Avalon Legends Solitaire - Review

A very captivating game that can be played for hours at a time. The game exceeded my expectations.

The Best Games of 2014: June Releases

Ionball 2: Ionstorm
Inspired by classics such as Breakout, Amegas, Crystal Hammer and Arkanoid, Ionball 2: Ionstorm is a revolutionary update to the proven genre.


Grid Autosport
GRID Autosport features over 100 routes across 22 incredible locations, the return of in-car view, authentic handling and the world’s most exciting contemporary and classic high-performance racing cars.

Shovel Knight
is a sweeping classic action adventure game with memorable characters and an 8-bit retro aesthetic created by Yacht Club Games.

Sniper Elite 3
Sniper Elite 3 continues the story of elite OSS sniper Karl Fairburne during World War II.

See Also:
the Best PC Games of May 2014

Way of the Samurai 4 - PC Trailer and Specs

Minimum:
OS: Windows 7
Processor: 2.13GHz Intel Core2 Duo or equivalent
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card with 64Mb RAM and support for v3 shaders
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Hard Drive: 7 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

Recommended:
OS: Windows 7 or later
Processor: 3GHz Intel i3 or equivalent
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card with 128Mb RAM and support for v3 shaders
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Hard Drive: 7 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

Stronghold Crusader 2 Enters Closed Beta, System Requirements Revealed

Firefly Studios has just released the minimum system requirements for their long awaited ‘castle sim’ sequel Stronghold Crusader 2. Having entered closed Beta earlier this week, most of the remaining developing time on Crusader 2 will be spent optimising the game’s performance on PC and tweaking gameplay. The announcement was made earlier today on the game's official website.


“When we first announced Stronghold Crusader 2 one of the first pieces of information released was that the game will use a newly enhanced 3D engine. By this point the team was so experienced with the Havok Vision Engine that learning something completely new and moving away from 3D would be a waste of that knowledge. Our stated goal with Crusader 2 was to create the best 3D Stronghold game yet and that’s exactly what we intent to deliver.

Everyone here at Firefly wants the playability of the 2D Stronghold titles within a 3D space and our enhanced version of the Vision Engine has thankfully provided us with the tools needed to achieve this. Naturally a concern for players at the time was ‘Will the game run on my machine?’. This is a fair question and of course we are aiming to get the game running on a wide range of systems, performance being just as high on our list of priorities as bug fixing. With the game currently in beta and as such feature-complete, we have already had time to focus on optimisation and performance testing. As a result, we have been able to determine the minimum system requirements for Stronghold Crusader 2:”

The minimum PC system requirements for Stronghold Crusader 2 are as follows:

Operating System: Windows® XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8 (latest service packs) with DirectX 9.0c
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 2Ghz or equivalent
Memory: 2GB RAM
Video: NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GT 512MB or AMD Radeon™ HD 2900XT 512MB or better
Storage: 6 GB available HD space
Internet: Broadband Internet connection

The latest entry in Firefly's best selling series of medieval real-time strategy games, Stronghold Crusader 2 is set to appear online and in store shelves on September 2nd 2014.

Divinity: Original Sin Review and System Requirements

As a veteran of Divine Divinity and a serious RPG gamer, I wanted to like this. But I find almost nothing to enjoy here. - Characters move way too slowly making basic travel a chore - Camera turn is so limited it serves to function - Some areas are cluttered with items making it a chore to click and move without accidentally stealing something - Pickpocketing is just awful: you can't pick pocket an NPC twice, NPC random movement makes pickpocketing too easily caught, being caught is punishable by death in this world which makes this an exercise in quickloading, double clicking an item during pickpocketing causes my character to inexplicably wander away from the NPC breaking pickpocket

- Virtually no map markers, so I'm wandering to my death in overleveled areas
- The dual RP system doesn't work for me, because I feel like I'm just talking to myself.
- The rock/paper/scissors method of deciding arguments renders every decision frivolous.

On the upside, the combat system is reasonably tactical, and makes good use of the terrain. The writing is much better than previous Larian efforts. Some of the characters are quite humorous. But there's a quantity over quality approach here, as most of the dialogue comes off as unnecessary filler. I don't need every NPC in town to tell me the same thing using different words.

