These early hours I played are promising, but I won't know for sure what the ceiling is on Forza Horizon 6 until it launches on May 19. [Hands-On Impressions]

I constantly struggled against the controls, camera, and objectives as they were presented. And nothing about the story or characters of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum offers reason to push past the frustration. As a longtime fan of Tolkien’s fiction, it’s possible that I liked the game even less for the way it seemed to misuse the source material. It’s hard to have a more damning indictment than to say that this Gollum game isn’t for fans of The Lord of the Rings, but here we are.

Crime Boss: Rockay City is proof that star power isn’t everything. In fact, it’s a reminder that a celebrity cast does nothing for a game when it’s void of anything interesting or fun to support it. When run-ending bugs appear, Crime Boss is miserable, but even when I’m running a mission bug-free, I lay witness to a painfully dull take on organized crime. At its best, Crime Boss functions – I can shoot weapons at enemies, empty bank vaults and warehouses for loot, watch cutscenes with recognizable faces and voices, and grow my empire – but it never captures my attention in a meaningful or memorable way. Instead, it pushes me further and further away, leaving me with no desire to ever return to Rockay City.

With the basic formula of Dead Cells still highly effective, Return to Castlevania is a terrific and natural addition to any run. From the moment Dead Cells' remix of "Vampire Killer" blasted over my speakers, I lost track of the number of times I smiled. The Castlevania series may feel forgotten by Konami, but this Dead Cells DLC proves there are still plenty of developers and players who still love it. [Impressions]

Given the breadth of exciting content to play, including Portal’s six classic maps like Battlefield 3’s Caspian Border and 1942’s Battle of the Bulge, this entry is an easy recommendation for fans of the series. If you’re on the fence about purchasing Battlefield 2042 at launch, you can look forward to my full review in the coming days. [Review in Progress]

While I love the feeling of crafting my own stuff, slowly increasing the areas that I’m strong enough to explore, and fastidiously upping all my gathering and crafting skills, I can see those charms fading rapidly as the activities become somewhat rote. The dynamics involved in faction wars and territory control seem to be the peppy antidote for the never-ending rock farm in various undead shacks and homesteads. As with other games that lean into this kind of emergent gameplay (RIP Shadowbane), some of New World will be what players shape it into. [Early Impressions]

If you've never played Death Stranding, I think you should. Whether it's the original release or the new Director's Cut, the game is worth experiencing. Not to say it's perfect by any means (read Game Informer's review for a second opinion). But there's nothing like Death Stranding. And there may never be again; I struggle to think Sony or any other publisher will ever let Kojima be this free a second time – at least not with this kind of budget. That's what makes Death Stranding worth experiencing. Gravity Gloves, race tracks, and cargo catapults are just icing on the cake.

I was happily surprised by the breadth, depth, and challenge of the Iki Island expansion. For new players, it will extend an already lengthy adventure into something more. Meanwhile, returning players should be thrilled at how well this experience dovetails out of an already stellar game. Iki Island is what I want out of single-player game expansions. And it’s further proof (as if we needed any more at this point) that Sucker Punch has a standout new property to continue building on.

Outriders doesn't revolutionize any type of genre, and it's not trying to (nor does it have to). From what I’ve played so far, what Outriders provides is a well-thought-out shooter experience with expertly tailored RPG twists. It's an enjoyable ride that is made infinitely better by playing with friends, but not inherently hurt by running solo either. This game takes the best of looter-shooters and the best of sci-fi RPGs and blends these elements into a game experience that is worth diving into because of its high replayability, customizable play style, and fun story.

Regardless of its shortcomings, this still serves as a great way to play these three games on modern, portable technology. Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a must-have for all die-hard fans of Nintendo's flagship franchise, but it's unfortunate to have it outshone not only by the collection's contemporaries, but also by the collection it was essentially modeled after nearly three decades ago. If you're on the fence about Super Mario 3D All-Stars, you can't go wrong with these three classic adventures in one neat package. However, you'll want to grab these before they disappear forever; Nintendo currently plans on pulling the sale of Super Mario 3D All-Stars at the end of March 2021.

