This is a solid city builder in the SimCity line with a clean interface and good underlying mechanics. The online parts, which the developer hopes to use to set it apart, require more work and thought.

HAWX aims high, but is brought low by the weight of unnecessary “features and innovations.”

Tenchu Z proves that just because ninjas and video games are a perfect fit that doesn't mean that all ninja games are fun to play.

Arkadian Warrior could have been the Xbox Live Arcade's Diablo, but due to lazy programming, a boring story, repetitive level designs and crummy graphics, it just ends up being another average action RPG.

A decidedly average game with missed potential. It's worth trying out but not at full price.

A clunky and complex historical RTS that shows some glimmers of promise. This one is not for the casual gamer.

It's not the premise that works against Flatout 3 being a good game, it's the implementation. Terribly weak AI and amorphous car control distract from what could have been an enjoyable vehicular riot.

In this brave new world of Destiny, a new saga begins, and major shifts and changes alter the very systems on which the Guardians stand and progress. Unfortunately, these are changes I’m going to have to sit out until they get dialed in over the coming weeks and months. This game has been a constant in my rotation for nearly 10 years. But it now demands time that I just don’t have to give, offers rewards that aren’t worth the heavy investment, and promises to reset the clock and devalue that commitment every six months. The shooter part of Destiny is still excellent, but I’ll check back in December and see if they’ve worked out the looter bit.

At its best SWAT: Target Liberty is a messy stealth action game that tries to bite off more than it can chew.

For a game with roots in some of the greats of the past its sad but not surprising that Wolfenstein is nothing but a generic FPS with nothing particularly unique to offer.

Gatling Gears isn't a terrible shooter, but it also lacks any ambition. As dual-stick shooters go, this is another lazy attempt at the genre. The boring weapons and mediocre level designs won't win this game any awards, but they also won't ruin an otherwise unspectacular action game!

Split/Second doesn't suffer from a lack of great ideas and explosive action. Between cars blowing up and bridges falling down, there's something exciting happening around every turn. Unfortunately the whole thing is spoiled by crummy handling and an inconsistent frame rate.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers is full of fantastic ideas, unfortunately it's marred by repetitive gameplay, questionable gameplay decisions, terrible voice acting and unlikeable characters.

It misses the full potential but turns out being enjoyable. Check it out if you're a fan of the genre. If you can overlook poor dialogue and mediocre voice acting, there is a fun adventure game to be found.

With only sixteen training missions that take only an hour to complete and an Xbox Live multiplayer mode that I can't find anyone online to play with, this game leaves a lot to be desired, even for a $10 game.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S seems like the game version of redundancy. If you have the first sequel, there is simply no good reason to get this one. This could be the worst thing that's happened between Sega and Nintendo since the "Genesis Does What Nintendon't" commercials.

Unremarkable aside from its boisterous nature, Blood in the Sand is fleeting if not occasionally mind-numbing with its fun. It’s not only unoriginal, it poorly copycats its older siblings to lesser effect.

This is a game that Command & Conquer fans will enjoy (and it’s definitely the best version for those interested in purchasing it) but for everyone else, I suggest you rent it first.

A meandering plot and lackluster game play relegate Darkest of Days to the "save it for a snowy, can't-get-out-of-the-house day" shelf.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Fighting Force Collection didn't reinvent the wheel here, and I really wish it had. It's the same game. Take that for what it's worth.

If you can get over the game's sluggish controls and short story mode you will still be left with a game that is no fun to play. With uninspired mini games that with either bore you or frustrate you, Ape Escape Academy is one school you might not want to apply to.

Unlike Total War, there is no strategic dimension to the map. It’s all just a linear series of tactical battles one after the other.

Not that much new here, but a price to match. A good bet for fans of the original game looking for more content until the sequel comes out. If you can grab the whole series at the $12 mark, do it.

