Red Wings is a perfect example of classic mid-tier development — it doesn’t do a lot, but what it delivers is mostly solid. Fans of arcade-style romps will likely get a great deal of enjoyment here, but sim enthusiasts will be better off steering clear.

One of the better co-op shooter experiences available on current generation consoles, and the slower pacing and shambling foes give it a character unlike anything else out there.

As a big, big fan of the previous Toy Soldiers games, it was tough to see War Chest falling so short compared to the other two.

NASCAR 2011: The Game feels like a slapdash effort, a rough draft of a game dressed up with a fancy cinematic and some licensed music and sent out to make a quick buck off the fans.

For adventurous players willing to remain undeterred by warts and wrong turns, Divinity II is something quite special—an RPG with a flavor all its own, and one not to be missed.

Boobs aside, Senran Kagura Burst feels a bit mediocre—it's not a bad beat-'em-up, but it's not one of the best.

It feels strange to say, but Space Crew is the rare example of a sequel that feels like a step backwards. I appreciate that it’s less punishing, but with fewer elements to manage and less variety in the missions, it could pass for a prototype of the game Runner Duck made two years ago. Too much of the formula has been stripped away and this overly-simplified experience suffers for it.

For players willing to put in the time to learn its subtleties, Onee Chanbara Origin has great combat, and sundering my way through crowds of zombies simply never got old. That said, there’s just not enough here to make it feel like a complete experience. While the game certainly displays everything that made the franchise into such a long-running success, I can’t help but feel that this anniversary celebration should have offered more to its fans.

As a moody sci-fi walking sim, The Station is a minor success. The environments look great and the puzzles offer just enough interaction to keep the player engaged while moving through the world. Sadly, the story just can’t manage to hold up its end. Between the odd timeline issues, the poor job the devs do of keeping their twist under wraps, and an ending that raises far more questions than it answers, the plot squanders some very interesting ideas.

Sadly, the latest incarnation of that landmark effort doesn't have the personality, lush animation or blisteringly fast pace that made the original such a hit. What it does have is...not much.

As a PSVR launch title from a new development studio, Here They Lie impressed me. Tangentlemen have good ideas, atmosphere and sound design, but ultimately the meandering pacing and sporadic story beats of their work left me feeling more disappointed than scared. I’ll be keeping my eyes on these developers, though — if this is what they deliver for their debut game, I’m eager to see what they serve up next.

Playing The Good Life can be a baffling experience. There’s a parade of weird characters, a constant stream of odd happenings, and a complete refusal on the game’s part to ever explain the whys of its biggest mysteries. I can’t pretend I wasn’t disappointed that things never came to a satisfying conclusion, and its eleventh-hour attempts to suddenly announce what it’s all about seem a little desperate. Even though it doesn’t stick the landing, The Good Life offers players a chance to visit a charming town full of interesting people and take part in one of the chillest, most relaxing open world adventure games ever. It’s not a masterpiece but it’s certainly worth the trip, even for those not obsessed with SWERY’s work.

There's no shame at all in putting out a solid effort like this. The only "bad" thing that could be said about it is that it's not revolutionary.

For all intents and purposes, Torchlight 3 seems like it’s an action RPG struggling to find its identity. It feels generic, repetitive and boring, and comparing it to earlier, superior Torchlight titles does it no favors. Pretty colors aren’t enough to save this one from oblivion, especially with so much quality competition out there.

With V2's incredible mechanics being employed to take on a more morally acceptable foe, Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army makes a worthy addition to the Sniper Elite franchise. With its extremely budget-friendly price and surprisingly large amount of content, NZA will please existing sniper fans, as well as anyone curious to check out what it might be like to shoot a few hundred zombies in the face from 70 yards away

Yes, this is a rhythm game about sexy ninjas cook-fighting until one of them ends up naked. It’s ridiculous and it’s perverse, but it’s not ashamed of itself — this is bold and playful erotica that doesn’t skimp on the gameplay just because it skimps on the clothing.

It took me an hour to make my way through The Depths, but I’d imagine more clever players could manage it in a little more than half that. While this isn’t an especially robust or full-featured expansion, it fits perfectly within the world of the main game. Anyone charmed or chilled by Little Nightmares will find more to love here, as well as some images sure to keep them up at night.

Moero Chronicle H generally gets the basics right, but that foundation is undercut by repetition, a lack of nuance in the combat, and a botched translation that makes it tough to care about anything that’s going on. It delivers a ton of fanservice, and the core is at least competent, but it doesn’t even attempt to reach beyond such an unambitious goal.

