Anthem has good ideas, but it struggles significantly with the execution. It's a co-op game that works best with no one talking; it buries genuinely interesting character moments and puts its most incomprehensible story bits at the forefront; its combat is exciting until you get to the boss fights and find your wings have been clipped. Even the simple, exhilarating act of flying is frequently interrupted by the limitations of your javelin, and you never quite shake that feeling of disappointment--of knowing, throughout the good parts of Anthem, that you'll inevitably come crashing back down.

Unfortunately, Dadliest Catch is just an inconsistent, intermittently hilarious trifle, and not the game this terrific character deserves.

Contra: Operation Galuga has it where it counts. It feels like classic Contra in all the ways that matter, and a series of changes and upgrades--from minor tweaks like auto-equipping weapons to major new elements like the perks shop--are just enough to make it feel smooth and modern. This may not be a modern classic, but it shows how a classic series like Contra can feel fresh again.

Man of Medan is still telling a weak story, though, as much as Shared Story plasters over this with its excellent take on co-op, which lets you plan things out and work together to craft the narrative you want to tell (and kill the characters you find the most annoying). If you can organize a session with someone else who owns the game and play through the whole thing together, it's an excellent experience; but if you're after another single-player horror narrative experience like the one offered in Until Dawn, it's very disappointing. As a show of the potential for the Dark Pictures Anthology, Man of Medan is largely a success, but as a first episode, it leaves plenty to be desired.

It isn't as comprehensive or glamorous as any of Nintendo's Pokémon games, but fans of the show will still probably enjoy it a great deal, since it will let them gather and build their own set of fighting spirits while also experiencing firsthand many of the stories told in the show.

Ironically, the most fun part of the DLC is a quest to fill a special urn, purchased from weekend vendor Xur. It's a five-step quest in the vein of the Exotic Bounties, with a nice, varied set of objectives and no level requirements.

Some distinguishing features give this shooter a touch of class, but bugs and execution flaws cast a long shadow over Call of Juarez: The Cartel.

It may be a change of scenery, but the final Fallout 3 downloadable content pack ends the saga on a low note.

Were it not for its great boss fights and fascinating story, repetitiveness and sparse exploration might have derailed Fate/Extra.

The fun, challenging Oozi: Earth Adventure loses its charm in a sea of recycled ideas.

Underneath all of the micro- and macrotransactions, lewd gazing, cluttered menus, and the overwhelming hawking of cosmetics and other items, Mecha Break is a decent multiplayer game featuring a bunch of cool and distinct mechs that clash in frequently thrilling battles. It's a shame that everything surrounding its hectic action sours the experience, and the lack of meaningful customization is a notable oversight, but Operation Verge is a good time and worth checking out, even if you only have a fleeting interest in giant robots slapping the paint off each other.

Based on the strength of its maps and its great shooting mechanics, XDefiant enters the free-to-play shooter space in competent shape. Some of its balancing issues will hopefully be rectified soon, but even then, overpowered snipers are a relatively minor issue compared to its clumsy mishmash of styles. The pace of the action is at odds with its class-based approach, almost completely undermining its focus on unique character abilities. Combat is enjoyable enough that it's still eminently playable, and XDefiant's foundations are ripe for improvement. Competition is stiff, though, and there are better options out there that aren't as conflicted.

It's a rollercoaster of an episode, with some disappointing holes punched in concepts that have been strengthened for three episodes, but it delivers a punch in the gut that makes the rest of the experience worthwhile.

AEW Fight Forever, much like the company it represents, is a cocky young upstart trying to take the crown from a titan. Also much like its source material, its first outing is a decent foundation for what its future could provide. The roster is a good primer on the current AEW lineup, there are enough match types to keep things fresh for a while, and Road To Elite is an irreverent look at the life of a wrestler that made me smile. There are some bumps in this road--particularly the lack of trios matches and the disappointing entrances--but those are all things which can be fixed in future installments. If AEW truly plans to Fight Forever in the video game world, then they've thrown an effective first punch.