You know you're doomed when the game starts its life as a mobile phone game. Kingdom Hearts Re:coded is a baffling adventure with a sub-par story, horrible pacing, lack-luster multiplayer support, disappointing levels and the worst camera system I've ever used. Not even the modern combat mechanics are enough to make me recommend this mediocre remake!

This Xbox Live Arcade port of Contra is the perfect example of how you can screw up a classic arcade game. You may still have a good time going through this action game, but if you're the type of person that fell in love with the NES version you will be sorely disappointed.

With its poor controls, ugly graphics and limited track list, Indianapolis 500 Legends is not one of the better Nintendo DS racing games.

Unless you're desperate for CoD and only own a Wii, pass on Black Ops or get it for a different console. Discerning Wii owners looking for a good FPS should get GoldenEye, and start saving for Conduit 2.

There's not much fun to be had here. The games are too short and the cut scenes are too long. Very young children might see things differently, so you might consider it for the little ones.

I would like nothing more than to tell you that Gangs of London takes "The Getaway" series in a brand new direction that breathes fresh life into the franchise. But that would be a lie. This game is just as bad as it was on the PlayStation 2.

Here's a game by a company that knows a thing or two about making fighting games, but you'd never know it by this product. The game just doesn't feel like it's finished, and lacks any of the appeal that made these characters popular in the first place.

White Knight Chronicles 2 maintains a lot of the problems that the first game had, and does little to address them. PS3 gamers are going to be left wanting in an already dry RPG landscape.

Farworld Pioneers had a promising premise, mashing together ideas from other sci-fi survival favorites, but it simply doesn’t fulfill that promise in any way. Unintuitive controls, poor AI, and a lack of show-and-tell for the game’s various systems are likely to frustrate, rather than entertain you.

This is a World War II story that’s thankfully less of a bunker blockbuster and more of an ethically exploratory ride through a side of war rarely explored in videogames. Now if only they could’ve gotten the videogame parts right…

The Star Wars: Battlefront formula performs at expectation, but the execution of sizeable battles doesn’t wholly answer to the promise of making a difference in the War of the Ring.

If the ridiculous title doesn't turn you off to this game, perhaps the weak story or monotonous gameplay will.

Unfortunately The Warriors: Street Brawl completely forgets what was fun about the movie and the 2004 game, instead the property into a repetitive brawler with no depth or character!

The game play is far too simple, the stories are predictable, and the sum of all its parts never quite comes together to create a compelling portable game.

Pac-Man Party has a lot of the right elements, but Namco wasn't able to fit them together to make a worthwhile game.

Nier has a lot of interesting aspects to it, but none of them come together to make a cohesive experience. It feels like they are all fighting amongst each other and the product as a whole suffers for it.

Planet Minigolf's newest DLC, Stronghold Island, provides an interesting course with creatively thought out obstacles as well as painstakingly designed decorations and atmosphere. Unfortunately, with the same terrible camera controls from the original game itself, the game is a struggle to play through and makes appreciating the setting that much more difficult.

TrackMania DS gets the basics of the series right on a handheld, and that’s decently impressive.

Breach will test your patience, but gamers who need a respite from other shooters will find a reliably enjoyable experience.

Unless you’ve already bought this as part of a season pass, don’t waste your money on Curse of Osiris until Bungie actually changes direction, and I’m not talking about executing their proposed changes which painfully miss the mark yet again. The base game of Destiny 2 is a great shooter for 50-60 hours of solid content on your first play through of a redemptive story. But there is no endgame to keep going beyond that and there isn’t anything packaged into this DLC than enhances that initial experience. At this point, if you’re desperate for a looter/shooter then either fire up Destiny 1 again, watch Anthem videos on YouTube and hope for a brighter Q4 2018, or else maybe go give the Division a chance. It had a dumpster fire launch but can be had on the cheap now and I hear it’s become a very good game in its current state.

This PlayStation 3-exclusive is long-winded, simplistic and not much fun to play!

