Publisher: Namco Bandai Games
Developer: Project Aces
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Win 8, 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo/2.4 GHz AMD Athlon X2 or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 8800GT/ATI Radeon HD 3850 or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0c, 16 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Flight sim
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

Ace Combat holds a special place in my heart, mostly for its childlike disregard for reality. It’s a high-budget projection of what goes through a 14-year-old boy’s mind when he obsesses over back issues of Jane’s. Decades of fighter jet technology swooshing over a city, unleashing dozens of missiles at each other as they dive and roll in close knife fights. Reality is so much more boring, as planes sparingly launch their handful of ordinance from miles outside of visual range. Ace Combat takes the shape and names of the real world and paints them atop a much more interesting reality. The latest in the series, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon has now landed on PC in the form of an Enhanced Edition. With a new cinematic presentation and aircraft that aren’t jet planes, Assault Horizon tries to do something new with an old formula, but keep that romantic fantasy alive.

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Publisher: Soldak Entertainment
Developer: Soldak Entertainment
System requirements: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/Win 7/Mac OS10.4, 1.5 GHz Pentium IV or better CPU, 256 MB RAM, GeForce 2 or better graphics card, 200 MB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

Every once in awhile, I get something new and interesting across my virtual desk. Drox Operative is one such game. In many ways, it plays like a space version of Diablo, but it has victory conditions like any of a hundred RTS games. It also has espionage action with planets that brings to mind some older CRPGs. My experience with Drox Operative was interesting, and while not the most addicting game I’ve played, it certainly has appeal for those looking for something altogether different.

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Publisher: Devolver Digital
Developer: Dennaton Games
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 1.2 GHz or better CPU, 512 MB RAM, 32 MB DirectX 8-compatible graphics card, DirectX 9.0c, 250 MB hard-drive space
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

Apparently thinking that the edutainment sector was looking a bit thin, Dennaton Games has made an electronic simulacrum of what it might feel like to go on a coked-up shooting rampage. With a strong retro 80s style, Hotline Miami is fast, fun, and will make you feel terrible about yourself by the end.

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Publisher: Renegade Kid
Developer: Renegade Kid
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 1.8 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9-compatible graphics card, 23 MB hard-drive space
Genre: Platformer
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

Retro-nostalgia is a many-layered cake. One one level, it can simply be a way to advertize that “I remember my childhood.” That’s why Walmart sells shirts with the NES controller over the word “addict,” despite the fact that whoever actually buys those shirts likely spends far more time yelling at 10-year-olds on Xbox Live than actually interacting with their NES. But rose-colored glasses aside, there’s a general feeling that gaming has lost something. Don’t be so ignorant to ignore that we’ve also gained so very much, but it’s OK to acknowledge that perhaps there’s something nestled within the pixels of a 2D platformer that you won’t find inside the quad-core renderings of a blockbuster game. It’s from here that Mutant Mudds comes. It has it’s own reason to exist, but it’s heart is in love with the past, for better or worse.

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Publisher: LudoCraft
Developer: LudoCraft
System requirements: Windows XP SP2/Vista/Win 7, 2.6 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, DirectX 9.0c-compatible graphics card, DirectX-compatible sound device, DirectX 9.0c, 1 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now
Review by Peter Gore

One of my favorite all-time games combined tanks, combat and racing. Treadmarks was an indie multiplayer game that had you racing your tank against others in wide-open vistas and enclosed tracks, allowing for combat as well as a race to the finish line. It never made the big time, but it had a cult of online followers that still plays today, even 10 years after it was published. So when I was assigned to review Air Buccaneers, I was reminded of odd combinations that could work. Buccaneers have been known to have a cannon or two. How is any self-respecting pirate-buccaneer type going to plunder the high seas without one. But Vikings? I’ve seen my share of Viking movies (13th Warrior remains an eternal favorite), and I don’t remember Vikings having either cannons or gunpowder. And neither buccaneers nor Vikings had hot air balloons in which to tool around the skies. But Air Buccaneers throws the entire mish-mash into one place, creating a sort of “chocolate meets peanut butter” collision with the hopeful result of an entertaining gaming experience.

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Publisher: Krystian Majewski
Developer: Krystian Majewski
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Mac OSX Leopard, DirectX 5, 2.0 GHz dual-core CPU, 200 MB hard-drive space
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

Math classes occupy similar places in my life where dentist appointments are usually found. It’s not that I can’t do math (my weekends of Dungeons and Dragons prove that much), but when it comes to the classroom, all the joy leaves me. One day I stumbled upon Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter, quite by accident. I barely even knew what it was about, only that it sounded interesting and had Escher pictures in it. Soon, enthralled by stories about pretty high-end mathematical theories, the nature of numbers, and formalized logic, I was enraged. Why hadn’t my teachers showed me how beautiful math truly was? I felt like I had been eating grape skins and wasn’t told about the fine wine next to it.

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Publisher: Beatshapers
Developer: Nurium Games
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

In these days when a high premium is placed on innovation, face-melting graphics and cinematic plots, it’s oddly comforting to spend a few hours with a good, old-fashioned gaming concept. Developer Nurium Games has provided us with just such a respite with BreakQuest: Extra Evolution, a shout-out to the long-gone days when all you needed in a game was a fire button and a joystick (and a stack of coins).