I do admit that I gleaned more than a few moments of guilty enjoyment from the experience, it's really just a terrible, terrible game that wouldn't be able to justify its own existence without the gleefully gratuitous content.

While there's no getting around the fact that Splatterhouse feels like something that could have significantly benefited from another six months in the oven, it's not hard to see that the developers have solid ideas that are on the right track.

Rather than a game created to hook people with strong gameplay or a novel idea, Noble Nutlings feels like it's all about the Benjamins. Pass.

In the end, is the ho-hum gameplay worth trudging through just to enjoy the plot? For me it was not, and I’d have a hard time recommending this to anyone other than great fans of these creators’ other works.

It seems impossible that a game featuring multi-partner dating and demon-battling with an army of combat children could somehow be boring, but there it is.

It's light, accessible, and almost hysterically funny at times.

The high difficulty curve and unbalanced enemy vs player interaction in addition to all of its issues make it hard to recommend 99Vidas to even the most enthusiastic beat-’em-up fan. This title tries to stay afloat on nostalgia for old favorites in the genre, but not only does it miss the target, it makes errors that this genre learned to avoid long ago.

Those flaws are easy to forgive in light of what the game gets right, though. As a reviewer who's constantly in search of games which try new things or buck expectations, Lost Planet 3 was quietly, calmly fantastic. Everything about it has a very mature, measured approach which sets it apart from the pack, and the character work on display is some of the best I've seen in quite some time.

Friday the 13th manages to both perfectly capture the look and feel of the iconic films while also creating a fantastic multiplayer experience. It’s one of the best marriages of property and genre I’ve ever encountered – this is absolutely the most Friday the 13th that a Friday the 13th could possibly be. With only three maps and only half of the possible Jasons, the developer has a lot of room to expand. However, it’s already a great game, and a rare asymmetrical experience that’s just as satisfying no matter which side the player randomly spawns as. It’s been 30 long years since the last Friday the 13th game, and after playing this, I feel like it was worth the wait.

Despite thoroughly grasping of the rules of Tharsis and even being able to offer advice on how to be more successful to others, my winning runs were due entirely to luck. Sheer chance might be a solid basis for gambling or having a good time with friends, but when it comes to single player games, I should have a bit more say in whether my crew survives or not.

I enjoyed playing Sixty Second Shooter Prime well enough, but the fundamental unfairness of the design keeps it from being a great example of the genre.

I understand that much of WWI was fought in the mud and it probably didn’t look like a Hollywood blockbuster, but I can best describe my time with Tannenberg by saying that it never felt like I was in the middle of a war — instead, I was more often wandering through an empty battlefield trying desperately to not quit in the middle of a round. But at least I learned some history!

There’s a good experience buried beneath all the issues in Astor: Blade of the Monolith, I think. There’s no reason why some reworking of the combat, reordering certain elements to speed up the pacing, and putting some duct tape over the narrator’s mouth wouldn’t do wonders, but in its current state these flaws are simply too glaring.

I might have had less aggravation if I had a dedicated group of other players to go through the game with from beginning to end, but I wouldn't ask any of my friends to pay full price for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North. Thankfully, since War in the North was released after Dark Souls, before Skyrim, and on the same day as Uncharted 3, there's a good chance the game is already in the bargain bin for a fraction of the MSRP.

A title like The Sinking City is hard to judge. Thematically and narratively, Frogwares has hit it out of the park. Technically, it’s mostly a miss. These two aspects are in direct conflict with each other, which results in an adventure game I’m trying to forget, and an experience I never will.

A lovely face paired with an empty head is a cliché, but I'm not going to waste a better metaphor on a game this dull.

If the online multiplayer had modern social features and an engaging story worthy of the IP, Shadowrun Chronicles: Boston Lockdown would be as essential as other recent entries in the series. Unfortunately, the fundamental issues leave it hard to recommend. In lieu, I'd suggest replaying Shadowrun Returns and Dragonfall instead.

Frustrating, boring, and poorly executed, this is a game that is destined for the dustbin.

Ashwalkers is an interesting and sometimes dark story. I was always curious whether I was making the right choices and getting my team closer to their goal, or if I was sending them to their deaths. Seeing how even the smallest of choices can affect the playthrough was rewarding, and the mystery of the Dome of Domes is worth a trek through the wastes for any fan of survival management and choice-based games.

