This RPG exudes some of the series' old school charm, but its dated combat and uninspired visuals fails to impress modern gamers.

Had Reforged been an optional and free graphical update, undersold and understated and a gift to fans, I doubt there would be any backlash. Instead, Blizzard suggested a revolutionary re-imagining of one of gaming’s most popular titles and failed spectacularly to deliver it. Warcraft III: Reforged does not diminish the core experience that made the game great, but its relatively modest improvements are coupled with some missing features and technical issues that make it a disappointment.

There were many times in my playthrough of Hellpoint where I had the same delicious salad of feelings that I get with Dark Souls — frustration at my own carelessness, need to try again or satisfaction at besting a challenging encounter — but these highs were balanced by some disappointments with the design that seemed to intentionally frustrate. Even more than Nioh, The Surge, or Remnant, Hellpoint goes all in with the Dark Souls model. When it’s good, it’s great; when it’s not, it just reminds you why Dark Souls is and will be a classic.

NBA Live 16 feels like a game that has a lot of good pieces but it’s still looking for its James, Bryant, Durant or Curry to help get it to the next level. Until they find it, NBA Live will continue to be a middle of the road game of basketball.

Apart from the name, this is not a pet simulator, but rather a collection of quirky minigames. It's fun for a while, but lacks variety and depth to take it further.

The core experience in Tetris Ultimate is fondly familiar and as enjoyable as it was thirty years ago. As a product created to honor its legacy, however, it is lifeless and bland.

Misses the mark as the vague plot and unchallenging gameplay makes for a very tedious shooter.

Keepers of the Void offers a nice change of pace to Darksiders III’s From Software-enriched action experience. If you’re playing the game for the first time or enjoying the New Game Plus mode that was added back in April, the added zone should provide a nice break from the main story (especially on harder difficulty modes). To that end, I just wish the puzzles were more exciting. If nothing else, I was pleased to see that the area of Limbo runs very well and at no point did I run into issues that plagued my experience last year.

With a load of quirky characters, great comedy value (I seriously laughed my chops off at the awesome dialogues and amazing voice acting) and original game ideas, Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark could’ve been an easy 5-star entry, but I’m afraid the developers did not fully take advantage of all they could offer us, to the point of insulting my craving for challenge, instead giving me unwanted repetition for the sake of extending the game’s duration.

Summer in Mara is as charming as it is frustrating. The game has a lot of potential but it feels rushed and unpolished. Hopefully, future updates will fix many of its issues. It has an instantly likable visual and a well-crafted world but the overall experience is blemished by awkward game design choices.

Every genre has a mechanic that a game has to nail. For a roguelike, it’s that tantalizing feeling of almost getting to the end and being just short of the power or skill to do so that makes it so fun to try again. While Warlander has a decent core combat system, it’s surrounded by frustrating mechanics, dull writing and a story that goes nowhere. Like its empty environments, Warlander above all feels like missed opportunities and unfulfilled potential.

No matter what your favorite character platformer series is -- be it Sly Cooper or Ratchet and Clank -- Skylar and Plux is likely a game that won't measure up to it. It is a game that can be forgiven for all of its flaws though, because so much genuine love went into the game that it is nearly impossible to actively dislike it. There is nothing cynical whatsoever about this game. Instead, it oozes with an almost childlike enthusiasm, which is something uncommon in today's environment of dark, gritty games and hopelessly bloated development budgets. It is that enthusiasm, along with the constantly changing music and scenery, that wholeheartedly carries the game and gives you the ability to overlook its shortcomings. The game may be guilty of relying on that sense too much, forcing you to look the other way at everything that it is missing or does wrong. Gamers who require more robust gameplay mechanics or more collectibles may find themselves underwhelmed by Skylar and Plux. They should still be able to appreciate the effort though, if not the result.

Visually striking, yet mechanically dull, Spirit of the North is all style and no substance. Tied with a minimalist story and no spoken words, the journey tries to be meaningful, but its self-imposed limitations make it hard to understand. It is loaded with vast, beautiful environments, which end up functioning as a double-edged sword as many areas felt labyrinthine in design. Often, the game felt pretentious to the detriment of the gameplay. Ultimately, Spirit of the North has its appeal, but I would only recommend it to players drawn in by either the visuals or the concept.

