A for the concept, D for the execution.

I don't need more 'historical' battles and dozens of new units. What I want from Rome 2 are solid multiplayer, good, easy-to-understand balance and smart AI that uses battering rams and ballistics to storm castles. Is this too much to ask for?

Do not expect anything breathtaking. Child of Light tells a by-the-numbers fairytale with a predictable twist and an even more predictable ending.

Kill the Bad Guy gives you a rare opportunity to off several real-life serial killers, hordes of zombies, Adolf Hitler and even Voldemort, but the hassle is not worth it.

Watch Dogs became a certified hit in its first week of sales, moving more than 4 million copies. It is Ubisoft’s fastest-selling game, and from now on, it is condemned to live in the same milkshed alongside Rayman and Assassin’s Creed. Alas, this record wasn’t set by a smart techno-thriller with a fresh take on social stealth mechanics that had tantalized everyone at E3 2012. Watch Dogs is just a pale shadow of what it could have been.

It’s so sad that Daylight became the first commercial product based on Unreal Engine 4. You can’t find worse publicity for Epic’s new tech than this.

Exploration games are usually a relaxing experience, but this one will likely bore you to death.

Circuits lacks the difficulty of SpaceChem and excitement of Audiosurf and 140. It is not so much a game as a visual guide to music creation for dummies.

There is no better RTS game dedicated to modern military conflicts than Wargame, and this expansion is yet another proof of that.

Betrayer is like a decaying old mansion. Inside there is leaky roof, holes in the floor and walls… Yet the beautiful black-and-white façade still looks amazing.

The AI does not make mistakes – ever. Each race is only two laps long, so if you fell down, landed badly or simply pressed a wrong button – there goes your chance of winning a medal. At first, you think that you can get ahead by buying upgrades and new vehicles… But here’s where Riptide’s free-to-play past rears its ugly head: money prizes are minuscule, prices are exorbitant, and you can’t sell the scooters that you don’t need.

An open world game devoid of meaningful content will be forever remembered only as a tool for making astonishingly beautiful screenshots.

Warlock 2 is a better game than its predecessor, Warlock: Master of the Arcane, but after several playthroughs you will succumb to the familiar boredom.

Banished, as it stands now, looks like a game from Steam Early Access rather than a finished product.

The Wolf Among Us is still more enjoyable than the 2nd season of Telltale’s The Walking Dead, but, all in all, the taste is already gone, and there are two more installments to play through.

Luftrausers is one of those arcade games that feel very nice, but there is not much to do.

1954: Alcatraz is the worst game ever produced by Daedalic Entertainment. Thankfully, unlike professional video games reviewers, you can simply ignore this nightmare.

Binding of Isaac with the ability to roll wrapped in the visual style of Don’t Starve – that’s Our Darker Purpose in a nutshell.

Just like any other decent 4X game, Age of Wonders 3 truly shines when you play on random maps, rather than scenarios. They are much more fun to explore, and the whole diplomacy mechanic suddenly makes sense.

The Yawhg is original enough to draw the attention of your guests away from Wii Sports, but if you like to read stories alone, this game is not for you.

With this expansion and major updates, Blizzard finally did what it should have done two years ago – make Diablo 3 a fun game to play.

A fun, original take on the FPS genre that puts randomization to a very good use.

Unresponsive controls is not the worst annoyance here. Cheating AI is the real problem.

Infested Planet is Crimsonland of the RTS genre, where you shoot aliens by thousands just because it’s fun or you want to take the top spot in the leaderboards. If you prefer your RTS in the more traditional sense, this game is definitely not your cup of tea.

Monopoly with monsters – what can be better than that? Well, turns out, pretty much everything else.

Another episode comes and goes, but the stale formula remains the same. It is ‘survivors of a global catastrophe fight amongst themselves’ multiplied by ‘get your hands off the mouse, we’ll play the game for you’.

In this final installment, you’ll spend 3-4 hours watching the writers retconning the history of Columbia and Rapture, but none of these revelations are exciting.

Konami should really give a raise to the genius who came up with the idea of selling what is basically a demo version for $29.99. You see, there is only one mission in Ground Zeroes. I was gawking around and taking screenshots, and I still managed to beat it in less than 90 minutes. You can do it in 30 even if you don’t skip the lengthy cinematics.

Spectacular, loud, bare-bones – that’s Titanfall for you. Respawn wanted it to become popular so bad that they went overboard and cut off too much meat.

Playing FX Eleven has only one good side effect – it makes you really crave Football Manager.

Braveland is a cute little thing for those who have never played turn-based strategy games before.

Even if you still remember the ending of the original SpellForce 2, think twice before buying this expansion.