The aerial combat is still thrilling, but some inexcusable issues make Zone of the Enders HD Collection a disappointing repackaging of two cult classics.

Claptastic Voyage, much like our dear Claptrap himself, is an imperfect little thing. But it's still decent thanks to Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel's outstanding combat formula and some superb environments revealed as you delve further into the story.

Once you get past the novelty, there's nothing to keep you playing Real World Golf.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter doesn't merge its cliched parts into a satisfying whole, making it just another middle-of-the-road military shooter.

Digimon fans will find the multiplayer worthwhile, but the dull story mode is basically just a rehashing of the previous Digimon World.

NBA 08 is still a decent alternative for anyone who wants a little something different from a basketball game, but it's mostly the same as last year's version.

Gods Will Be Watching was close to being a must-have puzzler, but it's doubtful that even the gods would have the patience to see it through to the bitter end.

You shouldn't dismiss the game as wholly unworthy: online multiplayer is good fun, and the campaign shows signs of life, occasionally letting you see past the me-too warfare and appreciate a brief flash of imagination. But on the whole, Warfighter leaves you thinking, "Yep, that's a military shooter, all right." Its heroes strive for greatness; the game they star in is merely serviceable.

This puzzler had potential, but a few stumbling blocks suck out much of the fun.

There are quite a few parts of Atomic Heart that just don't neatly fit together, and those disparities create an experience that often feels at odds with itself. That disparity is most evident in how the history of the world in Atomic Heart is interesting and sets up an intriguing conversation about the nature of free will and collectivism, but then the unlikable protagonist repeatedly prevents that topic from being explored. Atomic Heart is certainly going to appeal to some people, especially those looking to relive BioShock Infinite, but it's not an easy recommendation.

Blue Dragon is an unexceptional RPG that does just enough to escape mediocrity.

A neon retro sheen doesn't mask the flaws in this short and basic shooter.

Much like its own arkfalls, Defiance offers treasure, but you have to battle an array of bugs before you can reap it.

Horizon has some stellar ideas, and a good half of them are executed well.

Defiance is the B movie of massively multiplayer games: rickety and unrefined, yet a good time all the same.

Big-time micromanagement awaits those who check in to Hotel Giant 2.

Despite various minor improvements, Mega Man Star Force isn't significantly different than the GBA Battle Network games.

Some fun songs and unique gameplay help get Samba going, but imprecise controls and unreasonable difficulty bungle the beat.

It may stumble too many times with its dialogue, fail to find much substance in its characters, and lack any impressive presentation. But it uses that fragmented structure to keep you guessing, and engaged, right up to its numerous depressing, hopeful, gruesome endings.

The visuals are fancy, but this kung fu game suffers from uninspired combat and unresponsive controls.

Save the Light plays like your typical RPG, but the notion that you're off on an adventure with your best friends is tied to the game’s systems in an extraordinary way. If this was all Save the Light was, we'd be talking about a simple-but-enjoyable RPG, and a pitch-perfect way to hang around in Steven's universe between seasons of the show. Unfortunately, it’s still brought down by the fact the game being broken in some major ways.

There are a lot of interesting gameplay ideas to experiment with, which makes the fact that so many of them are barely explained in-game incredibly frustrating.

This satirical shooter is fun, but it never takes advantage of the potential of its parodies.

This jack-of-all-trades football game is the master of absolutely nothing.

Even if Playgrounds' single-player mode lacks the unbridled merriment that makes multiplayer so enjoyable, finally getting the upper hand in a tournament is rewarding and exciting in its own way. But even at its best, Playgrounds doesn't offer enough variety to keep you engaged for long. Playing the same game type over and over, with only levels and opponent names changing, quickly gets old, no matter how good they feel in the moment. Even one additional game type at launch might've made the overall package more enjoyable, but as of right now, it might be best to wait for Saber to patch in some variety.

