Overall, ZeroRanger is absolutely fantastic shoot’em up. It’s highly replayable, while thematically revolving around the repeating cycles of reincarnation in an undeniably Buddhist fashion. I found the game to be an absolute joy to play and reaching the end was highly rewarding. It’s easy to pick up but certainly hard to put down. I’d highly recommend it to those interested in a unique, polished take on the shoot'em up genre.

I suppose it says a lot about a game if the biggest thing I’m complaining about is the short length. I hope Neverout gets extra puzzles or a sequel down the line because it really is fun to play. Plus, a sequel might give the game some longevity. Beyond replaying to collect trophies (though to be honest, you’d have to work hard not to get them all on the first playthrough) and taking advantage of the game’s PlayStation VR support, Neverout is more than its surface level homage to a really great movie. I really liked Neverout because it offers the right level of the challenge and atmosphere to keep you engaged all the way through to the end.

The Forge is a great opening shot for the rest of six DLC adventures to follow, not to mention that it alone is better than the dreary 20th anniversary content released for Rise of the Tomb Raider. It’s a fun way to extend the game’s life beyond New Game+ and is tightly woven into the context of the main story, its people and their history without feeling unattached or forced.

I’m not sure the “rage game” genre is really a thing, but if it is, Rage in Peace deserves a place at the big people’s table. Although it has a narrative, lots of secrets and side-quests to discover and a colorful style that helps to balance its premise, Rage in Peace will primarily appeal to a very specific subset of action fans less concerned with strategy or character and more focused on achieving a fast and flawless command of the game’s patterns and obstacles. The game doesn’t aspire beyond that narrow goal, but it does its rage-inducing thing rather well.

If you, like me, fire up the Oculus every so often to see what’s new, and are hankering for a new VR shooter, you’ll probably enjoy Experiment Gone Rogue, though it can’t compare to non-VR triple-A shooters. Developers continue to support the device and VR in general, and gameplay and mechanics inch forward towards the competition outside virtual reality. And of course, Repulse can’t be faulted for the Oculus’ limitations itself. It’s still heavy, awkwardly tethered and still not ready for mainstream.

Don’t Starve: Hamlet is a no-brainer recommendation for Don’t Starve fans. It likely won’t win over anyone who previously rejected this series, but this refreshing combination of humor, creativity, and challenge is sure to delight the long time fans who are hungry for more.

World’s Fair is probably a must-have for Planet Coaster aficionados and for anyone who eventually wants to access creations made with it in the Workshop. Like Cities: Skylines, with each new expansion Planet Coaster just establishes itself that much more firmly as the game to beat in its niche. With only three new rides (the recent Vintage Pack included seven), World’s Fair feels a little content-light but as usual, the new designs, music and elements are excellent and useful.

True Fear: Forsaken Souls was not only an entertaining game in its own right, but also woke me up to the fact that this might be a genre I should be paying a little more attention to in the future. The cutscenes come off a little simple and not as effective as the developers may have wanted, but the consistent tone in the levels and the fun puzzles help push past that and make the game enjoyable throughout. And hey, maybe it might make you more interested in checking out more from the genre as well!

When you eventually get going, the game is surprisingly addictive and moody, with bare-bones execution that still maintains an excellent attention to detail and an effective audio design rising up the hair on your back. The wicked gameplay loop of trying to survive and escape is equal parts fun and frustrating – as it pretty much should be.

I can’t get enough of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, I really can’t, and it couldn’t make me any happier that with The Forge and now The Pillar, the quality curve of the DLC is pointing in a good direction, promising a lot for the five remaining challenge tombs to come!

Overall, Knights of Pen & Paper 2 is a light-hearted turn-based RPG with some novel concepts attached to it. Still, the magic wears thin pretty fast as there is not much strategy and variation involved in the combat, while side quests are mostly glorified fetch jobs. Nevertheless, the game is still a fun experience in itself and worth checking out if you love tabletop RPGs and haven’t played the first game.

There is probably a reason that chess has withstood fundamental changes over the centuries, and that reason might be its near-perfect balance of offensive and defensive strategies and how it appeals to gamers at all levels of expertise. Still, there is an intimidation factor and a perception that beyond the basics, winning requires a lot of memorization and the ability to think many moves ahead. Super X Chess removes that particular barrier and although the Super X rules are not going to permanently revolutionize the game, they do serve to sweep the cobwebs off the dusty shelf of rote, memorized and uninspired play.

In many ways, Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal presents a win-win situation; it’s undoubtedly the best game in the franchise and as it happens, also an excellent introduction to the wacky world of sexy shinobi girls. However, if you object sexualization for any reason, the game is not for you. For everyone else, Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal is pure video game entertainment that is satisfying on many levels, in and out!

Challenge is once again nice and the visuals are consistently sumptuous with a bright sunlight highlighting magnificent features of the valley of the Monkey Gods. It’s a shame that for such an endearing endeavor the tomb is, it takes only some 1,5 hours to see the whole DLC through. I would have liked the challenge tomb twice of its current size and I have a feeling that more could have been made out Lara’s personal nightmare, too, despite its effective use of cutscenes. As it stands, it was bit of a rush and unlike the advertising led to believe, the Croft manor plays only a bit part and Lara’s now-dead acquaintances don’t exactly walk and greet her as they’re reduced to silent background elements.

