I'm conflicted. Cooperative titles like this are hard to find nowadays, especially with drop-in, drop-out co-op. There's no denying it's fun exploring with a friend and the game contains some genuinely clever challenges, especially during the boss fights. There's the seed of a great game here, and I'd genuinely like to see more like it. I really hope BonusXP gets the chance to use this engine to make something else: It's pretty good for a licensed product, but ultimately, that's all it is.

Bodycount might have gotten more attention five years ago, but even compared to Black, it's unexceptional. The word "generic" has become quite overused in recent years, but if ever a game truly deserved it, Bodycount would definitely be a top contender.

I wrack my brain trying to figure out Dark Alliance’s strengths, and I’m not coming up with much. The level design works surprisingly well for multiplayer. I was afraid looting would fall by the wayside, but every time a fight would wrap up, everyone would run off in different directions and grab chests before finally moving on. I didn’t feel like things were getting missed. Well, except for the shoes that would pop out of chests some other player would open. Those just rot, forgotten on the ground.

Speaking strictly in terms of mechanics, calling Eat Lead mediocre would be excessive praise. But its charm, savvy writing and excellent humor shines in the face of all of its shortcomings and elevates it to a being a game that may not be worth owning but should certainly be played by anyone who can manage to plant their tongue firmly in cheek.

To add insult to injury, RoAW makes it frustratingly hard to get into the lore.

There is an interesting backstory to the world of Krater, even if it isn't fully realized.

Hail to the Chimp is a collection of decent ideas, all poorly executed to some degree. The satire, while welcome to the genre, has been managed in a much better capacity by other games. The mini-games are all weak, mundane, and especially repetitive.

Ruining all of the goodwill that Popcap has built up over the years is a damn shame. EA is doing some things right in the current climate, but the publisher has consistently shown us that it cannot move forward without taking multiple steps back.

Apart from its visuals and recognizable voices (when they're heard at all), there's nothing South Park about it and could have easily been any other multiplayer platform game; a pretty mediocre one at that.

As it stands, and as a review of a product, Back in 1995 is a gimmicky curiosity, not unlike its graphical approach; flat and askew, with some semblance of structure if you squint between the lines.

The task set before Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is not a hard one: make sniping fun. Apparently, City Interactive didn't get the memo, filling the game with a never-ending sequence of following an NPC guide through uneventful, recycled, and ugly environments. Even at four hours, Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 requires a level of patience and commitment that even the best snipers won't be capable of.

Unlike its predecessors, Escape Dead Island feels devoid of heart or identity. It is a cruel reminder of the shovelware that plagued the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and the Wii and behind its generic facade hides a malnourished newborn of a game starved for nutrition and attention.

It's sloppy, cheap, and the one central gimmick is exploited to weary degrees. Nevertheless, it still carries itself with a sense of sincerity that I find utterly charming, and its simplistic combat system is perfectly capable of providing some basic thrills.

Again is a mediocre game that provides nothing. Its story is nowhere near good enough to justify the interactive novel approach, the "spot the difference" psychic gimmick is miserable and sleep-inducing, and the characters themselves look like they've all escaped from a mental hospital and are playing around in the costume department of a community theater. Hotel Dusk this isn't.

As it stands, there is literally no reason to get Broken Eagle. It's criminally short, you can't enjoy it with a friend, there are no real benefits if your character is maxed out from already playing the core game, and it doesn't add to the overarching lore in any meaningful way.

Raccoon City suffers from poor design and sometimes doesn't quite seem to "get" the point of the style it wishes to emulate, but that doesn't stop it from being a genuinely good time that should satisfy anybody looking for a hardcore romp. As a challenging rollercoaster ride through an iconic fictional catastrophe, Raccoon City provides hours of violent fun interspersed with some exasperated cries of aggravation.

It still has a lot of baggage to unload (the 3DS and Vita ports aren't even dated yet), but most Mega Man fans will find solace in the fact that it didn't end up being a disaster. Other than the art style, of course.

The true tragedy of it all, however, is that when you cut through the glitches, the mediocrity, the sensation of standing on a fragile boat, and the design's lack of commitment, one can actually find a quasi-competent first-person shooter attempting to happen. When it's not breaking itself for no reason, Alien Rage does work.

