Publisher: Snowbird Game Studios
Developer: Snowbird Game Studios
System requirements: Windows XP SP2/Vista/Win 7, 2 GHz Pentium/AMD 2000+ or better CPU, 512 MB RAM, GeForce 7300/Radeon 9200 or better graphics card, DirectX-compatible sound device, DirectX 9.0c, 2 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

Back in 2010, Eador: Genesis was quietly released to Russian-language audiences. Developed almost exclusively by one man, Alexander Bokulev, it was a mashup of various strategy games into one pot of dreams. It took the best of games such as Civilization and Heroes of Might and Magic and became something that would punch you in the face but leave you begging for more. It didn’t get much attention for many years because of its odd interface and the lack of an English translation. But now, Bokulev is back with a team and a budget. Eador: Masters of the Broken World isn’t just a prettier face, it’s an all-around better game.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Paradox Development Studio
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 2.4 GHz Pentium IV/AMD 3500+ or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, GeForce 8800/Radeon X1900 or better graphics card, 2 GB hard-drive space, DirectX-compatible sound device, DirectX 9, Victoria II (base game) and A House Divided expansion pack
Genre: RTS
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

Victoria has always been a franchise I’ve loved, and it’s one that has always been built on complexity. When your game is built around an economy that tracks the purchases of every single person, business and government in the world, you’re not catering to those with poor attention spans. The catch, though, is that no matter how complex Victoria II gets, there’s always something more I want from the game. It’s been a year since the last Victoria II expansion was released, and Paradox has decided that there are enough people like me who want even more from Victoria II to justify another expansion. Heart of Darkness focuses on four main areas of gameplay: colonies, navies, armies and diplomacy. Any fan of the franchise, while happy with improvements to warfare, will no doubt be intrigued more by the possibilities offered by diplomacy and colonization. And I’m happy to report that, aside from a few warts, HoD delivers the goods.

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Publisher: Phoenix Online Studios
Developer: Phoenix Online Studios
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/iOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), 2.0 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB DirectX 9-compatible graphics card, 2.5 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

I think we can stop using the “adventure games are dead, but…” line. Along with platformers, adventure games are low-cost laboratories where creative indies can play around within well-established genre conventions. If the subtitle didn’t tip you off, Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller is an adventure game in the vein of the airport thrillers of Clive Cussler and James Patterson. Think Castle without the snark, or the Alex Cross movies without the suck. It’s a world where murder happens like an elemental force, and killers leave puzzles and traps behind like rats leave droppings. With remarkably high production values and Adventure Goddess Jane Jensen attached as a story consultant, Cognition seems to have everything going for it.

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Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Irrational Games
System requirements: Windows Vista SP2/Win 7 SP1, 2.4 GHz Core2Duo/2.7 GHz Athlon X2 or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB DirectX10-compatible graphics card (GeForce 8800 GT/Radeon HD 3870/Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics or better), DirectX-compatible sound device, 20 GB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG/Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

You find yourself in a rowboat headed towards a lighthouse in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Maine. You have a cigar box that contains a picture of a pretty, nicely dressed young woman, and a pistol. A chattering couple sporting British accents argues about who’s rowing and who isn’t. Once the boat reaches its destination, you pause in your seat to take in the scene. “He’s not moving,” one of your boatmen says. “He will…eventually,” is the reply. Substitute the boat ride and the pithy banter with a fiery plane crash and the scene becomes all too familiar for those who played developer Irrational’s 2007 masterpiece, BioShock. The parallels between the games don’t end here, as you will discover during your journey through Irrational’s new magnum opus, Bioshock Infinite.

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Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Win 8, 2.4 GHz Core2Duo/2.8 GHz Athlon X2 or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, GeForce 8800 GTS or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0c, 16 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Resident Evil is one of the industry’s most financially rewarding franchises. Say what you want about Call of Duty, but Capcom has managed to sell books, movie rights and spin-offs of its popular series of zombie shooters for years. While the word “multimedia” gets tossed around a lot these days, basically the only form Resident Evil doesn’t come packaged in is a vacation cruise (although I’m betting the idea for a Resident Evil getaway has been discussed). With the release of Resident Evil 6 on consoles late last year, critical opinion was divided, but consoles and PC are not the same kind of platform. How does the latest iteration of this venerable franchise stack up on PC? The short answer is this: it ain’t survival horror anymore. The long answer is a bit more complicated.

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Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
System requirements: Windows XP SP 3/Vista/Win 7/Win 8, 1.8 GHz Core2Duo E6300/2.1 GHz Athlon 64 X2 4050+ or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB GeForce 8600/Radeon HD 2600 XT or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0c,10 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Action-Adventure
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Let’s face it: Lara Croft isn’t an interesting character. Impossibly athletic, remarkably good-looking. There’s no problem she couldn’t overcome by climbing on walls and shooting endangered animals. She didn’t have a personality, she had breasts. She was part sex symbol, part wish fulfillment, and entirely plastic. Now that the franchise has creatively bankrupted itself for a second time, developer Crystal Dynamics has decided to go back and rework Lara from the ground up. Just as film director Christopher Nolan saved Batman from decades of one-dimensional edginess, Crystal Dynamics has breathed new life and humanity into a previously synthetic (and sexist) character. But to make this new Lara, first they had to put her through hell.