Verdict: 40/100

System Requirements

Minimum:

• OS: Windows XP SP3 or higher
• Processor: Intel Core2 Duo E6600 or equivalent
• Memory: 2048 MB RAM
• Graphics: HD Intel Graphics 4000 or NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GT (512 MB) or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 4850 or equivalent
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 10 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX9c compliant 

Recommended:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1
• Processor: Intel i5 2400 or higher
• Memory: 4096 MB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 550 ti 1GB ram or or ATI™ Radeon™ HD 6XXX or higher
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 10 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX9c compliant 

Details
Genre: Role-Playing
Style: Third-Person 3D RPG
Themes: Swords & Sorcery (Fantasy)
Release Date: June 30, 2014
Developer: Larian Studios
Publisher: Larian Studios

Orborun System Requirements

Orborun is a 3D action skill run & roll game!

PC System Requirements
Minimum:
OS: XP or later
Memory: 1024 MB RAM
Graphics: pretty much any card
Hard Drive: 600 MB available space

APG Rating: 75/100

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom

Gamers join Jake the dog and Finn the human as they go on an epic quest to save a group of kidnapped princesses in Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom. The top-down action resembles the 16-bit classic The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, with players taking control of Finn as he explores an overworld filled with mysteries and danger, solves puzzles and battles bosses in dungeons, and interacts with characters from the popular animated series. Gamers can also take advantage of Jake's special abilities to bypass obstacles and perform unique attacks.

Gearbox Announces Battleborn for PC, Xbox One, & PS4 (Official Trailer)

After teasing us that they were working on a couple of new IPs, and one might be revealed in 2014, Gearbox has announced Battleborn, a new “AAA hero-shooter experience” coming to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Haunt the House: Terrortown Review and System Requirements

Enter Haunt the House's world and you'll be greeted with its excellent cartoon like visuals. You are tasked to scare everyone in the town by exploring it and reaching the maximum level of terror for each area. You can freely go through the town at your own pace. What really struck me about this game though was gameplay.

Possessing objects to scare people is fun, and as the terror level rises the more things you can do with the objects also increase. With the maximum amount of terror you can cause a accident like murder on certain characters, then you can play as them. Its the experimenting with what scares the most that gives Haunt the House its personality. My main issue here though is the accessibility of the "things to do". At the top of the screen is a bunch of stuff to do, and its not clear what all of them are. This takes away from the main experience. But overall the great level design, gameplay and graphics are trumping the length and inaccessibility.

Verdict: 70/100

System Requirements

Minimum:
• OS: Windows XP
• Processor: 2.33GHz or faster x86-compatible processor, or Intel Atom™ 1.6GHz or faster processor for netbook class devices
• Memory: 512 MB RAM
• Hard Drive: 200 MB available space 

Details
Genre: Action
Style: 2D Action
Themes: Hauntings
Release Date: June 6, 2014
Developer: SFB Games
Publisher: SFB Games
Controls: Joystick/Gamepad, Keyboard, Mouse
Flags: Digital Release

Football Manager 2016 - Screenshots

Review and Specs

Screenshots

Similar Games

Noir Syndrome Review and System Requirements

GAMEPLAY: Simplistic, you'll only be pressing a few keys the entire time (namely "z"). The game relies heavily upon resource managment and patience. In order to get suspects, you'll have to talk to NPC's. Talking to NPC's drains your food so you'll have to look out for money to purchase food, see what I mean? While spamming "z", you'll undoubtly pick up a few clues, which will help narrow down potential suspects. Both clues and a suspect list can be found in your notebook. The key is to find tons of clues and not jump the gun by hastely arresting someone. I'd liken to something like Dark Souls, where the more you play the better you'll get, but starting off you'll have almost no idea what to do.


STORY:
Also rather simple, you're a PI looking for a killer and you get to do whatever you want, including not even bothering to look for him/her. Do you want to rob the mob? Go ahead. Want to murder everyone you meet? Buy some more bullets. There is a wide variety of options to choose from when you actually get into the game and whether you solve the case or not depends on making smart choices that won't kill you.

GRAPHICS:
If there would be anyone to complain about pixel art, it would be me. Despite this, I can't help but feel an affection for Noir Syndrome. It might be the stellar soundtrack or loving attention to detail, but the pixel art never bothered me. This might not be the case for you, but at very least you can appreciate the absolutely wonderful soundtrack.