Rabbids Land isn't awful, but it's wholly unnecessary for a system that's launching with Nintendo Land, a game that trounces Ubisoft's attempts in every conceivable way.

There are bad games that failed due to poor budget, ill-conceived mechanics, or a simple lack of skill, and then there are bad games like NeverDead -- that could have been good if the developers hadn't cut corners, used its innovations as excuses to get away with incompetence, and absolutely, positively, failed to give a single solitary shit about the people unlucky enough to be playing. For games like that, there is not an adequate word in the English language to vocalize my disgust.

Your enjoyment of Balan Wonderworld is going to depend on your tolerance for primitive 3D level design. Strip away the unnecessary costumes and their poorly implemented management system — and fire those Balan’s Bouts into the sun — and you might have a nice throwback to a more experimental time of platform gaming, one that would be easier to recommend. But sadly, you can’t just strip those elements away. They're here, and they’re ruining what is otherwise an enjoyable rewind to the golden era of the mascot platformer.

There's a lot of time for the studio is smooth things over, build on the season concept and trim some of the fat. For now, be cautious.

If you are seeking a new, unique team-based game to play with some friends on Halloween, The Haunted is a worthy choice. Just know that you may not want to play it in November, when you are still facing the same server, waiting, and technical issues that plagued its release.

There's a nugget of an excellent game located within G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout, but this outmoded third-person shooter unfortunately doesn't have the resources, scope, or variety to expand upon its unmistakable potential. With repetitive objectives, frustrating controls, and a lack of online multiplayer, G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout isn't fun enough to stand out in a crowded shooter marketplace, despite the obvious and heartfelt passion on display for the '80s franchise.

Risen 3 is stunning, but not for the reasons the developers intended. Frustrating, ugly, broken, irritating, dull -- I cannot recommend this game to a single person. Even if you enjoyed it on PC, there is no way the busted PS4 version is worth a double-dip.

Koi has an alluring exterior, but is ultimately a shallow puzzle game lacking in both focus and direction. As someone with an interest in Chinese culture, who has been following the reintroduction of foreign consoles into that market with great interest, this is a disappointment.

It also doesn't help that this mission inexplicably has more blocked off areas than any other piece of content, forcing players to drive around the long way to locate quest objectives.

There aren't many God simulators out on the market anymore, and the simplistic nature of the game easily could have swayed a ton of new potential fans. Unfortunately, the package is fairly bare bones, and doesn't really deliver any long-term enjoyment. If you buy this, be prepared to turn the other cheek.

It's a silly idea and it seems like developer Bossa Studios had a lot of fun building all of the different modes, but I wish I were having that much fun playing it.

I love RPGs and strategy games, and I really didn't enjoy it. On the other hand, it's decent enough that I can see some people enjoying it. If you like the idea of fine-tuning tactics with a small squad during repetitive combat for 40 hours, then you might find something here. If that's not your thing, you should probably just replay Dragon Age: Origins or Dawn of War II.

Unfortunately, the team in charge of that team decided that said fun should be gated by needless locks with cash keys, which is a problem. Give it a go and see if you can stomach the microtransactions. As for myself, I'm taking frequent breaks, mostly because I'm forced to.

There are some genuinely cool moments buried among the slop. If this were an Early Access title, I'd be very content saying to keep an eye on it as it nears release. Considering that this game is being released like this, I will instead warn not to waste any money on this unfinished title. I look forward to a potential 2.0 release, because I really want the game that was intended to come to fruition.

You'd be better served experiencing Five Nights at Freddy's 4 the way it was obviously intended to be enjoyed. By going on YouTube and watching some twenty-five-year-old, dressed like a fourteen-year-old, scream and cry his way through the game like a seven-year-old.

Overall I felt as if Daylight was made as a jump-scare machine with a loosely tacked-on plot.

I truly wanted to like this game. It combines several of my favorite tropes and ideas into one cohesive whole, and I respect what it was trying to attain. But combining a half-baked hide-and-seek operation with a ghost story that seems ripped straight from a casual game isn't the way to hold my attention.

Overall the challenge level is geared towards younger gamers; if you rush through the game you can complete Gomo in maybe just over an hour. The story is simple and the characters you meet have a simple charm to them and the pace of the game means you'll be able to whiz through it to see the next kooky scene.

