Unfortunately, the game is quite buggy with multiple technical issues and beyond the solid (but not great) story and replayability. There just isn't much else. Still, if you're a fan of the genre and you're itching for your next mystery murder read, The Shapeshifting Detective is an easy game to recommend for a good evening or two of getting lost in. Just be sure to temper your expectations a little.

The game is flashy and can be pretty addicting while pushing you to your limits. It’s by no means a perfect game, but it’s not bad either.

Divekick is a clever proof of concept for a fighting game reduction, and while that concept never quite turns into a fighting game great, it remains a precise and fast-paced alternative in a genre where it can often take hours just to get a grip on a single character. It takes all but ten seconds to grasp the basics of Divekick, but unless you really get into the online, it struggles to maintain a long-lasting infatuation.

While this is the sort of thing VR was made for, it’s hard to see Everest VR as anything more than decent piece of “experience it once” edutainment. The interactive sections of the game fail to generate much excitement as you very slowly climb up the mountain, listening to the breathy laments of your fellow climbers (and even see one of them die, which is treated rather flippantly). In the end, there’s not much here that’ll hold someone’s attention for longer than an hour, if that. An experience like this is a great idea--get players to explore places they may never have a chance to see in person--but it doesn’t do enough to really draw you into a strong sense of place.

Fans who just want more Far Cry 3 or have particular nostalgia for the 80′s could certainly find worse ways to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon, but you’ll have to hear some terrible jokes to get there.

That Dragon, Cancer tells a beautiful story in the most human way possible and the flaws the game does have can’t take away from that fact.

Loaded with problems, dullness, and annoyances, Pool Panic didn’t grip me anywhere in a way I expected it to. It has a good idea, and with some more interesting level ideas in place, the game would have been an easy recommendation. Instead it just feels wasted. It’s flat and wears out its welcome before you’re even close to done with the 100+ levels. The nuggets of greatness can still be found, but they’re just too few and far between to really keep up the excitement that the title suggests.

Hand of Fate 2 has a perfect home on the Nintendo Switch, as it is the perfect game to play between classes or just before going to sleep. The portability the Switch offers for a game like this is phenomenal and I could not see myself playing on any other system. However, I've never felt both so frustrated and so satisfied by a game before. I simultaneously want to keep playing it and also to never touch it again. As a result, I have no idea how to rate this. I guess I will rate it right down the middle, with a few bonus points for the truly amazing voice talent.

Falcon Age is built on a great concept that doesn’t go very far. There isn’t enough meat on its bones to satiate an appetite for bird-based adventure gaming. VR is nonessential and if you really do want to play the game, I’d advise leaving the headset tucked away. I liked having the bird around as a partner and changing how it looks with a fun assortment of bandannas, hats, and toys. It’s also fun to watch it lift robots off the ground and giving me the opening needed to bash their heads in with my baton. The thrill wears out quickly, though, and the lack of depth made Ara’s home a place I struggled to care about. And that feels wrong.

Much like the classic storybook wanderer, The Walking Dead: Michonne ends up just like its titular heroine, a little battered, more then a little bruised, and with a little less closure then she was hoping for.

A pretty mediocre game. Unless you're a huge fan of the TV series, you can probably just either shy away from this one or keep as a back up choice for a rental.

There are certainly worse games selling on the digital marketplace for both systems and I Am Alive is eons better than the somewhat similar Amy released early this year. Still, you'll need pretty strong rose-tinted shades not to be absolutely disappointed in what I Am Alive could have been.

Odds are there are better overall table packs out there for FX3. While the DOOM table is pretty excellent, it's difficult for me to recommend the pack that heavily because the other two tables just don't particularly give you much to go with. If you own those other and better packs and are just looking for more, then give this a go. Otherwise, I recommend reading some of our other pinball table pack reviews to see which ones are more worth your time.

I find its depth and focus on exploration and letting players find their own way fascinating and the many stories contained within demanded my attention. I’m glad I finally had a chance to check it out in any form and if that sounds up your alley, there’s a game in here worthy of your time. I have a much harder time recommending that you play it on the Switch, though, and would only recommend checking out Switch version if you don’t have any other way to play it. You simply have to put up with far too much to get to all the good contained within.

