Summing up Ravenbound was a challenge because, despite its flaws, the game isn’t bad and I did have a good time when it worked as intended. However, it’s just badly executed with the lack of missions, explorations, and many frustrating bugs that make Ravenbound hard to recommend. Systemic Reaction are aware of the issues and are actively talking to their community through patch notes to, hopefully, revive this game and make it the fun roguelite it’s asking to be.

Overall, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy suffers the same problem that many of the most recent fighting games have: barebones content. The character selection is small, with more characters planned to be added via DLC, but the brief story mode and unsatisfying combat put a permanent hamper on the experience regardless of increased roster. There just isn’t much here in the way of fun or fanservice, and the Switch version runs at a shoddier framerate to add insult to injury. The fun little nods and imagery do not make up the overall price tag, and the neutered controls feel far more unconventional then streamlined. Everyone should just put their clothes back on and sober up, because the mood just isn’t there this time.

This is a game that could have been a lot better than it is. But it is not better. It is exactly as good as it is, and that is not good. It is, in fact, bad.

What Sonic and the Black Knight amounts to is a game that has been polished to within an inch of its life, yet one that sadly misses the point everywhere else.

Underneath it all there’s genuinely something interesting here – it just needed to be more focussed, polished, moulded into a vision instead of left as a loose idea. The gameplay and story need working on heavily in their own way. I’d definitely come back to check on a sequel but it would be out of wary curiosity, not excitement. Still, I think a lot can be done in this space and hope to see something special come from it in the future.

The premise for Bee Simulator is good, and I like the idea of doing education through video games in such a uniquely refreshing way, but the execution here has problems. When the game is not asking much from the player, then Bee Simulator ends up being somewhat fun with a great sense of scale, but the controls hamper such an important part of the game that the experience ends up being frustrating. Throw in repetitive tasks and muddy visuals and what you have is a video game that sadly does not deliver on its potential. It is hard to recommend Bee Simulator out right, especially at its asking price, but some of the younger kids might enjoy what Bee Simulator has to offer.

It’s a dumb and silly game, and sure, it’s not what you would call a good video game, but deep down there is some sort of hidden charm that makes me have a guilty pleasure when the game’s doing its best.

In the end, The Witch and the Hundred Knight is a failed experiment made more noticeable due to its heartlessly joyless story.

Neptunia Virtual Stars ends up coming on stage as one of the poorer entries in the Neptunia franchise. This is a huge shame, because having an action shooter blended with hack and slash gameplay has so much potential to be a blast, but this is poorly executed. As it stands, the gameplay is not captivating enough to be enjoyable for the 16 hours or so it takes to beat, standard aiming is unreliable and enemies are reused too much and suffer from no change to their attack patterns. The ladies of Neptunia cannot carry this game over its gameplay, and with so many better options out there for this type of action, Neptunia Virtual Stars is a Vtuber that simply wants to annoy you rather than offer some entertaining pass time.

It’s nice to see Puppet Combo mess around and make whatever they want to because what are these games if not investigative deconstructions and crazed experiments, but next to the greats like Babysitter Bloodbath, Nun Massacre, and The Glass Staircase, Christmas Massacre sits closer to the bottom of the list alongside Samhain and the likes.

If Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl came out twenty years ago it would have been a smashing success, ignoring that many of the characters within didn’t exist back then. But that’s not the case, and even though I did enjoy it for what it is, I can’t recommend it when the alternatives are so incredibly superior in its current state. I’m sure with a passionate team and a dedicated community it could do really well, but with a haemorrhaging player base and the blaring shortage of anything to keep people in the game in a world dominated by season passes and constant loot-box unlocks, I just don’t see that happening.

Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection is one for the hardcore fans of the Hyperdimension Neptunia series who want to see more of their favourite characters break off into another type of game.

In the end, Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains is precisely the kind of Anime game that many expected it to be: a quick and uninspired cash-in that tries to utilize its source material to hide the boring and sparse gameplay within.