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Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Ratloop Asia
Genre: Side-scrolling shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Despite the high-minded aims that Sony has for the Playstation Vita, the truth is that one of the things for which it’s best suited is the old-school platformer. Developer Ratloop Asia has delivered just such an item with their Vita port of the PC/PS3 hit Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken, which takes the original game and juices it up a little bit to take advantage of the new handheld’s unique attributes.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Crytek
System requirements: Windows Vista/Win 7/Win 8, 2.4 GHz Core2Duo/2.7 GHz Athlon 64 X2 or better CPU, 2 GB RAM (3 GB for Vista), 1 GB Nvidia GTS 450/Radeon HD5770 or better graphics card, DirectX 11, 16 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

I’m a gamer of habit, but while I enjoy a certain type of beverage or music selection while I’m playing on a console, it’s a completely (and far less simple) story with my beloved, albeit aging, gaming PC. See, I want the “maximum performance” out of my game, and if I know there’s something I can do to make my experience better, I do it. For example, I’d format my PC every time I got a new video card or dropped in a significant amount of RAM because I needed to see what the cleanest install and most updated drivers could do. Of course, back in the day I always had a test game — the height of what my PC could handle at the time. Whether it was how big I could make my Doom II window, or how high I could bump my resolution in Black & White 2, there was always that one contemporary that defined the level of my rig. Then along came Crysis…

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Paradox Development Studio
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, Pentium IV 2.4 GHz/AMD 3500+ or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB GeForce 8800/Radeon X1900 or better graphics card, Direct X-compatible sound device, DirectX 9, 2 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

It’s been two weeks since March of the Eagles was officially released, and I keep coming back to play despite the deadline for this review. I’ve found myself carving up the Ottoman Empire as Austria, conquering North Africa for Spain, dividing Prussia in half with France as Russia, and even trying (and failing miserably) to return Sweden to greatness. Paradox Interactive labels March of the Eagles as a game that brings the Napoleonic Wars “to life in this war-focused strategy game.” I admit I was skeptical at first that a company known for its epic grand strategy games could create a tightly focused product covering only a small historical period. But after playing the preview and the full version, I can say that Paradox has hit the mark with this strategy game.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Visceral Games
System requirements: Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1/Win 7, 2.8 GHz or better CPU, 1 GB RAM (2 GB Vista/Win 7), 256 MB GeForce 6800/ATI X1600 Pro or better graphics card with Shader Model 3.0 compatibility, DirectX 9.0, 10 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now
Review by Christopher Lazenby

I’m not sure what to make of Dead Space 3. I’m happy to see a new chapter in one of the greatest new series of this gaming generation has been released, but three games in just four-and-a-half years? Isn’t that pushing it a little?

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Criterion
System requirements: Windows Vista SP2/Win 7, 2.4 GHz Core2Duo/2.7 GHz Athlon X2 or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB DirectX 10-compatible graphics card, DirectX-compatible sound device, 20 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Racing
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now
Review by Christopher Lazenby

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is the 19th entry in the popular racing franchise, and Criterion’s second foray into the series. Gone are the cheesy plotlines, bad acting and cringe-worthy cutscenes. Most Wanted is just pure racing and chasing, and I actually think it’s a better step for the franchise.

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Publisher: Sega
Developer: Double Fine
Genre: Adventure/Platformer
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

The Cave sees a return to Ron Gilbert’s stable of adventure gaming after some sidestepping into the realm of the action-RPG genre with the great DeathSpank series. My initial reaction when I was asked to review The Cave was, how shall I say, restrained. An apt description, as it would be the same response I’d give if someone asked me to go caving. The Cave is somewhat of a gaming nemesis for me, it being a hybrid platformer/puzzle/adventure, a combination that doesn’t usually inspire many outbursts of excitement from the gaming couch in my household. So, with my jaw set in grim determination, I donned my hardhat, checked my clamps, turned on my torch and descended into the depths of Ron Gilbert’s mind.

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Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Ninja Theory
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Win 8, 2.4 GHz Core2Duo/2.8 GHz Athlon X2 or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, GeForce 8800GTS/Radeon HD3850 or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0c, 9 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Censorship might seem so Nuremberg 1937, but don’t forget that we Americans have many systems in place to insure that every medium has its own classification ghettos. Sometimes, this results in the R-rated action movie, which is labeled as including “mature content” despite having no maturity whatsoever. Like cartoon cigarette mascots, it’s always been known that Schwarzenegger movies are made with the 14-year-old male demographic in mind. DMC Devil May Cry, like those action movies, revels in its violence and gore in a way that only an adolescent can. With a new reboot by a decidedly western developer, the series takes a more colorful approach with the juvenile demon-vs-the-system series. Even though it’s the kind of game that literally scrawls obscenities directed towards the player on the walls, it doesn’t play dirty. In fact, it just might be the best action game to come out in years.

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Publisher: Dark Vale Games
Developer: Dark Vale Games
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 2.0 GHz dual-core CPU, 512 MB DirectX 9.0c-compliant graphics card, 2 GB RAM, DirectX 9.0c, DirectX-compatible sound device, 6 GB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now
Review by Peter Gore

In December, those of us who write for Avault were asked to submit their wish lists for potential reviews in the upcoming year. I threw in some of the more interesting Tier 1 games such as Crysis 3, but I had also just finished reading a teaser for a soon-to-be-released game that combined multiplayer PvP play with RPG elements, entitled Forge. Not long after, a key code arrived in my inbox with the offer of a review. I grabbed the chance to play what I thought would be a unique gaming experience.

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Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis
System requirements: Windows Vista/Win 7, 2.0 GHz dual-core CPU, 2 GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 8800GT/ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0, 20 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

In 1994, Mythos Games and MicroProse released XCOM: UFO Defense, a game regarded even today as the best of all time. It was simple and frustratingly difficult, all at the same time, and PC gamers loved it. After 18 years of waiting, gamers of all platforms (it would be rude to let PC players have all the fun again) have the chance to see what all the fuss was about with XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

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