This will never be anyone’s favourite title, but it’s a riskless purchase for anyone who wishes that story-focused games had a little more gameplay to them.

For all its cool factor and pitch perfect virtual reality immersion, the lack of any substantial and compelling gameplay for most of the game make Detached hard to recommend at its full price. Wait for a sale.

I reckon Space Hulk: Tactics sinks well with the target demographic but it makes no effort to convert non-believers to join the Imperial cause. The fact that it works as well as it does, goes solely down to the original board game. Outside it, it’s just not attractive or appealing enough. Maybe that’s the reason there was no online activity going on during the review period, no matter what time of day I tried to seek out opponents. Playing Space Hulk in the real life with local opponents is a true social occasion - something that Space Hulk: Tactics can’t achieve.

Despite its early leaden pacing, Nights of Azure's story concept isn't bad. The two main characters, with their shy, budding romance and mutual dependence, have potential for an interesting arc. What surrounds them -- bland visuals, inconsistent design, sloppy localization and fast-paced but ultimately repetitive action -- makes it challenging to appreciate their relationship and story.

We Happy Few could have been a great psychological thriller but its muddled vision and scope leaves it trailing behind the merit it deserves.

Although EA has had some great success with NFL Street, the new NFL Tour just didn't stand up as well. You would hope the time to work on a next gen version of the game would have helped more, but overall this is a pretty mediocre arcade football game.

The curse of movie to video games conversions strikes again, as there's nothing fantastic or memorable about this repetitive and generic actioner.

The Wizards sounds awesome on paper and is a great idea but the unpredictable controls were more distracting and frustrating than I liked.

A dash of Terraria mixed with a pinch of Dig Dug, SteamWorld Dig is a colourful delight that is equal parts wit and charm.

If you can bank on one thing, it’s that the essence of Strike Suit’s space-flight combat is solid enough to warrant multiple approaches, and addictive enough to ensure that you won’t be leaving the black vacuum of space anytime soon.

Turok is one of those games that has the potential of greatness on the Playstation 3. However even with the potential, you have to capitalize on it, and this is not a game that does that.

Phantom Doctrine is a game that is not without merit, but if you decide to tackle it, then you should prepare yourself to endure that sort of love-hate relationship with it. And, if some of the game's issues, like the frustrating details of its stealth and its badly inadequate tutorial can be addressed, then it suddenly becomes an easy one to recommend.

It’s never bad to reach for the stars. It’s the only way you succeed. And much like the lessons Ivent Games hopes you learn while playing their game, I hope subsequent projects from this team eliminate the small, yet serious issues presented. Strength of the Sword 3 shows incredible promise, and goes a long way towards meeting it. It’s almost there.

If you can justify the four dollars and don’t mind the short play time, you should enjoy episode one of Missing: An Interactive Thriller.

The relatively unknown old-school action RPG gets ported to the handheld, but suffers from all the flaws of its PS2 version, and some new ones as well.

Team Sonic Racing isn’t the fastest thing alive, but it moves at a decent pace. It won’t convert those who hate the kart racing genre, but it offers a decent twist on the formula for existing fans. That in itself is enough to justify its existence at a budget price, and it thankfully isn’t an embarrassing mess like Sonic Forces.

Despite having some cool narrative hooks and an overarching premise that will span several player-influenced chapters, City of the Shroud lacks a coherent, consistent tone and central character about whom we care. Verbose and in need of an editor's red pencil, the writing falters when it tries to be funny and the combat lacks fluidity, variety and intensity. City of the Shroud contains some original ideas but the game built on them doesn't quite do them justice.

The Witch certainly has bags of style, but is let down by brain-dead AI and short gametime.

It’s got a great retro vibe and the aesthetic is beautiful. Sadly, the runner mechanics take away the fun and goodwill, leaving it as forgettable as the Dead Island franchise itself.

Plain and simple Street Racing Syndicate just isn't as good as some of the other games on the market today.

I was annoyed by the writing and combat and a pervasive and unwarranted “too cool for school” attitude that began with the character creation screen and never really went away. Streamline the dialogue and expository overkill, re-tool the combat and YIIK: A Postmodern RPG would be closer to those classic games from which it draws inspiration.

Crow manages to be good, is what I’m trying to say, but it’s not “hold-your-breath here it comes” good.