The Outer Worlds is not at its best on Switch, since the visuals and performance take a serious hit on the system. The textures, framerate, lighting, and more have been downgraded to run on the hardware.

We may have longer to wait for the official release and Media Molecule’s single-player story levels, but Dreams is already a magnificent wellspring for those who love playing, creating, and thinking about games in all their many forms. [Early Access review score = 95]

Legends of Runeterra has a lot to offer as it enters the digital card game ring. Exploring the League of Legends universe in card form is enjoyable and addictive, and slicing an opponent down with a Fiora flourish or a Thresh-hooked hero is a blast. [Beta review score = 83]

Labo VR is a novelty, to be sure, but it knows its limitations and constructs some fun experiences within those boundaries.

The problems with the series have reached legacy status, and although it’s clear Major League Baseball tried to make a better game, the efforts were not enough. The focus should be shoring up the gameplay first and foremost, not making sure some of the star players shake the bat the right way. For six years we’ve been saying “maybe this is the year,” and the result is once again “maybe next year.”

Overkill’s The Walking Dead plans to dole out content in seasons, so the current batch of missions will soon expand. But dramatic reworking of most core combat and mission systems are necessary before the game could be worthy of a recommendation. The premise sounds promising for fans of cooperative play, zombie action, and the taut survival storylines implied by the license. The execution fails to meet the needs of any of those groups. You’re better off heeding the warning – keep this menacing door closed, and leave the zombies to their gnawing hunger.

I want to call The Quiet Man a farce, but farces are funny. This game is just a conceptual catastrophe that does everything wrong and nothing interesting.

The Heist is well worth your time, especially if the post-credits sequences in the main game have you counting the days until a potential Spider-Man 2.

There is no denying that Dark Souls on Switch is not the absolute best way to play the game. That honor belongs to your PS4, Xbox One, or PC, but the Switch version of the game is perfectly fine. You sacrifice a higher frame-rate for the opportunity to play the game handheld (and have the option to pause!), and in my experience the trade-off has been worth it.

You could reductively describe tennis as a sport where you hit the ball back and forth. That would be unfair, since it strips away the strategy and physical feats – which is exactly what Tennis World Tour does to the sport. In real-life tennis, when you're so frustrated that you yell and throw your racket like a brat, it's decorous for your opponent to ignore you and tighten the strings on their racket. At least the A.I. in this game mutely shares a sense of embarrassment, hoping that the moment passes.

Agony lives up to its name in the most dreadful way possible. The gory shock tactics try too hard to impress, and are ultimately a moot point given just how effective the game’s brokenness is at dispelling any palpable fear or awe I might have had and replacing it with aggravation.

Even diehard fans of the original Fear Effect should stay away from this mess of broken gameplay, system-breaking bugs, and slapdash narrative.

Hello Neighbor is unpolished to the point that it feels unfinished. The overpowered enemy A.I. makes the gameplay miserable; models and animations are stiff, and physics critical to completing puzzles are so woefully uncalibrated that much of the game feels like you’re stacking boxes and hoping for the best. The game falls so short of its genre companions that it’s hard to recommend it to anyone, in spite of its beautiful aesthetic. Hello Neighbor simply isn’t fun or compelling even when it’s working.

The poor A.I., repetitive design, and technical problems had me waving a white flag long before the war should have been over. If Starbreeze plans to turn this into a long-running service game, it has a lot of work to do.

The poor A.I., repetitive design, and technical problems had me waving a white flag long before the war should have been over. If Starbreeze plans to turn this into a long-running service game, it has a lot of work to do.

Yes, it is worth revisiting, mostly on the merit of the original being such a great game. If you’ve played it before, you know what to expect, but it holds up well and the new mode is worth checking out (and it’s entirely optional if you ‘re not interested). If you’ve never played the original Mario & Luigi, then you should absolutely check it out. It was a great game in 2003, and through it may not by wholly improved, depending on how you feel about the visuals, it is still a fantastic game.