Whether you want to casually roll through and blow up some insects on the easy setting, or wrack your brain to test your mettle with manual shooting and an insanely difficult campaign, BUGS vs. TANKS! offers a little something for everyone.

An exercise in apathy, neither solid nor liquid. Not exactly bad, but not very good either. Just a bit "meh," really.

X-Blades is a game that most people will be right to ignore. It offers nothing of substance, and the problems are so vast that a lot needs to be forgiven in order for any fun to be had. Hardcore action fans will definitely get a rental from what can be a decent experience, but those with short tempers, refined tastes or something important to do with their lives will want to steer clear.

There's potential, but Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot ends before it can reach most of it.

Speaking as a fan of Dead Space, I feel I could skip Awakened and miss absolutely nothing of value. While some of the new ideas are nice, the sense of disappointed that none of them are capitalized upon offsets any good they do, while the story is nothing you couldn't explain in a single Tweet.

Tedious dialouge, bland visuals and confusing combat make Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Gae of Firmament a joyless experience.

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z reminds me a lot of last year's Deadpool game. It's a very limited hack and slash that enthusiasts will enjoy on a rainy weekend, but it fails to really ascend beyond that status. Yaiba isn't a bad game per se, it's just shallow.

The problem with Chaos Rising is that while it offers up something unique compared to the other two DLCs, it suffers from a weak, unengaging lead character and uninteresting sidequests.

The camera can often become an obstacle, the moves can be difficult to pull off or memorize, the flair outside of dancing is lackluster, the time spent on loading screens is ridiculous, and the dancing itself can be at times, pretty damn derivative.

As a product for humans though, I can't see Wasteland Workshop as anything but a bad buy. A cynical ploy to pad out the “value” of the Season Pass and maybe milk a few weirdos like me who just can't resist neon lights.

For whatever it's worth, I like Night Trap. It is a bad game, but I like it. Screaming Villains' love-letter to one of the most notorious video games of all time has to be the most oddly-conceived re-release in gaming history. But I can't think of another game, that's so bad, that somehow deserves the recognition so much.

For all of its rough edges, and there are plenty of them, I still think Loop8: Summer of Gods is one of the most interesting games I’ll play this year.

Nothing about my time with Pylon was really positive. I suppose the game looks okay, runs smooth enough, and has great gamepad support, but when it’s just not fun to trek through, what is the ultimate point?

The first twenty minutes of playing this game, I detested every second of it.

Dead Block takes a popular genre that thrives on increasingly manic gameplay meant to evoke higher and higher tension levels, and turns it into something dull. It may have had the beginnings of a genuiningly fun game at some concept stage, but the end result is a repetitive game that you'll likely get tired of before it ends.

Milanoir takes an appealing aesthetic with a promising setup and turns it into a dutiful slog without much of a payout. It's basic, it's petty, and it's laughably crude. It is a noir title that really doesn’t have a whole lot to say.

To say that Voltron: Defender of the Universe is a disappointment is an understatement. What should be blistering action is yawn-inducing and seems more like a chore used to get to the mech sequences, which only serve to disappoint MORE by the sheer mediocrity of them. I'd rather watch the series on Netflix.

Might be appealing to a younger audience that wants an RPG without too many advance systems to over-complicate things, but if you're looking for a deep role-playing game set within the land of Ooo, you'll be sorely disappointed. On top of that, all of the performance issues with the Switch version make it incredibly difficult to recommend.

Compared to some of the games that it has decided to price itself against, Dungeon Hunter: Alliance looks absolutely pitiful. Sitting this next to Uncharted, Army Corps of Hell or even Ubisoft's own Lumines, exposes Alliance for the cheap, nasty, outdated and outclassed little con job that it is. Expensive at a quarter of the price, this embarrassing waste of space has no business pretending to be a full retail game.

The title lacks the series’ corny exchanges between the Rangers and the villains that we know and love. Instead, we’re hit with an underwhelming Web flash game that fails to capture the show’s spirit.

It's overly simplistic, but the constant amount of positive reinforcement and sheer amount of content unlocks may keep you going should you charge through the monotony.

A solid, if unimpressive, racer that provides swift, hassle-free portable action. However, I can't recommend it as a full-priced retail product, because it absolutely doesn't feel like one. With a simplistic no-frills approach to racing, and graphics that could easily be rendered on a PSP, Injection barely feels like a step above its iOS and Android prequels, so it feels like yet another attempted swindle from Gameloft and Ubisoft.