Scourge: Outbreak is a simple, by-the-books brown shooter with ideas taken from a few of its more superior brethren. It is light entertainment is brought down by poor controls and its unoriginality.

Red Goddess has beautiful visuals and an interesting rage and fear transformation system. It had potential, but sadly, a great game is buried under a pile of problems.

Tiny Troopers takes a simple concept of twin stick shooting and does absolutely nothing new with it at all. If you're looking for a game with something worthwhile to offer, you've come to the wrong place.

The gameplay is fine, ill give it that, but it just doesn't provide anything fun after you made your first few jumps. It's extremely hard to recommend this game at $20 when you can see all that the game has to offer in about 10 minutes.

There isn't a whole lot to enjoy in Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I Don't Know, it's just boring from start to finish. After the first ten floors or so you've seen a majority of what the game has to offer, with the exception of some interesting boss battles.

Daylight deserves credit for trying to spice up the first person horror genre, but its problems keep it from becoming anything more than an interesting experiment.

It's unfortunate the Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit! is a game with decent mechanics and visuals, but it's terribly short on content and within a few hours you'll have seen everything this game has to offer.

Alien Rage is a game whose initial presentation evokes the likes of Halo, Gears of War, and Killzone, but never lives up to such standards. Frustrating and often unfair difficulty, tedious boss fights, and bland level design make this game feel like an empty shell of its lofty inspirations. In a genre saturated with great games, you could do much better than Alien Rage.

A lifeless vehicle combat/racer with a gaping hole where the multiplayer should be, Gas Guzzlers Extreme is not worth your time. If you must, play the PC version for the multiplayer.

While the first fleeting hours of Deathwing was enjoyable, the proceeding remainder of the game is dull, anti-climatic and uninspiring.

The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales simply fails to deliver. It's probably a better experience on PC, but should be generally avoided on console without some updates to the controls and stability of the game. It doesn't take long to finish, at least I don't think so - a handful of hours to the final level. So at least it has that going for it.

Make War's bizarre alien interference on historic battlefields gameplay is fun on several levels, but the interface is broken beyond any level of acceptability. With a great concept and super-sticky gameplay, this game is likely incredibly addictive on PC. But due to poor implementation on Switch, you'll get frustrated and quit before you experience the game's many simple pleasures.

What could have been a solid action game is marred by a number of technical problems and repetitive level designs. Young gamers may enjoy the memorable characters, but everybody else will find the inconsistent frame rate too frustrating to enjoy. Perhaps Flyhunter Origins should have stayed on iOS.

Pac-Man is out of his depth in this brand new Xbox 360 action game. Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 is a mediocre platformer that recycles elements from much better games. It's also plagued with technical hiccups that make certain levels nearly unplayable. It may be aimed at young children, but even they deserve a better action game.

You'll be hard pressed to stretch your total playtime past half an hour. The worst part of it is that it's actually pretty good, but as soon as the story feels like the prologue is over and it's time to take off, you get kicked right to the title screen and it's all over. I have no idea what the plan was here, there is so much potential between the source material and implementation but at the end of the day well not even that really, at the end of 15 minutes of gameplay, it just, well, ends.

Stick to your old copies of Rock Band and Guitar Hero and get your fighting game needs met with an actual fighting game.

The gameplay is slow, sluggish, clunky and terrible. My Career doesn't feel like a career mode at all and all of the gutted creation modes and match types really just sealed the deal for me.

The Golf Club 2 could have been a non-sponsored, better priced game as an alternative to the full-pro games out there, but it really needs a good shakedown to be a valid option. A better swing system, a better putting system, and an overall touch-up to the aesthetics (crowd, graphics issues, player) would make this a viable alternative to sponsored games costing 20-30 dollars more but have a fancy name on the cover.

Randall's gameplay comes up short, but offers a distinct style. However, the controls and repetitve combat prevent this title from ever feeling gelled together. Although the art and music are the standout portion of this game, it's not enough to distract from a flawed experience.

