Directive 8020 is a solid sci-fi yarn let down by some early snark-filled writing. The plot is serviceable in showing you some gorgeous locations full of people you may or may not want to save, and a bevy of monsters you’ll get bored hiding from. If you’ve enjoyed the studio’s previous work, then rest assured that Directive 8020 may well be worth checking out.

Like a long Family Guy skit or an Asylum movie, it’s not even the quality of the humor itself – it’s the sheer audacity of coming up with this stuff and committing to it in a finished product. Priest Simulator: Vampire Show is not a balanced, polished or ambitious videogame, but the sheer absurdity of the humor and player freedom make it a fun experience – even though the actual gameplay is pretty damn janky and repetitive. Keep this one for a rainy day, or when you’re looking to try something absolutely ludicrous. Priest Simulator: Vampire Show is not a great game, by all means, but the sheer levels of insanity on display are worth, but only if you like absurdist humor and don’t get offended by certain… less than favourable views of religion.

While WILL: Follow the Light can very much look the part, it simply didn’t hold up for me when it came to the actual gameplay and narrative. The story felt fragmented and poorly delivered, even though a late game twist and a heartfelt message about the time we have and the choices we make felt genuine. While narrative ‘walking-sim’ fans may find some enjoyment and a few bright ideas, it’s not quite enough to make this sailing trip truly worth the journey.

If you are a fan of narrative games, then I think you will like Wax Heads. There is nothing out of the ordinary here – but the story is engaging, and the art style is fantastic. Unfortunately for me, I did find some of the gameplay tedious, and there is a lot you need to remember and take in to fulfil your role as a star employee. I appreciate the hard work that has gone into making the game, and what the creative team have tried to achieve here, but for me it just didn’t hit all of the right notes.

The Last Gas Station is a solid game that pushes the grind a bit too hard in the latter half. Hopefully, a post-launch patch helps, as this is an enjoyable experience otherwise.

There is so much content in this game, and if it’s your jam, you could easily spend hundreds of hours breeding, training, racing and amassing huge piles of gold. If you like checking tasks off endless lists, then maybe it’s the game for you too. I can see why it has been popular on mobile, and even desktop – and I’m sure the VR version would be great fun to try, but I ended up pretty bored and going through the motions just to get through the story. Rival Star Horse Racing is a very nice looking, non-challenging way to spend a few hours, but I think I’ll release my (hilariously named) horses into the wild and go back to the city where I belong.

At its best, Kiln’s robust pot creation and genuinely raucous multiplayer are a great base for a game that needs more content and polish in both performance and gameplay to truly live up to its potential. Despite this, every multiplayer match I played managed at least one moment that made me smile or laugh. The pot creation made me both proud of my pathetic creations and jealous of everyone else’s talent, and the general vibe just made me want to stick around. This is one work of art I hope gets finished and not merely abandoned, but it does need a little more time in the oven.

If you’re looking for a story-driven title in an interesting world, then Tides of Tomorrow is probably going to be for you. Just don’t expect too much challenge along the way. When it comes to saving a dying world, what choices would you make?

People of Note tries to do a lot – a video game-musical, with turn based combat, a world of musical references and plenty of dungeons and puzzles. Some of that is pretty great. Alas, the gameplay felt to me like a track stuck on repeat, and the story didn’t quite have enough going for it to be truly worth the journey. This is one album I won’t be playing again any time soon.

As of today, Marathon is a bit too light on depth, content and variety to be warranting an unconditional recommendation, with too many design flaws that could alienate newcomers. Now, the ball is in Bungie‘s court. Can they turn Marathon into a truly unmissable multiplayer experience? Currently, they are only halfway there.