Destructoid

Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 is an admirable attempt at creating the ideal gaming platform for Magic -- fans of the DotP series will be pleased, but not entirely blown away. The hindrances present in prior editions have been removed, and basic improvements to the interface have ultimately paid off, making this game a practical and perfect rendition of the physical card game.

If you're a fan of the LEGO titles, there's a lot to enjoy in LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, and the new bits Traveller's Tales added -- when they work -- work wonderfully. When they don't, though, be prepared to buy a new controller as you hurl the one in your hands through the wall.

The Amazing Spider-Man is still a good game, even if it does feel like a wasted creative opportunity. It steals liberally from the Bat, but it does so with a high enough degree of skill and style that it can be forgiven. If you've ever played one of the Arkham games and felt that you'd enjoy yourself more in blue-and-red as opposed to black, then The Amazing Spider-Man will provide you with plenty of harmless fun for a good few hours.

We don’t need to come to terms with killing people, because it’s all fun and games for us. Not so for Captain Walker, who must find reason and purpose in his rampage. Walking that long sandy, bloody road through Dubai is one of the most captivating gaming experiences of 2012 because of it.

With the market now full of unbelievably fantastic fighting games, and it being a revision of a five-year-old title, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown still manages to stand head and shoulders above most of its competition. It may not have the install base of other fighters, but it's still one of the deepest fighting game experiences to date.

Quantum Conundrum has more polish and charm than most full-price retail releases, and it plays just as well. It took me about eight hours to get through the story once, and I could easily spend another eight with it. There are collectibles scattered around, there's a leaderboard for each level so you can compete for best time and score, and you can get achievements by playing through all the levels and not dying. I don't have anything bad to say except that I wish I had more of it to play.

If you were a fan of the changes made in the vanilla release of Civilization V you’ll probably enjoy most of the new bits. Gods and Kings is a strong expansion overall, but it fails to live up to the series’ own pedigree. Religion adds so much subtlety to advanced strategies that, by comparison, espionage comes off as a half-assed attempt to add back an old mechanic.

Heavy Armor on the other hand isn't unique in any way. At its core, it's a basic mech game with a "realistic and gritty" feel to it that you've seen a million times before. Maybe at some point, the Kinect requirement can be patched out of it. Until then, piloting these Vertical Tanks even while sober may result in a loss of brain cells.

You'll get about 10 hours of entertaining gameplay, really strong narrative (for a Ys game), and a great localization to go with it. Beyond all of this, you'll also get an unlockable third character and new Steam achievements. Outside of hating action RPGs or not having $20, I can't think of another reason to pass on this game.

Flashes of genuine brilliance occur during its most inventive segments, and I can tell that the team behind it really did care about what they were doing but lacked enough of something -- be it money or skill -- to see Inversion become an exciting prospect. Perhaps it was believed that it had to stick to formula in order to be successful, or maybe those in charge just didn't know how to capitalize on its own ideas. All that matters is that there's a lot of heart in Inversion, but absolutely nothing going on the brain department. There is desire, with absolutely no thought.