FBI problem-solver Nelson Tethers is back for more of the same in Puzzle Agent 2.

Spelunker Party, much like the original game it's based on, can be a hard game to love, but if you're prepared to dig deep with some friends, it can be a gem.

After an ambitious start and far too much repetition, the magic is drained from Reveria and, in the end, all you’re left with is the mundane.

If the progression felt a bit less stilted and fights weren't drawn out, repetitive affairs, this would be one of the strongest Dragon Ball games out there. Alas, just like Hercule in the series, Dragon Ball Fusions postures and promises more than it actually delivers.

Younger fans of the show will likely enjoy watching the story gradually unfold as they constantly use the characters' superpowers to fight monsters in Lyoko's virtual world. However, the game's sluggish pace, repetitive combat, and straightforward puzzles guarantee that older or experienced players will lose interest long before the story reaches its conclusion.

or every great point, there's some small, nagging nick in the experience. While the strong narrative and precisely delivered story is as mature and dense as it's ever, and positively carries the experience, it's also beginning to show its age.

It feels like the main purpose of Lost Sphear is to remind you of your favourites of the genre, rather than to join their company.

While raising monsters can still be absorbing, Monster Rancher DS looks and feels a bit too old fashioned for its own good.

Control and design issues break up the band.

Getting to the end of Quantum Break can be an interesting ride at times, but no matter how impressive the combat is, or how great the game looks, there's no getting around the fact that it's driven by a story with limited appeal and hindered by disappointing design decisions.

Yesterday's unsteady narrative is disappointingly brief, though solid puzzles and nice visuals make it a pleasant diversion.

Tends to be dry, unpolished, buggy, and difficult to learn. It's a game that reaches for the stars, gets well underway, and yet in the end only makes it as far as the moon.

A wave of tedium nearly sinks this medieval trading game.

Those moments in WarioWare: Move It show how the game is capable of hitting its stride, and it's hard not to get a goofy grin when you're asked to cock your head to one side to gaze into a lover's eyes, or stamp a series of papers with your butt. But those moments are not as frictionless as they should be for a game that seems aimed at a relaxed, party atmosphere. The original WarioWare had an elegant simplicity to it, and the motion controls add a layer of abstraction that can be difficult to penetrate. If your friend circle is willing to put in the time to learn all the poses--and deal with some potential technical hiccups--then you may have a good time. But I suspect that, for most, WarioWare: Move It will be a short-lived Story mode experience before the game moves its way to the shelf.

AI issues and the lack of any significant new features have NHL 2K9 skating backward this year.

Digimon fans will find the multiplayer worthwhile, but the dull story mode is basically just a rehashing of the previous Digimon World.

Dungeon Twister has depth to spare, but that doesn't entirely work in its favor.

The Clash of Ninja games haven't been great, and Revolution isn't much more than a thin coat of paint on the same old game.

Considering Warface is a sharp-looking game that you can play for free in your Web browser, you might be inclined to overlook some of its minor faults. The collaborative dynamic of co-op missions is the real draw, but the generic presentation and uninspired competitive combat don't take enough risks to push beyond what you've see done before.

Frequently frustrating combat and an annoying central character prevent The 3rd Birthday from making the most of its unusual mechanics.

On the lively and intriguing battlefields of Brink, design issues can be as deadly as enemy soldiers.

Flawed motorcycle physics and lackluster graphics hold back the potential of this official MotoGP racer.

The pacing is faster, and it's pretty satisfying viscerally. It's a decent buzz, but with a limited number of levels and a decided lack of depth, it wears off pretty quickly.

Death Come True is an enjoyable but all-too-brief trip into a disturbing live-action mystery world that is a blast while it lasts. Unfortunately, when everything ends and the credits roll, you're left longing to spend more time with the characters and world you just experienced. Death Come True's throwback gameplay definitely scratches an itch, but it ultimately leaves you wanting for more.