The base gameplay is solid, with smooth controls and the odd exciting mission. However the amount of content isn't large enough to keep you going for more than a couple of hours, though replaying certain missions with another player may extend that time.

Unless you are a die-hard fan of the series, most of us can probably stay clear of this one.

NBA 08 for the PS2 may be the last time we see The Life on the PS2. Unfortunately Volume 3 just felt too familiar to the last two outings, and we're expecting much more for the third game in the franchise.

Necromunda: Underhive Wars is a lot like many other Warhammer video game adaptations. It has rugged charisma to it and I got really immersed in its customization tools, atmosphere, and mechanics but once again, the game lacks that final polish. Alongside the uneven implementation of gameplay ideas and dodgy AI, I experienced crashes and loads locking up, so the game is in a severe need of patching (luckily, exiting, and re-booting the game takes back to the latest autosave). If only one day we got a big-budget Warhammer game with appropriate finishing touches. Meanwhile, anyone seeking for a grittier and more personal and transparent XCOM-type could do a lot worse than give Necromunda: Underhive Wars a shot. It has many genre-firsts that should be applauded for.

While it may have its problems and feature lackluster content the games still hold up and are able provide an entertaining collection to fans of MK and other fighting games.

Overall Victorious Boxers: Revolution is a good game, worth a rental for sure, but more than that might not be the best choice.

There is no doubt that Crysis was a landmark game in the history of first person shooters and some gamers had to take a pass at the time due to its high system specs. Much of what made Crysis fun and innovative still holds up, but it is disappointing that the Remaster does little more than selectively improve the visuals and make relatively minor changes to the controls. Crysis was amazing in 2006 and all shooter fans should play it at least once, but Crysis Remastered is hardly an essential purchase for shooter fans in 2020.

Tower Wars feels as if it were designed specifically for hardcore strategists. With a tutorial that skips important concepts and the tendency for matches to become one sided, the result is an uncomfortable and frustrating experience for beginners.

Slender: The Arrival is the definition of a one-trick pony. But it’s a mangy-looking pony, and it isn’t especially good at its trick. It is a shaky start for a series that hasn’t left me all that excited for any sequels. Blue Isle Studios nailed the tense atmosphere, and with some improvements to graphics and story, it could be the foundation of a decent horror franchise.

Overall, Paul Cuisset's Subject 13 is challenging, but for the wrong reasons. There are perhaps a handful of very well-designed problems to solve, but most of the challenge comes from fighting the game's camera angle and infuriating controls. The easiest solution to those two problems would be a switch to first-person, as it is at the very beginning of the game. (I was actually rather disappointed when it switched from first-person to a fixed camera perspective.) Sure, the graphical fidelity might suffer a little bit from the closer perspective, but it would be so much easier to see and interact with the environment.

When a game carries the Tony Hawk label, that usually infers that it's going to be a good game - the series has just been that good. Downhill Jam is the first in the franchise to have failed miserably.

As of now it feels super rushed despite only being the second episode in the season. Hopefully it’s not a harbinger of things to come.

With its massive number of creatively designed set pieces, StarDrone VR proved itself to be more fun than I initially gave it credit. The virtual reality element adds a nice sensation of depth to the visual aesthetic, but I never felt the headset was necessary nor the definitive means to play. Replete with puzzles of varying difficulty and scope, StarDrone VR is a fun, pick up and play activity that won’t upset even the most sensitive of VR owners.

EA extends their NBA franchise for the next-gen 360, but sadly fails to refine the whole formula, resulting in an uneven and unpolished game.

You don’t have to dig too deeply to find that Golem, for all its inane faults, has some really interesting mechanical ideas for VR gaming. It’s one of the very few adventures that give you a sword to swing around in real-time and makes a concerted effort to make melee duels look and feel meaningful. And like I said before, it’s cool when it works correctly. The technical problems and physical discomfort were just too hard to ignore because of how actively they work against you, causing me to stop playing. From the needless complexity of the game’s pathfinding and a boring world to its physically bothersome movement mechanics, too often does Golem feel like a beast of burden.