Robots at Midnight is promising, and if this were an Early Access title, I’d be excited to see where it’s going. The combat is solid (if basic) the art style offers a cartoony take on a world post-collapse, and the mechanics of exploration were satisfying from moment to moment. Still, the whole thing feels like an idea for a game, as what was in front of me for review felt miles away from being a full, complete experience.

After wrapping Godfall, I was left with the feeling that it’s going to be a one-and-done. I can’t see myself doing its endless trials or repeating the endgame boss fights — it just doesn’t feel like there’s anything more to work towards. The graphics are great and the combat is enjoyable, but it gets samey too quickly and ends up as a typical next-generation launch game that will be soon forgotten.

The characters are not only woefully generic, but poorly drawn and animated.

Despite featuring a gorgeous and carefully-designed world, Obduction fails to execute on its central identity as a puzzle game. And, when three quarters of the experience consists of walking from one point to another and sitting through loading screens, it’s difficult to imagine that Cyan Worlds respects the time of Obduction’s players. Returning the favor, I ended up having very little respect for their game.

With a few effective scares and hints of an interesting story, Slender: The Arrival is the kind of experience that anyone looking to juice their heartrate for half an hour should seek out. After the shock has worn off, though, the game has nothing left to offer.

Retro players starved for a Shinobi-like title who also relish mastery through repetition will surely see this as the perfect opportunity — just be sure to get anything other than the Switch version. For everyone else, Ganryu 2‘s try-and-die learning curve is repulsive, and the trial-and-error design harshly punishes the player for every little mistake. It’s one of those rare titles that I do not wish to go back to.

Retribution gave me absolutely nothing that I was expecting it to, what I was offered in its stead was amazingly violent and fast-paced action. The game achieves almost everything it set out to do, and I have to applaud that.

While I’m not familiar with the manga this game is based on and can’t speak to its fidelity as an adaptation, when taken on its own terms it’s a robust and satisfying arena brawler with almost too much story.

Xeno is charmingly strange thanks to its bizarre enemies and low difficulty level — it was a breeze to play through. It feels skeletal, however, and only those who wonder would happen if a three-story Maus tank battled a Rhino made of rocket launchers should give it a serious look.

Seems like a battle system without a role-playing game. There is little variety or depth to the combat, and even in the presence of assorted power-ups it becomes painfully repetitive after only a short while.

There's always more to learn of the characters in all sorts of ways, and underneath the goofiness, there was still a thick layer of strong narrative and character development that kept me invested through sixty hours. I don't know if JRPGs will ever return to their previous prominence, but if Ar Tonelico Qoga is any indication, they still have a lot to offer.

A whole lot of hot air and buzz with nothing to back it up.

The manager’s commentary during and after every stage is poorly performed, to say nothing of the terrible and repetitive victory ceremony featuring around three static commentaries, making it a must-skip. All of the aforementioned issues are especially notable considering TDF 2020 is dedicated to providing a realistic 3D race. The other modes, which include a professional career mode and other races, are hardly worth the time and effort. Tour de France 2020 is therefore greatly outclassed by Pro Cycling Manager 2020 in terms of content, and hardly makes up any ground with a better presentation.

J-Stars Victory VS+ doesn't look all that hot, offers inconsistent controls and camera, and features wildly unbalanced characters. While it was admittedly awesome to see Vegeta from Dragon Ball power up in a manner 100% authentic to how he is on screen, there's just nothing here for those who aren't already sold on the characters and franchises.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is just terrible.

While Armature definitely made a few bad calls when putting Blackgate together, I greatly enjoyed this new style of Batman, and didn't have too much heartburn over the rough patches.

In choosing to re-create Wings exactly as it was, warts and all, the developers have revealed that on a fundamental level, Wings was always more wart than it was game.

Inheritance doesn’t bring any of what I loved most about Layers of Fear back to the canvas, and instead feels like an unnecessary epilogue. It’s a shame, but like the work of Fear’s own tortured painter, not everything can be a masterpiece.

Lego 2K Drive is one of the finest arcade racers around, setting itself apart from the competition by literally building a new foundation for the genre. Like the very best LEGO sets, each of its pieces adds up to a wonderful product. Racing fans owe it to themselves to check this one out.

Those who want to use speedruns as a demonstration of their twitch skills will likely find Lovely Planet a 50-hour obsession. Nobody else really need apply.