Odallus may look like an NES game, but it plays and handles progression like contemporary titles, respecting the player’s time and offering numerous secrets in an exploration-based 2D world. I went into Odallus: The Dark Call looking for Castlevania and left with an engaging experience that pays tribute to both classic 8-bit titles and modern Metroidvania games.

In the end, the path to The Sixth Seal was more exciting than the tomb itself. It takes two hours at the most to see The Price of Survival through and get a new pistol and an outfit for Lara as rewards. Still, at its best moments, the mission typifies the gameplay what I thought made Shadow of the Tomb Raider such a great experience. To get most of out the DLC content, they must be seen more as parts of the game that expand it rather than as separate add-ons. While I was disappointed that the actual tomb was too brief, The Price of Survival has an important job of showing a softer side of the villain.

Mystic Vale desperately needs a step-by-step, Hearthstone-level tutorial that assumes no prior knowledge of either the game or the genre, because a very attractive and interesting game is hidden behind a pretty steep wall. Additional modes and cards are coming but for now, Mystic Vale will be most attractive to fans of the physical game, who will find it faithful to the original and a lot of fun, especially with human opponents.

The unique blend of genres works pretty well both in single player and multiplayer modes, and Hell Warders offers a decent campaign and a deeper strategy experience than some generic tower defense games. Some of the controls are awkward and placement of units have some restrictions (like degrees of facing), but there aren’t a lot of tower defense games rooted in that dark fantasy aesthetic, and the addition of action-RPG elements deepens the gameplay.

Queen’s Quest 2 is a perfect game for adventure games newbies. It’s colorful to look at and there are lots of neat details in its numerous pretty screens that effectively depict the game’s derivative fantasy kingdom. After completing the main adventure, a bonus chapter is unlocked that offers a brief run of same leisurely gaming. Amidst all demon hunting, zombie fending, bloody revenges, averting terrorist threats or whatever most games these days like to present, Artifex Mundi casual adventures always have a place as a welcome diversion for any gamer out there. Queen’s Quest 2 fills that bill nicely enough.

The Serpent’s Heart is the usual fare with a new ability for Lara (loot more money from felled enemies), a new weapon (yea, that will be the God’s slayer!) and a new outfit.

As far as free-to-play games go, Hades’ Star is familiar territory, mechanically speaking. It makes little demand for your time and you’re free to spend money to speed things up if you want, no harm, no foul. Other than that, the game is solidly built, the soundtrack is a bit boring, but there’s really nothing overly offensive about it. The question is whether or not you’re willing to put in the time. I’m concerned with how little there is for you to do during those sessions where you’re doing nothing more than trying to earn money but at the end of the day, it’s a nice way to take a break from computer work and video editing like I did during the making of this review.

In the end, if you are just looking for a no-thrills platforming game, Awesome Pea may just be for you. Granted, it’s pretty short, but the price point is right and the controls and difficulty are on par. It also doesn't hurt that there are plenty of trophies to earn along the way! If that sounds awesome to you, this Pea is worth a shot.

I really enjoyed the level design of all the main parts of the mission - the crypt, the village and the tomb – as they were refreshingly different from most of the sights and tombs featured in the previous add-ons and more importantly, put Lara’s traversal abilities to a real test. I also liked how the side mission took place post-game, giving a meaningful challenge to tackle when the main adventure has been seen through. One more DLC to go and Lara’s trip through Shadow of the Tomb Raider is over. I can only hope that Eidos Montreal has something extraordinary in store to finish off the Tomb Raider trilogy in style.

Warparty is clearly derivative, both of older RTS games and mechanics and unit types — zombies and dino-warriors — but there is enough entertainment value to make it worth exploring, especially for fans of the genre with a soft spot for the classics. On console, controls will frustrate but not enough to entirely kill the experience. The timeless quality of RTS games still comes through, and Warparty manages to catch at least a bit of that magic.

All fine and dandy but still, I expected more. The main reason is that The Path Home is over too quickly. Most of the previous add-ons have been understandably short so that they don’t mess up the main campaign pacing too much as they take place during it. However, as a post-game content, The Path Home had no such burden. The scenery that Lara travels through is breathtaking but as it is, it’s visited all too briefly.

While just about every ride or attraction in Classic Rides has some utility to park designers looking for that one, very specific element, overall this pack feels a little thin in comparison to some of Planet Coaster’s more robust DLC. Lack of new shops, scenery, or other design elements and the absence of any truly mind-blowing rides is a bit disappointing, but there is no doubt that Planet Coaster devotees and completionists will want to add these rides to their toolbox. Planet Coaster remains both hugely entertaining and addictive, and it’s hard to pass up even a modest addition to the game.

Colorful explosions and a variety of guns aren’t quite enough to carry Zombotron to the finish line. This all-grown-up Flash game is weighed down by repetitive design, frustrating controls and bland storytelling. Zombotron isn’t a terrible game but neither does it generate much excitement. It’s a reasonably competent side-scroller in a marketplace full of similar titles. Fans of the Flash game will appreciate that Zombotron has evolved, but those unfamiliar with its humble roots might be less impressed.