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Zeal Game Studio
System requirements: Windows Vista/Win 7, Dual Core 2.4 GHz or better CPU, 4 GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 8000/AMD Radeon 2000 or better graphics card with Shader Model 4 support, DirectX-compatible sound device, DirectX 10, 3 GB hard-drive space, broadband Internet connection
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

What would it be like to run a kingdom of dwarves? This is the central question posed by A Game of Dwarves. As it turns out, it takes some real effort to run a kingdom of short, ill-tempered, mythological sentient beings with a penchant for digging their way through the world. In the tradition of memorable games such as Dungeon Keeper, A Game of Dwarves asks you to manage your people, build them a home that satisfies their needs, and lead them to victory against their enemies, while digging to find riches and materials for them to use and trade.

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Publisher: UTV Ignition Entertainment
Developer: Golgoth Studio
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Win 8, 2 GHz Intel Core2Duo or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, GeForce 8800 GT or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound device, DirectX 9.0c, 500 MB hard-drive space
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

Review by: Peter Gore

I’m not a puzzle guy. Oh sure, I’ve had Tetris on my cell phone as a time-waster, but I never joined the cult of Bejeweled or any of the similar knockoffs that have come along. So when I received Magical Drop V to review, two questions sprang to mind: How am I going to review a game of a type I know nothing about, and what do you suppose happened to Magical Drop I through IV?

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Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
System requirements: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Win 7/Mac Snow Leopard, 2 GB Pentium IV or better CPU, 3 GB RAM (4 GB for Mac), 512 MB graphics card, DirectX 9.0c, 2 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: All five episodes available now

Many players complain about the stories in games, or the lack of them. These folks should be flocking to The Walking Dead, Telltale’s five-part odyssey through graphic novelist Robert Kirkman’s zombified universe. You’ll find more honest-to-god storytelling in a single episode of this series than in any three AAA releases. But is all of this narrative emphasis too much of a good thing?

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Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Developer: Daedalic Entertainment
System requirements: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Win 7, 2 GHz single-core/1.8 GHz dual-core or better CPU, 256 MB OpenGL 2.0-compatible graphics card, 1.5 GB RAM (2 GB for Vista/Win 7), DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound device, 3.5 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Point-and-click adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

It seems that everyone at the convent has a problem with poor little Lilli. She comes across as such a quiet and sweet girl. The kind that would never think of firing a blunderbuss in close proximity to someone just to set off their anxiety…at least, not out of malice. Actually, the outside observer would say a gal like Lilli is always doing what she’s told or going out of her way to help a friend—even if that means using a chainsaw to get the job done. So why, no matter how hard she tries, is there always someone waiting to chastise or dream-crush her? Always a fellow student, the resident bully, or worse: Mother Superior herself. It’s enough to make someone do horrible, horrible things, maybe without realizing it.

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Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Forty-six hours. What can you do in 46 hours? Watch 46 episodes of your Law and Order series of choice. Drive most of the way across the US (at a law-abiding 60 mph, of course). Watch Wagner’s Ring cycle of operas three times. For me, 46 hours was how long it took to get through Capcom’s new apocalyptic zombie opus, Resident Evil 6. It was a dark, repetitive, sometimes frustrating journey that I’m unlikely to take again.

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Publisher: BlueGiant Interactive
Developer: BlueGiant Interactive
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, dual-core or better CPU, 512 MB nVidia 9500 GT/Radeon 3650 or better graphics card, 2 GB RAM, DirectX 10, 6 GB hard-drive space, broadband Internet connection
Genre: RTS
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

RTS games are not going away; no matter what else happens in the strategy portion of the gaming industry, they’re going to continue to be produced. Bringing something new to the genre is difficult and, in many cases, unnecessary. Those looking for the adrenaline rush to be found in RTS games are looking for a good experience, even if it’s very similar to the last 10 games they’ve played. Tryst strives to give players this experience. Despite its odd name, Tryst is another RTS game that brings standard gameplay to the table. Relying on fast action rather than novelty to keep players interested, it’s a game that goes through the motions without being phenomenal.

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Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Win 8/Mac OS 10.6.8, 2.8 GHz Pentium D/Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or better CPU, GeForce 7800 GT/Radeon X1950 Pro or better graphics card, 1 GB RAM (1.5 GB for Vista/Win7/Win 8, 2 GB for Mac), 12 GB hard-drive space, broadband Internet connection
Genre: RPG/Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Review by: Peter Gore

I knew that Diablo III wasn’t going to be your grandfather’s Diablo. I slogged through hours upon hours of monster slaying and loot gathering in both the original game, then the follow up Diablo II and its expansion, Lords of Destruction. But the last iteration of Diablo appeared 12 years ago. In gaming time, this represents a quantum leap in terms of graphics, sound and game design. How would this new and highly anticipated third chapter look and feel? And what, if anything, would it bring new to the table in terms of game mechanics and the all-important gaming experience?

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Publisher: Nordic Games
Developer: The Farm 51
System requirements: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Win 7, 2.0 GHz Core2Duo/Athlon 64 X2 or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, 256 MB GeForce 8600/Radeon HD 2600XT or better graphics card, DirectX-compatible sound device, DirectX 9.0c, 5 GB hard-drive space
Genre: FPS
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Painkiller was a game that resonated with audiences primarily because of its retro throwbacks. Dressed up in heavy metal, its gory brand of shooting had a pure, unadulterated quality that provided a bloody refuge in a world increasingly filled with chest-high walls. Not only was it a smash hit back in 2004, but it also spawned five expansion packs. Developer The Farm 51, who previously made Necrovision, their own demonic shooter (in the Painkiller engine, no less), is now remaking the original game, with shiny new graphics and a co-op mode. However, it seems that Painkiller: Hell and Damnation’s greatest enemy just might be itself.

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