Truly, this is one for the fans. It’s a remaster for people who have fond memories of renting it for the Genesis back in the day. Fans of the cartoon might also find some value in it, as much as it tends to be an unfaithful adaptation. For everyone else, there are a lot of other games you can play before you need to reach the depths of Gargoyles. It’s not terrible, it just isn’t good. But at least it hasn’t been left sleeping for one thousand years.

DBZ for Kinect is just what you'd expect: a half-realized game for a half-realized piece of hardware.

The Doodler is still cute, and kids might love frolicking around the camera for five bucks, so if you have children, this could occupy their time until they get frustrated with it. For everyone else though, stay far away unless controller support is patched in at some point -- and even then, it's probably best you stay far away anyways.

There's no sugarcoating it: Fallout 76 comes up short at nearly everything it aims to be. It's not a good role-playing game and it's not a good multiplayer experience. It never really feeds into the gradual RPG power fantasy but it's also inadequate as a survival simulator. In wanting to be so much, Fallout 76 doesn't amount to much at all.

Vane has a very strong opening, some unique visual ideas, and an atmospheric electronica soundtrack. Unfortunately, all of this is quickly muted by aimless and frustrating gameplay.

At around three hours, it's hard to recommend Corpse of Discovery to starved sci-fi fans, let alone the general public, and especially at full price. With some optimization patches it would be at least worth a play through for sci-fi fans, but as it stands I'd let this one get lost in space.

Sure, We Are Chicago forces you to witness a terrible event, but it does nothing to capitalize on the unique strengths of gaming. You can’t fruitlessly attempt to prevent the atrocity from happening or speak to anyone about the aftermath; you just go from point to point and listen to actors who sound completely detached from everything.

There are average hack & slash games that have their faults, like Conan or Viking: Battle for Asgard, but fans of the genre can usually overlook them in favor of having fun. Garshasp, however, sadly doesn't come close to being one of those games.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn't a complete disaster, and I can easily see fans of Spidey enjoying it at a deep discount. It's just a shame that Beenox somehow got worse at making Spider-Man games over time, and that the powers that be insist on rushing them as movie tie-ins. Somehow, someway -- we will get our Arkham of Spider-Man games again. Until then, you can just pick up a used copy of 2004's Spider-Man 2.

Not a bad game. What it does, it does fairly well, and the art style looks neat. However, despite the graphics and accurate gameplay, the collection falls into the problem all mini-game collections have: repetition, which leads to boredom.

You can see greatness from the heights that The Fridge is Red reaches, but most of the time, you’re mired in its lows. At times, it feels like the central obstacle in the game is just trying to figure out what it wants from you. What order, what direction, and what interpretation you need to arrive at. There’s definitely vision here that wants to be delivered, but it needs to be paired with consideration for the experience.

Castlevania Judgment is a lot better than it should be given its brief time in development and small budget, but still not half as good as it could have been. Thanks to the injection of some good ideas and heaping piles of love for the series, Judgment does justice to the Castlevania name, though just barely.

A miserable little game that does nothing for anybody.

While Platinum has done a great job in terms of delivering a solid action romp, the jarring cutscenes and open-and-shut story leave little in terms of replay value. Avatar and Korra fans will likely rejoice at the fact that they're finally getting a decent game.

Ace of Spades attempts to be many things, while achieving none of them. It isn't as creative and wondrous as Minecraft and it isn't as strategic or entertaining as Team Fortress 2. Hell, it isn't even as good as the beta version!

A festering irrelevance with nothing to offer the world. It's a game with an odious personality, one that could only endear itself to the sociopathic and mentally maladjusted. There may be life in Duke yet, but not his current incarnation. Not while his developers legitimately think he's cool and hilarious, rather than creepy and nauseating, and not while he's starring in games that can't even compete with budget titles.

Arc System Work's staunch dedication to the retro aesthetic for Double Dragon IV is admirable, but still falls short of the mark even when juxtaposed to several of the series' own entries. Punch and kicking dudes as Billy and Jimmy still works, but many elements of IV just feel a little too off-brand for my liking.

Damage Inc. is a hot mess. Choppy frame rate, ugly graphics, shoddy presentation, forgettable multiplayer, and an overall worthless feeling when playing doesn't amount to much. There's at least a good variety of things to do with the number of missions and planes involved, but you may be too frustrated with the gameplay itself to even care.

