Metal Slug Tactics does several things that seemed impossible. It combines tactics and roguelike with a 2D shooter. The result is as crazy as it is horrific. Those who climb over the threshold will find an hour-slinger that will make any busy schedule cry.

With Anno 2205, Blue Byte takes its city building formula in a different direction, which generally works out very well. The game looks amazing, plays super smooth and seems more accessible to new players. Your journey to the moon is challenging and original, but the optional combat feels weird and lacks depth.

We're happy to conclude Renowned Explorers is indeed exactly as fun as it looks. There’s a very small learning curve, yet the game offers enough depth to keep it fun for a long time. [Sept. 2015, p. 065]

Of course, if you're an Assassin's Creed fan, Rogue is a no-brainer and if you don't own a PS4 or Xbox One, we'd recommend this. But if you're expecting some innovation after Black Flag, you should probably give AC: Unity a spin instead of Rogue.

NFS: Heat is kind of a best-of with the best elements from the previous NFS games, with the addition of day and night races. All of it isn't very innovative, but not less entertaining because of it.

A disappointing, stripped-down and basic sequel to Wii Sports Resort, which too often feels like a remake of the even older Wii Sports. Nevertheless, tennis and bowling remain fun, and volleyball and badminton prove to be very nice sports to play while swinging against friends.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a game of extremes. On the one hand, it has one of the most beautiful game worlds you've ever seen, infused with interesting lore for true Avatar fans and the casual gamer. On the other hand, it's an uninspired open-world game with crappy combat, AI and mission design, which will leave anyone tired of Far Cry blue-balled.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion feels a little less fluid than Shredder’s Revenge due to the Cosmic Swap mechanic, but that same feature actually makes fighting in this beat-’em-up more enjoyable overall. It also fits perfectly within the Marvel universe that Tribute Games has created with such love and attention to detail.

Stranger of Paradise gives Florian a bit of an inclination to wash his eyeballs with bleach, so he gives the game a tight 6, but Samuel enjoyed the unique twist on the Souls action so much that he wanted to give it a big thumbs up. heeds. There is a good chance that the 'truth' for you lies somewhere in the middle.

AC: Unity is a fantastic game, with loads of atmosphere, gameplay and an enormous city to spend days or even weeks of your time. The game could've used more polish, although the glitches and bugs can't spoil all the beauty and fun it offers.

Twelve Minutes is an original idea, pretty decent writing and fantastic acting wrapped in old fashioned, oftentimes repetitive gameplay. It won’t wear out your Gamepass though, so give it at least twelve minutes of your time if you’re a member of the Microsoft gameclub.

Extremely challenging in an artificial way, not perfectly polished and lacking the music of Mick Gordon: The Ancient Gods – Part One doesn’t fully continue the Doom Eternal glory. Still, it offers a pleasant torture for the most fanatical Doom-sadomasochists, situated in three beautiful levels in which you’ll be challenged more than the two main games combined. Nightmare insanity!

Robocop: Rogue City - Unfinished Business simply offers more of the original's bloody bombast. Teyon knows what works for the game version of the iconic film universe and goes all out. Fun gunplay and skills, combined with the variety of weapons and a few pleasant surprises, make Unfinished Business a fantastic expansion that fans of the original shouldn't miss.

First impressions are important, but they're definitely not everything. So give this adventure with Zitz, Rash and Pimple a chance, because it's one of the coolest beat-'em-up games released in 2020. And it sure as hell is one of the funniest.

Somerville is a beautiful game that will keep you glued to your screen from start to finish, thanks mainly to excellent camera use and a finger-licking art style. That makes the game worthwhile despite its short duration and disappointing puzzles.

In terms of design and level design, Extraction certainly has something nice in its hands. Too bad it's filled with boring assignments, a handful of different aliens and a cringe-inducing progression system. Ubisoft's spin-off doesn't offer more than a few hours of entertainment, unless you were head over heels in love with Siege's Outbreak mode and likes repetition.

