A large number of technical issues and some combat flaws, along with a number of less than stellar puzzle mechanics make this a game for hardcore Matrix fans or some martial arts action buffs instead of for everyone.

It's a pleasant enough adventure, and it'll take you somewhere around 20 hours to complete it, which makes it a nice value, but the writing is a little lazy, and the game isn't as funny as you might expect, and so it's nowhere near being in the ballpark of the Monkey Island games, which is where it wants to be.

And that, in a nutshell, can be used to sum up Alice: The Madness Returns. There are moments of brilliance; of clever design, fiendish platforming, loads of secrets, and intense combat. At others, though, Alice's adventure can be an unpolished, frustrating exercise in repetition. To say Alice is trippy would be more than a slight understatement. I have to say I enjoyed my journey into madness as I plunged further and further down the proverbial rabbit hole more than I thought I would initially. Still, I can't help but feel like it could, and probably should, have been better.

I'm torn by Touch My Katamari because I liked the game, I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of it in the future, and yet I still feel disappointed by it due to the lack of content, relatively poor music given the series' usual high standard, and the comedy simply not being funny this time around. It gets the basic idea of a katamari game right and does deliver fun, but not as much as prior installments. I'd recommend it as a rental or a heavily-discounted purchase, but there's no way I can recommend it as a full-priced purchase for anyone.

Whether you're a Silent Hill aficionado or someone who's been patiently waiting for the opportunity to experience some of the best games the horror genre has to offer, this is a collection you really shouldn't miss.

I like the idea of affecting a story experienced by thousands. Problem is, not all of us can afford six hours a day to earn that right.

But even if the spell creation had been perfect and as pretty as much of the graphics are, the adventure is just too scripted and too predictably paced, and the combat is too backpeddally to recommend highly.

Tragically named, Freeblade proves the old adage that no iTunes or Google Play app is truly free. You’ll need the starter pack if you want to make serious head way into the campaign.

All said, Conan the game, like the titular barbarian himself, is very one dimensional. It’s great for getting in a little much needed smashing time, and maybe for checking out some computer generated boobage, but after a run through or three of the story mode it’s pretty much spent.

Both Top Spin 4 and Virtua Tennis 4 are good games that have a lot to offer tennis fans. Part of me wishes there could be an amalgamation of the two, but as it stands I'll end with this: Top Spin 4 is a better game overall, but Virtua Tennis 4 would definitely be more fun to play for the casual fan. It's almost as if it's striving not to be taken seriously, what with the over-the-top mini-games and fancy dress events. Is that necessarily a bad thing? Absolutely not. Depending on what sort of experience you want, the choice is really up to you.

What it offers in terms of gameplay has been done before, and done better by the likes of "Rainbow Six," "Ghost Recon" and, to a lesser extent, "Full Spectrum Warrior." To put it simply, Close Combat is a little rough around the edges.

Imperial Glory feels like a giant step forward for Pyro Studios. Its scope and complexity is far greater than any of the previous strategy titles I’ve seen from them.

I think it’s important that the developers allow players to drop the original vocal from the track. Not only does it make it difficult to hear yourself during playback, but it also counteracts the essence of the Freestyle Mode.

The game is pretty slow-paced and outside of the few mentioned action sequences, is almost devoid of any visceral attributes that seem so inherent with flesh-eating dinosaurs.

The concept and the creatures, not to mention the turn-based gameplay could’ve infused the strategy genre with a shot of adrenaline that it sorely needed.

Sea of Solitude tries to tackle some very serious topics about bullying, divorces and relationships depicting them quite nicely in its allegorical environment. What it’s missing though is any meaningful examination or resolutions in said issues. As it stands, it doesn’t offer anything more than acknowledging that these issues exist in our world without ever delving any deeper.

It'd be a little more worthwhile if an arcade-perfect Metal Slug 3 had been included in the collection, but this is still a must-have for those of us who fondly remember our local arcade.

The missions are challenging, you get lots of options for how to play through them, and the 10-mission campaign takes about 20-30 hours to complete, which, all-in-all makes Death to Spies a pretty worthwhile purchase at its $30 suggested retail price.

WWE 2K17 is an excellent wrestling game with a lot of superficial trappings to it that bog it down. The flow of matches is better than ever outside of triple threats and fatal four ways, which are now a stop and go affair. Career mode remains fairly aimless even with it being given something resembling goals now. Universe mode is improved, but a bit more time-consuming than ever before thanks to the presentation.

It may be the single cutest way possible to empty an Uzi into your friends' heads.

They’ve built a good RTS engine with several noteworthy features, and then ruined the single-player game with a lackluster control scheme, pathfinding issues, and a positively moronic enemy AI. But if you go multiplayer, get away from most of that, and find yourself a competent adversary, then I’m pretty happy with JTF.

In terms of gameplay, it truly doesn't get any simpler than this, nor the pace more frantic. It's a fragfest to be sure and if you can dig that, you might find Painkiller: Hell Wars to be a fitting end to the Xbox era.

It’s not too different from last year’s installment, a bit of a step down in my opinion, but still good.

Lost Sphear is an outstanding game, taking most of what made I Am Setsuna memorable and topping it. Lost Sphear doesn’t fare quite as well when it comes to the soundtrack, but its battle system is vastly superior and one of the most enjoyable battle systems I’ve played in a JRPG in years. It keeps the turn-based system that many have used before and puts new twists on it to keep it fresh – so while the plot itself goes with a lot of tried and true turns, the battles feel much newer. It isn’t a perfect game, but does a better job of merging the genre’s past tropes with modern-day gaming conventions than Tokyo RPG Factory’s debut effort and is a must for any fan of JRPGs.

If you can get past traveling the world map on rails, every location and quest chosen in order for you, the combat is rich enough to make Blackguards worthwhile, and I think comfortably places it near the upper end of that range.

It's what I like to call a concept game; Great ideas but the implementation is a little rough. With a little more polishing this could be an A-title.

If I found myself completely without a life, with hours and hours on my hands with nothing else to do, then the universe of BCM would be a great escape.

Rise To Honor has a pretty solid plot, good combat scheme, and impressive design. Unfortunately, one of its greatest flaws is its length.