MUSIC:
As stated before, wonderful. I regreted not purchasing the soundsrack version of this game that's available on the developers site.

OTHER:
There's a wonderful mode in this game called "Dinner Party". It's essentially a more hectic version of the game, with all the suspects already on your list and the only thing you have to do is find clues. Well, you also have to survive the other guests who go insane quite easily. It's quite an enjoyable mode, and if you get bored of the original gamemode then it's something that will interest you.

To the Developer (CRITICISM):
First off, thank you for creating this game! It's obviously a labor of love, and your time and effort spent on the game has not been in vain.
There a few minor things that can be added or changed to make Noir Syndrome a slightly more enjoyable game.

1. Able to deselect suspects from the menu. Once you've clicked on a suspect, you can only change which suspect is selected, rather than being able to deselect a suspect entirely. (ADDED IN UPDATE 1.4) Going off this, I think being able to cross off names would be very useful. It would eliminate some of the hassle of having to check every suspect's occupation This is obviously a minor thing, but it's worth mentioning.

2. Because you lose food from talking to NPC's, you'll always be losing food. This unfortunately means that you'll also be losing food when talking to vendors, quite ironic if you're buying food. The Apple vendor is essentially a giant waste of money, apples, while the cheapest food at $2, recover such a small portion of food that you'll always be stuck at "hungry" or "starving" because you'll need to talk to him more to buy more apples. The apples either need to be boosted in how much food they give or food vendors don't cause you to lose food when talking to them. (FIXED IN UPDATE 1.4)

Those are the only things that have stayed on my mind through the time I've spent in Noir Syndrome, but I'm sure other people have problems as well. As of writing, this review currently is at the top of the review page and as such if you find major problems with the game that aren't technical (direct these to the forums), leave a comment and I'll add it to this section.

OVERALL:
I recommend it. It's not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it's compotent, well made, and it has a loveable style to it. If you enjoy games like Clue and L.A. Noire, it's definitely worth checking out.

Verdict: 80/100

System Requirements

Minimum:
• OS: Windows XP
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Graphics: Intel Core HD Graphics (2000/3000), or dedicated GPU with OpenGL Support
• Hard Drive: 200 MB available space
• Sound Card: OpenAL-Compatible
• Additional Notes: Tends to run well even on many low-end machines 

Recommended:
• OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8
• Processor: Intel Core i3
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: Intel Core HD Graphics 4000, or dedicated GPU with OpenGL Support
• Hard Drive: 500 MB available space
• Sound Card: OpenAL-Compatible 

Details
Genre: Adventure
Style: 2D Adventure
Themes: Whodunit
Release Date: April 2, 2014
Developer: Glass Knuckle Games
Publisher: Glass Knuckle Games
Controls: Keyboard, Mouse

The Fall Review and System Requirements

I played this game using a keyboard and a gamepad (xbox pad) and the controls are poor - responsiveness is stiff and delayed in both cases but I found it to be a little easier to play with a gamepad due to the funky keys/combination presses and holds you need to use.

There are bugs, really crazy bugs. The game crashed twice on me in my single play through and several times I would start floating through the level ending up in random locations. Also, sometimes when an area loaded I would not be able to control the character at all except for moving around (no shooting/jumping/flashlight/stealth/etc.).

The puzzles are basic - use a thing on this thing to get to the next place. It never really goes beyond that but due to level design you often need to walk around looking for the thing or the place to use the thing for a long time, backtracking is often needed.
The combat is not as good as I was lead to believe. You have a gun, just one, as your weapon and there's only a few different enemy types in the whole game. You can also stealth, but you can't move when stealth. It feels very lacking.

The game is short. Really short, which is good because if the boring combat and tedious puzzles went on much longer I think I would have just quit.

The only really good part of the game is the story and the voice acting, which is excellent except for 3 tremendous flaws. It is absolutely linear which is fine, but you are given "choices" that aren't choices - you must take one specific action to move forward - don't present false choices to me. The overall plot is obvious. Finally, the game/story is incomplete - WAAAAAY incomplete. It felt like just when I was ready for the real story to come into play, it was suddenly over. Booooo!

There's very little redeeming value here, I picked it up on a steam sale and it still wasn't worth it. Fellow game player, don't make the mistake I've already payed for. Move on, find better games and adventures out there in the digisphere.