R.B.I. Baseball 17 is the prime example of a series being milked to death. What started off as a great idea of bringing arcade baseball back into the limelight has turned into a bona fide disaster, the likes of which we rarely see. I feel sorry for anyone who picks up this game assuming it would be better (or even different) than last year’s installment.

As a fan of retro sports and arcade games, I was rooting for Old Time Hockey to succeed. I love the ‘70s sensibilities, and the sports gaming scene needs more varied offerings. But the slew-footed story mode and ridiculous amount of crashes make this game a healthy scratch. If V7 Entertainment can stabilize the performance, the modest $12 price tag makes this a decent option for those looking for couch co-op options, but don’t expect much beyond pick-up games.

As a fan of retro sports and arcade games, I was rooting for Old Time Hockey to succeed. I love the ‘70s sensibilities, and the sports gaming scene needs more varied offerings. But the slew-footed story mode and ridiculous amount of crashes make this game a healthy scratch. If V7 Entertainment can stabilize the performance, the modest $12 price tag makes this a decent option for those looking for couch co-op options, but don’t expect much beyond pick-up games.

Regardless of which mode you play, expect to suffer through several crashes. I experienced more blue screens on the PS4 than any other game I’ve played this generation.

Given its diehard fan base, it would be easy for Nintendo to forget that the point of first-party launch titles is to sell consumers on the capabilities of a new system – especially when it has Breath of the Wild up its sleeve. But most consumers would like more than one reason to buy a new console, and 1-2-Switch is insultingly shallow. Nintendo has created an intriguing piece of hardware, but its default runner-up launch title presents the Switch like it's a cheap gimmick machine.

One Way Trip is a bore from beginning to end. I was never invested in its story despite trying to force myself to be, and was instead either bored or annoyed the entire time. Relief washed over me when the credits finally rolled.

Ghostbusters is a slog from start to finish.

Despite all the technical problems, I still managed to finish Homefront's campaign, but I can't say I had fun. All of the game's ambitions are undone by its flaws, offering only the rare glimpse of what could have been. Dambuster has already stated they are committed to improving the game with additional patches, but given everything that's currently wrong, the studio faces a greater uphill battle than Homefront's desperate underdogs.

Devil’s Third is not an unplayable game, but it may as well be for all it offers. From the action to the environments, the experience is devoid of personality. The story is a joke, the combat is simplistic, and it only gets worse the deeper you get. If you enjoy playing games that are terrible for a laugh, Devil’s Third is a great candidate – but please don’t interpret that as a recommendation.

Pencil Test Studios clearly needed time to fix the litany of embarrassing bugs that plague Armikrog at launch. Even then, it wouldn't have helped the overly simplistic story and bland puzzles. If the developer ever plans on doing a sequel, I hope it's an animated film – the visuals are the only thing Armikrog has going for it.

Perhaps developer Natsume Atari intended to replicate the experience of wearing a Godzilla costume while filming a movie, but no gamer should ever have to endure gameplay this cumbersome and poorly designed.

If everything was working correctly, the Xbox One version would be on par with the PlayStation 4, but pervasive technical difficulties ultimately undermine it. More than two weeks into the review, we were still experiencing crippling lag in the Crime.net mission select screen, and when missions do load we had a less than 10 percent success rate in joining the matches. Your only bet to have a stable experience playing Payday 2 on Xbox One currently is to set up your own heist and invite friends.

While playing through Escape Dead Island, I was continually offended that anyone would be asked to pay for this experience. Any number of developmental issues could have caused this train wreck, from budgetary problems or creative crises, and we'll likely never know the whole truth. But as it stands, Escape Dead Island is worth nobody's time.

I was initially excited when Sega first announced that Big Red Button would be developing Sonic Boom. I thought Sega handing the iconic license over to a new developer might shake Sonic loose of the slump he's endured via a string of rough Sonic Team titles. Unfortunately for fans and the Hedgehog himself, Sonic Boom is a blemished bore.

R.B.I. Baseball 14 is one of the most baffling new releases I’ve come across. The visuals are somewhat modern, and the rosters are current, but everything that happens after the pitch is thrown harks back to the ‘80s – a time when developers were just starting to figure out how to make baseball games.