This “game,” if it can really be called that, is a niche one. It will only appeal to a very select few train enthusiasts and so for those folks I’d recommend this as a nice entry into the world of train conducting. For everyone else save yourself some time, money and frustration and just say no.

Redshirt is an incredibly fun and interesting game mired in small problems that prohibit it from becoming a must buy.

Neat ability to create monsters from discs, but repetitive gameplay will please only its hardcore fans.

The satire of GUTS would be so much better if the gameplay stuck its landing. Sketchy and numb gameplay simply doesn’t cut it. As it is, GUTS is a mere curiosity. A quirky look at a gory game show with some genuinely good ideas, like a combat log after a fight (I would love it in Tekken!) and fighting not measured in habitual health and time. Even though GUTS doesn’t take it seriously, it’s done seriously. I can only hope that Flux Game Studio continues to develop their obvious labor of love further. Maybe by the time the game makes its way to the consoles next year, its gameplay will have evolved further.

The Gretzky franchise gets an update in line with its recent PS2 counterpart, but still has a long way to go before dumping that 'rental-only' label.

I wanted to love Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts. There is a lot that is well done here, particularly the shooting, the upgrades, and the level design. Unfortunately, it is all but marred by bugs, especially the way the save system currently works… or doesn’t. If you’re in the market for a new sniping shooter, I cannot in good conscious recommend Contracts, it’s simply too frustrating to play in its current state.

Although I enjoyed the puzzles and the setting, House of Da Vinci 2 is hampered by its performance, control, and UI issues. It needs a little more polish to be considered a great puzzle game. If you have some patience for the clunkiness of the game and love complicated puzzles, you may want to check it out.

It’s completely up to the players whether they want to invest in Amelia’s daily chore or not. Maybe the game should be perceived as something of a snack, taking it for a spin once in a while. After all, each flight is as short as you want it to be. Give it enough time and maybe one day you’ll catch the mythical sky whale. In doing so, Airheart tries to teach it’s not the goal that is the most important but rather the everyday life and work you make around while going for it.

If you are a fan of the series on the PSP then you should definitely pick it up because it is more of the same, but if not then stay away.

If you're ready to relive those golden days of spending your allowances at the arcades, be prepared to pay quite a premium for this average collection.

Bound by Flame is an exceedingly interesting game. It attempts to join the ranks of games like The Witcher and Mass Effect with its combat and social elements but ultimately falls short.

On paper, the game’s concepts are superb, but in execution, the lack of design finesse and polish left the experience feeling amateurish. The game manages to provide an adequate experience, but it needed more development time to truly stand out.

The gameplay is average, and the graphics aren't anything to write home about.

The presentational pieces are there, and the controls tight, but when it comes to delivering a memorable set of tracks to underscore both the thematic and mechanical elements of the adventure, it doesn’t dig near deep enough. Without the joy of music to which the most successful games in the genre are conduits for, a lot of the effort and talent behind this charming game winds up feeling a little hollow.

So the game has great graphics, but it doesn't have the modes to back it up. The story mode is ridiculous and the gallery mode just had no reason to be in this game.

The game just doesn't come through like it had the potential to do. Spider-Man 2 just didn't take advantage of the new hardware and left us with a very average side scrolling action game.

Capcom's attempts to revive the 2D fighting genre hits a major snag, as this fighter doesn't offer anything new to modern gamers, aside from online support.

As it stands, Supreme League of Patriots it well made of unremarkable adventure game.

Cameo: CCTV Detective is an enjoyable first-person point and clicker adventure-style title that places you in the shoes of a police detective busting criminals one by one. Its story is one that is interesting and fun to experience, even if it doesn't last long enough. It certainly isn't without its problems, but if you have a few hours to kill and want to try it out, it's perfectly enjoyable.

Samurai Warriors Katana is not a bad title by any means. However there are still a handful of issues,and the problem of repetitiveness that really holds the game back.

On a technical level James Bond 007: Blood Stone is a competent third person shooter, however it is a game that really lacks that extra polish that sets games apart. Even for the biggest Bond fans I can only recommend this as a rental, as a little Blood Stone seems to go a long way.