Verdict: 30/100

System Requirements

Minimum:
• OS: Windows XP SP3 or later
• Processor: 2.5 GHz dual core
• Memory: 3 GB RAM
• Graphics: GeForce 8600 or equivalent, 256 MB memory
• Hard Drive: 450 MB available space 

Details
Genre:Adventure
Themes: Another World
Release Date: May 30, 2014
Developer: Over the Moon
Publisher: Over the Moon
Controls: Keyboard, Mouse, Joystick/Gamepad
Flags: Digital Release

Sniper Elite 3 Review and System Requirements

This is a tour-de-force in stealth gaming! Sniper Elite 3 comes with all the power and polish of the latest Call Of Duty classics. Make no mistake about it, Sniper Elite 3 is a true soldier in the stealth war, with AI so smart these suckers act like true human beings! You will feel like you’re infiltrating those evil nazi camps, taking these scum out in true heroic American fashion. This game is so smart you can silence your weapons by using the realistic environments to delivery shots in true gory fashion! That’s because Sniper Elite 3 uses slow-motion death-cam, an original concept of todays ultra-realistic games to capture the moment the bullet hits the head. You can even do a double-balls shot! Gruesome! Quality concepts here.

If you like stealth you’d be as stupid as the outdated Doom AI to miss Sniper Elite 3!

Verdict: 80/100

System Requirements

Minimum:
• OS: Microsoft® Windows® Vista (Service Pack 2) or Windows® 7 (Service Pack 1) or Windows® 8 or Windows 8.1. Windows® XP is NOT supported.
• Processor: Dual-core CPU with SSE3 (Intel® Pentium® D 3GHz / AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 4200) or better
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: Microsoft® DirectX® 10.0 compatible graphics card with 256 MB of memory (NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 series / ATI Radeon™ HD 3870) or better
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Hard Drive: 18 GB available space
• Sound Card: Microsoft® DirectX® 10.0 compatible sound card or better
• Additional Notes: Windows® XP is NOT supported. Ensure graphics and audio drivers are up to date. 

Details
Genre: Shooter
Style: Third-Person 3D Shooter
Themes: World War II, Nazis
Release Date: June 27, 2014
Developer: Rebellion
Publisher: 505 Games U.S., Inc.
Flags: Digital Release

Dishonored II - GameInfo

We only got a glimpse of what Arkane is planning for this sequel, but it looks like we’re in for more sneaking around some steampunk settings, which we are fine with. 

Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue Review and System Requirements

This is not a simulator!

First of all, the producers mislead you with the title: Ship Simulator, while it is clearly not! The only controls you have access to are: speed controls, steering wheel, bow thruster and a fire extinguisher. You can also tow other ships and deploy a smaller boat that you will use to rescue survivors or pull dead bodies from the water. That's it when it comes to "simulation". There is also a first person view, but you will definitely not use it as it is incredibly jerky in movement and it's really difficult to go around the ship.

The gameplay gets incredibly boring after just several minutes. Looking for survivors is a chore. You have no devices to help you - you can only spot people in the water which is extremely difficult and tiring for your eyes. Getting to the spot where you have some rescuing to do takes a lot of time and is also boring. You can only accelerate time 4x. The voiceover is quite poor and sounds artificial. On the positive side I must say that the graphics are fine: the water looks quite good and the ship is worked up to the detail.
My recommendation: avoid unless you are a big fan of sea games and it's exciting for you to look at your ship sailing without any action for hours.

Verdict: 40/100

System Requirements

Minimum:
• OS: Windows Vista/7/8
• Processor: AMD ® Athlon 64 X2, Intel ® Core2Duo or comparable dual core processor min. 2.4 GHz
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card with Shader 3.0 support (min. 1 GB VRAM, 1.5 GB recommended), AMD CrossFireX is not supported, AMD Radeon HD3870/NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT or better (AMD HD5870/NVIDIA GeForce GTX470 recommended)
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 2700 MB available space
• Sound Card: Sound card 

Details:
Genre: Simulation
Developer: Reality Twist GmbH
Publisher: rondomedia Marketing und Vertriebs GmbH
Release Date: 1 July 2014

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a remake of The Binding of Isaac developed by Nicalis and designed by Edmund McMillen. The game was released on November 4, 2014, and is available on Microsoft Windows, OS X, GNU/Linux, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.