Although this part is somewhat a bundle of clichés compared to Man of Medan and the acting performance does not look like it improved a lot, Little Hope offers enough freaky moment and interesting mystery to keep you entertained (and scared?). I will be back for more when the next part of this anthology drops.

Styx: Master of Shadows feels like a stealth game from an earlier era. Whether that is a bad thing, however, is the question. If you can look past the somewhat dated graphics, you’ll find that the basic mechanics of the game are well constructed. Also, the open level design and the fun abilities Styx has, make this title well worth the small price tag. Just make sure you remain unseen, as our goblin is certainly not a master of combat.

Gameplay wise this might be one of the best JRPGs in years. Too bad the rest of the game is cobbled together with re-used assets, enemies and characters from its predecessor. And the repetitious level grinding doesn’t help either. [Sep 2014, p.59]

With 2.0, Infinity has become a little more adult, thanks to a deeper fighting- and level-system, a more expansive Toy Box with a lot more possibilities and the addition of multiple types (‘genres’) of games, which can be created as well as played. It’s a shame that the single-player content has become less exhaustive compared to the former Starter Pack, otherwise this was a big win on every front. Not in the least because of the emphasis on Marvel Heroes.

The tension is not always extremely high and the story is missing the epic nature of The Last of Us, but if you're looking for an awesome single-player adventure for those long spring evenings, then Days Gone is the game for you.

There is quite a list of conditions you have to meet if you want to fully enjoy LEGO Marvel’s Avengers: you have to be a big fan of LEGO and of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you need a high tolerance for silly humour and it certainly helps if you haven’t played a dozen previous LEGO games (recently). Does all of this apply to you? Have fun with the biggest package of digital LEGO entertainment since LEGO Marvel Super Heroes.

Driveclub’s controls are brilliant and the single-player mode is fine but the online aspect is a joke and the whole Club thing has little to no bearing on the gameplay. Its problems might be fixed in the future but it's definitely not the best racing game of the fall in its current state.

Loeb isn’t a mangod like McRae was but his game has more than enough content to keep hardcore rally fans satisfied. Not the prettiest game but the handling is sublime. [jan. 2016 / page 067]

More than an allegoric hodgepodge, but not by much. The Medium offers an interesting, layered mystery with a lot of beauty, character and atmosphere, but fails to be wholly entertaining. The gameplay is often too simple to be fun, due to some rather tedious trial & error sections and a lot of scouring the environment for an object that will most likely send you to the next search. You’ll probably need more patience for this than the end feeling is worth.

An old school RTS in modern trappings that’s addictive as all hell. Highly recommendable for everyone who’ve ever enjoyed a realtime strategy game. [Oct 2015, p. 061]

As a motorcycle racing enthusiast I have been waiting for a real Gran Turismo on two wheels for years, but unfortunately Rims Racing also falls short. The actual gameplay is more than fine, but everything around it is substandard, redundant and annoying.

Still can't get enough of Valhalla after all those tens of hours? Then you should get some fun out of Dawn of Ragnarök. Despite its deserted areas, Svartalfheim is beautiful enough to walk through. But yearn for a more historically accurate part? Then you better stay away from this. This actually has little to do with Assassin's Creed, and at the same time is more of the same after spending about a hundred hours in Valhalla.

It might be the biggest, most complex and action packed game in the franchise, but Mass Effect: Andromeda is also the least convincing one. The dated facial animations, the inconsistent writing quality and the regularly occurring bugs take you out of the experience too often. On top of that, BioWare has not used the concept of a whole new universe to its full potential, which often makes it feel like Mass Effect: Andromeda has not left our Milky Way at all.

Because the atmosphere and presentation hold up, Little Nightmares 3 is a game you can comfortably play if you already love the series. Temper your expectations about the co-op though. It’s nothing more than a half-baked step… and moreover in the wrong direction.

Even though I can't help but feel the game has been scaled back when looking at scope and depth, what is left is a rock solid singleplayer experience for the enthusiast of the long distance kill.