Ghosts 'N Goblins Resurrection is a bona fide niche title that will only hold appeal to the masochistic. Even on its easiest setting, where dying leads to an instant respawn, I can’t have fun with a game that amounts to slamming your head against a rock wall. It might have been better for Capcom and Nintendo to make the original games available through the Nintendo Online service because Resurrection is an experience modified to make it somewhat more digestible to a new audience. Choosing different difficulties is a nice touch but after beating the game on Page, which was insane even with no-cost respawning, what incentive did I have to go back and do it all again while adding even more painful roadblocks? Yeah, no thanks. I’m too old to put up for this sort of thing now.

Titan Souls requires a great deal of patience and super fast reflexes to enjoy.

A mostly visual remake, Destroy All Humans brings a dubious cult classic onto modern consoles and PC with most of the same issues it had to begin with. It’s a clear example of lost potential as the original game was never all that well regarded. Thoroughly reworking the gameplay could have vastly improved the game that was only passable in its time. As it is now, the remake doesn’t do enough to lift the title from mediocrity. Aside from updated visuals, the one new mission, and slightly tweaked gameplay, it’s a game that still doesn’t have much going for it besides the comedy factor. Though the remake is definitely the definitive way to play Destroy All Humans!, I still find it difficult to really recommend it.

The quirky roll-a-monkey game debuts on the DS, which should provide hours of clean fun for gamers of all ages, if you can get past the frustrating controls.

Code of Princess EX is fun in spurts, but is otherwise a mixed bag. I enjoyed the cast’s jabs at the story more than the plot itself. The mechanics are empowering and fun to play out, but lead to a repetitive and predictable gameplay loop. Likewise, the plethora of playable characters is offset by limited movesets. The relatively high price for a port of a 3DS game may not win many fans over either. Ultimately, Code of Princess EX is most tailored to enthusiasts of the beat-em 'up genre and to players seeking a cathartic experience.

Bit.Trip Fate is a beautiful 2-D side-scrolling shoot-em-up with a strong dubstep soundtrack. But it’s the weakest entry in the series.

There are a lot of ideas packed into this game but I feel like if they would have cut back on a couple of the concepts to focus more on the story then this could have been a real stand out game. As it is now Remember Me is more appealing when it gets cheaper or if you have absolutely nothing to play.

The last tiresome act of ReCore just drags on and erases the kind intentions the developers might have had before they decided just to bully you.

A very ambitious undertaking, StarDrive has a lot of promise. There’s a lot the developer hopes to add, and he plans on supporting the game for the foreseeable future, but the package as it stands is a bit of a hard sell to all but the most patient and driven 4X fans.

Ultimately, it feels like Vane is an aesthetic concept more than a game. Certainly, it has the elements of traditional platforming games — environments to explore, puzzles to solve — but they are unrewarding and sometimes frustrating to experience. Vane’s art direction, music and suggestions of myth and mystery might be enough to carry some players through to the end, but others will be disappointed by Vane’s refusal to tell a coherent, character-driven narrative.

Even when armed only with its age and a modern translation, though, Soul Hackers’ great storytelling and infectious dark spirit make it a forty-hour-plus proposition that long-time JRPG fans should consider.

Overall, PUSS! is a game that appeals to those looking for a real hardcore challenge in an uncommon genre. The presentation sold me at first, but as I gradually toiled away at the many difficult challenges, my interest eventually waned. It’s not a game I’d recommend to anyone other than those primarily interested in a high difficulty. Even then, it’s a game that relies on sheer memorization and muscle memory rather than any skill and inventiveness. For a game so heavily inspired by the often calm and melancholic vaporwave, it’s surprisingly tense and aggressive.

Overall, the idea behind Tiny Token Empires is a good one. For those looking for a different way to exercise their Match 3 muscles, or even explore the world of 4X gameplay in a real simple, easy to understand manner, there are worse ways to do it.

Fans of the genre and science fiction in general should check out Elea. After all, there are never too many mind-tickling sci-fi games out there.

Were Eclipse: Edge of Light released prior to the PlayStation VR and even the HTC Vive, it might have been a good showpiece for virtual reality gaming. By bringing it to the PlayStation 4 after the platform has gathered a fine collection of similar, and better, sci-fi experiences, Eclipse feels ancient, an artifact from the first generation of VR. There are better games available on the platform - Farpoint, Obduction, hell even Skyrim VR - that make great use of the technology to create compelling and mysterious adventures despite the system’s limitations. VR-enabled or not, I came away feeling that Eclipse: Edge of Light was very middle of the road. It’s not terrible but it won’t leave a lasting impression.

