Samurai Western could've been one of the great beat-'em-ups, if it had a little more variety to its gameplay. Special stages, like a train chase or a level spent on horseback, would've been great; so would the ability to pick up new weapons, "Onimusha"-style.

Visually, this is a massive disappointment given what the Xbox One is capable of.

If what you're after is an action-packed, no-brain shooter than Bang! Gunship Elite's gorgeous, high-speed, intense battles will surely do the trick.

With extremely linear gameplay, a relatively flawed fear mechanic and basic combat system, Batman really isn't breaking a sweat in this title.

X-Men: The Official Game isn't a terrible game, but it's not any good, either. It managed to dip down below mediocre and into the realm of "Why bother?" It's short, uninteresting, and probably won't keep your attention based solely on the fighting, either. It's an odd mishmash that just doesn't work out the way it was supposed to.

A lack of checkpoints, imperfect weapon design and control along with a lack of a story that players will care for makes this the low point for the impressive franchise.

The degradation of graphics and gameplay diminishes how great this game truly is.

If you don’t have PS+, then definitely wait for it to hit $20 or so since this is going to be a love it or hate it kind of experience.

Shadow the Hedgehog has a couple good ideas that are ruined by sorry gameplay. What happened?

With Blood Bath and Beyond, Vicious Cycle Software has struck a balance between humor and gameplay that was sorely lacking from Hazard’s previous outing. Sure, the game can be quite frustrating at times (then again, Contra was too) and the co-op support is limited to local play, but if you’re looking for a 2D side-scroller with a sense of humor, look no further than Blood Bath and Beyond on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.

Epic Mickey 2 leaves me feeling conflicted because it remedies the original's control issues to some degree and does something new with co-op that alternates between being very helpful and annoying, depending on how the AI is when playing solo and is hurt by distracting viewpoints when using it with another person. As a result, Epic Mickey 2 feels like only a partial step forward instead of the huge one it could have been if everything worked perfectly. It's still worth playing if you liked the first, but not something I'd recommend as a full-price buy.

In the end, Brink is another of those games that we see every so often; the games that have incredible potential and truly unique ideas but fail in their implementation. This could have been a great game, it could've been a hit and it could've given shooter fans a reason to return to a genre that has lost much of its originality over the last handful of years. Unfortunately for us and for its developer, the keyword here is "could've", because there's little here that makes Brink the genre redefining game some of us hoped it would be.

Even by Bethesda standards, Dawnguard is just riddled with bugs, many of them game-breaking. I came across audio issues, missing textures, missing NPCs, broken dungeons, and much more. This is a fun expansion, even if its content is a little disappointing, but I highly suggest waiting for a patch (or three) before you jump in.

In the end, Brink is another of those games that we see every so often; the games that have incredible potential and truly unique ideas but fail in their implementation. This could have been a great game, it could've been a hit and it could've given shooter fans a reason to return to a genre that has lost much of its originality over the last handful of years. Unfortunately for us and for its developer, the keyword here is "could've", because there's little here that makes Brink the genre redefining game some of us hoped it would be.

It is also diminished by the inability to keep the results you've tallied during a mission; namely the veteran status of your officers and soldiers.

In the end, Brink is another of those games that we see every so often; the games that have incredible potential and truly unique ideas but fail in their implementation. This could have been a great game, it could've been a hit and it could've given shooter fans a reason to return to a genre that has lost much of its originality over the last handful of years. Unfortunately for us and for its developer, the keyword here is "could've", because there's little here that makes Brink the genre redefining game some of us hoped it would be.

Right now, there’s way too little here to recommend a full-price purchase to anyone. Die-hards should only buy it when it hits the $20-30 range, and everyone else will likely be satiated by a rental. What’s here is done quite well, but there just isn’t enough of it.

With extremely linear gameplay, a relatively flawed fear mechanic and basic combat system, Batman really isn’t breaking a sweat in this title.

That isn’t to say this is a bad game. Even a bad Gears game is a good game; it’s just unfortunate that this series has to end – on this console generation anyway – not with a bang, but with a whimper.

If you played American Conquest then you've already (essentially) played Fight Back, and if you haven’t played American Conquest yet, I’d recommend you play that game instead.

My overall impression of this game is that’s it’s not a bad game, and I have every belief that the developers will stick with it and work to make it better, but it resides in a very crowded field of very similar games, most of which seem to be just a little bit better in some way. I remember that the interface of Pillars of Eternity seemed just a little bit easier to use. The artwork in Torment: Tides of Numenera was just a little bit snazzier. The plot of Baldur’s Gate just a little bit more engrossing. The characters in Neverwinter just a little more interesting. And none of those games suffered from the kind of the difficulty spikes this one does.

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.

Still, Violett is only priced at $10, and it’s probably the type of game that’s going to go on sale a lot, so if you’re looking for something different then it’s not the worst thing in the world to purchase and try out.

Not a great expansion pack – it’s puny, has a thin, meaningless plot, and generally feels like it was thrown together in a great rush.

One of those titles that fans of D&D might wish was a bit deeper and a lot longer. As an action title, it's decently presented, albeit repetitive, and has a creative control scheme, although not fully implemented.

Due to the size of the screen, the already slim margin for error is made even slimmer, and the lack of aura bombs means you’ll have to fight through even the stickiest of situations.

The graphic design seems a bit smoother than you might remember it from back in the day, no doubt due to whatever tweaks Konami has done to it for the Xbox 360.

Bound in Blood certainly isn’t without its flaws, but for fans of the genre I definitely suggest picking it up and giving it a try.