If you're into mindless bashing, you might somewhat enjoy Bloodforge, but I think most people will be fine with just skipping the title and saving their Microsoft Points for some of the other great stuff coming soon to the marketplace.

Unfortunately, the story never really got going in the game and with the slow crawl through a pretty much lifeless ship this made the game a little underwhelming. The story lasts anywhere between 2 -3 hours depending on how slow you take it and just feels too short and I’m not sure I ever really saw those stealth mechanics.

With dull events, terrible lip synching in the cut scenes, short story and just not enough to do for a sandbox game the few fun vehicle parts just aren’t enough. If you have some small children who enjoyed the film it’s probably worth picking up just to keep them quiet for a bit, but for anyone else it just isn’t worth it.

As with most movie licence titles, QoS is an average experience, plagued by problems, that will undoubtedly sell well due to the advertising campaign and corresponding blockbuster.

The Crew however lacks that indistinguishable something that other games sitting in the same genre have in spades, and without it my urge to play the game quickly dwindled to being almost nonexistent.

With dull events, terrible lip synching in the cut scenes, short story and just not enough to do for a sandbox game the few fun vehicle parts just aren’t enough. If you have some small children who enjoyed the film it’s probably worth picking up just to keep them quiet for a bit, but for anyone else it just isn’t worth it.

Bugs ruin fun.

The gaming world certainly needs more off-the-wall games like this, but a little more effort is required in order to kick-start this rarely-utilized genre.

Regardless of its name, it's still clear to see Haze is a disappointing game based on a weak premise that has been half-heartedly realised.

The DS version also uses a 2D isometric view and to be honest isn’t the most pleasing on the eye.

I keep coming back to the voice acting but a big part of an RPG is the how the story is conveyed and this game falls flat on it’s face here making the story seem drab rather than the colour tale they have crafted. The environments are nice but overall nothing to write home about. The game looked good on paper but unfortunately it has too many pitfalls causing it to feel very lackluster.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge never had much of a chance of matching the quality of its predecessors, but it would have at least sufficed as a decent game. The unforgiving difficulty and poorly-planned gameplay restrictions only bring to light the still-present flaws of the original game rather than cover them up.

Accelate started on my good side, with a respectable combat system that rewarded players willing to flesh out the combo mechanics. However, a poor tutorial system and that ridiculous search mechanic twisted the game from fun to downright annoying – no game should cause you to grind a stupid amount to see the next part of the main story - and fed me the answer that I didn't want to hear.

It is unknown if the developers can patch Battlezone to reduce the nauseating feelings its perspective emits (reports indicate the game was even more discomforting during press previews before receiving some fine-tuning before launch), but that alone is a big enough reason to caution players from purchasing it. This is especially unfortunate, as the arcade-style mission-based gameplay can be really fun, especially when other online tanks join in.

If you’ve never played one and are somewhat interested then you are best of buying Dynasty Warriors 6 instead because Warriors Orochi 2 just doesn’t get past private rank anymore in this world of dynasty wars.

As mentioned above the game is only about 3 hours long and unless you want to get an S rank on all 9 stages on all difficulties there’s really no reason to replay it at all.

Bugs ruin fun.

It’s a shame that such smooth controls, great audio and classic visuals were wasted on a game that is just so outdated.

Deep Black: Reloaded falls short of its promising use of a predominately-water environment and instead casts that aside to become a below average shooter fest.

With over 100 levels, cartoony graphics, a low price tag, simple controls and humour to boot this is worth a few hours of your time but don’t expect too much replayability above restarting the level over and over.

Generally, unless you’re incredibly interested in the spectacular visuals, I can’t recommend Trüberbrook. It feels half-made with large sections being completely disjointed from the plot and rooms, that no doubt took someone a ridiculous amount of time to design, build-out, and paint, having nothing in them, even when it’s abundantly clear that they should have. Perhaps cuts were made to meet a budget or tight Kickstarter deadlines but instead of having a lean 3-4 hour game that shows off what it does best, it drags on for around 6 with a lot of stiff backtracking and filler.

