Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest has a wonderful concept, but like so many motion-controlled games before it, this one's subject to a poorly implemented gimmick-it would've been much more enjoyable with both a regular controller and an open world instead.

For all the technology and exceptional design this new Modern Warfare musters, the only message it can offer is woefully jejune: If governments might be mistaken in their judgments or actions, if the act of war itself might be inescapably evil, at least we can still rely on badass warriors who will do whatever it takes to hold back the evil forces that would come to hurt us in the night, to destroy us because they hate our freedom.

Disjunction deconstructs the stealth genre and boils it down to its simplest and most readable mechanics. Mix in a cool cyberpunk aesthetic and interesting if optional gadgets, and it’s a winning formula. Unfortunately, the game stops well short of fully mining either its trope-heavy story or stealth formula, leading to an experience that ultimately feels repetitive.

The potential for the WWE franchise on the new generation of consoles is clear, but WWE 2K15 badly botches its new career mode and lacks many of the features players have come to expect from the series. A couple of added in-ring wrinkles, such as the new grappling system and a revamped stamina bar, show some promise, and the chance to relive the now-departed CM Punk’s rivalry with John Cena in 2K Showcase is a nice touch, but players expected more from the creative fusion of Visual Concepts and Yuke’s.

Atari’s Recharged series has produced some fantastic remakes of classic arcade hits, but that series’ latest entry, Breakout Recharged, is definitely its weakest so far. That’s less the fault of the dev teams or the work they’ve put into these releases, and more the core game itself, as the original Breakout could only receive so much modernization before becoming a totally different game. The result is that Breakout Recharged will satisfy a specific segment of players who can enjoy its more simplistic gameplay, while leaving most everyone else wishing there’d be more to see and break here.

For the first home console game in the series in nearly two decades, Mario Golf: Super Rush is a bit underwhelming, at least in terms of what it has to offer. Speed Golf and Battle Golf are both great ideas, but they aren’t fleshed out enough to feel like main modes. Golf Adventure is a great way to add depth to what basically amounts to an extended tutorial, but it too suffers from pacing problems. Thankfully, the bulk of the game—the actual golfing—feels better than ever by being both technically challenging and more accessible.

Super Mario Run does a nice job of capturing the feel of a classic Mario game. The fact that it needs to always be online in order to play deters me from grinding through its collectible driven-gameplay, however, since it limits when and where I can actually play the game—defeating one of the primary purposes of playing a mobile game in the first place.

The new multiplayer mode definitely adds an interesting wrinkle to the online gameplay of Future Soldier, but with a name like Arctic Strike, shouldn't there be, ya know, a bunch of snow and ice maps?!

Mad Max’s inescapable, monotonous looting in a derivative open world can’t justify seeking the sparse instances of break-neck fun behind the wheel. Though there are moments that reach the level of Mad Max: Fury Road, they’re unfortunately too few and far between.

Fable still has some charming elements that have stood the test of time and survive in Fable Anniversary. But most of the game shows its age, so if you played Fable or Fable: The Lost Chapters the first time around, there’s little here to bring you back for more.

Trek to Yomi is one of the most visually striking games to launch in a while, delivering on the promise that a samurai game can truly capture the look and feel of classic Japanese cinema. Unfortunately, good looks can only get you so far, as the gameplay and story don’t quite live up to the standards set by its art direction. But if you are in the mood for a samurai game, you could do worse than Trek to Yomi.

The gimmick driven combat system holds Sorcery back, as fun quickly turns to frustration after each misfire from your wand. And this is a shame given the predictable, but charming story that Sorcery tries to tell through vibrant characters and the beautiful world they occupy.

At its basics, Date Night Bowling provides some decent bowling gameplay mixed in with the twist of trying to win over a date before the end of the 10th frame. As a concept, however, the game totally fails to capitalize on the thrill of trying to get strikes on the lane while not striking out romantically. There’s so much more that could and should have been done with the game at every level, leaving an experience that’ll keep you entertained in short bursts but wanting more in the long run.

While it feels like a not insignificant step down from the breakout hit Until Dawn, Supermassive Games’ latest attempt at interactive horror still serves up some compelling thrills and chills. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan definitely gets better the deeper you get into its story, but traveling that path is fraught with technical issues and questionable narrative direction more often than it should be.

The Callisto Protocol feels like a throwback title, for better and worse. While the Dead Space comparisons are unavoidable, director Glen Schofield’s return to survival horror does bring with it several new concepts, but many, like the melee combat system, suffer from poor execution. Still, if you’re looking for a fun, B-movie disaster story with some famous Hollywood faces and a more straightforward, linear single-player experience, you could do worse—at least until the Dead Space remake launches next year.

Whispering Willows offers up some interesting gameplay ideas behind its tale of a young girl communicating with spirits as she desperately searches for her father. It’s unfortunate, then, that Night Light Interactive wasn’t able to flesh out most of them, leaving its side-scrolling adventure feeling unfinished for most of the way through.

People Can Fly’s special brand of explosive gunplay is better than ever in Outriders, but the game loses its way by shoehorning in too many of the RPG mechanics that have become bog standard for the “looter shooter” genre. What should have been a rollercoaster all the way through ends up feeling more like a car in stop-and-go traffic.

Final Fantasy VII Remake manages to balance the introduction of new concepts with faithfully recreations of the original game’s most memorable aspects, but it also unnecessarily pads out this first installment in a larger story with too much downtime between its most striking moments.

Rock Band Blitz manages to improve on its predecessors' concept and control schemes, but the harsh monetization of its music and repetitive controller-based gameplay ultimately doesn't measure up to the feeling of a real Rock Band experience.

Sega's $10 price tag is more than fair if you're interested in checking out this random collection, but I'd honestly recommend saving your digital dollars for the slightly more enticing Monster World, Golden Axe, or Streets of Rage collections. At the very least, all of those releases have matching themes and stronger value for your money.

It may say “new” in the title, but there’s simply not enough to get excited about in Yoshi’s New Island. Fans of the original will probably be turned off by this inferior and all-too-familiar retread.

Life is Strange: True Colors has a lot of the ingredients that make the series so beloved, most notably in its compelling protagonist. Technical advancements for the series bring its story to life with fantastic performances and a keen eye for detail. Unfortunately, the story it brings to life is full of stutters and stops, and takes far too long to develop. Where Life is Strange games are full of movement, True Colors feels painfully stagnant for too long.

Much about Borderlands 3 is different, but nothing feels like it’s actually changed.

Driveclub’s social features help elevate an otherwise unexceptional racer, but the dearth of content and some curious design choices keep it from rising too high.

The parkour and risk/reward of the day/night cycle are nice features, but they aren’t enough to overcome the abysmal writing or the boring, repetitive fetch quests that unnecessarily bloat this game.

Detective Pikachu takes several steps away from the traditional Pokémon experience, with only a handful paying off. The beautiful imagery and distinct world-building will please any Pokémon fan, but the gameplay might leave them wanting more. While the point-and-click-style experience is a novel idea for the gameplay, it never manages to fully grab the player’s attention.

If you’re looking for a fun way to spend a few hours on the cheap, then God Mode is a decent investment. The gameplay is solid, and there are plenty of little extras to keep things fun and interesting—though the meager selection of maps means there’s a good chance the game will become stale after a few hours.

Playing WWE 2K17 is as frustrating as being a fan of Dolph Ziggler: There’s a lot of potential there, but those in charge of the game just won’t let it shine.