Shadows of the Damned, despite some interesting ideas and intense action, falls victim to poor game design in the second half of the experience. Frustrating turret levels, going back to the 2D well one too many times, and puzzles that literally halt the game's pacing all mar what could have been a great game.

Zenses Ocean delivers six solid puzzle games wrapped in a soothing, high-quality presentation. The game is a bit pricey for what you’re getting, though.

It's a fun mini golf game with potential for great user-created content. However, rough camera controls and no practice mode for specific holes work against it. Planet Minigolf is worth your attention if you can overlook some shortcomings.

The different gameplay style is going to throw Disgaea fans for a bit of a loop. But the humor and story is on point, making this a perfectly legitimate entry in the Disgaea universe.

Zenses Rainforest delivers six traditional puzzle games wrapped in a soothing, high-quality presentation. The game is a bit pricey for what you’re getting, though.

Prinny 2 has the makings of another great side-scrolling action game, but is marred by crummy controls and overly difficult level designs. The incredible boss battles aren't enough to keep this light-hearted sequel from being the first big disappointment of 2011!

The storyline's intention for motivation quickly becomes trite, and Pigsy is not the most favorable protagonist. The gameplay, however, is surprisingly unique compared to Enslaved's.

Hydrophobia Prophecy is the best version of the game released to date but that isn't really saying much. The game itself is an average platforming adventure that just happens to ride on the tails of an incredible liquid physics engine. Those physics stand out on their own, but when combined with the mediocrity of everything else, the entire package comes down to an average-at-best level.

A lot of good ideas are present but they're hampered by poor pacing, technical issues, and loose ends. It's fun for an action role playing game but will probably leave you wanting more.

Crash Bandicoot still has a lot of potential left in him, but the developers are going to have to try harder than this if they want to resurrect this floundering franchise!

Quality gameplay while it lasts, but this new chapter is over just as the charm begins to set in to the experience. Fans of the original game will surely enjoy The Lost Hobo King but find their selves back in a familiar place of "wanting more" very quickly. The extra chapter is a still a welcome addition and just as enjoyable as the full adventure but it just needs to be longer and that is what really holds it back.

Superstars V8 Racing is as tame as they come. With no campaign mode (or anything resembling a single-player experience), gamers are left with this disappointing budget title. The racing is fine and the graphics look good, but there aren't enough tracks and the multiplayer is a ghost town. There's no reason to buy this over the upcoming Gran Turismo 5!

Max Payne 3's bold and different direction from series' norms has resulted in a lackluster narrative and infuriating gameplay difficulty. A well-polished presentation and hectic gun battles aren't able to redeem the lack of a memorable and worthwhile narrative, an aspect that's defined the Max Payne series since its creation. Even with Max Payne in the game's title, the actual content couldn't be further from the truth.

While the innovative ProStroke golf swing system goes the whole nine, it's got a ways to go before it makes it all the way to the 18th.

While the game doesn’t break any new ground it is a lot of fun to play and worth your time if you’re a Wolvie fan or looking for a glimpse of what God of War could look like in HD.

Fracture believes in itself from beginning to end, manufacturing a world crafted 100% around and for Terrain Deformation. This unswerving dedication builds a consistent universe around itself, at the expense of color and variety in gameplay.

Wait for this game to come down in price and then hope there are still some people left playing online.

A diverting pirate-themed ship-based shooter, Buccaneer: The Pursuit of Infamy is palatable in small bites. Just don’t plan to make an entire gaming meal out of this one.

Iron Man 2 is better than your average movie game but it's still rather short and limited in scope. The visuals are great and the controls work well, but I have a feeling HVS could've done a lot more with the property if they had more time to work on the game.

A cute, quirky, and almost-too-simple puzzler, Puzzle Agent 2 (mostly) scratches the brain-burner itch.

While the game itself isn't bad so to speak, it does get repetitive kind of quickly. It's an interesting concept, and I am a huge fan of 16-bit games, especially RPGs, but the short length of the game and the repetitiveness of the battles is kind of a let down for me.

Call of Duty: Black Ops does many things right on the PC such as dedicated servers and high resolutions, but it's just really buggy.

Spiderman Friend or Foe is obviously an attempt to cash in on the holiday rush. It doesn’t have the variety necessary to keep anyone playing for long, and the presentation is average at best.

