So while Fractured Soul has some good ideas and at times is a pleasant return to the tough standards of old-school gaming, it takes it to an excess that eventually breaks the game and undoes the good will of its nostalgic positives.

The disconnect that the overly convoluted plotline produces mixed with the detachment I felt with the world because of the continually shifting environment left made the whole thing feel hollow to me. I can’t recommend Layers of Fear 2 unless you just absolutely love the genre and have played everything else out there.

American developer Double Helix has managed to stick its landing—right in the uneasy, dark parts of the mind that define the Silent Hill experience.

I think it's safe to say that someone at EA Sports has too tight a grip on the mantra, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Year after year, the Live series crops up with minor retrofits while other EA lines, like the admirable Madden games, enjoy sparkling new touches and interesting new modes.

The Sims Online is burdened by an intense emphasis on drudgery and an amazing lack of emphasis on fun - unless it's a quick pit stop at a pool table or in front of a TV to juice up your Sim's Fun meter to prepare for more work. That's just a little bit too much like real life for my tastes.

Offers great production softened by gameplay more derivative than a cloned ear, and will have lasting appeal really only to most hardcore racers.

Really meant for four players and is simply a game you either love or hate.

A good game. For a mere $20, you get plenty of mindless old-school fun, albeit for a relatively short time.

While both games more or less occupy the same video game space, Virtua Tennis 4 is less of an aggressive winner down the line and more of a straight, albeit simple, shot down the center of the court that lands deep enough to force players into a competitive but friendly rally.

Tales of Valor has some decent content, though there’s not much, all things considered. The previous expansion brought two complete factions, with two complete campaigns, whereas Tales of Valor brings just over five hours of single-player fun and a few imbalanced multiplayer modes to the table.

Scurge doesn’t stand out, but it’s comfortable if you need a bite-sized action game to pass the time.

Arcade racers should be better represented on console and PC, with Cruis’n Blast ticking a lot of boxes for those who love this genre and wish that it wasn’t almost solely confined to arcade cabinets. There are few games that will pitch a unicorn in a race against a UFO, and such possibilities in Cruis’n Blast should be celebrated appropriately. However, performance problems, the absence of online multiplayer, and the lack of things to do for the solo player make for an altogether disappointing port, that nonetheless just about offers enough to warrant the attention of arcade racing fans.

Despite its interesting strategy mechanic, The Outfit winds up feeling pretty typical. Its lacking single-player campaign is saved in part by its genuinely frantic, yet derivative multiplayer.

Assassin's Creed fans will still enjoy the portable gameplay. Even Vita owners looking to justify the handheld through pure technical power can find a lot to love in Liberation. It's just not the experience you might expect from the franchise.

Hopscotching its way from borrowed concept to borrowed concept, TimeShift is substantially less than the sum of its all-too-obvious parts.

While elements are bland and the story feels heavily padded, to say that Demon Gaze feels half-assed would assume that it's trying to be more than it is, a grindfest that rewards players with 2D titillation and innuendo. It does what it does fairly well, but it's also profoundly average. Nothing is ventured and nothing gained in any part of its design.

Ultimately, the EyePet is interesting as a toy, but as a piece of software on the PS3, it's lacking.

With a more engaging story that didn’t solely rely on zaniness and/or idiocy to sell itself, Dead Rising 3 could have been more worthy of recommendation. Instead, accept my lukewarm approval of it as a purchase decision.

Its varied attacks and dreamy underpinnings could prove as a bridge for the younger gamer looking to one day embroil himself in harder, more difficult quests.

Lets fans romp through a digital version of the film and offers some decent gameplay along the way, but it doesn’t do much else. Provided that’s all you expect from a licensed game, you won’t be entirely disappointed.

Other than some small graphical tweaks, this is an unchanged port that costs a whopping 30 bucks more than the other versions. It's not a bad game by any means, but nor is it a new one.

Pure and simple fun.

Combat is only a small portion of the overall experience, but the other aspects of the game don't particularly shine. It's as if StarDrive 2 is content in its adequacy.

If you were rooting for the shark in Jaws, Maneater is the game for you. Tripwire Interactive delivers a game that makes you feel like an unstoppable underwater menace, to the point where you remain absurdly overpowered throughout its duration. It’s simple, fun, and effective, succeeding in what it set out to do despite not offering much more aside from that. This isn’t a summer blockbuster, but it’s a bloody enjoyable popcorn flick.

Though the gameplay is decent fun and it’s cool seeing visuals from a time after the 1980's in your sweaty palms, World Tour Soccer’s limited offer is akin to a marginally implemented infomercial product - it’s more impressive in someone else’s hands.

I had very few issues with this game, and it was a great experience playing through it. There’s some hype behind it, but I think it’ll end up being one of the sleeper hits of 2019. It blends the right amounts of Souls-like gameplay, anime cheesiness, and excellent design to result in a satisfying package that should please just about anyone.

NBA Ballers: Phenom might mark a change from its predecessor with a new story mode and faux third-person exploration, but it ultimately tries too much and does too little. Compared to EA's more complex series, this is one street baller you'll want to leave on the curb.

With incredible sensitivity to the brand, Space Marine lets you pound thousands and thousands of Orks into the ground, it just doesn't know when to quit.