Overture

Overture

Overture is a game that will challenge your reflexes, and often your patience, to the max. Despite the high difficulty, the game remains thoroughly enjoyable and is only let down by some rather generic visuals. The chiptune soundtrack is great though, and provided you aren’t expecting something with a lot of depth it will keep you busy for quite a while.

Gameplay: Fast, frantic and quite challenging, but also very addictive.

Graphics: The generic visuals are not bad, but definitely a little overused at this point.

Sound: The rocking chiptune soundtrack is definitely a highlight

Dying Light

Dying Light

It might not score very highly when it comes to originality, but the sheer amount of fun to be had in Dying Light cannot be beaten. Traversing the city using your parkour skills is a lot of fun and the open world setting as well as first person view makes for an immersive experience. This is the type of game where it is easy to spend hours just goofing around and thanks to its day/night cycle there is rarely a dull moment. If you want to dispatch zombies in spectacularly gory fashion using crazy crafted weapons and parkour skills you won’t want to miss out on Dying Light.

Gameplay: Highly entertaining and very addictive.

Graphics: Impressive visuals and draw distance.

Sound: The music, sound effects and voice acting are all very well done

The Forest of Doom

The Forest of Doom

The Forest of Doom is a welcome interpretation of a classic adventure gamebook and will definitely be a trip down memory lane for players familiar with the paperback. Newcomers can expect a lot of reading and some trial and error, but the memorable encounters and large number of locations in the forest make it worthwhile. Although the game can be completed relatively quickly it does boast plenty of replay value thanks to the achievements and gallery.

Gameplay: The rules are very straightforward and anyone can start reading and enjoying the adventure.

Graphics: The original illustrations still look great and the overall presentation of the game is very good.

Sound: Nice music, but a few more tunes to provide a bit more variety would have been nice

HuniePop

HuniePop

If you are looking for something to be offended by you will find plenty to be outraged about in HuniePop. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a polished and entertaining title that combines a couple of different genres very successfully then you will find that this game is money well spent. Hopefully the developers will flesh out the concept further if they get around to a sequel as there is a lot of potential here.

Gameplay: The puzzle elements are fun and surprisingly strategic, while interacting with the girls is entertaining albeit a little repetitive.

Graphics: Beautifully drawn characters with plenty of clothing and hair variations, but no animations beyond lip synching.

Sound: The professional English voice actresses really bring the characters to life and the soundtrack is rather good too

Tales of Aravorn: Seasons Of The Wolf

Tales of Aravorn: Seasons Of The Wolf

Seasons of the Wolf strays even further from the visual novel path than Loren the Amazon Princess did and feels like a full-fledged role playing game. It still has great characters and an engrossing story, but you’ll be spending more time doing quests and less time romancing party members. Cranking up the difficulty setting also provides a much bigger challenge this time round. Since this game is not a sequel to Loren and only set in the same fantasy world you don’t need any prior knowledge to jump in and enjoy it. Don’t take our word for it though, check out the demo for yourself.

Gameplay: The game is more of a role playing title than a visual novel, but remains very engrossing.

Graphics: Beautiful artwork, varied locations and great character designs.

Sound: No speech, but some good music

Loren The Amazon Princess + The Castle Of N’mar DLC

Loren The Amazon Princess + The Castle Of N’mar DLC

The storyline in Loren the Amazon Princess really sucked me in and the cast of memorable characters kept me hooked. The turn based combat also turned out to be surprisingly fun and the game has a ton of replay value. Hopefully with the Steam release the game will receive the attention that it deserves and open the flood gates for more Winter Wolves titles.

Gameplay: A very nice fusion of visual novel and role playing.

Graphics: Although there is no animation the artwork is beautiful.

Sound: Good sound effects and some very memorable tunes

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

It’s easy to hate Stalker for all the things that it does wrong but if you take the time and effort to really get into the game instead of judging it by the standards of other First Person Shooters you will find a deeply engrossing and gripping experience that will keep you coming back for more.

Gameplay: Tough as nails and very unforgiving but stick with it and you will be hooked.

Graphics: Might not be cutting edge but still looks very good.

Sound: Barring some weird voice glitches its all very good

Deathtrap (NeocoreGames)

Deathtrap (NeocoreGames)

The tower defense sections of the Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing series by NeocoreGames might not have been the main focus of the games, but they were certainly a lot of fun. Deathtrap however reverses the formula by making the tower defense the main focus of the game and then layering on all kinds of action RPG goodness to make it even better. The end result is a highly addictive title with plenty of depth that will keep fans of both genres hooked

Sneaky Sneaky

Sneaky Sneaky

It’s not the longest or most challenging of titles, but Sneaky Sneaky still manages to impress with its charming visuals and entertaining gameplay. Dashing from cover to cover while silently taking down foes or avoiding them altogether is a lot of fun and the lighthearted nature of the game makes it suitable for the whole family. If you need a break from the more challenging or stressful titles you can’t go wrong with Sneaky Sneaky.

Gameplay: Not much of a challenging, but very entertaining.

Graphics: Bold, colorful and charming.

Sound: Some soothing melodies to back up all the sneaking

Tales Of Aravorn: Seasons Of The Wolf Available For PC, Mac And Linux

Tales Of Aravorn: Seasons Of The Wolf Available For PC, Mac And Linux

Anyone relying on Steam as their sole source of new releases will find themselves missing out on “Tales Of Aravorn: Seasons Of The Wolf” from Winter Wolves. This title is a turn based roleplaying game that takes place in the same fantasy world as the previous Winter Wolves hit, Loren the Amazon Princess