In the end, I still enjoyed it enough to put in more than fifty hours in and still want to play more, despite all its problems. When it’s running as intended, it’s clear that this is the kind of game I’d like to see a lot more of — bloody, unpretentious, and gameplay-focused in a manner that’s eminently replayable thanks to strong core combat. That said, the good stuff in Wanted: Dead is buried under a mountain of problems — and when I say buried, I mean buried deep.

I really wanted this game to be good. The E3 trailer looked like the ridiculous Fast & Furious title people have wanted for a decade, and I specifically asked for this review opportunity. In my mind, I was totally down for what this game was promising and in the mood for a good Need For Speed, but this just isn’t it. There are certainly worse racing games out there, but few can match Payback’s blandness. It’s a listless, lifeless, soulless product that perfectly exemplifies the current state of Electronic Arts. Maybe next time.

It's a short and mildly engrossing action romp that, while probably not worth the price of a full game, will make a nice time killer for those long Saturday afternoons when the big game of the month hasn't hit shelves yet

Despite strong foundational combat mechanics common to the genre, Redemption Reapers is weak in just about every other aspect. Those flaws in combination with its punishing difficulty make it hard to recommend, and I’d say that it’s likely to produce more groans than thrills for all but the most hardcore SRPG players.

Overall, the Namco Museum Archives collection offers a bunch of great games in versions that some players might not have seen before, but the whole package is missing some personality. Sure, that doesn’t detract from the titles themselves, but it’s shame to see these historical artifacts treated in such a slapdash way.

Hellboy: Web of Wyrd feels very safe as roguelikes go — The controls are uncomplicated, the equipment is serviceable equipment, the enemies are straightforward, and it doesn’t go out of it’s way to do anything too strange or off the beaten path other than showcasing Mike Mignola’s iconic art style. Since that art was enough to get me in the door, it did what it needed to do, I suppose. Hellboy comic fans may enjoy this experience more than others as it was created with help from the writer of the comics, but I’m hoping that there are some updates down the road that will give the game a little more bite.

RICO has a pace that won’t be to everyone’s liking, and the same goes for the tone of its presentation, but the frenetic approach and the replayable nature of the mission structure makes it a delight in both single and multiplayer for those who can switch their brain off and simply enjoy the mechanics.

Zeno Clash II, like the original, is an interesting game. It falls slightly flat in the gameplay, but it's largely balanced by the world being so damn interesting to experience and wander around in.

I have no idea how something this bad came from team capable of creating something so good, but the magnitude with which Drakengard 3 fails is impressive.

Phoning Home plays well enough for its genre and has several good world-building moments, but it just wasn’t for me. I was hoping for something a little more complex given the excellent premise, but it never developed. Players who are fond of survival/crafting games might get more out of it than I did, but they should be prepared to do a lot of babysitting when ANI makes her appearance.

It's not much of a rhythm game (or much of a game in general) but when taken as pure fanservice, it's pretty much everything anyone could ask for without doing an unfiltered Google search.

There's nothing particularly broken or wrong here, but without a fresh, new idea driving it, it's got precious little to offer.

To recap: imagine playing the most uninspired, atmosphere-free "Resident Evil" clone that could exist... Then instead of using a control pad, you must verbally tell your brain-free character exactly what to do every step of the way. This is what Lifeline is like.

I was still drawn into the game's mechanics, attitude, and replayability.

From the rousing space battle at its beginning to the surprisingly intense firefight at its end, Mass Effect 3: Omega is just the sort of add-on that I would want for a game of this kind… apart from the fact that it's a bit mindbending to revisit a virtual time and place that had such an unforgettable final act. I might still be trying to wrap my head around it, but I enjoyed my time with Aria and Nyreen just the same.

Efforts to align Moon Diver's classic gameplay with an environment 20 years removed from its progenitor have only done it harm. The greatest shame is that the game did not fall victim to the caprice of an indifferent natural order; Moon Diver is betrayed by the deliberate adaptations of rational designers.

The story may be as dull as dirt and the graphics may lack a satisfying level of detail, but there's no denying that Trapt (and its three predecessors) provide a crazy sort of skewed gameplay that simply can't be had anywhere else. Very few projects actually make me laugh out loud with maniacal glee, but this was one.

Like many Atlus titles, this isn't a game for everyone. Lone players can enjoy the colorful art, the humor and some of the table-turning ruthlessness, but Dokepon's journey is meant to be taken with friends.

