Another Nancy Drew game, which doesn’t manage to raise the series beyond its usual level.

While it always feels bad to slam a small-ish studio that is more overly ambitious than actually incompetent, Eternal Strands is too shoddily-made to be praised. Not challenging and intelligent enough to promote a smart use of systemic magic effects, too repetitive to be charming and too strained between inspirations to find an unique voice, this is more of an unfinished tech demo with wacky physics than a true fantasy tale.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Playing Romeo is a Dead Man feels like seeing an aging rockstar on stage : you respect them and you see the vision, but the execution isn't quite there anymore. Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture's latest adventure is a hodge-podge fusion of visual styles and ideas, which never coalesce into a coherent experience. The action gameplay starts off strong, but stagnates, as frequent framerate drops and damage-sponge enemies turn the highest difficulties into a real slog. Romeo is a Dead Man even concedes defeat in the final stretch as the story is clarified through a bunch of written notes. Ultimately feels like a borderline self-parody in its worst moments.

Quotation forthcoming.

Possessor(s) betrays Heart Machine's experience with amateurish flaws, ranging from unpleasant controls to a very unremarkable metroidvania level structure. Ultimately feels like a first draft with good intentions and absolutely stellar artworks interspersed throughout.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Crackdown 2 is quite ugly, technically outdated and uses the same gameplay patterns as the first episode without correcting any of its flaws... You'll find so many better games of the same kind, it would be a waste to play to Crackdown 2 at full price.

Quotation forthcoming.

Scenario and atmosphere are here. The rest is just missing or undermined by flaws, from its dramatically brief campaign to the numerous technical limitations. What came as a challenger for Call of Duty doesn't even end up close to a good FPS. So much for the promises, Kaos Studios.

Scenario and atmosphere are here. The rest is just missing or undermined by flaws, from its dramatically brief campaign to the numerous technical limitations. What came as a challenger for Call of Duty doesn't even end up close to a good FPS. So much for the promises, Kaos Studios.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

By trying to touch everything, the MySims saga scatters a little […] The world is still appealing but this new episode seems more like a draft with its numerous game design flaws.

It is in fact another brutish DLC for Dragon Age, and the roleplay is once again nowhere to be seen.

Quotation forthcoming.

The only originality in Fantastic Pets is its dragons and its unicorns. Despite its augmented reality function, this game is less interesting than Kinectimals because of its poor gameplay and its not so lovable cartoon creatures.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Call of Duty : Black Ops 7 walked into Battlefield 6's release like Sideshow Bob walking into a comically big rake. From a disastrous coop campaign to an overly-complex zombie mode, this is probably the worst main episode ever released, feeling like a 2010's parody of Call of Duty.

Quotation forthcoming.

Code Vein 2 is a textbook example. It's a testament to a glaring lack of inspiration, revealing, if any further proof were needed, the utter emptiness of a work that merely copies without ever daring to be original. Uninspired assemblage is the hallmark of a creative who doesn't know how to create. And one is led to wonder how Code Vein 2 even exists: limited in its narrative (as abstruse as can be), in its gameplay (completely devoid of any real feeling), in its structure (why open up a world only to close it off in its possibilities?), and even in its art direction (all the clichés are there), it's nothing more than a collection of ideas that sound good but struggle to generate interest from the very first minutes. And this continues right up to its inevitable conclusion, which, in the context of this review, proved to offer a far greater sense of liberation than that of having defeated a challenging enemy.

A mediocre game we'll forget quite easily.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Dance Evolution is pretty much the anti-Dance Central : a game thought for advanced dancers, with on one hand a playlist aimed to those who are accustomed to the franchise, and on the other hand many issues that make it more frustrating than fun.

Quotation forthcoming.

It took six years, multiple studios, countless reboots, and a trail of broken promises to finally deliver Bloodlines 2. The result is utterly schizophrenic : a game too ambitious for its budget, yet too timid for its own universe. What was meant to reinvent the vampire RPG ends up merely mimicking its conventions. Bled dry by compromise, Bloodlines 2 has lost what little vitality it had left. Beneath layers of code and the scars of its tortured development, you can still glimpse what it might have been: a gothic tragedy about duality, a nocturnal political fresco, a mirror held up to our own thirst for power. But that dream didn’t survive the daylight.

Quotation forthcoming.

Some Pokémon, then nothing. PokéPark Wii : Pikachu's Adventure only tries to hide its lack of depth behind the pretty faces of two hundreds of Pokémon in the need of entertaining.

By trying to touch everything, the MySims saga scatters a little […] The world is still appealing but this new episode seems more like a draft with its numerous game design flaws.

Quotation forthcoming.

Kinect Adventures! remains fun a few minutes, but its content is too thin to be effective on the length.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

The sweet nostalgic feeling of Splatterhouse gives way to disappointment as the game had obviously been dash off.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Seven mini-games is not much.

Quotation forthcoming.

Dance Paradise is pretty much the ugly fat girl you get back to at the end of the night ; you're pretty sure you'll have some good time with her, but then, you better erase her from your memory.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Based on Swery65's resume, we expected Hotel Barcelona to have a lot of kinks to work through, but we still weren't prepared for the god-awful controls, the poorly-implemented invasion mechanic or the wacky, zany plot. A waste of great artworks.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Very forgettable in solo play, Sports Island DS isn’t that great in multiplayer either.

Does not hold a candle to heavyweights of the genre.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

By trying to touch everything, the MySims saga scatters a little […] The world is still appealing but this new episode seems more like a draft with its numerous game design flaws.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Start the Party in a nutshell ? Dispensable.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Neither a good beat 'em up or even a very exciting Action RPG.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

On top of a boring gameplay […], Iron Man 2 is ridiculously and randomly hard.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

In the end, that's the whole game that doesn't hold up.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Although 1348 Ex Voto appears to be the labor of love of enthusiasts seeking to toy with history, it proves to be as tedious as a lecture delivered in a monotone voice. Quite simply—and sadly—Sedleo’s title is nothing more than a bad game. Whether in terms of gameplay or narrative, it suffers from a relentless string of minor flaws, nasty bugs, and deeper structural issues. Unlike many indie games of this ilk—which can rely on a compelling story to make up for mediocre gameplay, or vice versa—*1348 Ex Voto* cannot lean on either of these crutches. The result is a spectacular failure; it may indeed go down in legend, but in the worst possible way.

Quotation forthcoming.