Are you crazy about Destiny lore and do you think Destiny 2 is fine as it is? Then Beyond Light will suit you just fine! However, if you're expecting some substantial changes from Bungie by now and aren't exactly excited to get back into the grind, you might want to focus on the next-gen version and wait for Destiny 2 to release its December update.

Lords of the Fallen lacks refinement in every respect, but is nevertheless a nice addition to the soulslike genre. The choice for Unreal Engine 5 is unfortunate, the difficulty level is anything but balanced and the number of excruciatingly bad bosses cannot be counted on one hand, and yet everything together forms an entertaining whole packed with content and also a nice stepping stone to a really good soulslike.

Lego Horizon Adventures harmoniously brings together two inspiring worlds, including the signature gameplay of both franchises, along with plenty of humor. However, it does lack some depth in terms of world exploration.

Code Vein is an uninspired derivative of everything that made Dark Souls legendary, but at the same time is the perfect example of the ancient cliché that imitation is the best form of flattery and sometimes it’s better to steal something, than to make up something bad.

The Divine Force is a worthy comeback for the Star Ocean series that fans can be proud of. The game world is more beautiful and wider than ever and the brand new combat system hits the nail on the head. Still, it feels like the JRPG is a few years behind. The clayey characters make every cutscene an eyesore. Without a penchant for anime games, you probably won't get anything out of this.

Better and more complete than the original Wii U Game. However, we do hope for a bit more Zelda and a bit less Dynasty Warriors for future Hyrule Warriors titles.

Scorn is a filthy game, especially thanks to the sick design that you both loathe and respect at the same time. It contains unique puzzles, an atmosphere that will give you the creeps and it might even make you nauseous, even after adjusting the video settings to your liking.

Ghost Recon: Wildlands excels in the sheer size of it and has a ton of content which offers you and your friends endless possibilities and lots of fun. The gameplay, on the other hand, is often repetitive, which causes the game to be just a little less than fantastic.

We tried really hard to enjoy The Swindle but it just wouldn’t click. The game seems off-balance and the lack of abilities in the early stages make it a cumbersome experience. [Sept. 2015, p. 069]

We get more game variety and freedom than ever in this franchise, London looks insanely good and the themes of the game are more relevant in 2020 than ever.

When looking at the game objectively and trying to forget you're playing a Project-Cars-game, this is a fun arcade-style racer with a little more depth than normal arcade racers. But as a fan expecting a follow-up in the same style as former Project-Cars-games, this is a bit of a mindf.ck.

Standard golf and the RPG mode make this new Mario Golf well worth the effort. The Rush aspects are a nice, if not superfluous, addition. Not being able to play with four players on one system is ridiculous and destroys all party potential.

The Gunk is a game that you will probably soon forget. The journey of discovery is linear and the things you discover are never really exciting. The facial animations and cliché gameplay make the game feel like a PlayStation 2 remaster, the low difficulty takes all the tension away and the story has little to do with it. It is a nice entry-level game for people who have less gaming experience.

Vampyr is a moody, dark game, centering around a very charismatic vampire. Through him, using an ingenious cause and effect system, the player can exert a great deal of influence on a gloomy part of London in the early 20th century, which should have all matter of emotional effects on them. Too bad the combat is far from perfect and technically it’s no masterpiece, but the emotional resonance and originality of Vampyr make it quite unforgettable in its great ambition.

Besides the hugely improved Build Mode and Create-A-Sim and the fact that the game runs very smoothly this time around, this is the weakest base-game in the Sims-series. But luckily not by a great distance. Burrowing deeper than the first, somewhat disappointing hours, players will find that a lot of the missing features (basements, toddlers, pools and a ‘open world’ village) are compensated by lots of animations, objects, collectibles and other fun stuff that only Sims-lovers can truly appreciate.

Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake is a colorful, creative and funny platformer that will keep any yellow sponge lover entertained for hours. Despite the one-sided side missions and weapons arsenal, exploring the seven absurd and recognizable dimensions is fun for both young and old.