As of this writing, Ubisoft has created a live blog that promises to address all of the technical issues that is plaguing their high profile game. Considering their misplaced priorities, however, they hardly deserve a pass for releasing Assassin’s Creed Unity in the miserable shape that it’s in, which damages both this decent entry in the series as well as the very AC brand itself.

If you can make it past the horrible audiovisuals and laborious gameplay then there is some fun to be had here, but you really have to work for it.

The game is all about making more money to progress, but the grind to get it is monotonous, meaning most will lose the will to toil away on the farm long before getting access to the bigger, better machinery.

Mugen Souls has interesting ideas, but they are badly implemented, causing the game to include too much unwanted junk.

In the end, horror aficionados will probably prove the harshest audience for Weeping Doll: the potential for VR horror has already been seen in various demos and titles, creating a deep hunger for more fleshed-out and frightful experiences. Weeping Doll’s attempts to startle or unnerve players fail harder than a PG-rated horror movie on ABC Family.

Unless you want to experience a butchered version of Silent Hill 2 and a somewhat decent Silent Hill 3, don't buy this collection.

Ultimately, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus is a case study that just because a game can be ported to a handheld doesn’t mean it necessarily should, especially if it suffers from downgraded visuals, spotty framerate and imprecise controls. Newbie players who never played the console versions may end up less frustrated out of ignorance, but a game that originally relied on tight controls and smooth gameplay should not have to endure such drawbacks just for the sake of going portable. It may earn points as a novelty to have the game on the go, but the cost of portability is too much of a disservice for a great action game optimized for consoles.

Unfortunately there is so much wrong with it that it doesn’t even manage to reach average status.

While I like the roguelike progression, the rest of the game feels like an prototype, lacking any sort of redeeming presentation, polish or any score tracking to keep you coming back.

How the developer of Star Wars: Battlefront and the publishers of the Battlefield series let this one out the door in this state I will never understand.

Despite the tedious missions, wonky controls and piss-poor visuals, it can cast a strange spell over you.

As you can probably tell, I am very disappointed that such an iconic character has been given a below-par game to represent his 50th anniversary. The idea is great, but the execution and lack of respect – or maybe it is effort – to represent all the Bonds with the correct actors and context, is poor.

Simply put, Kholat fails to properly balance its moody aesthetics while keeping the player actively invested. It is yet another case of an experience that is beautiful to witness, but boring to actually engage in.

I'll admit that I've played games that are technically worse than Homefront, but I have not played a game that irritated me as much as this in a very long time.

At the end of the day, the bad points massively outweigh the good ones, and when the credits roll you’ll be left with a feeling that it all could have been so much better. The game also has absolutely no replay value whatsoever, and is consequently terrible value for money.

Given that the game only allows the use of the Wii-mote, playing a good old game of football seems a hard concept to imitate. Needless to say, this sport is ridiculously unsatisfying.

After you've experienced The Run you'll sadly come to the conclusion that it isn't any good. It's a great idea compromised by poor design and handling.

It should be noted that the idea of terrain deformation is a good one, and one that deserves to be expanded on, but this time around its implementation is significantly below par in execution. So much so, that I’d be hard-pressed to recommend the game to anyone - even as a rental.

Max Damage is a game that comes filled with frustration, from the awful handling model to the bare bones limited visuals, from the tedious and drawn-out races to the generic music, everything about this recent Carmageddon game is just middling and sterile, and what fun is to be had is often in small spades that it is a struggle to play for extended periods of time.

At times it evokes some nostalgic memories from a generation gone, but ultimately it fails to match the standards those titles set back in their heyday.

It's an ugly, uncomfortable game that fails in so many areas a platformer shouldn't.