It may not be a technical marvel or something that will keep you occupied for days on end (it's best played in 30-minute bursts, in my opinion), but it's hard to deny the energy and enthusiasm the game brings with its off-kilter PaRappa-style characters, a kooky sense of humor, and the welcoming playability that developer Jamworks has packed onto the disc.

I could go on, but over the course of this review I've already described a litany of qualities that should win over players who appreciate mature RPG experiences with quality commensurate to the amount of time spent in them. However, there's no getting around the fact that first impressions will likely turn a lot of potential adventurers off.

While the developer is on the right track, Risen 2: Dark Waters feels choppier than the last game, and will test those with little patience.

The game is perfectly, almost proverbially, meh.

I'm sure once EA gets a better grip on this engine and produces stellar next-gen golf, we'll look back at Rory McIlroy PGA Tour with a furrowed brow. Until then, it's the best golf sim for current-gen consoles, and it offers fans and newcomers alike a heck of a good time, warts and all.

I'm not sure just why Activision was in such a rush to release the game that they didn't let Luxoflux actually finish it.

As a new music game, Helix sounded like a fun concept and I wanted to enjoy it more than I did. I just had a hard time staying with it. Taken on its own terms, the game definitely provides a challenge and some sweat—for the gamer that gets into the spirit and avoids cheating with mini-waggles.

I may not know what other MMOs offer, but something that feels like a single-player game where other people just happen to show up is just about the best possible thing I can imagine. Coming from this perspective, Defiance delivers.

If Ryse were a longer game full of interesting foes that deserved to be brutally chopped to pieces, it could have been great. Instead, it has to settle for being almost there.

The most serious problems in Star X lie with its controls. The ship's movements are limited due to poor button configuration.

The inclusion of the power-ups severely cheapens the game, changing it from a competitive fighting game into a wannabe party title.

We don't live in a sports game world where "definitely playable" is a testimonial. Gamers expect authentic sports experiences from head to toe, and a flawed-but-functional title just can't compete for their hard-earned cash when 2K's bulletproof NBA title will set them back the same sixty bucks.

I wanted to like Lifeless Planet. I gave it a fair shake and I even liked it until I got a grasp on everything it has to see and do — about 45 minutes. Past that, it’s just an exercise in running and jumping across boring vistas while collecting uninteresting audiologs to support the bloated, unsatisfying story.

There are times when it looks like there’s a much better game trying to claw its way free from the technical and design issues that plague it, but they’re only fleeting glances at what could have been before it gets overwhelmed by the muck dragging it down. Fans of the books it’s based on might get some worth out of The Dwarves, but when compared to pretty much any other half-decent RPG on the market, it comes up short in almost every possible way.

There are highs and lows to the design, but it's a fundamentally solid action title with a few terrible design decisions that make it harder to get into than it should be.

The sad part is that with some real work put into it, Payday 2 could have been awesome on the Switch. If some of the old problems had been solved, motion controls included and the graphics updated, that would have been a great start. Instead, I’m left with poor visuals, glitching enemies, terrible AI and no way to coordinate with anyone who wants to play. As it stands, it’s extraordinarily difficult to recommend this version of Payday 2 when better versions of this broken game exist at half price on other platforms.

Despite all the rough edges and problems, I am impressed with Edge of Eternity‘s ambition. The developers have some grand dreams on display here, but the fact is that a lack of polish and too many ideas stuffed into one package leave Edge of Eternity an overcomplicated, unfinished product.

I wish I enjoyed A Fistful of Gun more than I do. There's a lot about its visuals and arcade-style presentation to like, but it never stops feeling disappointingly shallow and overly-chaotic. Exciting and charming in small doses, it's just a relentless slog through hails of gunfire during extended play. Fans of the Western genre might get into it, but I'm riding to another saloon.

All in all, Steal Princess is a game the likes of which I haven't seen for years, and it manages to feel fresh and familiar at the same time.

It doesn't try to accomplish very much, and it succeeds at almost all of its very modest targets.

I had high hopes for Zack Zero going in, but the game is too rough and unpolished to recommend it. The dodgy platforming, bland gameplay, and goofy main character are huge detriments to the experience, and the ridiculous ending is like one final slap in the face before gamers go about their life.

It's so overflowing with contrived gimmicks to (presumably) add to the depth and longevity to the game that its weak core gameplay sticks out like a sore thumb.

Now that this great title is available with high definition graphics, it's a great way for fans of 3D platformers to spend ten bucks.