Harken back to the late 1990's and early 2000's and the survival horror genre was enjoying a golden age in video games. Song of Horror emulates the greats of that time but, unlike those franchises which have since evolved with modern game development, Song of Horror seems stuck in the past. For nostalgia's sake, it's worth checking out for fans of that era, but otherwise it's a hit-or-miss experience that falls well short of contemporary horror games.

Redout 2 is a game that looks amazingly sleek and fun through pictures, descriptions, and videos. The facade is dropped when you actually play the game for yourself, and find a slew of poor design choices, unnecessary difficulty curves, incomplete features, and repetitive gameplay. This doesn’t even include the atrociously implemented HDR that burned my eyes and gave me a headache. Even if you’re a fan of the genre, I recommend sticking with the first Redout until this sequel is heavily patched or discounted.

While interesting on paper, The Church in the Darkness is mostly just a collection of anti-capitalist audio logs blaring over harder-than-it-needs-to-be stealth gameplay. There's no love lost in this place.

Isonzo is an honorable attempt at creating the historical events of the battles between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies. The multiplayer-only component with concern for long-term player base sustainability, alongside a multitude of user experience gripes make it an unremarkable experience.

Gunslingers & Zombies gameplay and visuals are better than this score would suggest. It's just let down by awkward controls, worse camera angles, and other evidence of a generally uninterested PC port. There's a better game out there on PC that might be more fun than paying more for a Switch version that really didn't care enough to take advantage of anything that makes the Switch good.

While it is almost miraculous that many of the properties in this game are represented in video game form, Funko Fusion is missing a sense of fun or satisfaction. With very little explanation of the game's mechanics, the player is left to wander from world to world, shooting endless waves of enemies, fiddling around with obtuse puzzles, pondering the universe and the point of it all.

Patapon 2 Remastered fails to compensate for the fact that the Sony PSP was a very different device from the PlayStation 4, and in the end, controller latency sinks this classic game adaptation. If the game had compensated for the particulars of its new home, it may have been immensely enjoyable – the core of a great game is intact. But as it stands, Patapon 2 is frustrating and unfun.

Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a sandbox collect-a-thon that pays homage to the earliest eras of Disney creations. This no risk/no reward game looks good from the opening, but just seems like an animated feature that went on for 12 hours too long. With too much chatter, not enough fun, and literal pocket thinner, Epic is not the word I would paint here.

Even if you enjoyed the movie, this game isn’t worth your money. It isn’t a sequel, but more like a buggy, half-empty expansion pack for Spider-Man 2.

Wrath of Cobra is a game that shows the love the developers have for the source content through and through. Unfortunately, that love doesn’t equal a polished and fine-tuned gaming experience. It is can enjoyable romp for fans to see and experience, but its shortcomings and technical issues keep it from being something they will truly enjoy.

I give God of Rock credit for trying to combine rhythm games and fighting games together and while I do think there is potential with the idea unfortunately the execution here isn't as good as it could have been.

Three unsatisfying modes do not make a full package. A decent story mode is kneecapped by terrible racing, the racing "arcade" mode doesn't have the saving grace of story moments, and the Playset—which could be its own standalone product—is undone by a lack of basic figures and Quest 3's memory restrictions. Hardcore fans will find some fun here, but everyone else is likely to be frustrated by the game's lack of focus and inability to deliver on its own great potential.

The only problem is the game is fairly short after you play it, and the quality just seems to be lacking.

Firefighting Simulator – The Squad isn’t a dumpster fire, but it has a hard time staying out of its own way. Perfectly fine firefighting gameplay is smothered by annoying bugs and wildly inconsistent AI. There is enjoyment to be had, but you better gear up for inconveniences along the way.

Jurassic World: Evolution is an island-making sim where frustration and wait-times are scarier than any of the dinosaurs. The idea of creating 40 dinosaurs and their enclosures sounds like a real treat, but in this case, I’m sure Dr. Grant would have stayed at his dig site.

A visually stunning game, Godfall suffers from repetitive combat and a lackluster story that is forgettable after the first hour. In an industry with so many Dark Souls-style games, this is not one to spend time on.

This is a dark, depressing and boring role-playing game with complicated rules and major design flaws. With games like Jeanne D'Arc and Final Fantasy Tactics on store shelves there's no reason to play Dungeons & Dragons Tactics.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is the story of marketable talent crafting a competent—if flawed—RPG in 2012; Re-Reckoning is that same story hastily repackaged in 2020 and resold at an overinflated price point.

