Publisher: THQ
Developer: Illfonic
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 2.0 GHz Core2Duo/Athlon 64 or better CPU, 2 GB RAM (3 GB for Vista/Win 7), 512 MB GeForce 8800 GT/Radeon 3850 HD or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound device, 3 GB hard-drive space
Genre: FPS
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

In the mid-1990s, a new genre hit the gaming scene with a bang. Soon, burly men with guns blew platformers off their thrones with well-placed rockets and tea-bagged the remains of their cartoon mascots. As new technology allowed for a revolution in graphics, new networking infrastructure created the online deathmatch. The FPS genre arguably hit its peak around the turn of the millennium, powered by lightning-fast online frag-fests exemplified by Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament. These are the halcyon days that developer Illfonic tries to recreate in Nexuiz. However, the result is more “A Bigger Bang” than “Beggar’s Banquet.”

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Publisher: Penny Arcade
Developer: Zeboyd Games
System requirements: Windows XP, 1.6 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM, DirectX 9.0c-compatible graphics card, DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound device, Windows Media Player, 200 MB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

It’s another day at Strange Developments, Inc., and investigators/god-killers Tyco and Gabe await their next case. The phone suddenly rings. On the other end, a dark, brooding silence with hints of fear. This can only mean one thing: a phone call from someone inside a dark mime cult. Our dashing heroes dash off heroically to investigate. Thus starts the third chapter in the On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness series, an utterly delightful JRPG spin on the venerable web comic Penny Arcade from retro-masters Zeboyd Games.

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Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Yager
System requirements: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Win 7, 2.0 GHz Core2Duo or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, 256 MB GeForce 8600/Radeon HD2600 XT or better graphics card, DirectX-compatible sound device, DirectX 9.0c, 6 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

“I love the smell of white phosphorus in the morning.” Not really; that would make me a homicidal maniac. But the farther I progressed through developer Yager’s long-awaited shooter SpecOps: The Line, the more parallels I uncovered between this game and one of the greatest war movies ever made, and the story upon which it’s based.

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Publisher: xii Games
Developer: Wadjet Eye Games
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 1.8 GHz Pentium IV or better CPU, 512 MB RAM (1 GB for Vista/Win 7), 256 MB graphics card, 1GB hard-drive space
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

Resonance is a puzzle/adventure game that revolves around a murder mystery, dangerous technology, and the memories and motivations of its four characters. When a scientist is murdered in his lab after making paranoid ramblings, it’s up to you to figure out who did it, why, and what’s in the secret vault. Utilizing some innovating game elements, Resonance is more interesting than its modest price tag implies.

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Publisher: Smudged Cat Games
Developer: Smudged Cat Games
System requirements: Windows XP, 2.0 GHz dual-core CPU, 512 MB RAM, 128 MB graphics card with Shader Model 3.0 support, DirectX 10, 82 MB hard-drive space
Genre: Platformer
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

After spending dozens of hours raiding tombs, searching for hidden civilizations and saving the galaxy, every so often it’s good to go old-school and put in some time on an old-fashioned platformer. Thing is, sometimes the simpler a game is, the worse it is on your blood pressure. This can easily be said for The Adventures of Shuggy, which can be totally controlled using the fingers of one hand, yet can be frustrating enough to cause the utterance of rather colorful oaths.

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Publisher: Chillingo
Developer: Cobra Mobile
System requirements: Windows/Mac OS, 95 MB hard-drive space
Genre: Tower defense
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

We can learn a lot about life from games. For example, the archetypical tower-defense game requires you to assume a passive role and defend against waves of invaders, yet you’re never allowed to offensively strike back, or even tactically retreat. Victory is impossible; only non-defeat can be achieved. Even then, we merely shift to a new battlefield, often not of our choosing. For all of the genre’s inherent meaning, it’s surprising that there are no bullying or racial minority-themed TDs. Yet, on the genre tree, we must first pass through the “WWII Belt” before reaching more fruitful branches. And yet, as iBomber Defense demonstrates, perhaps this isn’t the worst place to be.

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Publisher: Rebellion
Developer: Rebellion
System requirements: Windows Vista (SP2)/Win 7 (Windows XP is not supported), 3.0 GHz Pentium D/Athlon 64 X2 4200 or better CPU, 256 MB DirectX 10-compatible graphics card, 2 GB RAM, DirectX 10-compatible sound device, DirectX 10 or better
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

There are plenty of opportunities out there for shooter gamers to let their inner Rambos escape, spraying bullets around like they’re confetti on New Year’s Eve in Times Square. But rare are the games in which a more careful, thoughtful approach is required for success. Sniper Elite: V2 is one such game. Developer Rebellion has crafted a handsome-looking World War II adventure that pits your covert talents and sniping skills against the Nazis and the Soviets in the blasted ruins of the German capitol in 1945.