Immortals of Aveum is a great shooter with nice and fast gameplay, nice world building and a fairly interesting story. It doesn't do much wrong, but just lacks soul to become your new favorite FPS, unless you were really waiting for a Call of Duty with magic and dragons.

The Devil in Me does not reach the level of its predecessor House of Ashes, nor that of Little Hope. The plot lacks twists and some time-honored The Dark Pictures problems are still present. However, if you fancy a quick horror snack, you will be served (once again) at your beck and call.

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is a decent entry in the franchise but after playing through five or six of these games it starts getting a bit too repetitive to hold our interest.

While Final Fantasy Explorers has more than a couple great ideas, they are too plenty to be fleshed out, which makes the game a fresh experience, but can't keep your attention for more than a few dozen hours. That's not a bad thing of course, but it's not a great thing either. Final Fantasy Explorers manages to just rise above mediocrity, but not by much.

The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is a thrilling story, has some nice characters and the player can influence both on an impressive level, giving the game lots of replay value. Replaying may be not as interesting as you would like though, due to a great amount of walk and search gameplay, but the multiplayer modes do a good job of balancing that out. The Dark Pictures Anthology is off to a good start and hopefully has a bright future.

Trek To Yomi's sound, music and visuals have been developed with love and respect for Japan's rich history, but the gameplay is as captivating as flower arranging.

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition is a beautiful history lesson about a genre-defining game, which would've been a whole lot better if the AI had reached is definitive form as well. The new aesthetic makes it easy to ignore the obsolete, underlying technology for a few campaigns, but it would really be a feat to stay entertained for all 10 of them.

Battleborn drops some stitches in the campaign which can make it a tedious experience. The multiplayer has two modes with a lot of (unused) potential, which can turn out to become great if players start embracing it.

The Isle of Armor doesn't succeed in every way, but it has enough good atmosphere and nice surprises that make it worthwhile to jump back into Sword and Shield. With suncream, of course.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst drops the ball here and there but the City of Glass and the parcours-gameplay are good enough to leave a lasting impression.

Star Fox Zero is a passable reboot/remake of the original but the controls are simply horrible.

Quotation forthcoming.

A refreshing and challenging concept that’s bound to keep you entertained for a bit. [Aug 2015, p.084]

Knack 2 is enjoyable enough, but mostly because there aren't a whole lot of 3D platform games like this, especially not ones that are playable in co-op. Knack 2 is slightly better than its predecessor with okay gameplay, but the rest is barely interesting and and very much focused on children.

Mad Max manages to translate the vibe of the movies perfectly, but, unfortunately, that makes for a monotonous game. A bit like last year’s Shadow of Mordor.

With The Lost Lords Telltale takes the Game of Thrones series one step closer to a perfect score. The separate storylines, but also the overarching plot manage to realize their huge potential much more. In addition, the feeling that your choices really mean something and the rapid changes of perspective also contribute to the suspense. And when plot and suspense are put together so well, it’s not that hard to forgive the developer for the lack of technical progression.

I won’t give another Telltale game two pages in our magazine again, until they’ve cleaned up their shit and made some actual technical improvements. The world keeps turning, please try to keep up. [feb. 2016 / page 061]

This port of a fifteen year old game adds little, or more like nothing, to the original game, even while there was still enough room to really improve the original.

Is Erica the beginning of a new era of FMV games? We can only hope! Erica is an atmospheric movie/game-hybrid with minimal interaction, arriving at exactly the right time: during a hot summer when almost every exertion is too much. In a future attempt however, I would like to have more of that triple A-feeling, with an even better storyline and beautiful cinematography. And to make the game feel a bit less like a movie, meaningful choices you can easily replay wouldn't be a bad thing either.

I expected little more than a Deep Blue Sea, but it turned into The Meg pretty quickly, ultimately resulting in a Jaws: The Revenge that ate my savegame. Don't be temped by the prospect of being a sea predator; deep in your heart you know it's not going to be as much fun as you hope it will be.

