Andrei Dumitrescu's Reviews
Dragon Age: Inquisition - Jaws of Hakkon is a good sign for the long-term evolution of the most recent role-playing game from BioWare and Electronic Arts, and it will be interesting to see whether the same pace and level of quality can be maintained in the future.
Forza Horizon 2 is a great racing game and a very good showcase for the impressive graphics that the Xbox One can deliver.
The Banner Saga is a great game as long as the player is willing to accept its theme and its overall tone, while also harboring at least a little bit of love for the turn-based battle system.
Sunset is a video game that dares to create an experience that challenges gamers to carefully consider scraps of information even as they are performing somewhat repetitive tasks, while also focusing on just one character that reacts to an entire universe that evolves around him.
Company of Heroes 2 – Ardennes Assault is a good standalone package and the campaign that Relic has created manages to capture the tension associated with the Battle of the Bulge, although there are some moments when the company deviates from historical reality in order to increase the dramatic element.
Company of Heroes 2 – The Western Front Armies is a solid expansion package for a very good strategy experience and offers enough new content to justify the purchase price.
Infested Planet is a good title that can provide many hours of intense action and solid strategic thinking, and I loved the way it focuses on the simple act of battling an ever-moving stream of aliens to create tension and a sense that every battle has clear stakes.
Order of Battle: Pacific is the best strategy title of the year so far, offering a new take on a period that many gamers believe is no longer interesting from a video game point of view.
Ronin is a good, engaging and often difficult game that will certainly appeal to those who are intrigued by the mix of stealth, sword killing, and impressive jumps.
Beyond Earth is just as innovative when it comes to the mechanics of the turn-based strategy series as Civilization V was before it and gamers will need a bit of time to become accustomed to the increased customization, the tech web and the powerful challenge posed by the alien life.
The Last Federation is like a miniature jewel, a game that seems easy to understand and play at first and, as the player engages with it more, reveals deeper nuances and more interesting mechanics to explore and exploit.
A player can be defeated quickly, especially when using a higher difficulty setting and seeding the map with more monsters, and there's a feeling of challenge that other similar titles fail to deliver.
Age of Wonders III is a perfect representative of the 4X genre and all those who love strategy and fantasy should get it immediately and prepare to spend tends of hours exploring its varied world and creating clever strategies that can crumble when the enemy joins the fight.
With this new fantasy-themed title, and the previous science fiction-themed Galactic Civilizations III, Stardock has managed to corner the market when it comes to turn-based strategy, delivering a solid mix of both classic and innovative mechanics.
Ironcast is a small game that manages to integrate some very cool mechanics in engaging ways and the fact that, at its core, it embraces the impact of dying associated with rogue-like titles makes each campaign unique.
Fallout 4 is a deep and broad video game that can easily occupy more than 100 hours of a gamer's life, as long as they don't become bored of some of the core mechanics of the open-world genre and want to explore the universe past the core narrative.
Rainbow Six Siege is one of the year's full-priced video games that feature plenty of real-money transactions from the get-go while also pushing players to get a Season Pass that opens up access to lots of downloadable content that is coming starting early 2016.
The Division is an ambitious game when it comes to the world it creates and its mechanics, for both cooperative play and Player versus Player, are solid and engaging but much of its future will depend on how Ubisoft caters to the needs of the community and to the unique ways in which players come to enjoy this beautiful and derelict world of New York.
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is a very solid package that will appeal to a range of gamers who have a PlayStation 4 and who might not have any other exclusive launch to look forward to in the coming months.
Ska Studios clearly loves Dark Souls and Salt and Sanctuary is a very effective love letter that can appeal both to long-term fans of that series and to players who simply want to feel challenge in a world that's filled with mystery and clever opponents.