So, Dark Horizon isn’t a horrible game. It’s just not a very good one, either. While nothing about it is particularly offensive, it still absolutely fails to generate any interest in a genre that, in most people’s eyes, stagnated a long time ago.

I can’t recommend Manual Samuel to anyone, it’s an awful game. A comedy game devoid of a sense of humour that is only interested in sucking all potential fun out of itself and replacing it with outright frustration. I mean, the game works and all but it’s never good, it’s a bad experience.

For those looking for an enthralling title for their mobile devices Metro 2033 Wars trips in almost every department.

Don’t be a sucker. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

If you are an X-Men fan, save your money. If you must, give it a rental. But under no circumstances should you waste your money on this. The less people buy it the better, maybe then Activision will get the message that they can't get away with substandard rubbish like this.

Thanks to Street Fighter IV’s rebirth of the genre, there is now a wealth of options to pick from when it comes to fighting games, so there are no reasons to buy the generic sounding Girl Fight, because this is a bad, budget fighter with no redeeming qualities to enjoy.

Don’t be a sucker. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

The art is nice and the music even has a zen-like quality to it but they cannot redeem the frustration that this game provides.

I won’t pretend that Sonic Forces is a disappointment – it telegraphed its kitchen sink approach to content a long time ago. Desperately trying to please every kind of Sonic fan, it is every bit the mishmash of half realised ideas vying for your attention that it seemed like it would be. I guess I just never expected that their attempts to hold that attention would be so feeble.

Gamers with significant visual impairments will have new reasons to question their eyesight, and the true nostalgia hungry fans will be vastly disappointed at the lack of content compared to other games such as Stargate and Geometry Wars.

In all, Golden Force was unfortunately pretty disappointing. It would already be hard for this one to stand out, even if it was heavily polished, because there’s no hook besides the strange humour of murdering cats in a bloody shower of guts and naming all of the bosses after Mexican foods. But with all the bugs and design issues piled on top it probably has very little chance. One can only hope that the team will be able to iterate and improve if there’s ever a sequel, spiritual or otherwise, much like how the Shantae series (which gives off similar vibes) has progressed.

Ironically, KoD sums itself up in its own lacklustre ‘Yar’ sound effect, which becomes annoying from the very start. That’s just what Pirates: KoD is; lacklustre.

The effort put into the questions and answers is stellar and something that will have people flocking to this game like a tasty cake but, sadly, the cake has no icing, no sprinkles, or even external goodies to make it long lasting.

You get the impression that if Richardson had someone to bounce ideas off – someone to pick up the slack and point out the bad ideas – he’d be capable of something that’s actually interesting.

In all honesty I fail to see a reason for anyone buy something this. Even if you included the whole game as a mini-game in some other larger title it would still seem limited. It’s honestly a miracle that I wrote this much about a game that offers gamers so little in return.

A simple design idea for controllers created a massive chain reaction in how the game is played, and frankly, it’s for the worst.

The game is not criminally poor, and nowhere near as painful as having red hot needles shoved into your eyes, but at times you get an insidious feeling that those involved put as little effort as possible into delivering the final product.

It’s poorly executed and ends up being a boring, generic title that can’t justify a place for itself in your DS collection.

The lack of content is deeply disappointing, but the worst part of all is how interesting the idea is. I want to like it. I want it to be better. I wish it was just being released into early access in its current state so it could be greatly expanded on with the help of the community but it looks like this is all we’re going to get. Hopefully we’ll hear some good news from the team in the future or see the approach used elsewhere. Until then, however, I think I’ll leave Can’t Drive This uninstalled.

Ultimately, the biggest problem with PDC World Championship Darts 2008 is there is very little reason for it to exist.

Ultimately, Wii Music is the equivalent of Leonardo da Vinci saying he’ll paint the Mona Lisa for you, but then deciding to challenge himself by using a Etch A Sketch. Yes, I am sure the clever old codger could work out something, but you’re sure as hell not going to take a vacation to Paris to view the end result.