If you want to watch John Rambo mow through waves of baddies in violent and satisfying fashion, watch the final half hour of the 2008 film. Don’t spend your money and time to recreate any moments in this cheap, broken wreck.

If you want a multiplayer-only shooter without spending $60, there are plenty of options for cheap (Gotham City Impostors) or completely free (Team Fortress 2). Normally, this is the part of the review where I’d reiterate that you should not play Rekoil under any circumstance, but from the abundance of deserted maps I saw, it seems that most gamers have already received that memo.

From its unreliable (or non-functional) mechanics to its doofy character designs and hilariously bad writing, Fighter Within is garbage. It fails to operate on any level, and the content isn’t deep enough to be fun even if everything worked. If you were hoping for an Xbox One launch title that shows off the technological leaps made by the new Kinect, you certainly won’t find it with Fighter Within.

Unfortunately, no amount of options can overcome the inane gameplay. I’ve defended the series in the past as harmless, dumb fun, but Island Tour is wholly unenjoyable.

Deadfall Adventures tries its best to mix first-person shooting with the puzzle solving of adventure titles. Unfortunately, the gunplay is buggy, the puzzles are hackneyed, and the story is hopelessly bad. If you're expecting anything remotely fun, prepare to be disappointed.

Like an old player attempting a comeback after multiple knee reconstructions and several years away from the game, NBA Live 14 doesn't have enough skill or composure to keep up with the competition.

Terrible, and offers nothing as a video game or even as a piece of nostalgia. The ugly turtle models didn’t bring back any memories of the fun cartoon of my youth, and the gameplay is among the most unenjoyable experiences I’ve had during my time as a gamer. There is no circumstance under which anyone should play this train wreck of a game.

The story and setting are fun, but after 10 minutes of wrestling with wonky controls, the nostalgia wore off. A little later, after Conrad’s body somehow fused with a platform and forced me to restart, the contempt began.

I’ve played a lot of bad Xbox 360 games for achievements, but hardly any are as unpolished and poorly executed as Dark. It’s easily one of this generation’s worst titles. Even when the stealth is working moderately well, the slow pacing is a killer, and no amount of blood sucking brings satisfaction. Most levels were completed through trial and error, failure after failure, and then success coming from exploiting an AI bug or an odd design decision.

With the exception of some Kinect and Wii games that flat-out don’t work, this is the worst video game I’ve played this console generation. Thankfully, it’s terrible in such a way as to make it absolutely hilarious to play. As I played, curious co-workers stopped by to gawk at its unbelievable ineptness.

There are absolutely no redeeming qualities to Double Dragon II. The only people I can recommend this to are gamers that enjoy hate-playing the worst stuff just to make fun of it or Double Dragon fans who can't help but play every release no matter how terrible.

MLB 2K13 is one of the most embarrassing whiffs I’ve seen. Whether I was playing CPU or human opponents, games frequently hinged on something that shouldn’t have happened on the diamond. Only play it if you have a YouTube account dedicated to archiving video game glitches.

Unfortunately, the result of the long wait is something that feels like an abandoned mod.

Take away the Aliens license, and you’ve got a shooter that has no reason to exist.

Aliens: Colonial Marines’ odious mess can be smelled from low orbit, and only the most ardent Aliens fans will find anything redeeming.

Finding entertainment in Tank Tank Tank is like panning for gold in the bathtub – you're not going to find anything. I can see a group of businessmen amusing themselves with the game at a bar during happy hour, but they'd never want to bring that experience home. Like a culturally sensitive foreign joke, Tank Tank Tank fails to translate.

Half of Back to the Multiverse is done exceptionally well. The other half is the polar opposite. The gameplay could fuel any generic shooter, and doesn't feel like it belongs with this property. Stewie and Brian deliver some good laughs that fans of the show will want to see, but working through gameplay this bad isn't worth the effort to others.

Rabbids Land's dull and repetitive minigames ruin a party already soured by slow pacing and tedious dice rolling.

