It isn’t a terrible game by a long stretch, and it is possible to like it if you don’t mind playing through what amounts to an interactive novel. It does have a few memorable moments.

I feel for the developers, who clearly had their hearts in the right place when making this game, but the misjudgements in its structure and release make it impossible to love.

Despite stepping away from the tone and play style of its forbears, Tomb Raider is an entertaining adventure and a great jumping off point for the new direction Crystal Dynamics wants to take.

Vergil’s Downfall is not fundamentally broken, but it’s over quickly and falls far short of the quality of the main game. It’s super disappointing.

Retrovirus is a great adventure and it gives you some insight into what your computer could be dealing with each day you use it.

Proteus requires a desire to explore, something that every gamer ostensibly possesses but is rarely asked to use. Much like thatgamecompany’s Journey, Ed Key pushes a spiritual experience that feels fresh immediately upon entry. Yes, it lasts about an hour. Yes, it is enchantingly poetic. And yes, it is deserving of as much play as open-minded gamers are willing to give it.

Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken was a genuine surprise. I wasn’t expecting much outside of a silly romp that pitted chickens against penguins for world supremacy. What I got was a game that had contained the plight of child soldiers, guerrilla warfare and redemption all wrapped in a near-inappropriate layer of silliness.

It’s a near flawless narrative experience wrapped in a bog-standard but necessary adventure game.

MLB 13: The Show is admittedly a small step forward. It has cleaned up some of the rougher edges in both the Franchise and the Road to the Show mode while maintaining its near-perfect on the field action. What else can I say, MLB 13: The Show remains one of the pinnacle sports franchises in the business today.

So, is Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock worth it? If you are a big fan of the series, then you should get some enjoyment out of getting to be The Doctor. If, however, you aren’t much of a fan, you probably won’t find this game’s mechanics and minigames to be worth your time. It is a competent effort, but not a great one.

At the end of the day, Mutant Mudds is a great tribute to the platformers many of us grew up with. The art style is well done and the difficulty is spot on – it literally feels like it could have been made 20 years ago. The only problem is that games have changed a great deal since then and Mutant Mudds is left feeling stale and boring. If you’re looking to play a platformer the feels harkens back to your childhood, then look no further than Mutant Mudds; otherwise you’re probably better off playing something else.

A good effort, an entertaining ride, a clone that’s different, but in none of the ways that it needs to be different. As an option for a system that doesn’t get the blissful torture of Trials HD or it’s sequel, it’s worth the money if you have that itch, but when put up against the best, it shows itself to be nothing more then a quality knock-off.

Forza Horizon is not simply a great racing game; it’s a great game in general. From the handling to the visuals and sound, from the tweaking to the reward system, Horizon has everything it needs to be an enjoyable time. It may lack the challenge and depth that fans of the core Forza series know and love but if you’ve admired the Forza Motorsport games from a distance (like me) then do yourself a favor and play this amazing game.

SFTX is just another in a laundry list of games trying to capitalize on the success of cover-based shooters but promptly fail to do so.

It really seems like it would have worked better as a middleware physics engine, because it certainly doesn’t work as a game.

The game isn’t perfect, with minor issues over the game’s short length and occasionally touchy environment interaction, yet this is an easy game to recommend for anyone who loves Metal Gear and a good hack and slash experience.

Put simply, Dead Space 1&2 are stories that have embedded themselves in my thoughts and kept me thinking for literal years after the fact, whereas Dead Space 3 is just a game. It’s a let-down, to be sure, but it’s not a total waste of time.

In the end, for anyone with any love for classic Japanese role playing games, Studio Ghibli movies, or just want a charming adventure in a wonderful colourful world, Ni No Kuni will see right by you.

Despite its problems, I really do like Guilty Gear. It’s a fun and well-designed fighting engine. Unfortunately, the actual product being sold is little more than a shell for this fighting engine. The lack of narrative explanation is very frustrating, even if you are familiar with fighting games. Because of this, I can only recommend Guilty Gear to those who just want a solid version of the game on modern consoles.

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.

Aliens has rarely had much luck with its video game spin-offs, but I was still hopeful that Colonial Marines could deliver an at least solid experience. How wrong I was. This game fails to uphold any sort of quality experience in every way. And worst of all, absolutely nothing of creative merit was attempted. It shot for nothing and still ended up a disaster.

A serious lack of fun and no desire to break free of its own monotony are reasons enough to avoid the game altogether. Spend your money on something else.

For the asking price of $7.99, anyone would be hard pressed to find such a quality shmup within reach, especially one which seems to not only to celebrate, but actually relish in the difficult roots which birthed it. Naming itself a love letter to the ’90s, Syder Arcade is a great ride to a glorious, and well earned, death.

UFO were just so close. The controls and in-game gadgets are actually OK. Those hacking sections were fine, too! It’s really sad, then, to see them come up so short. With more polish and more work, this game could have been fun. Instead, it’s a grossly frustrating game, too focused on dated mechanics and a misguided stealth element for it to be entertaining.

Cargo Commander does a lot of things right. When the risk of getting cargo mixes with the need to return to your home cube it’s an exciting feeling. It requires you to think of how you’re going to get through the more difficult cubes in order to get the big cargo reward. Unfortunately, the game’s repetition and unchanging structure keep it from capitalizing on its strong foundation.

That Storm is a pleasant diversion is ultimately both a compliment and a failing. Storm is beautiful, thoughtful, and tranquil, providing some nice puzzle content to work through. It stutters a bit with checkpoints and introducing new info, but it’s never enough to completely derail its over all package. Though not overly gripping, Storm is worth more then a cursory look through a rain-slicked window.

Skulls of the Shogun requires patience and a knowledge of the gameplay. This is not a game that can be won by brute force or guesswork like some strategy games.

Given it’s spot on my most anticipated games of 2013 list, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time was more or less what I was looking for. While it wasn’t as innovative as the Sly of my dreams, it was nonetheless a solid, worthy, and all together fun romp with the old gang.