exploration elements to speak of. Character interaction is limited and most quests don't offer any freedom of choice. We have high hopes for the future though: The game ships with a powerful editor and the passionate community is already at work.

As biker Deacon St. John, we are exploring a vast and atmospheric open world with lots of activities. In addition, the story is very deep and emotional. But there are still some really uncreative missions and the survival aspect seems out of place. The PC version is well-made and runs smoothly at 60 fps while delivering better textures than on PS4.

Rise of the Ronin doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does remove all the thorns that were still there in Nioh's time.

Surviving Mars shines with surprisingly deep gameplay and a complex economic system. Most of the time you are struggling to keep your fragile colony alive and provide your colonists with all they need. Always fighting for scarce ressources and against the harsh environment of the red planet.

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.

Cronos: The New Dawn captivates with its atmospheric atmosphere, deliberate use of light and darkness, and terrifying enemy designs. However, the intense action significantly diminishes the horror experience.

The good news: Rivals tops The Run and Most Wanted. The bad news: Rivals does not live up to the great Need for Speed legacy. If you are playing solo, racing Redview County is fun for a few hours, but the longer you play, the more repetitive and boring the gameplay gets.

Apart from some bugs in the initial release version, a great WW2 tactical shooter with dense atmosphere and realistic weapons such as infantry guns and soviet and german tanks. Up to 64 players fight each other in two teams online and in local networks.

Act 2 may be longer and a little more tricky, but it is composed of mostly recycled areas and familiar characters, which is a bit of a letdown. In the end, the whole package may not be the new classic we were hoping for, but it is still a charming and highly original adventure game that is easy to recommend.

Quotation forthcoming.

Solid, if somewhat short, expansion. The highlight is the massive boss fight at the end.

Classic Mario Party with interesting twists and fun new modes. Jamboree TV on the Switch 2 brings even more entertaining new features, though the base game doesn't benefit from the higher resolution.

There is always something fascinating about space. If it's done as well as in Chorus, I would love to just fly around and explore the star systems. But in a shooter, of course, the fights are in the foreground and luckily they work flawlessly.

Jurassic World: Evolution 2 brings some cool new features and content to the table that elevates it over its predecessor. The story campaign is a bit short and lacks in a compelling narrative and challenge. But the Chaos Theory missions make more than up for that. The increased complexity and depth in a lot of game systems are exactly what the game needed. And in the end the game draws a lot from the unbowed fascination for dinosaurs.

With enormously fun, varied gameplay, great art style, interesting story and great sound, Atomic Heart manages to outperform its many small blunders.