While WRC definitely lacks the glamourous presentation and technical splendour of its main rival Dirt 2, it has something else to offer: Real rally gameplay. The classic rally-contests where you are racing alone on an empty route, just against the clock, are something that Dirt 2 cold-shouldered and WRC now picked up. And it even does a pretty good job there. We criticize the lack of variety (there is no rally-cross mode for example) and the antiquated engine, but traditional rally-fans won't find a more convincing simulation of their favourite sport at the moment.

The roleplaying game convinces with motivating quests, an entertaining magic system, a huge game world and only a few bugs. The balancing, however, makes for deductions in the rating.

Finally Blizzard revives the classic World of Warcraft. With a new livery the shattered Azeroth becomes more challenging for returners and encourages newcomers to start off. It's about time to play the best MMO ever!

In Hawx 2 there are new mission types like delivering suppression fire for allied forces or navigating spy satellites. Furthermore you can now land, start or get refueled in some missions. These new features provide a bit variety though they are not very demanding. On the downside Hawx 2 fails to create any atmosphere due to the boring and confused story. In short, Hawx 2 is an improved Hawx 1, with more variety and less story. Those who enjoyed the first game, especially the dogfights, will also enjoy the second one. Those who hoped for innovation might be disappointed.

The as of yet best game of the series. Varied missions with cool settings and fairish graphics make Emergency 2012 a fun game. The downside is horrible interface and handling.

This year's FIFA Manager 11 comes with a few new features regarding the transfer market and the players' abilities. FIFA Manager 10's big news - the online mode - has also been overhauled to run smoother. Though the game has been improved mainly in detail, the overall experience makes it the best manager experience in the last few years. A must-have for football fans.

Arcania is a good but not excellent RPG, that tries to continue the legendary Gothic-franchise. To achieve this it unfortunately lacks lots of the gameplay-elements that fans loved in former times. Arcania is still no bad game, but surely too casual for players who are used to other titles of that genre.

A huge world to explore, lots of quests and decisions, tons of items and great replay value are reason enough to pick up this fine roleplaying sequel. Sadly, there are some noticeable technical problems, controls could have been better and the graphics look a little outdated. Still, if you enjoyed Fallout 3 for what it is, you will have a great time with New Vegas.

An interesting story premise does not make up for the ridiculous puzzle design and some technical glitches. There are many better adventure games out there - you should avoid this one.

Easily the most recommendable adventure game in years. The production values are top-notch, the puzzles are fair and most of the characters are simply adorable. If only the story would keep up its suspense and finesse after the second chapter, I would consider this game to be an instant classic of the entire genre. Ah well, there is always hope for the sequel, right?

Runaway: A Twist of Fate is a great adventure and a dignified finale of the Runaway triology. It sure does not have the deep story of The Whispered World or A Book of Unwritten Tales but it sure feels like a monolithic system. It’s cinematic presentation with it’s stylish graphics and frequent cutscenes in cool cartoon-style along with some unexpected cliffhangers and surprises kind of forced me to play the game at a stretch. Runaway: A Twist of Fate is a thrilling adventure that entertains the player from the beginning to the end. Just great!

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

The world of Venetica is beautiful and unique, but it suffers from some serious technical issues and an overall lack of polish. Still, with its fun, fast paced combat, good atmosphere and engaging quests it's a fine gaming experience nonetheless and a solid recommendation for those who are not looking for an all to deep role playing experience.

There are plenty of good ideas in this shooter. None of them are new. And none of them are implemented as thrilling as they could have been. All that´s left is a decent shooter with a not-so-bad AI, nice but partly overdone graphics and a non-existent story. There are moments of fun, though. You just have to find them.

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.

The once great German subgenre of business simulations is brought back to old glory with Patrician 4. This game delivers the same enthralling and challenging experience as its predecessors and tops them with up-to-date graphics and modern-day-improvements such as a drag-and-drop-interface. Patrician 4 has a few design flaws and the campaign is far too easy. But the dynamic trade system, the manifold possibilities of commerce and politics and the detailed depiction of medieval business make for an entertaining game that stands as the best pure business simulation to date.

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!

Even weaker than Autumn Moons A Vampyre Story, this game lacks all the polish, finesse and fun that you should expect from a modern adventure. Some visuals and characters are half-decent, though.

Mafia 2 is a great, story-driven action game which offers great cut scenes and a believable game world. Its characters, graphics, music and sound are outstanding, but it lacks good AI and side missions at the same time. After ten to twelve hours of gameplay you finish the game with no possibility to deal with the game furthermore – compared to other open-world-titles like GTA IV. Anyhow, Mafia 2 is a great old-school-action game, with few faults.

You´ll either love it or hate it but there are things about Kane & Lynch 2 that won´t make you forget it. The graphics are refreshingly unique, the characters shine like dark diamonds out of the mass of your-average-videogame-hero and the story will shock you. But please, do not talk about the gunplay, ever.

Although far from perfect, this stand-alone add-on delivers at least a thoroughly playable The Guild 2-experience. It adds some new professions and maps to the game that fit perfectly into the system. But most of all, the young developers have managed to eradicate most of the bugs of the main game and the horrible expansion Venice. Plus, the network code now actually works! There are still typical errors like trade carts being stuck or graphical glitches. But the developers have succeeded in carving out the core game experience of The Guild 2 under all of the bugs and design flaws of recent years.

With a great story, memorable characters and outstanding cutscenes the single player campaign easily overcomes most of its very few shortcomings. And the multiplayer mode is exactly what we've come to expect from Blizzard: it is fast, unforgiving and a hell of a lot of fun.

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.

Disciples 3: Renaissance delivers three big campaigns that entertain for a long time. It looks remarkably good and the gameplay mechanics are adequately implemented. However, the game lacks the depth of titles like Heroes of Might and Magic 5. The armies are too small, the castle building system is rather rudimentary and the mission design is mostly straight-lined. Additionally, the music and the German dub will unnerve you after seconds. A nice try at turn base strategy, but not a big leap in the genre.

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 game that calls itself a military simulation does a lot better than its predecessor Arma 2 (which was crawling with bugs). The missions are varied, the bugs less common and the grafics (having a top notch pc) superb. But it´s still the old Arma, with all the AI failures (never let them drive!), cumbersome controls and flair from the 90s.

Lego Harry Potter is the next big franchise to be set up with the cute and funny Lego-style, which developer Traveller's Tales had in their previous games. If you don't mind the problems with the fixed camera-angles and the low difficulty of the game, you get a comic, comprehensive game that is absolutely suitable for kids and which offers co-op gameplay.

Sadly Sniper stays behind all expectations – which actually weren't too high – and although it's quite good looking we encountered a load of technical problems throughout the game.