Dollar Dash is a serviceable game, even if it doesn't aim very high. If you're bored of constant deathmatches in Spelunky's multiplayer versus mode, or you've saturated every last round of Bomberman and the many clones it spawned over the years, Dollar Dash will give you a few evenings of enjoyment.

Ultimately, Lux-Pain provides a mediocre experience when it could have been a much darker Phoenix Wright. Had it taken up more adventure game elements and stopped being a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book without any of the choice, I might have been genuinely impressed.

Currently, Bloody Alloy: Reborn feels more like an Early Access title or proof-of-concept than a finalized product, so it is hard to recommend unless you love beating your own high scores and are starving for a fast Strider-like experience.

Flat, featureless, and simplistic, it is devoid of any redeeming qualities found elsewhere such as replay value or fun. What could have been a cool, cartoon-y version of a classic franchise is but a wasted shell of its former self.

LocoCycle tries a lot of new things thematically, while simultaneously paying homage to classic arcade racing shooters. It doesn't succeed in everything it sets out to do, but if you're looking for a decent arcade shooter to toy around with on your new Xbox One, LocoCycle is it.

As much as I enjoy Valhalla Knights 3’s combat I wish the rest of the game was more engaging.

The lack of content, despite some clever ideas, makes it feel like it would have been better suited for a WiiWare title at a downloadable game price.

I admit that I'm new to using a Xbox 360 controller, but damn if these ladies aren't as slippery and wet as a walrus' throat.

Mordecai and Rigby in 8-Bit Land feels a lot like one of my favorite DSi platformers no one played -- Pro Jumper: Guilty Gear Tangent. It pretty much knows what it is, and even if it doesn't offer up anything new for those who normally loathe platform games, it'll still placate fans of the genre. So while it feels a bit phoned in at times, fans of old-school gaming will no doubt get an afternoon of enjoyment out of it.

Multiplayer is the saving grace of Ironfall: Invasion. Although it doesn't offer anything new, it should scratch that itch for arena shooter fans who are looking for something to play online long term on 3DS.

Unfortunately, SuperMash is a game where the concept is better than the execution. While the spritework and chiptunes are nice, the gameplay holds the whole thing back; a big problem when the gameplay is supposed to be the main feature. Ironically, the mashed-up games usually end up being less than the sum of their parts.

This game does not in fact rock, but succeeds in doing quite the opposite.

This is a great game for the fanatics who like having all their Sonic games on a next generation console. However, if you're a casual fan looking for a masterpiece, all you'll find is a relic that was once considered greatness. It honestly pains me to say that.

Offers nothing unique to the genre and is likely to leave players unfulfilled. What could have been an interesting, inoffensive multiplayer game turned out to be a buggy mess without so much as a hint of something fresh.

If the control scheme was a better, we'd call Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom a great time-waster for the PS3. But the lack of polish on this boring $10 PlayStation Network game makes us want to call it a waste of time instead.

I hope to never return to this game and I wouldn’t want anyone to waste their time and money on the endeavor. Whether that is harsh or not, Slain on the Switch is not the version you should buy. If you want to have any hope of enjoying the game, get any of the other versions available (all of which run at 60 FPS and offer customizable controls).

Within under ten minutes time you'll have experienced all the game has to offer; boring boating, equally dull scaling of buildings and peering out a periscope to find the next white and green building to climb. There is no failstate, no urgency, no combat, just moving from point to point and monotonously collecting shit.

Buried beneath bugs, control issues, harsh mission design and even harsher economic balancing, there seems to be a shadow of the old Stronghold as we remember it; sometimes you'll even have a minute of fun here and there.

Extinction is a good blueprint for a more interesting game.

I don't know why this sequel exists, outside of a cynical cash-grab or a frankly ridiculous belief that the original was almost perfect and could get away with trying the same trick twice. Both circumstances are unforgivable. No game about a psychopathic teddybear should be this dreadful.

For a title set far into the future, Terminator: Resistance remains disappointingly locked into the past. With lackluster design, story, dialogue, AI, and combat, Terminator: Resistance is a genre example generations out of time.

It's unfortunate then that the game is buried under a myriad of problems, from dated, ugly presentation to shooting that feels clumsy.