A game that really has the makings of a good game but doesn't stick around long enough to successfully show it off.

When you first take a peek at 2Dark, the name, the descriptions and whatnot, you get a sense that this game is just gonna be another generic survival horror game that takes itself way too seriously -- maybe with crafting elements sprinkled in there to further piss me off; No charm, no redeeming value, either a Silent Hill knockoff or a Slenderman knockoff. However you will soon realize that 2Dark is, and thank god for that, its own original thing with a different approach to horror. The story is deliberately cheesy. The game itself knows that the story's bland, is quickly brushed off and rarely mentioned ever again. You're a private detective with a murdered family who rescues children from evil clowns, serial killers and rest of the kitchen sink. It's okay, not too aggregating, a bit too edgy but mostly harmless.

Dragon's Dogma is a game of missteps. It tries to be open world, but doesn't fill it with much to do. It tries to be a co-op style adventure game, but doesn't actually have co-op. It tries to tell an epic tale, but fills it with boring tasks. It has a lot going for it thanks to its intense combat and amazing ending.

It’s a commendable effort to make a mystery-solving adventure without narrative structure but the game simply lacks pizzazz for anyone but the keenest investigators. Even I, who utterly love detective stories and games, was often frustrated by how little the game is willing to help the players wanting to solve its case. The Painscreek Killings has an exciting murder mystery hidden somewhere but it’s buried under all the extra baggage of technical issues and awkward game design.

Like so many Piranha Bytes games, it's easy to feel some affection for the sheer ambition and quirky execution of the premise. Even some of the messy, so-bad-it's-good acting has a bit of hokey charm. The reality is that Elex is several significant patches away from any greatness and even then, some fundamental mechanics are too hardwired into the game to be patched away. As I played Elex, I kept wishing that a triple-A developer could get its hands on the story, setting, and concept. Then again, maybe the appeal of Elex lies in it being messy, broken, and ambitious, and not the product of a bland corporate insecurity.

With gangsta-themed games growing in popularity, this ride and gun actioner provides some decent arcade-style action, albeit with limited replay value.

Crossroads Inn might not be the first medieval sim (that honor probably goes to 2011’s The Sims Medieval) and there are quite a few castle builders out there as well, but as a narrowly focused genre blend of builder and sim, Crossroads Inn stakes out some specific territory. Whether the game reaches its potential to own that little niche depends on whether the developers can squash the many bugs that plague the game and degrade the experience of playing it.

Anomaly: Warzone Earth is a tower defense game that may appeal to people who don't like tower defense.

Despite its shortcomings, Mr. Shifty is a fun adrenaline rush that tests your twitch reflexes and quick thinking. Each level has your heart pumping as you dodge bullets only to get hit by that one stray grenade. Death comes quickly, but respawns come even faster, and you will need them. While some levels can be frustrating due to difficulty spikes, you’ll get the hang of it eventually. And when you finally complete that one trouble spot, you’ll feel that rush of accomplishment. Mr. Shifty is a fun, competent action game that offers a brief, but great, rush of excitement that is only slightly marred by technical issues.

What Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption ultimately lacks is the kind of flexibility and variety that makes the Souls games so engaging. I actually think that Sinner’s bosses are interesting, well-designed and sort of terrifying, and in the context of a game with a fleshed out story, character-defining progression and better pacing, those bosses could be memorable level-ending encounters. In its present form, Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption feels like a proof of concept tech demo that badly needs to have a real game built around it.

Siren is a game that was an experiment of sorts in the realm of downloadable and episodic games. I would have to say on most accounts that the game failed.

Cloudpunk has a lot of character and charm going for it. The voice acting is well done, the design of the city is great, the ambient sound design is absolutely fantastic, and the rainy atmosphere is wonderfully evocative. Such joys were sadly short-lived in the aftermath of losing all my progress because of a mysterious bug that I have no idea how to reproduce and avoid. There’s nothing worse than having a game break down in such a way that pretty much kills all enthusiasm and motivation to keep playing. Cloudpunk is a really neat piece of software and if you’re keen to try it yourself, I strongly recommend waiting until it gets the necessary patches.