Apart from the abrupt epilogue and somewhat daft AI, Shadowrun: Dragonfall is a great expansion to the original game.

Jazzpunk is an equivalent of an avant-garde show – it doesn’t have a story or even a point to it. It’s nothing more than a collection of rejected ideas.

A fun, addictive TD strategy game. The story campaign could have been a tad more challenging, but, thankfully, there is a plethora of additional gameplay modes.

It’s a pity that Naughty Dog cut this episode from the original game. Yes, it breaks the pace, but the story is worth it.

Basically, it’s the second full-length movie based on South Park, now fully interactive. Even bigger, longer and uncut.

An overly ambitious, tedious, shockingly short game.

Oh well, this Garrett couldn’t steal my heart.

A stillborn attempt to bring rally into an arcade racing game.

Conquest of Paradise is a solid, although somewhat narrowly-focused expansion.

Do you know how much time passes in Episode 2 before the game finally decides to ask you for input? 9 minutes. For whole 9 minutes, Smoke and Mirrors plays itself. This number is more telling than any review.

Paper Sorcerer looks simple, even primitive at first sight, and it’s definitely not a game for everyone. Yet for some reason it is very addictive.

A nice short fairytale. There is nothing particularly clever or inventive about it, but you can’t help but enjoy playing it.

The worst thing that can kill an arcade racer is grind. Little Racers has it in spades.

If the combat system had more depth to it, Samurai Gunn would have been much more enjoyable.

Redshirt paints an intriguing and, unfortunately, quite plausible version of humanity’s future. Too bad that this simulation lives by itself and doesn’t really need you to play it.

Right now, Burning Cars is nothing more but a buggy demo version. Unfortunately, it seems that no one is going to fix it.

It’s not so much a resurrection of a cult series, as just a pale imitation, complete with familiar names and sound effects, but devoid of depth and charm. Not much of a legacy, I’m afraid.

10 years ago this game would have been lost in a crowd of its brethren – back then, everyone had a game with dusty streets, Saddam’s portraits and AKs. Today, serious first-person shooters like Insurgency are a rare beast, so give it a chance even if it’s far from perfect.

There is a clear advantage over the Nintendo DS version – it is much easier to shoot monsters using keyboard and mouse. But why on Earth would someone play this silly, buggy, boring parody of a horror game?

Just like a skilled swordsman, the developer of Nidhogg disarmed me and lured into a trap – you either miss one of the best fighting experiences ever made, or pay $15 for what is basically an incomplete game.

Here is hoping that Yard Team will successfully conclude its negotiations with Blizzard and will be able to re-release the improved version of the game. But even then Motor Rock will remain just a clone without a hint of originality.

Caesar in Gaul is a by-product of the studio’s massive attempt to fix Rome 2. New gameplay elements definitely improve the game, but there is no need to pay for them, unless you want a new piece of map and three more fractions. All you have to do is simply download the latest patch.

Broken Age looks, sounds and plays so great that you can recommend it to anyone.

Blackguards feels like a role-playing session of The Dark Eye RPG led by a rookie dungeon master. If you’re willing to look past a few silly mistakes, you will enjoy the experience.

By the way, this is just Episode 1. Do the developers really think that anyone would go for seconds?

For a game that is almost devoid of gameplay by concept, a boring story is a like a death sentence. Three hours of Clementine’s misadventures boil down to ‘Well, try not to die, okay?”

Blood Knights is the kind of game that excels at being annoying rather than entertaining.

A tedious tomb raiding adventure starring an Indiana Jones parody.

Journey of a Roach has a couple of fresh ideas in its sleeve, but the visuals are too amateurish, and the puzzles are dull.

They say that something is better than nothing, and Pandora is not a bad game. It’s just nowhere near the source of its inspiration – the still brilliant Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri.

You should definitely pick up Real World Racing if you are into this kind of racing games – the single-player campaign alone is worth the price of admission. Here is hoping that the developers will eventually fix the broken multiplayer.

Whatever the reason was for making Shadow Fall in the first place, the result is a mixture of bland, annoying and weird.

This tactical puzzle is fun at first, but quickly outstays its welcome.

If you liked the description or screenshots from Chivalry: Deadliest Warrior, better buy the original game - Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. And if you already have it, then simply move along.

You move blocks and jump around only to realize that Tearaway is a fun, but shallow experience. There is no cohesive narrative, no gameplay mechanics development – just a series of almost unrelated events. Tearaway is an equivalent of a children’s book that people read to their kids at night, while the mysterious Message is just an empty ploy to keep you playing for 6-7 hours.

An unfinished chunk of a bad game.

In Broken Sword 5, Revolution Software tried to mimic Revolution Software circa 1996, but, for the most part, it failed.