You know those lists with pros and cons that help you make important decisions? In the case of Blade & Soul the beautiful graphics and exciting PvP, and the fact that the game is free to play, would be on the plus side. The negative side is mostly filled by the somewhat uninspired quests and dungeons. Fortunately Blade & Soul has an advantage which helps fill the list in favor of a beautiful score: The unique combat.

Yooka-Laylee at times feels more like a remake of Banjo-Kazooie than a completely new game, that's how much they are alike. But in this case it is only meant in a positive way. The world needs more games likes this, you know.

Deliver Us Mars needs polish, and despite adding some extra gameplay elements and a little more freedom over its predecessor, it's still not a gamers' game. However, the story and epic setpieces make up for it.

The Ascent is a top-down Cyberpunk 2077 with a Blade Runner vibe and Housemarque-esque gameplay. Of those three influences, only the Blade Runner part is unfortunately really successful, because the atmosphere is thick and the game is incredibly beautiful thanks to subtle lighting and convincing particle effects. The twinstick shooter action is a bit less successful and the RPG elements also leave something to be desired, so you probably won't disappear completely in this. Although it is quite clever that a twelve-strong studio has delivered this end product.

Dead Kings is great if you enjoyed Assassin’s Creed Unity and want more of it, but it’s not going to change your mind if you hated the main game.

The Callisto Protocol is very happy to make the comparison with Dead Space, but apart from the graphics and acting performances, it does not improve its formula in any way. Callisto is beautiful, but feels lifeless and contains too little world-building. The combat is too scripted and the story starts way too slowly, and more importantly, the game is rarely scary. It is therefore a moderate warm-up for the Dead Space remake.

Battlefield 2042 has not become the Battlefield to end all Battlefields that some hoped for. Hopefully most players can see the game for what it is: a decent modern multiplayer shooter and a fickle DIY kit.

As beautiful as the world of Biomutant looks, so ugly is its filling. Cringe-inducing dialogues, a completely negligible story and bad boss fights and puzzles almost distract you from the fun aspects of the game. Exploring and figuring out the unique game world and a nice sense of progression for example.

Despite diverse heroes and game modes Rocket Arena is somewhat shallow and predictable. The simple controls and familiar visuals make for a accessible game, but result in underdeveloped gameplay. Altogether it would be a nice addition to your free-to-play collection, but unfortunately Rocket Arena is not free.

The Bright Lord pushes Shadow of Mordor to a new difficulty level and gives you cool abilities, like summoning Orcs and the power of The One Ring, to conquer the strongest evil presence we have met since the game was released. The satisfaction of claiming an enormous battlefield is big, but the story is lackluster, preventing The Bright Lord from being a crucial chapter of the Shadow of Mordor story.

Session: Skate Sim knows how to capture what makes skating so much fun with its in-depth settings and excellent board control and physics like no other game. That also means a huge difficulty level. It's not for everyone, but it gives real skaters a simulator they can play for years to come, if Sessions many shortcomings are made up with updates.

Its atmospheric horror, improved camera combat, fancy HD graphics and intense story make this the best entry in the classic horror series yet. [dec. 2015 / page 059]

I really want to love Sea of Thieves. The beautiful pirate world and the exciting sea battles you experience from time to time. But I can't do it. There isn't enough content and the lack of progression makes it an unsatisfying game.

Marvel’s Avengers is basically a high production value Marvel Ultimate Alliance style action RPG, built around the structure of a game like Destiny. This is a powerful combination, featuring spectacular action and endless possibilities, but developer Crystal Dynamics stumbles in their ambition. Therefore the game’s stability is horrendous (although the performance mode might help) and navigating its many options is unnecessarily convoluted. The future of Marvel’s Avengers does seem to shine bright though.

Crash Team Rumble is pretty fun, but should have been part of a collection of minigames, or a nice extra in a full-fledged Crash Bandicoot adventure. In itself it is very scanty, even for only 30 euros.

RAGE 2 is bigger, more beautiful and more explosive than its predecessor, but at the same time more generic and monotonous. The shooting action is once again top notch, including a shotgun to die for, so it's functions as a fine appetizer before DOOM: Eternal arrives.