I’m afraid that whilst The Deer God was boasted as “a breathtaking 3d pixel art game that will challenge your religion and your platforming skills”, the only thing that it really challenged was my patience. It did look pretty nice though.

A simple design idea for controllers created a massive chain reaction in how the game is played, and frankly, it’s for the worst.

There are just four ‘arenas’ to choose from, four factions, with four characters in each, three similar modes and variable numbers of Balls present in each game. It won’t take long to exhaust the possibilities.

A simple design idea for controllers created a massive chain reaction in how the game is played, and frankly, it’s for the worst.

Give this game a miss, and get your EXP-grinding gums around Dungeon Siege 2.

If only some time and effort went into creating what could be an enjoyable romp. As it turns out this reeks of disappointment.

If only some time and effort went into creating what could be an enjoyable romp. As it turns out this reeks of disappointment.

It’s just a really bad game, in places unapologetically bad.

Angry Birds is no longer the ultimate time waster, it now feels like a soulless service built solely to harvest money, and is happy to screw its players in as many ways possible to get it.

A cluttered mess that tries to pretend it is high-quality immersion. It’s a shame that developer Untold Games spent so much time reaching for the stars with its VR debut that they didn’t stop to nail the necessary fundamentals to a functional VR experience: when the very act of moving from point A to point B is a nauseating challenge, that would be the time to drop back down to Earth and back into the drawing board.

In the end, the very existence of Top Gun is a confusing one, as there was hardly any demand for a modern videogame based on the aged franchise. Strip away the camp value of the movie, and there is nothing left but unimpressive dog fights that have been polished years ago by other jet-based games like the Ace Combat series.

Despite the good intentions of the developers, Arizona Sunshine is yet another PSVR game that is plagued by unoptimized controls, queasy camera movement and an overall brief and unremarkable experience that barely qualifies it as a rental, where such an option even possible. The standards have already been raised for virtual horror games thanks to Resident Evil 7, so it falls upon developers to catch up to the VR race and deliver the same kind of quality that Sony’s new hardware add-on desperately needs.

Tornado is a title that started with a solid base of fun gameplay mechanics and interesting level design and then buried it under a mound of inexplicably terrible design faults that seem like they were created to generate annoyance.

It’s just a really bad game, in places unapologetically bad.

As it stands, Kidz Sports Crazy Mini Golf represents everything that is wrong with the Nintendo Wii’s casual market.

It’s only been out for a couple of weeks and it’s already getting heavily discounted by some retailers – and there’s a whole bunch of reasons for that. I don’t care if you’re a fan of the show, it’s just not worth it.

Who am I kidding? I’ve tried, but this game is just rubbish. Utter crap. Another steaming pile of movie-based compost to throw on the pile. Avoid this game like your brain depended on it.

Somehow someone somewhere managed to design and create a game that is almost completely devoid of fun and enjoyment.

It’s only been out for a couple of weeks and it’s already getting heavily discounted by some retailers – and there’s a whole bunch of reasons for that. I don’t care if you’re a fan of the show, it’s just not worth it.

Somehow someone somewhere managed to design and create a game that is almost completely devoid of fun and enjoyment.

It’s only been out for a couple of weeks and it’s already getting heavily discounted by some retailers – and there’s a whole bunch of reasons for that. I don’t care if you’re a fan of the show, it’s just not worth it.

VR space exploring is an inspired concept, but a good game idea matters little if the gameplay doesn’t measure up, and Space Rift fails doubly as a VR experience due to its lackluster aesthetics and unrefined VR controls. Chalk this up to yet another quickly conceptualized concept that lacks the necessary polish to make it work, and only makes players yearn harder for the time when a competent developer fulfills one out of many VR dream games that companies try too quickly to capitalize on during a hardware’s launch window.