X Rebirth is the most disappointing PC title of 2013. A heartbreaking, gut-churning mess.
Speedball 2 HD plays worse, looks worse and is far, far easier than the Amiga version from almost 23 years ago.
The three major strengths of past Thief titles - wide open mission design, sound propagation and narrative - are this game's biggest weaknesses. That is a fundamental problem it cannot hope to overcome.
A promising opening and some decent, world-appropriate characters are squandered in an overly-prescriptive narrative that ends on disappointing and inconclusive cliffhangers.
An extremely promising beginning is squandered in a mess of awkward puzzle design, structural dialogue oversights, and a truncated conclusion which, sadly, suggests Perils of Man simply ran out of time and money.
Daylight is capable of doling out some shocks, but it's far too reliant on a single trick and the writing covers too much well-trodden ground for players to be truly unnerved.
Too many of the old adventure game stumbling blocks (inconsistent progression, unclear or obfuscating clues, unmarked dead ends) prevent this homage to Murakami’s short stories ever hitting the stride its aesthetics deserve.
This second, short, episode in Telltale’s latest Walking Dead series continues to be a fairly engaging study of Michonne’s character, but struggles to generate much attachment to the other players in its familiar tale of capture-and-pursuit.
A well-written character in desperate need of a plot more compelling than this laboured retread of the captured-by-authoritarian-jerks Walking Dead staple.
Arslan aims to pepper a re-telling of its anime source material with familiar Warriors-style battles, and that, for better or worse, is what it does. But this release lacks some of the absurd character flair, goofy thrash-rock soundtrack, and (dare I say) depth of the mainstream series.
This Indian Chronicle holds few surprises for those who played China, meaning frustration and contentment in roughly equal measure. Plus some half-decent artistic flair.
An open, responsive football title with a lot of individual player freedom, but one that also has dodgy keepers, absent fouls, and the usual iffy online environment. The PC community may bring it up to scratch, but at release it's an ugly port that does a disservice to the game within.
Ryse is a little better than its reputation as a tech demo in search of a game. But not much beyond a mediocre combat system in want of something more than its predictable, opulent story.
The penultimate episode of Telltale's Game of Thrones may be A Nest of Vipers, but, though it's consistently well-performed and presented throughout, this is looking like another series where the implied player agency lacks any real bite.
The locations and themes in Deadfall Adventures are its stars, but neither the combat nor the puzzles really stand out and the pulp tone goes missing whenever most of the cast speak. A forgettable, Boy's Own jaunt through well-thumbed pages of adventure fiction.
While EA Sports luxuriate in Ultimate Team wealth and licensing heaven, they're doing the bare minimum to maintain the series' technical aspects. FIFA 15 still plays decent football, but with the same (increasingly inexcusable) bugs and instabilities of the past few seasons.
Styx is an honest attempt at a traditional stealth title that, like its protagonist, all too often grasps for the ledge and falls short.
A decent pool model that tends towards natural-style simulation, let down by several minor annoyances and one crippling problem. It's a multiplayer-leaning title, and Pure Pool's PC server troubles mean any online play is currently a non-starter.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is a wonderful setting for a competent, but fairly unimaginative, 2.5D stealth title. Hopefully this won't be Shao Jun's final appearance.
Empire Divided picks an engaging, strife-filled period of Roman history and gives the game new administrative layers and narrative trimmings, with a degree of success. But, ultimately, all roads lead back to the Rome 2 of 2013.