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Publisher: Big Fish Games
Developer: Tuttifrutti Interactive/Casual Mechanics
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 1 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9, 272 MB hard-drive space
Genre: Hidden object
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

Who doesn’t like The Flintstones? While it’s a short, fun show satirizing 1950s suburbia, most importantly it’s a known quantity. You always know what you’re getting. Fred bumbles about his marriage, Barney offers questionable support, while Wilma and Betty are the brains of the operation. Casual games often get a short shrift for their similarity with one another, but like The Flintstones, that’s its selling point. While Casual Mechanics’s hidden-object game Antique Mysteries: Secrets of Howard’s Mansion colors within all the lines, it’s built so well that you might not care.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Ino-Co
System requirements: Windows Vista/Win 7, dual-core CPU, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB GeForce GT240 or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound device, DirectX 9.0c, 4 GB hard-drive space
Genre: RTS
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now

Warlock: Master of the Arcane is a turn-based strategy game that asks a simple question: if the King of Ardania disappeared and multiple powerful wizards were left behind to rule, what would happen? The answer is lots of warfare, spellcasting, and the triumph of one warlock to rule them all. Set in the same universe as Majesty 2 and featuring fantasy 4X gameplay, Warlock strives to give players a strategy-gaming experience with the kind of flavor you’d expect from the Majesty franchise, and all the fantasy elements you could possibly want.

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Publisher: Red Wasp Design
Developer: Red Wasp Design
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 1.8 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM, OpenGL-compatible graphics card
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

Oh, what is man? What can pierce the sky with metal and fire? What can split the foundations of the universe into kindling for laptops and iPods? What god is man? And yet, when we stare at the universe, either through a telescope or a microscope, we see the same things. Beyond the banality of planets and particles, we see a large darkness. No matter how much we look into it, it never looks back. This is our modern horror, the unthinking, unfeeling insanity of H.P. Lovecraft’s lauded Cthulhu mythos. These century-old works of fiction have gripped the modern mind and spread through Internet culture like a mutated cult. Heck, even Batman’s Arkham Asylum is a nod towards Miskatonicly minded individuals. However, when the awakening cults finally hit gaming, I expected a Korean MMO, a card-battle game, or something equally insane. What we got was The Wasted Land, a turn-based strategy game originally on iOS. Much like the works that birthed it, what The Wasted Land lacks in body it has in soul.

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Publisher: Beatshapers
Developer: Beatshapers
Genre: Arcade puzzle
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

PlayStation Vita, Sony’s fancy new handheld, released in early 2012 in North America with more than two dozen launch games. Many of them, such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Unit 13, were the type of game that require a considerable time investment in each play session. But most adults who play portable game systems only really use them in small chunks of time, such as on public transportation or while waiting for the end of the final spin cycle. Developer/publisher Beatshapers has helped to fill this void with Stardrone: Extreme, a fast-paced, sometimes-maddening arcade game that only takes a few minutes of your valuable time for each addictive level.

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Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
System requirements: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Win 7/Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), 2.0 GHz Pentium IV or better CPU, 3 GB RAM (4 GB for Mac), 512 MB graphics card, DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound device, DirectX 9.0c, 2 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead graphic-novel series has become a cottage industry since its original publication in 2003. The television series based on the comics has become one of the AMC cable network’s most popular shows, several board games have been released, action figures by Todd McFarlane are available. You can even get drinking glasses and beer steins emblazoned with Walking Dead graphics. And now, adventure-game publisher Telltale has added to zombie lore with the first of five video-game episodes, giving you the chance to guide a troubled hero through the opening days of the zombie apocalypse.

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Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Developer: Cyanide Studio
System requirements: Windows XP SP3/Vista SP2/Win 7, 2.0 GHz dual-core CPU, 256 MB GeForce 7900 GTX/Radeon HD 2600 XT or better graphics card with Shader Model 3.0 support, 2 GB RAM, DirectX 9-compatible sound device, 4 GB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

“Foretold by many prophecies, the Rag’narok is the war of the age of darkness, the battle during which the gods will choose their champions before putting Aarklash to fire and sword.” Yes, the setting of Cyanide Studio’s Confrontation is grim. A strategy RPG with a rather detailed fantasy setting, Confrontation sees you gathering your group of heroes and going deep into the heart of the enemy’s territory, fighting innumerable battles to overcome your foes, using swords, spells and cunning strategies, emphasizing strategy over RPG elements.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Turbo Tape Games
System requirements: Windows Vista/Win 7, dual-core CPU, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB GeForce GT 240 or better graphics card, 4 GB hard-drive space, DirectX 9-compatible sound device, DirectX 9.0c
Genre: Simulation
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

I’m not cut out for Navy life. Being crammed into poorly-lit metallic rooms filled with smelly people in the middle of nowhere reminds me too much of my college experience. There’s also my problem with authority. While I don’t think I’m cut out for taking orders in a tuna can, sitting in a climate controlled C&C bunker giving orders is entirely different. Turbo Tape Games is there to fulfill my curiosity with their new strategy game, Naval War: Arctic Circle. Featuring a depiction of modern naval combat so detailed it borders on simulation, Naval War has more than enough depth to drown in. But is it worth braving the cold?

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: 38 Studios
Genre: Action RPG
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is the first adventure in the brand new world of Amalur, brought to us by 38 Studios, Big Huge Games and the mind of fantasy legend R.A. Salvatore. An action RPG with the Salvatore pedigree to live up to, KoA:R promises fast-paced, customizable gameplay and an epic story set in a colorful, high-fantasy world.

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