Overall, The Edge of Fate is far from the worst expansion that has been released during Destiny 2’s tenure, but as the direct successor to 2024’s phenomenal The Final Shape, it falls short. It reuses old assets, fails to impress with its new environments and mechanics, and the main story seems to stop just as it’s about to get interesting. Of course, that’ll be fleshed out through the year’s updates and seasonal content, but with a distinct lack of anything exciting to do now, I fear I’m on the brink of another involuntary Destiny 2 hiatus.

Flawed motorcycle physics and lackluster graphics hold back the potential of this official MotoGP racer.

It’s clear that the act of flying is Iron Man VR's driving force. Every story mission ends with a score and ranking, pushing you to replay and improve, and each map has multiple types of optional time trials for anyone who just wants to spend more time in the armor. Unfortunately, there aren't that many ways to take advantage of those unique controls. Aside from a single chase sequence and a story-heavy "horror ride" level, there is very little variation in the gameplay. With only a handful of weapons and enemy types, even the unique controls cannot stave off the redundancy. You'll also replay many levels more than once over the course of the story, intensifying the feeling that you've seen and done everything the game has to offer long before the credits roll.

After a strong start, A New Frontier ends on a slightly weak note with From the Gallows.

Redshirt does manage to successfully poke fun at a lot of social media's worst aspects, and it can be good for some genuine chuckles.

High-impact action and lively animation save this brawler from mediocrity.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure is a lovely remake of a niche PlayStation classic, but it still lacks broad appeal.

Most of the game's foundation is solid. The beat-'em-up combat, the art, and a lot of secondary gameplay is surprising and fun. Though its blend of gameplay variations feels unbalanced at times, and it isn't always the laugh-riot it tries to be, Battletoads is an entertaining little romp.

Dungeon Siege III is a fun but unambitious dungeon crawler that fails to live up to the games that came before it.

Combat feels good enough, but there's not much to it, and little to strive for.

WRC 4 continues Milestone's trend of satisfying but unremarkable rally games. Some key areas have clearly been worked on, but the core experience still lags behind Dirt when it comes to capturing the pure excitement of off-road racing, and Career mode is nothing that we haven't seen dozens of times in other racing games.

This familiar Lego-themed adventure has flashy 3D effects, but predictable gameplay and a lack of challenge keep it from flying high.

The crazy sense of humor remains intact, but hackneyed and rudimentary motion controls have lost almost all of their luster.

The visuals are fancy, but this kung fu game suffers from uninspired combat and unresponsive controls.

Stronghold Crusader 2 understands the art of the troop blob, but that alone doesn't make it a good game. Its lack of interesting units, underdeveloped castle-building options, and terrible tutorials hold the game back. Blob warfare is still fun, and directing an army never gets old. But man cannot live on blob alone.

While the campaign is fun but often too familiar, Resistance shines most of all in some of the game's secondary modes, particularly Invasion and No Cross PvP. Of course, bringing a buddy along to play the story in co-op smooths over some of its roughness, too. I do want to play more of this series, but I'm hopeful the next one takes a bigger leap forward and cleans up some of the long-present jank. Like the difference between the second and third games in the series, it's only going to be the next big step for Sniper Elite if the team finally innovates on what existed before. Otherwise, it's just sparkling familiarity.

That length may have been born from a desire to create a big, meaty RPG, but in the end, it mostly serves to accentuate the simplicity in all aspects. Stretched over so many hours, exploration becomes dull, combat feels repetitive, and the story can't sustain itself. Mario & Luigi: Brothership is well made and has some great ideas, but in breaking free of its handheld limitations, it becomes too ambitious for its own good.

Considering how much processing oomph it seems to need, Sword Coast Legends looks muddy and unremarkable. The world is easily forgotten. Sewers, woods, tumbledown buildings, castles and keeps--perhaps the game’s beauty is limited by the necessity to stick to reusable tilesets, or perhaps the lack of clarity is down to that 3D style.