It's remarkable that in the last 9 years games such as Just Cause 3 or Battlefield 4 never surpassed Red Faction: Guerilla. Which makes this remaster more than worthwhile to play.

Schim has a fantastic concept that immediately appeals to your inner child, and wraps it in a beautiful, clearly Dutch world with a wonderfully simplistic art style. It just doesn't surprise at all as a game, and after an hour it starts to feel like a repetitive exercise.

Graphically, High on Life is perhaps the least impressive that came out this year and in terms of gameplay, it's about as original and innovative as Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, released in 2005. But this game holds its own because everything is soaked in Roiland's absurd humour, from the tutorial to the weapons and details. It's amazing how many interchangeable, goo-covered enemies you can shoot as long as an annoying space creature circles around your head and whines about its mother in a squeaky voice.

Oddworld: Soulstorm is a big and beautiful puzzle platformer, set in a masterful world with cool characters. Unfortunately, the game has messy gameplay, clunky controls and many technical flaws.

You need a special kind of sense of humour to appreciate Gat Out of Hell (the same kind you need to like Saints Row IV), but if you do, it will boost this add-on from 'too ludicrous to be enjoyable' to 'laughing out loud fun'. One problem: it's almost impossible for Saints Row to get more insane than this.

No, I didn't see this score coming myself, even though it's mainly due to that "rollercoaster on mushrooms" single-player and the hours I expect to waste on Zombies. Endgame has something, but "something" doesn't survive in today's extraction shooter landscape. And the carnivalesque, bunny-hopping, TikTok-dancing, slip 'n' slide 140BPM ADHD simulator of the multiplayer... I'll gladly and respectfully leave that to those bunny-hopping, TikTok-dancing, slip 'n' slide 140BPM ADHD players.

Impossification and the roller coaster hooks are the best elements of Park Beyond; very nice, and they actually offer something new. In terms of customizing your park and adding details, the game does very poorly compared to what we already know from the king, Planet Coaster, partly due to bugs and glitches. If you don't want to bother with that much, this is an entertaining amusement park sim.

State of Decay 2 is not the most original game. Or the most polished. However, it is the most exciting zombie game since the first game, as well as the best Xbox One-exclusive in a very long time.

Need for Speed listened to its fans, and that’s why this game deserves to call itself a reboot of the franchise. There’s a few minor flaws, but especially in its multiplayer, this Need for Speed is the first fun one to come out in years.

Saints Row does a lot of good in terms of personalization, clunky action and stupid physics, and is therefore somehow also a successful reboot that offers hope for the future of the franchise. Unfortunately, the game is held back by mediocre open world activities, a mediocre story and a laundry list of bugs.

If this addition to the series was as much an improvement as part 2 was to the first, then the Risen-series would’ve been well on it’s way to being a serious contender in the RPG-plane. But instead Titan Lords has become more of an ‘instant cult-PRG’, which would’ve been a compliment in the world of movies, but in ours most certainly isn’t… [Sep 2014, p.58]

Minecraft Legends is a good but simple strategy game that is perfect for beginners. The world of Minecraft is well conveyed in all its glory and the balance between building and demolition makes long lasting battles a legendary story to tell.

After Us is a stylish looking game with a very gloomy, but also realistic view of the future that awaits our consumer society. The level design is creative, the platforming is challenging using both horizontal and vertical route options, and the matching synth music enhances the surreal atmosphere. Yet After Us also drops a lot of stitches in the field of gameplay progression, character development and the story, so you don't miss much if you ignore this reality check.

Star Wars: Uprising is on the brink of being a shameless commercial monstrosity. Still, it’s become a decent clone of Diablo, which, due to the complete lack of challenge, will make you fall asleep sooner rather than later. Zzzztar Warzzzzz… [Sept. 2015, p. 069]

Star Wars Battlefront II offers a much bigger package than its predecessor, and delivers massively on that typical Star Wars atmosphere and spectacle, with versatile modes and gameplay. But the multiplayer progression is a complete misfire and the disappointing microtransaction strategy costs them a point.