Krater makes a fresh first impression, but beneath the surface, you find generic combat and frustrating design elements.

Oddly enough, it's the chaos and destruction that derail FlatOut 3.

198X is a great idea with middling execution. While its games offer some brief enjoyment, there's not enough here for the game to feel like a proper ode to '80s arcades, nor does the Kid's plight, and his longing to escape his current life, totally connect. There's definitely a spark of something here--and Shadowplay, in particular, is a lot of fun--but 198X feels more like a proof of concept than a final product.

It's a disappointing game with a lot of missed potential, and it doesn't convey a good story or the rewarding feeling of surviving against the elements.

Back in 2003, A Wonderful Life offered a refreshing and sentimental take on the farming sim genre. However, even then, it felt a bit empty when compared to what many other simulation games were doing. While Marvelous added greater inclusivity, clarity, and additional events and dialogue, it doesn't keep this 2023 remake from feeling empty and stuck in the past.

It is impossible to enjoy the game as a complete experience because you see everything through the eyes of one of the most vapid gaming protagonists ever created, and do all of your adventuring in a world so sickeningly sweet that you should get screened for adult-onset diabetes the moment you put down the gamepad.

The Adventures of Tintin is a dull and repetitive platformer that does no justice to the exciting exploits of its titular character.

Remnants of Isolation is a truncated RPG that never allows its story or progression system to properly develop, and while the focus on a pair instead of a full party pays off in combat, the woefully undercooked bond between the protagonists never does enough to make you care about any of the three possible endings.

This bare-bones movie tie-in is like a machine with synthetic rubber skin: it's not fooling anyone and you should stay away from it.

Blacksad: Under the Skin works, it's a solid detective game that serves up a case worth cracking, a charismatic lead whose character you can shape in meaningful ways, and an investigation method that successfully wraps you in a brown trenchcoat. But when it doesn’t work you'll find yourself bogged down in the tedium of traipsing around another uninspired location, searching for that final wayward hotspot, and the atmosphere is sucked out of the room.

It provides absolutely nothing that hasn't been seen and done countless times before and done better at that. Unless you're absolutely rapt with morbid curiosity about how Malice ultimately turned out, your time and money are definitely best spent elsewhere.

The PlayStation 2 version of Tiger Woods 08 has no new game modes, fewer courses, and fails to improve on last year's game in any significant way.

Beholder is based on a strong concept, and it has moments that land well, but it’s also held back by repetition and an unexciting script.

For a game that's meant to bear the legacy of a classic series, Mighty No. 9 barely succeeds. It may rouse excitement from time to time, but by and large, it lacks a pervading sense of artistry, both in its level design and presentation.

The Diofield Chronicle probably wants to explore ideas around how power is accumulated and how legitimacy is granted with its tales of warring lords and divine rights. But it never truly engages with them. Characters hedge around such issues, expressing tentative misgivings regarding the nobility of their mission before carrying on regardless. Similarly, in brief conversations, it gestures at the possibility of other ways to structure society, but never actually entertains them. With Andrias and his mercenary company the hammer that sees every problem as a nail, it makes for an unsatisfying narrative arc. Yet as you deploy the same tactics across what may as well be the same battlefield against pretty much the same enemies for the umpteenth time, it's an effective metaphor for the conservative and unimaginative game design.

If the goal was to create a game that's both alive and dead at the same time--mission accomplished.

Though it's an endearing attempt at evoking 16-bit nostalgia, Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 feels a little too dated.

Too many design issues leave this physics-based puzzler grounded.

It's hard to invest in lore that's so inextricably tied to the grind of missions or side-quests, hard to suspend your awareness of that grind when you're awash in constant pitches for boosters and special unlocks.

Getting to play chess or checkers online against friends is pretty much the sole reason to own this ramshackle collection of games.

Ultimately, co-op adds little to the overall package, which is a shame since Homefront definitely needs some help. Its substantial story campaign is impressively rich and its shooting can be tense and fun, but half-baked stealth, an unfulfilling story, and a vast menagerie of technical inadequacies drag the overall experience into disappointing mediocrity.

Condemned Heroes isn't a bad addition to the series, but it is limited and predictable, which might be a tough sell to those who have seen all of this before. Additionally, the intensely frustrating difficulty makes the game an even dicier proposition for casual gamers or series newbies looking to get into some WWII squad combat. So venture into this one only if you're looking for a lot of repetitive reasons to pull out your hair.

Spyro continues his quest for mediocrity in yet another frustrating, unoriginal adventure.

If you really like Dynasty Warriors and you're jonesing for a new strategy game to get into after exhausting all the other brilliant ones available, it's worth a look. But that’s hardly enough of an endorsement in a strategy genre full of far better crafted games, is it.

Pupperazzi is a cute game conceptually, but it falters in its execution, making for an experience that I couldn't get behind despite desperately wanting to extend it all the same affection I have for our four-legged friends. Quite simply, the game fails to capture the liveliness and joy that dogs, art, and games can provide us with. While the premise is unique and wholesome, Pupperazzi is ultimately a lot more bark than bite.

Lost Planet 3 takes narrative steps forward while standardizing its sci-fi action, for better and for worse. It's a decent game, neither a mess nor a triumph.

Myths of the Eastern Realms does what a lot of expansions do: It condenses a larger, more expansive game into something quicker and more approachable. Being able to explore a new area and solve puzzles at a quicker pace can be fun, but without any strong new hooks, it's too stale to maintain much excitement for long and feels like a wasted opportunity to bring the world of Chinese myth to life.

Lost Planet 3 is both less exasperating and less diverse than its predecessors.