A absolute mess...Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified is appalling. In dramatic fashion, it completely fails to live up to the high bar of quality gamers expect from the Call of Duty name. It's also a discouraging sign for gamers like me who shelled out $250 for a Vita in the hopes of console-quality experiences on handheld.

It's a bad game when it's working, but there are plenty of moments that make you wonder how it even got cleared for release. Enemy AI frequently freaks out, causing soldiers to endlessly sprint against walls (often firing their guns at the ground). At one point, the framerate dropped to unplayable levels, except it wasn't during a firefight – I was just walking around.

A mess of a title that's uninspired at best and nearly broken at worst.

On its surface, Realms delivers the experience it promises. However, a closer look reveals too many missing elements that come standard in comparable games. Realms is like a first-person shooter without a reload button. The game works, and you still get to shoot, but you're going to notice that button is missing and it's going to frustrate you to no end.

The mech-combat genre isn't overflowing with alternatives, but they do exist. Save yourself the aggravation and pick any one of those. You won't do any worse.

Dragon's Lair is a lot like the chicken pox. It's probable that you'll experience it once in your lifetime, and that's more than enough.

Player choice has always been a key feature for the Fable series, shaping a hero based on your decisions and actions. In Fable Heroes, the only choice is a forked path at the end of every level. One path leads to one of the game's repetitive boss battles, and the other takes you to a mind-numbing minigame. Sadly, both choices are wrong. When you find yourself standing at this fork in the road, reach for the power button and turn off your system.

South Park fans will be disappointed by the pandering references and lazy writing, and platforming fans will hate the awful level design. This is a game for no one.

I'm not your financial advisor, and I don't care how you spend your money. As one human being to another, I feel a responsibility to advise you not to bother with this boring mess. There are way better bad games out there to play, and even more good ones that are worth your time.

I'm not your financial advisor, and I don't care how you spend your money. As one human being to another, I feel a responsibility to advise you not to bother with this boring mess. There are way better bad games out there to play, and even more good ones that are worth your time.

Initially amusing, but it wears out its welcome quickly thanks to a lack of variety. [Mar 2012, p.95]

As a downloadable title, I wasn't expecting Amy to measure up against the triple-A juggernauts of the survival horror genre. However, I was expecting a game that was at least playable and contained some kind of entertainment. Make no mistake: Whether Amy is delivered to you via download, retail SKU, direct brain wave, or retinal implant, it is terrible and should be avoided.

This lack of polish wouldn't be nearly as frustrating if not for the fact that the game's primary feature – the dismemberment of the main characters – makes the game less fun than it would have been as just a plain old third-person action game. Sure, it's a unique idea – but not every idea is worth pursuing. In the case of NeverDead, this concept should have been left on the cutting room floor. You could say the same about the game itself.

This lack of polish wouldn't be nearly as frustrating if not for the fact that the game's primary feature – the dismemberment of the main characters – makes the game less fun than it would have been as just a plain old third-person action game. Sure, it's a unique idea – but not every idea is worth pursuing. In the case of NeverDead, this concept should have been left on the cutting room floor. You could say the same about the game itself.

At one point Postal III tasks you with collecting HIV-infected cats; I'd rather do that in real life than play this awful game again.

As a downloadable title, I wasn't expecting Amy to measure up against the triple-A juggernauts of the survival horror genre. However, I was expecting a game that was at least playable and contained some kind of entertainment. Make no mistake: Whether Amy is delivered to you via download, retail SKU, direct brain wave, or retinal implant, it is terrible and should be avoided.

Blackwater is an awful game on all fronts. It's a transparent attempt to lure uninformed Kinect owners into purchasing a nearly-broken, tedious, two-hour experience under the guise of being an action-heavy FPS. Play the trailer again and mock it with friends...you'll save $50 and probably have more fun.

There are online and offline multiplayer options, but extra players really only add an additional voice to help point out flaws and frustrations. It also gets incredibly chaotic. Suddenly half the bullets on screen belong to a cooperative partner and it becomes difficult to distinguish properly between enemy and friendly fire.

I love the ideas at play here, but the horrific implementation adds complexity and obfuscation with little commensurate gain in strategic depth. I hope Kerberos' constant patching (the week-plus since launch has already seen several updates) will eventually turn this into the game it could be. Right now, it's a mess that everyone should avoid.