While there may have the smallest step taken toward improving the gameplay, Madden 25 falls completely flat because the proper simulation modes still feel the same and haven't changed much. The UI may look different, but the same options for relocation/renovation, the same team management options, and soulless superstar options drag this game down back to where the franchise has been for the past several years. It's disappointing in every sense of the word.

The game's lack of depth and lack of goals to work towards leaves much to be desired. Tumbleweed Destiny is a simple game where players control a tumbleweed in a desert setting and collect TP to upgrade their tumbleweed. The game's slow start and limited activities, like knocking over cacti and taking down a repeating enemy, make it unengaging and uninteresting. The game also lacks proper communication options, making the online play feel like a solo experience. The end goal of reaching the moon, or going to the second location once you’ve earned enough TP was underwhelming to say the least. The grind was long and tedious; the juice is not worth the squeeze for Tumbleweed Destiny.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood takes one of my favorite FPS series and ruins it with repetitive grind, bloated FPS mechanics, a broken, mandatory co-op system and a frankly insulting story. Don’t touch this one with a ten foot pole.

Martha is Dead had all the right ideas, touching upon themes of loss, war, and personal identity in a meaningful way in a horror game. It unfortunately failed to deliver on an experience that cohesively weaved together those great ideas, along with a slew of technical and performance issues.

This is the Destiny we have for now. And things will change over the next year, a lot of tweaks are incoming. Difficulty will probably be scaled back as the current state scares away new and casual players. The consumables economy is likely going to need to be tweaked as well, the game will evolve with the seasons, but Lightfall itself is an overall disappointing chapter in a game that remains excellent. Bungie appears to be buying time until the Final Shape next year, and we're being asked to pay for it.

With its creepy cast and giant flying machine, Rule of Rose manages to scare up some real suspense. But too much of the game feels like a chore for me to recommend this survival horror experience.

The game is slow to entrust you with special moves (your only sign of character progression), and plot holes in an otherwise adventurous storyline keep the film reel in shoddy shape.

Firegirl: Hack 'n Splash Rescue DX is kindling; easily combustible and not much else. A platformer that makes platforming impossible at times. It also wants to borrow from roguelikes and Metroidvanias, but ends up taking all the wrong elements from them. Firegirl feels repetitive well before it should, including a camera that frustrates and leads to cheap deaths. The art of Firegirl is excellent. The 2D-HD made me feel like I was sitting in the living room of my parents house and I was nine years old again. But that’s nothing more than smoke and mirrors.

Dream Alone has a tired story, clunky controls, and flawed mechanics, and most of its problems can be traced to the near-fundamental incompatibility of this type of horror with this type of platforming. Its most promising aspect—multiple dimensions—is by far the creepiest part, which is enjoyable, but it seems to sabotage itself with a few key flaws that impact the entire game’s playability.

Space Commander: War and Trade makes the transition from mobile to console without considering what changes would make the game more palatable for console players. A very basic trading system, a fiddly map, and super simple space combat all add up to an experience that underwhelms. There is a lot going on in Space Commander, but not very much of it is fun.

Rudimentary in visuals, content and gameplay, Boxing Champs barely qualifies as a free phone game, much less a 15 dollar eShop title.

There is no doubt that Yet Another Zombie Defense HD is more crisp and graphically pleasing than the first, but where the game could have had more distinct zombies, different backgrounds, and more customization, it stayed with the same ole’ boring. For four bucks you can have a decent time with the game, just don’t expect it to be a regular pull on game night.

Khaos Reigns is a mess of multiverse nonsense featuring mostly a cast of characters we know and care nothing about because they aren't from the main timeline. The whopping $50 price tag for this is insane. I would say that if you care about the characters, then just wait and buy them separately because the story expansion isn't worth that price at all.

If Rick & Morty: Virtual Rick-ality were a discount title, I would say Take a look, but keep your expectations in check. However, this is one of the more expensive VR titles, and the brevity of the story combined with the frustration of some broken mechanics make this a mixed bag. The game is fun when it is working correctly, and the world building and writing are top notch, but don’t expect to spend more than a couple of hours in Rick’s garage, with some of that time spent wrestling with broken mechanics.