Hardcore Godzilla fans will appreciate seeing the decent renderings of some of their favorite monsters here, but they're unlikely to be terribly impressed by the action itself.

The addictive gameplay of the SimCity series is completely missing in this lackluster spinoff.

Fortune Street is a decent strategy board game, but the slow pace siphons away much of the fun.

Those unfamiliar with Jojo are likely to be bewildered playing Eyes of Heaven; the game pulls no punches in declaring its priorities with its thick layer of fanservice, pleasing only those who've read far into the series' three decade long run. It's an unfortunate misgiving to newcomers, but for fans, it's unequivocal bliss.

Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015 gives players what they've wanted for a long time by implementing deckbuilding, but it doesn't excuse the bare-bones package and needless extra monetization.

You'd think that a "persistent world next-gen shooter" would have a persistent world. What you get instead is a static universe filled with traditional non-player character vendors, crafting facilities, auction houses, and a distinct lack of adventure.

The dark and creepy Afterfall: Insanity is let down by its tedious combat and slow start.

The episode's focus is clearly on setting up the characters and conflicts that might pay off in later chapters; it serves a narrative purpose, but isn't especially effective on its own terms.

Hours upon hours, this little passion play repeated itself throughout my playthrough. Even after stopping everything to grind for experience, the next major area would present another drastic difficulty spike, with help nowhere to be found. Stacking debuffs on enemies was often the only effective recourse, forcing the enemy to unwittingly murdering themselves, rather than handle the task through my own attacks. While effective, it's also the least enjoyable way to experience a turn-based RPG.

Despite these issues, Battle Chasers is sustained through the strength of its story, a rollicking tale that takes our heroes literally to hell and back. It's bolstered by some sharp dialogue, gorgeous artwork, and an ensemble that plays extremely well off of each other. It's also a long game, but considering its relatively few major beats, it feels unnecessarily drawn out. It's too bad, because Battle Chasers is otherwise one of the rare comic-based games to have this many pieces in the right place.

If you're willing to overlook the clumsy controls and the dated look, then Silent Line might be worth your while, but otherwise, there are much better giant-robot games on the market.

A game made by game developers, for game developers, featuring humour that only game developers are likely to fully appreciate.

I have fond memories of playing The Thing back in 2002 because there wasn't anything else quite like it. It was inventive and exciting, and even today, no one else is trying to do what Computer Artworks attempted in the single-player space. I commend the studio for what it achieved, but the limitations of the technology--and its design constraints--are much more apparent now, even with nostalgia-tinted glasses on. Nightdive has done a fantastic job of restoring this flawed but intriguing game, continuing its crucial work with game preservation. All of the changes it's made are positive, resulting in a better game, both visually and mechanically. Nonetheless, this is a case where a complete remake would've been much more appealing, allowing for the trust and fear system to be fleshed out with less rigidity and more dynamism. As it is, Computer Artworks' vision might never be fully realized, and that's a shame.

A big game, to be sure, with enough levels to keep you busy over a three-day rental period. The puzzles within them aren't very original or entertaining, but seeing that this is the only Tomb Raider-style game to come to the Nintendo 64, it deserves at least a little leeway.

It gets the job done, but NASCAR 2011 is a better reminder of the great old NASCAR games than it is a good game in its own right.

It's a competent, fun little outing that's almost perfectly suited for kids who need something silly and ridiculous that won't require too much thought or technical mastery.

Rocket Arena's approach to being a more approachable shooter, from its colorful, whimsical characters to its forgiving rocket launcher mechanics, makes it easy to appreciate at first glance. Its frenetic mix of explosive-based shooting and easy-to-understand character abilities let you start having fun fast, but its lack of depth and uninteresting modes don't maintain the momentum. Rocket Arena undermines its main rocket-jumping hook by making the strategy meaningless amongst its other mechanics, and its shooting grows stale in the process. There's limited fun to be had with its frenetic and fast shooting action, but it's lacking strong lasting appeal.