Coincidentally, much of the game's voice cast is plucked from the Youtube comedy/gaming community, which seems oddly self-fulfilling, since the game is likely to be more enjoyable watching other people comment and play rather than actually playing it. 100t Robot Golf is an elaborate, even hilarious, joke, that rather perfunctorily has a game attached to it.

The Silver Case's unusual take on human conversations, its indecision about whether it wants to be just a visual novel or an adventure game where the player is a full participant, and its lack of focus in tying up any sort of cohesive plot, all add up to a mess of a game.

No matter how you spruce it up, however, WWE 2K17 isn't the substantial leap forward I was hoping for. The in-ring action is still serviceable, and refinements to various aspects of its combat make for a more enjoyable game than in previous years. But there are still a myriad of niggling issues holding it back, and the absence of 2K Showcase only compounds these problems.

Eagle Flight initially sounded like a kooky concept to me, but I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun playing capture-the-flag. The game has a surprising amount of depth, and it’s highly competitive as a result. There were multiple occasions when I couldn’t help but scream when an enemy eagle killed me as I was a beak’s length away from victory. And while the graphics aren’t amazing, just being able to quickly zip around Paris can be breathtaking. If you’re looking for a really fun multiplayer VR game, you should fly like an eagle.

Battlefield 1 is just an introduction to one of the deadliest world events in history, but it is an outstanding, feature-rich package in both its emotional stories and strong multiplayer.

EA DICE splendidly interprets the early 20th century as a world in technological transition while humanizing the war's participants through well crafted, albeit fictional, narrative vignettes. Combined with an enthralling multiplayer component, the overall result is the studio’s best work since Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Battlefield 1 is just an introduction to one of the deadliest world events in history, but it is an outstanding, feature-rich package in both its emotional stories and strong multiplayer.

RIGS controls are top-notch, and aside from the grating, repetitive announcers, the arenas are colorful places that I love competing in. But the smaller details that RIGS stumbles over make it hard to justify continuing after completing an initial season. RIGS is a great showcase for how to make a VR shooter, but it's also a game that could learn from the "less is more" mantra.

Picking off enemies one-by-one with a railgun, demolishing them point-blank with a shotgun, and ripping through them with a chainsaw are just a few of the exciting moments that make it hard to put down. However, if you want to experience its action-packed highs, then disregard its groan-inducing lows and skip the cutscenes.

Its enigmatic visuals, choice-driven narrative, and provocations on morality are the driving forces that warrant multiple playthroughs, and all of those aforementioned elements combine to make Here They Lie one of the standout offerings among the PSVR's launch lineup.

With Imaginators, the Skylanders series isn't pushing any gaming boundaries, but at least it has character.

Though Mafia III's campaign contains quite a few memorable moments like that bayou shootout, they're buried under a pile of repetitive filler missions and underserved by dated gameplay, which adds little to the standard sandbox shooter formula we've seen in dozens of other games. And worse still, the game suffers technical blemishes from start to finish.

Though Mafia III's campaign contains quite a few memorable moments like that bayou shootout, they're buried under a pile of repetitive filler missions and underserved by dated gameplay, which adds little to the standard sandbox shooter formula we've seen in dozens of other games. And worse still, the game suffers technical blemishes from start to finish.

Every aspect of Mafia III's writing--from the dialogue to the mission descriptions--is excellent. The obvious care and craftsmanship that went into its narrative elements should serve as a model for all other triple-A titles. The gameplay, however, just can't live up, and repetitive missions and technical problems drag the experience down further, turning a game that could have been truly great into one that has to settle for "fair."

Even though I wanted to love Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour, if even just to dig into the nostalgia evoked by replaying a game that absorbed a lot of my spare time in 1996, the only emotion aroused was a sense of amazement at just how far shooters have come in terms of graphics, immersion, and level design in 20 years. The Duke may forever be the king, but he's the king of 1996, and his game is so set in a particular time and place that it should probably be left there.

Despite it's short campaign--you can complete everything in a little more than an hour, if you're skilled--Rez Infinite is the game to buy a PSVR for. It's hypnotic and enveloping. And it's transformative, both within itself and in the wider scheme of the experiences made possible by VR. You don't want to sleep on Rez Infinite, because with the addition of more polished visual flair and the dreamy Area X, we have a new classic for the new generation on our hands.

Sure, it could use a few more maps (and more are on the way), and its learning curve is just steep enough that it's briefly tough to see the fun on the other side, but it achieves its aims with style and flair.

Even now, playing through it one year after I originally beat it, it's hard to put down. The Siberian wilderness is just as detailed and gorgeous as it is on Xbox One, and I didn't notice many differences in the character nuances, either.

It's true to the arcade original, capitalizes on its platform of choice, and provides a fully-formed experience--which is more than you can say about some VR titles. The draconian solo play, unimpressive AI, and repetitive missions stymie the fun to an extent, but with friends, Battlezone VR successfully scratches a nostalgic itch an exciting new way.

Gears of War 4 makes the best of the franchise's multiplayer modes, but delivers a lackluster campaign in the process.

The game feels old hat, taking you through well-trod ground--albeit with a fresh coat of paint and a few new faces.

Yo-kai Watch 2 does preserve the quirky tone and charming writing that made the first game so engaging, but its lack of iteration is problematic in that there aren't enough fresh ideas to color its monotonous gameplay.

At its most imaginative, Color Splash's visual gags and thoughtful manipulation of 2D objects rival any "wow" moment from Sony's Tearaway games.

A game with really high highs and really low lows. Ocean Descent and The London Heist are great introductory VR experiences that I think everyone should try, whether they're into games or not. Their biggest downfall is that they're both really short. Scavenger Odyssey, on the other hand, just made me motion sick. Overall, its a collection of novel but insubstantial tech demos.

Thumper thrives due to the way it marries speed, simple controls, and mesmerizing atmosphere. It's far more convincing in VR, where you're enveloped in the game's space and free of distractions from the outside world, but it shouldn't be ignored by those without the appropriate hardware. Thumper, no matter how you play it, is too good to miss.

There comes a point when it feels futile to push yourself to play over and over again in the hopes that you'll somehow learn new tactics in the face of such limited options.

Rush of Blood can be completed in roughly an hour and a half, and though you can unlock a few alternate paths in a couple of levels, they generally lead to more of the same--just in a different arrangement. Rush of Blood has a disturbing flavor overall, but that alone can't save what amounts to a largely predictable experience filled with straightforward action, dumb enemies, and predictable frights.

Batman: Arkham VR is barely a game. Of all the launch titles for PlayStation VR, it's likely to be the least mechanically driven, but that doesn't mean it has no value. While playing it, I was totally enveloped in the world, and in those moments the shallow mechanics didn't matter to me. I appreciate that this is a very subjective emotional response based on my lifelong obsession with the character, but it's also a glimpse into one of the greatest promises of VR: Its ability to transport us into alien worlds and blur the lines between what is real and what isn't. To give us the opportunity to sideline our real selves and absolutely inhabit characters we've dreamed of being since childhood.