Possibly the best of its genre, Orcs Must Die! is clever enough to keep evolving before it ever gets boring.
X Rebirth may be a space sim beyond saving, even after patches address stability and performance issues.
With lovely graphics and great matchmaking stability, World of Warplanes remains entertaining even as its simplicity wears thin.
And that's maybe Titanfall's biggest, and most forgivable flaw: it looks less interesting and novel than it actually is. It's such a fresh take on the military shooter, splitting the difference between the more deliberate pace of games like Battlefield and Call of Duty and the kinetic excitement of games like Tribes or even Counter-Strike. It just takes a while to see that, because Titanfall's presentation is so conservative.
It's a tropical vacation, always pleasant and relaxing… and one that you're always ready to leave behind.
War Thunder rules the air but the lack of polish hurts, as does the dull ground warfare.
Planetary Annihilation's
This War of Mine is a gripping survival sim, and a great study of survival during wartime and civil collapse.
Elite: Dangerous puts you in some amazing spaceships, but doesn't always give you a lot to do with them.
Still, these are flaws in an otherwise tremendous offering from Petroglyph. It's the most purely fun, accessible RTS I've played in years. Whether it will stand the test of time like Company of Heroes or StarCraft is a question for five or ten years from now. What I can say now is that Grey Goo is a superb, cheerfully inviting real-time strategy game. It's one I can recommend to both fans of the genre and people who have felt shut-out from RTS gaming these past few years.
I'm pretty happy with this version of Heroes of Might and Magic 3, but it is a bit harder to recommend when the Complete edition is on GOG with even more missions and a map generator.I can cheerfully recommend it to people who may never have encountered the game before. But if you're a Heroes of Might and Magic fan, who never needed high-definition anything to enjoy these games, then the chances are that GOG already had you covered, and there's not much for you here.
Sunless Sea gives you a wonderful world to explore that's packed with memorable written vignettes and danger.
Frozen Cortex is a great tactical turn-based sport that only really fumbles off the field.
StarDrive 2's ship building is top notch, but the flawed game surrounding it keeps it from ever truly shining.
Spellcasting in Magicka: Wizard Wars is good fun, but it's not a perfect fit with MOBA-style multiplayer.
Order of Battle: Pacific is that dramatic, and the scenarios can be that finely-balanced. Once I start a scenario, I find it almost impossible to quit until I've seen it through to the end. Fast, approachable, and challenging, it is everything I want in a wargame.
But to enjoy that game, you have to forgive incomplete or poorly implemented features, and make your peace with the evil AI. They're small problems, in the scheme of things, and they don't spoil a great drive. But they're just enough to deny Project CARS what could have been a clean pole position.
Codemasters' F1 2015 racer falls far behind the pack this year due to a lack of expected features.
I enjoy a lot of things about Act of Aggression: the bloody, orgiastic spectacle of it. The tactical combat that puts a premium on winning the battle for map vision and positioning. The nuanced faction differences. But Act of Aggression is also a game that obscures information rather than reveals it, and attempts to bewilder you with a million minor choices rather than a few clear-cut strategic decisions. In sharp contrast to Eugen's previous work, my first enemy is always the game itself.
It's charming and evocative, but the more I play it, the less substantial it gets.