Disintegration falls somewhere between its spiritual forefather and the potential it could have achieved. Neither single-player nor multiplayer is satisfying enough to guarantee staying power in the ruthless battle for gamers’ souls.

Majesco promises a unique gaming experience that looks great on paper, but is constantly plagued by poor enemy AI and major frame-rate issues.

It's a shame that the difficulty spike was so abrupt and painful. There is the core of a great game here. A little more play-testing or a little bending of the design philosophy to allow a hint system would have allowed me to retain the initial positive feelings I had towards the game. I hope that the developers make more games in this vein and refine their formula further.

It’s low rent gun porn. At its best, Lethal VR is a tech demo and barely worth notice, even for hungry PlayStation VR owners looking for something to play. Best acquired during a PSN sale, if at all.

Sega tries to breathe new life into the stale Sonic franchise with this racer, but sadly forgot to rev up the overly simplistic gameplay and slim selection of modes and characters.

The more I played, the more I felt like Sailaway wasn’t my kind of game. It seemed to be more for the diehard boat lovers looking to emulate the sailing experience with all its technicalities, warts and all. That is all well and good, but as it is for me, it is simply a game that isn’t all that satisfying to play. It passes on a technical level, but as art, it leans far too heavily on realism for its own good.

While the first The Amazing Spider-Man could have been a great launch point, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 feels like the same thing all over again with, at most, half steps taken to improve.

While it may not be the best platformer of our time, it’s a decent enough romp for the $15 price tag.

Overall, Galaxy Champions TV is a decent little game, and an instant purchase for those who miss Smash TV. Otherwise, I feel like this is the sort of game perfectly suited to the Switch. Just something to play during your morning train ride. Simple, engaging for a short time, and rounds are over quickly.

I want to love The Falconeer, and I do love it in a way, but I cannot recommend it. Despite the quality of its art style and the peacefulness that exudes when you fly over its endless ocean, it’s a tedious and plodding experience. Combat, which comprised the vast majority of the game’s runtime, is inaccurate and weightless, making all of your successes and failures feel arbitrary. And yet, the game makes you want to come back to it, as if by some ineffable witchcraft. I desperately wish this were a better game than it is, rather than an amazing looking game let down by its frustrating combat and boring sandbox experience.

Outward is a game of disappointments and intriguing potential. While its dated-looking graphics and unsatisfying combat are off-putting, it stands alone as an RPG of particularly human scale. We may not need to be reminded that humans are frail and fragile creatures in a scary world, but Outward takes a conceptual chance and sees it through to the end.

Overall, the numerous heroes filled with in-jokes and references are the game’s biggest strengths. The novelty doesn’t last long and it becomes an exercise in patience having to relearn control schemes while navigating unfairly placed traps. It’s compelling to find each character’s inner strengths but it can also get repetitive thanks to the uninspired stage layouts. Indeed, 88 Heroes is an example of quantity over quality. I like the premise but wish there were more specialized challenges that took the heroes’ unique powers into account or levels that incorporated the powers as opposed to succumbing to a generic one-size fits all design. While the game isn’t necessarily GR8, I didn’t H8 it, and there’s some value to be found for 2D sidescrolling fans or anyone who’s willing to pay for a good laugh.

There is really not much else that can be said about Shrek the Third, other than it is disappointing to constantly see games that could be enjoyable but fall into the stereotype of bad games based-on movies.

As a point-and-click adventure fan, I liked Subject 13 despite its flaws. There were some shining examples of environmental puzzles and an interesting story that hooked me. Due to the faulty controls and the horrible final puzzle, I can only recommend this game to the most devout fans of the genre. This game was made for those fans, as the Kickstarter suggests. With just a bit more polish, Subject 13 could have been a solid example of a modern point-and-click adventure.

The visuals and the platform challenges create a strong framework for what could be a great game. Despite these sturdy foundations, the skirmishes are problematic. Castle of Heart is blemished by some bad gameplay decisions when it comes to the action. If you can look past these flaws, though, there's an enjoyable game making me warily recommend it.

Koei's less hectic hack and slasher brings PS2-standard gameplay to the small screens to the PSP, but hampered by the inadequate camera and drab graphics.