I liked Mafia 2 back then and I also like the Definitive Edition ten years later. The flaws of the game are of course even more noticeable today than in 2010. The game world is pretty, but unfortunately also completely irrelevant. Everything only serves as a backdrop. As a result, the sometimes long journeys to mission goals are boring. But those who stick out here will still be rewarded with a great, atmospheric gangster story that shines with interesting characters throughout.

Pandora looks inviting but turns out to be nothing but nice décor with which we can barely interact in meaningful ways. The gameplay on the other hand primarily consists of missions and mechanics that do not respect the audience’s time and simply aren’t fun.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing manages the balancing act between homage and new ideas almost perfect: regarding the combat, companions and inventory- as well as leveling-system, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing “borrows” a lot of ideas from Torchlight 2 and consorts. With this time-proven foundation, the game also adds some own features into the mix: the rage-system, a rather unconventional scenario and very amusing banter between Van Helsing and his partner Katarina. The effrontery of having a coop-mode, which – in its current state – is nigh unplayable, drag down the overall impression of the game quite a lot. On top of that, battles become very repetitive and the specialization of my character lacks variety.

The Single-player part is inferior to the big combatants in the genre in almost every aspect. Though the pacing is right, the sounds are superb and Medal of Honor presents a solid shooter-core, the missions are repetitive, the AI is non-existent and the scripting is extremely bad. Finally: And if anyone can clarify what the incoherent story is all about, I will award him with a prize. The multiplayer-part is a whole different issue that we will deal with as soon as the servers for the retail-version go up.

Within the first few hours of the game I was pretty sold on this more classical attempt on a stealth-game with a good jolt of dark humor. But after a while you start to realize that most of the stealth-mechanics aren’t even needed. The enemy AI is far too stupid to ever really force you into playing smartly and with a certain tactic in mind. Nor will you ever make much use of the crafting-system. On top of that, the dialogue often feels forcefully edgy and references pop-culture just for the sake of it. All whilst the overarching plot – if you can even call it that – remains plain and uninteresting. That being said, you definitely can have fun with Styx: Shards of Darkness. But given the fact, the developers had a chance to improve on their predecessor and didn’t utilize it, the mistakes of this game become hard to forgive.

Badass fights, a great score and some tough as nails bossfights make Strangers of Paradise a worthy Final Fantasy spin-off. If you’re in for a great story, look elsewhere.

Only six missions and no gameplay changes whatsoever? Some people will be disappointed by Soviet Assault. But the add-on delivers just what WiC-players need: The new missions fit exactly into the main story and are far more diversified than those of the main game. Whoever liked World in Conflict will absolutely love this “directors cut”-version.

Devil May Cry 4 has not aged that well. Too much backtracking, boring riddles and the dull levels affect the fun overall. The gameplay instead still feels fresh and the action is really cool in 60fps. The new characters in the Special Edition are also really good, but when you play the story with them, they do not appear in the cut-scenes which looks weird. Overall Devil May Cry 4 is still a good game, but if you have played it before, you definitely do not have to buy the Special Edition. The new elements do not affect the game that much.

The game does not shine with its idea or the technical implementation, but creates an atmosphere that lets us forget everyday life for a few hours.

A couple of annoying bugs and a lot of unrealized potential turn The Many Pieces of Mr. Coo into an ambivalent experience, despite its carefully crafted presentation.

A stylish, very short retro shooter game that perfectly captures the spirit of the film.

More fine-tuning would have led to a higher score and a little less frustrating moments wouldn’t have been bad either, but after all the game makes a positive impression.

The Dungeons of Naheulbeuk is, before all else, just a lot of fun, both regarding the gameplay and its humour. It is made for people who love pen & paper, and it does this job quite well. There are some hiccups, however, especially concerning the controls. But this doesn’t keep the game from being a success.

Tormentum is downright depressing. In a good way.

Fun tactical role-playing expansion with challenging battles, hardened heroes and an extensive upgrade system. Points are deducted for the moderate variety of opponents, weaknesses in the voice output and the rather manageable gameplay innovations.