With such familiar gameplay, there’s no real reason to recommend Tokyo Crash Mobs outside of its infectiously strange presentation and cutscenes. Then again, that’s what online video services are for. Those who crave the unpredictable weirdness of the culture will find some value but there just isn’t enough to maintain any prolonged interest with the gameplay itself.

For those looking to scratch the six year itch left by a lack of Animal Crossing games, I recommend giving it a try. But at the end of the day, its successes and unique twists aren’t enough to make it a title that’s going to stick around for a long time.

It’s a real shame that I was disappointed by Little Hope because otherwise it’s an impressive piece of audiovisual excellence and I just love its genre. If you like Charlie Kaufman’s movies (which I don’t), you may perhaps appreciate the ending better than I did. It remains a mystery why Supermassive Games have degenerated their interactive storytelling formula by restricting players’ influence over events.

This is one of those games that of course tried to put the "open ended" gameplay into play, but failed to do that, and threw in some clunky controls with it.

For someone looking for a new shooter, Special Forces Team X fits that description. For 15 dollars, the price point is a low enough point of entry that you should feel you’ve gotten what its worth out of it by the time its lack of character becomes all emcompasing. As sad as it is to say, the liberal application of glitter might have gone a long way. Or tanks. Nothing wrong with some tanks.

To me, Another World is an old game that persists by virtue of being ported to nearly every gaming platform under the sun. You don’t see games like this anymore for the same reason no one has made a game like the original Prince of Persia. Although certain dark-ish, soul-ish games delight in punishing gameplay, difficulty was as much a game mechanic as swinging a weapon around. Here, it gets to be an annoyance and feels like a means to pad the length of this fairly short game.

The combat feels great and this sort of game can be a real treat with friends. That’s a place where the game’s completely uninteresting story doesn’t really matter and where the repetition becomes more expected. Even then though, the game’s mission structure remains incredibly basic and the style while not completely unappealing certainly isn’t interesting. Fighting your way through these levels feels really good, but that can only sustain a game for so long, especially with this many issues. A certain type of player who really enjoys a good loot game and doesn’t care a bit about repetition will love Godfall but for everyone else, there are much better ways to break in your new video game system.

In my mind, what Reflections is selling on Steam is effectively a beta or demo for a full product. With its extremely limited content and balancing issues, it seems hard to justify buying the game until they’ve had the time to address such concerns. I’d like to see the game get more time in the oven because it’s legitimately cool and the concept is fresh and new. Ubisoft and Reflections didn’t quite put their best first forward with this release. But with time and energy, Atomega has the potential to evolve into an addicting multiplayer experience.

As a complete bundle, the Pokkén Tournament DX Battle Pack DLC adds quality characters to a fighting game that needed more of them, but its sparse content just doesn’t justify its cost.

A great game? No, but the game did have some neat ideas and a few interesting mini-games.

Riding on the popularity of the Neopets online game, the video game version turns out to be just an average action title, with some platforming thrown in.

In the end, Front Mission Evolved is not the disaster that many fans feared it to be, delivering an overall decent campaign and customizations for robot junkies to mull over. However, it is also an unnecessary diversion for the series, attempting to increase its mainstream appeal but ultimately having the opposite effect.

In the case of Everreach: Project Eden, some mechanical issues with AI or balance can be patched, which other problems are more in the realm of aesthetics and direction and are probably doomed to never go away. There’s nothing wrong with a game having a clear inspiration — most every game does — but failing to innovate on that model can result in what we have here, a product that feels like an unconvincing imitation.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with Immortal Redneck but I wanted it to hit harder. It’s definitely a repetitive romp, as most of these games are, and the gameplay is what makes that repetition worth it. Unfortunately, while the game runs smoothly and looks sharp, the guns feel weak and the gameplay is borderline mediocre. It’s not a make-or-break thing for me, in fact I was able to ultimately look past that major flaw, but many gamers won’t stick with a game with poor combat. For fans of the rogue-like genre in an FPS shell, Immortal Redneck is a fun romp reminiscent of games like Ziggurat and Tower of Guns. For fans of FPS games like Call of Duty or Titanfall, this probably isn’t going to give you that great feel you’re looking for. Ultimately, Immortal Redneck has its share of issues but it’s a good addition to the rogue-like genre with decent FPS mechanics, an interesting setting, and a fun upgrade system that’ll keep fans coming back.