Hexcells Infinite Specs

Hexcells Infinite is the third game in the series of ambient logic puzzle games.PC System Requirements

Minimum:
OS: Windows XP or later
Processor: 2.0Ghz+
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: Shader Model 2.0+
Hard Drive: 100 MB available space

Valiant Hearts: The Great War Review and System Requirements

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a very interesting concept for a game. A puzzle Adventure set in the midst of World War One. While there are parts of this game that do a good job and reminding us of the price the conflict had on everyone, it's too often sandwiched between an overly cartoonish representation of war, obtuse puzzle design, and action segments that would make even Call of Duty players scratch their heads at the lack of realism. I can only recommend this if you're a history buff or a fan of old adventure games.

Verdict: 60/100

System Requirements

Minimum:
• OS: Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8 (both 32/64bit versions)
• Processor: Intel Pentium IV 630 @ 3.0 GHz or AMD Athlon64 3000 + @ 1.8 GHz
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: nVidia GeForce 8800 GT or AMD Radeon HD2900 XT (512MB VRAM)
• DirectX: Version 9.0
• Hard Drive: 2 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card with latest drivers
• Additional Notes: Windows-compatible keyboard and mouse required, optional Microsoft XBOX360 controller or compatible 

Recommended:
• OS: Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8 (both 32/64bit versions)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2.0 GHz or AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ @ 2 GHz
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVidia GeForce 9600GT or higher, AMD Radeon HD3850 or higher (512MB VRAM with Shader Model 4.0)
• DirectX: Version 9.0
• Hard Drive: 2 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card with latest drivers
• Additional Notes: Windows-compatible keyboard and mouse required, optional Microsoft XBOX360 controller or compatible 

Details:
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: 25 Jun 2014

PC Game Releases - July 2014

PC Game	Category	Estimated Release
Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake	Adventure, Indie	July 1, 2014
Momodora III	Action, Indie	July 1, 2014
Sunless Sea	Adventure, Indie	July 1, 2014
Deadbreed	Rpg, Indie	July 1, 2014
Acceleration of SUGURI X-Edition HD	Action, Indie	July 1, 2014
Over 9,000 Zombies!	Sci-Fi, Indie	July 2, 2014
The House	Action, Indie	July 2, 2014
Ship Simulator: Maritime Search and Rescue	Action, Simulation	July 2, 2014
Magicians & Looters	Action, Indie	July 2, 2014
The Tower	Action, Indie	July 2, 2014
Shadow Ops: Red Mercury	Shooter	July 2, 2014
Real Boxing	Sports	July 2, 2014
Call of Duty: Ghosts - Invasion	Shooter	July 3, 2014
Shattered Planet	Rpg, Indie	July 3, 2014
School Bus Fun	Casual	July 3, 2014
Aeon Command	Casual, Indie	July 3, 2014
Second Chance Heroes	Action, Indie	July 4, 2014
Battleplan: American Civil War	Casual	July 4, 2014
Z	Strategy, Indie	July 5, 2014
Three Dead Zed	Action, Indie	July 7, 2014
Unturned	Action, Indie	July 7, 2014
The Escapists	Action, Indie	July 9, 2014
Whispering Willows	Adventure, Indie	July 9, 2014
4PM	Indie	July 9, 2014
The Red Solstice	Action, Indie	July 11, 2014
Retrobooster	Action, Indie	July 11, 2014
Infinity Runner	Action, Indie	July 14, 2014
Abyss Odyssey	Action, Indie	July 15, 2014
Wayward Manor	Adventure, Indie	July 15, 2014
Hidden in Plain Sight	Action	July 16, 2014
Of Guards And Thieves	Action, Indie	July 16, 2014
Detective Case	Adventure, Indie	July 17, 2014
DieselStormers	Action, Indie	July 17, 2014
Gold Rush! - Classic	Action	July 18, 2014
Adventurezator: When Pigs Fly	General	July 23, 2014
Unrest	Adventure, Indie	July 23, 2014
Z Steel Soldiers	Strategy	July 26, 2014
Freedom Planet	Action, Indie	July, 2014
Dark Horizons: Mechanized Corps	Simulation, Indie	July, 2014
Cloud Chamber	Adventure, Indie	July, 2014

See Also:
PC Game Releases June 2014