It is nice that 2x2 Games managed to offer a fresh take on the original game’s formula without resorting to radical changes.

The game’s illusion of freedom is a bit disappointing. There are no paths surrounded by invisible walls as we have come to expect from other ‘endless runners’, and the first thing you do is try to take a peek at the edge of this world. But, in reality, there are only three ways: forward, just to the left, and just to the right.

Standing out in a deluge of indie games, PixelJunk Shooter looks great – production-wise, everything, from graphics to controls, is much more refined and thought-out. But the gameplay itself is too linear and simplistic than the clever, mind-bending puzzles we have enjoyed over the last few years. They should have ported this one sooner.

As fun The Shadow Sun is, it feels like the developers had to cut a lot of corners in order to finally make it onto the market.

Last year, Expeditions: Conquistador and Shadowrun Returns proved that Kickstarter can help create a good RPG. But The Banner Saga is not just good – it’s amazing.

"You don't want to be the guys who messed up and ran into the ground one of the absolute, top-rated franchises of all time. You don't want that at the top of your CV. 'Yeah, I'm the guy who turned a 96 into a 60, that's my claim to fame,’ said Arkham Origins’ producer Ben Matts a couple of days before the game’s release. Turns out, they did exactly that.

After getting an upgrade or a new gadget, you have to backtrack through already cleared out locations. And this is just one of Blackgate’s many missed opportunities.

At first, State of Decay feels like an exciting introduction into a bleak world of zombie apocalypse, but tedious missions, dated graphics and boring characters quickly ruin all the fun.

A mediocre Korean clone of Defense Grid: The Awakening with a few original bells and whistles.

To make fun of video games, just like they do it in The Stanley Parable, you have to love them with all your heart.

Black Flag is not a sequel, it is just a big expansion pack, and it has nothing to merit the “4” in its title. Just like Brotherhood and Revelations that fleshed out Assassin’s Creed 2, it is not a step forward, but aside.

Boredom, not ghosts, is your worst enemy in Knock-knock.

Sons of Abraham integrates into the original game so seamlessly that it feels like it has always been there.

A new benchmark for “branching narrative” games. The Wolf Among Us turns players into viewers by almost ditching gameplay, but you will enjoy watching this show.

As much I enjoyed seeing Rapture rendered by BioShock Infinite’s engine, Burial at Sea offered nothing new. In fact, it is nothing more but a re-tread, a 2-hour long fan service for the most loyal followers.

Noumena Studios is very different from Bioware in everything, from scope and budget to storytelling.

XCOM: Enemy Within is a good expansion. I envy those who had never gotten around to playing the game until now.

I imagine the developers wrote the script for this episode just as they went along, because the ending is so shocking and unexpected that it could have been topped only by a giant “F U” plastered across the screen.

Ancestry of Lies is akin to movie-style experience of Telltale’s The Walking Dead, only here you will probably fall asleep midway through.

Call of Duty: Ghosts is yet another homogenized mishmash of mediocrity catering to the most lowbrow gamers, a short-lived product that will be long forgotten come November of 2014.

The worst thing is that the campaign missions are simply boring. The weak AI spends most of the time waiting until you get close to its units, while scripted events often put you at an unfair disadvantage for the sake of creating drama.

It’s not a sequel – just 5 new maps for the original NZA.

Monsters is packed with original ideas, and if not for its weak graphics and unforgiving difficulty spikes, I’d recommend it to everyone.

PES 2014 is rife with frustrating flaws, but still, underneath all these layers of disappointment, there is a powerful core. In rare instances, when you are in control of the game, and there no bugs to spoil the fun, PES is more natural and alive than any FIFA.

You could play through the entire game without even looking at the screen, if Chainsaw Warrior had hotkeys – it is that primitive.

The boring misadventures of US marines in China is nothing more than a six-hour tutorial for those who don’t want to jump into multiplayer head first. But to hell with the stupid story – Battlefield 4 delivers the best online battles out there right now, with amazing graphics to boot.

Goodbye Deponia is a wild rollercoaster ride - a bigger, smarter and funnier adventure than the previous Deponia games. It will earn a place in your heart even after it totally fails to deliver a proper cathartic ending.

Modest visuals, weird camera behaviour (it follows all four characters at once, so you can’t get very far from other players) and connectivity troubles are pretty much the only shortcomings of this otherwise fantastic game. If BetaDwarf quickly fixes the bugs and starts churning out new challenges, this will be a must for all fans of cooperative games.

Unlike casual tower defense games, Ironclad Tactics is not a laid-back experience. You’ll definitely have to use your brain in this one, albeit it’s a far cry from hardcore CCGs.