Monopoly for Nintendo Switch isn’t a bad option if you’re looking for a digital version of the board game. As a plain adaptation, it does its job well, with the added bonus of portability without risk of losing parts. Unfortunately, the Living Boards and Action Cards don’t add anything truly significant. Plus, when playing with AI or even online without chat, it feels like a shallow experience compared to the inherent joy of gathering around the table and laughing as your friends go bankrupt. And it’s hard to talk about a game so rooted in capitalism without mentioning that this game isn’t cheap. At its fairly high price point, the game’s few additions hardly justify the cost. You may as well buy a game that isn’t a mere digital replication of a tabletop experience, or just pick up a nice physical collector’s edition of Monopoly.

The biggest issue with The Keep is that as a PC title, it offers nothing to really distinguish itself from the legion of other dungeon crawlers, both retro-style and contemporary. Conceptually a game for a small-scale platform, on PC its limitations become amplified and its quirks become impediments to enjoyment. The Keep is not a bad game - especially on the 3DS - but doesn't feel like an essential experience to either fans of old-school dungeon crawlers or gamers who have grown tired of empty-headed, big-budget titles that are all sizzle and no steak.

The focus on the player rather than the game seems like a brilliant idea, if not for the repetitive story and visual glitches along the way.

NASCAR 09 had a great opportunity to really take the NASCAR franchise for EA to the next level but in my opinion it did the opposite and went in the wrong direction. NASCAR 09 isn’t a bad game it just unfortunately doesn’t have the necessary elements to really do justice to the sport of NASCAR.

Downpour could have been good, but any shot at greatness gets bogged down by a laundry list of problems. A shame, because there are times when the games gets tense and unnerving, a big plus for this genre.

Eador: Masters of the Broken World has a lot going for it, but it buries a lot of its strong points under layers of monotony and frustration. It is a tough, but not impossible, game to recommend. If you are a hard core PC turn-based strategy junkie, your options or rather limited.

John Wick Hex is a fun experience, but one that woefully fails to deliver on its premise. Nothing really demonstrates this more than the ability to play back each completed mission in real-time. The idea of watching all of your methodical, turn-based actions playing out in cinematic, gun-fu action is certainly tantalizing, but actually manifests as watching janky, eight-way movement alongside strange collision detection, limited animation and questionable camera angles.

Archeblade feels fresh and interesting at first but it soon degrades into a crazy melee of characters jumping around and attacking as clunky animations prevent the game from really capturing what is so unique about it. Overall it’s hard to recommend a game that feels so lacking, both in terms of quantity and quality.

The single player campaign is a bit of a wash, but your experience depends on what you want from the game. Daemon X Machina excels at playing against skilled human opponents and taking the time and care to customize your arsenals. I enjoyed it for what it was, but I don’t think it will be a game I want to play again, at least not for a long while. I’m glad I played it, though. I needed that giant arsenal-sized hole in my heart filled once more, at least temporarily. Also, there’s a really bizarre ice cream-based mini game. I’m not sure what they were thinking with that one.

Despite its various flaws, the game excelled in creating disturbing environments. There, Touhou aspect of 3rd eye came off more as a set dressing than anything of actual substance. The story tackles serious subject matter, but the translation makes it difficult to really get involved with what was going on. 3rd eye's gameplay works with a streamlined approach to the adventure game formula, eliminating a major portion of the puzzle solving expected in the genre. Regardless of the game’s issues, 3rd eye is worth recommending to dedicated Touhou fans or those who particularly like creepy, cutesy aesthetic.

Dynasty Warriors Gundam is the kind of title that fails to live up to gamers expectations, especially when it carries the name of two very popular franchises.

It's a return to the glorious Three Kingdom era again, and the second try at the Empire spin-off. The gameplay remains intact, but the strategy and modes also remain paper-thin.