Roller Drama is a short visual novel that has a lot of neat characters and interesting ideas that unfortunately don't all come together in the end.

Some games don’t need to be ported from board to video. Settlers of Catan is one of those games. The rules are exactly the same. The resources have been left unchanged. The robber still shows up with you roll a 7. That isn’t the problem. Settlers of Catan: Console Edition has taught me that the game isn’t the board; it’s the players. The human interactions happening while playing, the back and forth between rivals, and the race to get to 10 victory points feels meaningless against AI opponents. I tried to get others to play with me in person, but if you don’t play video games, you won’t have fun, and the person trying to help you with the controls won’t either. There is zero online presence, I waited for over half an hour only to find no one. Settlers of Catan: Console Edition is a faithful adaptation, but the jump to the video game screen makes me dream of playing with a group of friends, in person at my dining room table.

Terminator: Resistance Enhanced is a game that doesn't really understand its source material. The evidence for that can't be made more plain than the way it can't even maintain consistency of vision from one mission to the very next one. The NPC models, audio, bugs and glitches, and repetitive nature of much of the play speaks to an implementation that falls short of any vision, whether the one presented or the one I believe should have been the goal. It does get better with the DLC, and the Infiltrator Mode is an excellent experience in it's own right, although one short lived - clocking in at less than three quarters of an hour with little replayabilty. But factoring in that minor triumph and better subplot of DLC into the mess of the main campaign still falls short of something I can really recommend.

BE-A-Walker is the first game I can recall that opens with a difficulty spike. The message is clear: get onboard with the game's many anxiety-inducing mechanics or get out now. Beyond that, you will find a moderately entertaining AT-ST simulator. Be ready to juggle a variety of frustrating systems, as nothing in this game comes easy.

Farm sims are a dime a dozen. For every great one, there’s a bad one. The problem isn’t that Everdream Valley is bad. It’s just that there just isn’t much fun with the farm life. All the staples are here, and they’re fine. What’s worst than hatred? Indifference. I feel indifferent about Everdream Valley. Is there a lot to see and do in Everdream Valley? Yes. Do I want to work my way through to see it all? No.

Eternal Threads is a narrative driven, time manipulation game that ends up being nothing more than a walking simulator and cutscene watcher. If you're into making some binary decisions to alter some future events on the timeline, then I recommend checking out the demo first. This game is much better watched, because it's just not fun to play.

They say to shoot for the moon and if you miss you’ll be among the stars. Gallic Wars: Battle Simulator shoots for the moon but you quickly realize you’re not in a rocket ship but a bicycle with training wheels. Trying to fly a bicycle to the moon has a lot of issues, in this case it's the gameplay elements, the obscure camera angles, and the repetitiveness that has Gallic Wars landing in the grass five feet from takeoff.

Maid of Sker is a long, linear hike through a very murky, muddy game world. Interesting story beats can't overcome the fact that Maid of Sker looks and plays like a frustrating game from an earlier era. Obscured visuals prevent any fun from being had with the stealth gameplay, leaving deaths feeling random and unpredictable. This hotel is best avoided, for reasons beyond its tortured history.

The bottom line with this game is that you get what you pay for, and even at $39.99, Earth Defense Force 2017 is simply overpriced. The physics and audio are so last gen, that even after blowing stuff up for some limited enjoyment, you just want to put the game away and play an Xbox Live Arcade title instead.

Strawberryland Games might keep young kids occupied for a few minutes, but there isn't enough gameplay to really last them for long. The large amounts of reading and lack of flashy sounds and graphics will also frustrate youngsters. It's best for a rent, or a short car trip.

Too many bugs for the Orkin Man to handle, too much amateur laziness in the storytelling, too little character drawn into the cast, and not enough good ideas put to any good use.

Oddly enough, King Arthur II is stuck in the same dilemma full-motion video games were: it is hard to both tell a story and give the player meaningful choices to make. In the end, the strategic and tactical elements feel like a sideshow to the railroad that is the main quest. There is fun and creativity in here, but interspersed with long stretches of tedium and frustration.

How do you expand a game that already has everything? In this case, by trying to fix its problems. Unfortunately, it looks like HOI3's issues go deeper than a patch can address. Like a true marine, Semper Fi got a thankless job.

It's marred by confusing controls, terrible gameplay, abysmal camera angles and, worst of all, a character I couldn't stand.