I wish I could say something positive about Stronghold 3. The closest I can come is to call it Stronghold 1 with better graphics. Even that is unfair to the 2001 original, which at least worked on a basic level – a task sadly above Stronghold 3's capabilities. As much as I wanted to like this game, I can't recommend it in good faith to anyone.

But instead of choosing between a co-op or AI partner, you should just avoid playing this game. The only thing of any value that Cursed Crusade has left me with is a blight that will remain on my Xbox Gamerscore until the end of time.

Hulk Hogan's Main Event is a baffling product, and I have no idea who its intended audience is. I guess it could be for fans of wrestling and crappy Punch-Out clones, but even that doesn't make sense.

Where the game falls depressingly short is in Level-5 ignoring the many valid criticisms of the first game and churning out a cookie-cutter sequel that is even more of a rehash than the average yearly sports title or shooter franchise.

The game is generic at best, broken at worst, and falls short in its attempts to innovate cooperative play.

The game is generic at best, broken at worst, and falls short in its attempts to innovate cooperative play.

The game is generic at best, broken at worst, and falls short in its attempts to innovate cooperative play.

Kinect owners have been clamoring for new games since the peripheral's launch, but I think we'd all prefer developers take a little more time figuring out its tech if it means less games like this abomination.

Punch Time Explosion had a good opportunity to impress 3DS owners hungering for a worthwhile experience following the handheld's weak launch lineup, but it simply falls in line with the other disappointments. Cartoon junkies may love seeing their heroes in action, but those used to Smash Bros. polish will want to pass on this one.

Sega's flavorless texture work spoils what could otherwise have been a visually exciting game. It's hard to recommend God of Thunder to even the most ardent of Thor fans. If you're looking for another Thor experience after seeing the film and paging through the character's 50 years worth of comic history, this game won't satisfy you.

Sega's flavorless texture work spoils what could otherwise have been a visually exciting game. It's hard to recommend God of Thunder to even the most ardent of Thor fans. If you're looking for another Thor experience after seeing the film and paging through the character's 50 years worth of comic history, this game won't satisfy you.

Offering police pursuit races, takedown-focused bouts, and several other modes doesn't help Asphalt 3D's cause in the least. It's a buggy mess, and the controls are awful enough to make it a chore even when the game is functioning correctly.

Maybe some gamers will be pulled into the aquatic world of Steel Diver despite the limited content, tech demo quality, and seemingly broken multiplayer. For the majority of Nintendo fans, though, it's destined to become a strange and forgotten footnote in the publisher's history.

Mario and his pals starred in some great sports titles back in the Nintendo 64 days, but gameplay like this just doesn't cut it in 2011. [March 2011, p.93]

"Quotation Forthcoming"

Tron: Evolution will probably have a handful of defenders, but I can't reasonably suggest that anyone play it. It's a shoddy experience that ultimately isn't much fun. Tron superfans would do better simply watching the movie again and calling it a day.

Tron: Evolution will probably have a handful of defenders, but I can't reasonably suggest that anyone play it. It's a shoddy experience that ultimately isn't much fun. Tron superfans would do better simply watching the movie again and calling it a day. [Jan 2011, p.80]

Anyone looking for a quick car combat fix before next year's Twisted Metal might be able to waste a few hours on this title, but they won't be wholly enjoyable hours. Since you can't save in the middle of a tournament, and some the later cups last a couple hours, the game eventually tests your endurance. I'd rather give bone marrow than sit through this Blood Drive again.

Anyone looking for a quick car combat fix before next year's Twisted Metal might be able to waste a few hours on this title, but they won't be wholly enjoyable hours. Since you can't save in the middle of a tournament, and some the later cups last a couple hours, the game eventually tests your endurance. I'd rather give bone marrow than sit through this Blood Drive again.

This Wii shooter is hardly worthy of its namesake, delivering a predicable and ultimately forgettable shooter hampered by poor controls and uninspired level design. Let's hope Future Soldier has a more promising battle plan.