Sonic is the hero of my childhood! I grew up with the 2D platformers and my Mega Drive with games is now well protected in a glass cabinet in the living room. Accordingly, I approached Sonic Origins with hope. Sega would have had the chance to interest younger players and offer old fans a little added value. But they missed it cleanly. For new players, 40 euros for four old games will be too much. At the same time, the collection offers almost nothing new for fans. Sure, the scans of the old manuals and developer sketches are nice, but they are nothing more than some fluff on top. The versions of the games still play fantastically, but they are only warmed up and nothing here is original from the Mega Drive. They normally work good on PC, but there are player reports on steam of a few technical issues. This is simply unworthy of these classics of gaming history.

Don't get us wrong, Test Drive Unlimited 2 is a very decent game. With a massive island to explore, beautiful cars and scenery that can take your breath away, it's an absolute eye candy. Still, almost every aspect of the game can use some polish. [Mar 2011, p.99]

The Ascension edition of Space Hulk is better than its predecessor in every regard. The tactical gameplay opens up a lot of opportunities and the Warhammer-atmosphere is well-made. Its presentation is still a bit barren though and we miss the hot-seat-multiplayer of the first Space Hulk.

One of the better rhythm games, which also offers good long-term motivation. And that for little money.

Endzone is solid all round, it looks good, plays well and the setting is a smart choice for a Banished-style city builder. Some issues with balancing (damn those storms!) and some underdeveloped features - like science, combat or decrees - prevent it from reaching its full potential. The foundation, however, is pretty great and I am looking forward to the upcoming add-on which should arrive later this year.

The collection has no real innovations and some parts like 1602 are aged very badly. Apart from that the nostalgia is very strong and brings back the addiction factor immediately. Fans of the series want to have the whole collection while most people should prefer the newer parts.

Call of Duty: Vanguard brings the franchise back to the roots. Not only because of the world war 2 setting, also because of the slower gameplay in comparison with a lot of other games of the franchise. The short, action-packed campaign is fun to play and the story of the historic inspired main characters is captivating. The multiplayer has a good balance, a neat pacing and offers with sixteen 6vs6 maps a good change. The Zombies mode is unfortunately the big weakness of Vanguard. It’s fun to play, but still missing a lot of content like the story and the popular Easter eggs.

Larian Studios have managed to create good quests that make fun because of all the odd characters and the great self-depreciating humor. But at the same time the game lacks comfort, so that the player has to have a lot of patience in order to see the end.

For quite some time now, I keep asking myself why almost no game includes some “extra material” so to speak. Except for Valiant Hearts, I can’t really think of any other game that goes the extra mile to establish connections to recent events and not only is enjoyable to play but conveys knowledge at the same time. Never Alone thoroughly succeeds at this task: the atmospheric setting, the loveable heroes and a slew of documentary-videos, that give insight into the lively culture, not only entertain but teach you a lot of interesting things. I would really like to get more games like this.

The newest Ubisoft open world title surprisingly enough sets innovation as its priority; and succeeds. A feature that lets you play any character is impressive and works quite well in the world of a dystopian London. The only real issues are a lack of challenge and rewards combined with a mixed enemy AI.

With its stylish Anime-inspired presentation, accessible combat and intriguing plot, Soulstice makes a strong first impression. Over the course of the game’s 15 to 20 hour runtime, however, the shallow, often chaotic combat, mindnumbing level design and uninteresting progression system drag it down quite a lot. If you desperately crave a new, somewhat big budget hack & slay, the game might be worth a look, but don’t expect it to reach the heights of any Devil May Cry or Bayonetta.

In the run-up to the test I actually had some concerns about the quality of Need for Speed: Heat. Its direct predecessors from Ghost Games didn't really convince me and also the game play event about a month ago left me with mixed feelings. But the finished game has become surprisingly entertaining. Sure, once again the story is not worth mentioning, the controls reminds of old arcade games and in terms of driving physics and damage model the makers didn't take realism quite so seriously. But if you don't mind that, or if you are looking for exactly that, you'll really enjoy Heat. Otherwise, the title offers everything a car's heart desires: extensive tuning options, action-packed chases and thrilling races - and all this in top graphics.

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.