Tron: Evolution had the potential for expressing a unique and interesting story, but fell short of expectations.

To be honest, I slowly started liking this game the more I played it, but there are still a few nuances that irritate me, especially knowing that no matter how much or how little I practice, I'll still be able to unlock everything over time. If you're into off-road racing, you might want to give this a shot, but outside of that, it's not one I'd pick up unless there was a good deal on Steam.

Nothing about this game is horrible, but nothing is really that awesome. Alien vs. Predator: Requiem is just a mediocre action title for the PSP.

Bullet Witch is almost comically bad. Although it tries, this game never comes close to getting you to care about any of the characters and it's over far too quickly. Then again, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it any more if it had lasted longer than two hours.

Die-hard fans only need apply for this package.

Crackdown 2 is one of the most disappointing sequels of the year, a flawed action game that feels a little too much like the first game.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is really for the dedicated, the kind that enjoy fanfiction, and repetitive gameplay.

The first two games still stand the test of time so purchase them separately if you'd like. Munch's Oddysee can't be guaranteed to work well right now even after a lot of effort but Stranger's Wrath is gaining value. Buyer beware if you must have them, but I'd save my money for even more patches.

Some pretty bad bugs cropped up and the collar is really annoying at times. I did like the characters in the game and the story isn't too bad as well. It's better than Mothership Zeta for Fallout 3, but those that played that know it's not saying much.

State of Emergency is messier than the day after a riot. New gamers will be turned off by the trial and error game play while fans of the original won't recognize this mission-based sequel. Either way, just avoid this completely average PlayStation 2 game!

The Legends games are just awful, no matter which way you look at them.

Give credit to SoftLab-Nsk for trying. Rig 'n' Roll is hardly the best racing game of the year, but it's certainly better than the competition.

A halfway decent trading sim marred by a marriage to its FPS trappings.

There's a lot of good intent in Lost Planet 2 but the game is just too much of a mess to be really enjoyable by yourself or with friends.

Omega Force gets some credit for trying to do something different with Trinity: Souls of Z'ill O'll, but the game ultimately winds up being a decidedly average action RPG. It's a lengthy game with lots of combat and decent storyline, but with lots of repetition in combat and in exploration areas, the good cancels out the bad.

Baja is an off road racing game in a time where there is an unusual glut of off road racing games on the market.

Wrestlequest has a cool idea on paper, but the battle system is clunky at best. That mixed with unlikable characters, and legends that deserve a better video game, make WrestleQuest very hard to care about at all. Like a certain wrestling companies PSA, "Please, don't try this at home."

This is a good idea that needs to be retooled before it becomes a staple of the music game genre.

With a weak story, repetitive gameplay and a little too much backtracking, it's easy to become indifferent to Square Enix's newest portable role-playing game.

Miami Law could have been an edge-of-your-seat adventure game, a mash-up of 24 and Hotel Dusk. Unfortunately it takes too long getting to the point and is rarely fun along the way.

Rubik’s World has the right idea, but counter-intuitive puzzles, less-than-helpful instructions and finicky controls make this game more aggravating than mind-bending.

Ship Simulator Extremes suffers from an out-dated look and a disappointing lack of technical depth. The attempt to appeal to a wide audience fails due to the mediocre implementation of both ship simulation and compelling action.

Echoes in Time is as mediocre as you can get. Surely you can do better than this.

You will play it, finish it, and likely never look back. Thankfully though, you will probably do so without regret.

Gas Guzzlers: Combat Carnage is a goofy, entertaining battle racer with a good sense of humor and plenty of variety, provided you get past the brutally difficult intro. Gamepires is already releasing patches for the game so hopefully they open up more than just the solitary grinding race at the beginning of the game. For now, though, you'll need to suffer first before this games gives up all it has to offer.

Command and Conquer continues its tradition of existence to its fans.

While a few of the nagging issues from the last game have been addressed, Kane and Lynch: Dog Days has a below-average solo mode with boring gameplay and a seemingly pointless story.

Worse yet, the nine non-remixed arcade classics are marred by a terrible selection of games and poor Wii control implementation. Namco Museum Remix is an all around mess that has to be seen to be believed.

In a Land Far Far Away is where this title needs to stay. Despite good graphics and decent game play, the latest installment in this inexhaustible franchise leaves much to be desired.