Telltale Games is fresh off the success of The Walking Dead, an episodic game fueled by dynamic character arcs and the sensation of meaningful choices. Poker Night 2 has neither of these, as its repetitive character dialogue and technical miscalculations prevent either from stealing the pot. When the chips are thrown and the hands are dealt, it's best to sit this one out.

Stifled is a stealth horror game that brings its own flair to the genre by using echolocation to see in the dark. The player has to use their own voice to see, but also must be cautious to avoid attracting the attention of creatures hiding in the void. Stifled has a truly unique core gameplay mechanic that is both interesting and nerve-racking, but it seems underutilized throughout the game. The repetitive design of the levels minimizes the horror impact of the gameplay, and the lack of diversity and AI in the monsters leaves much to be desired.

If you are willing to wade through the plentiful rough patches, you'll make it to an exciting cliffhanger and a promise for more in episode two.

But ultimately, all of the gameplay problems and animation glitches that plagued the first episode are just as present in the second. Ancestry of Lies is streets ahead of Eye of the Sphinx, but it's still the exact same glitchy, frustrating mess.

While I celebrate the attempt, The First Class VR suffers from poor design choices, a user interface that will prove difficult for novices, and a disjointed and shallow presentation of one of the most significant technological developments of mankind.

While killing stuff with swords and spells is always fun, there isn't enough in Arcania: The Complete Tale to keep you coming back for more, especially since you have to wade through a bog of glitches and rendering issues.

Too simplified for its own good, Farming Simulator for the Vita is really a missed opportunity. This series has a ton of potential, as proven by its far superior PC releases, but nearly all of that is thrown away in the name of simplifying the experience for the portable market.

Sure the old-school visuals look nice but within the first 10 minutes, you've pretty much seen and done everything you are going to do in the game. If you got $10 to spend and about 2-3 hours to blow away tons of bots, then sure give it a try; just know that you aren't really getting that much for what you bought.

It is the small things which hold it back, which is also the annoying part about it. Why a game that spent so much time in Early Access on Steam, with a rich universe to draw from can be so unpleasant to play is stupendously frustrating. Instead of wanting to play just one more match in the small hours of the morning, I was forced to bear and grin the unjust torment. In defense of Eternal Crusade I really enjoyed playing as different factions and races. It was spectacular to dive into a universe rich with history and tragedy combined with the violent combat I expect from a Warhammer game.

If you own a Windows tablet or Windows phone, just play this on those devices instead if you must. Even if you are a huge Halo fan, there is absolutely no reason to shell out $15 for this game when you can play the exact same game for $7 on mobile devices.

The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief isn't much to look at and it's a mess to play. But underneath it all there's an engaging mystery rife with deceit, and it's carried by a cast of characters that are genuinely entertaining and sometimes even a little heartbreaking.

I had a lot of high expectations for Dolmen, considering the premise and gameplay genre. Unfortunately, it botches just about every aspect of being a Souls-like game. There were many concerns that I could look past in the demo, but are inexcusable in a full release. Not only are the technical mechanics poorly implemented with inaccurate hitbox detection and animations, the artificial difficulty and long spans of nothingness make the game frustrating for all the wrong reasons.

For those not keeping track, this is the third version of Warlords on Xbox Live Arcade. This updated version fixes all of the bugs found in the 2012 remake, and also adds online play, more real-time strategy elements and faster gameplay. Sadly, that isn't enough of a reason to warrant a third version of Warlords.

Q.U.B.E. 2 is a puzzle solver's dream in a gamer's nightmare. There are dozens upon dozens of simplistic button and jump puzzles to complete over a five-hour time span.

Based on the 2003 game of the same name, Crimsonland is a fun four-player dual-stick shooter with 60 levels and a nice variety of baddies. Unfortunately, it's also insanely dull.

Currently, Warface has a functional (but bland) versus mode, and a fun (but dysfunctional) co-op mode.

In Between is full of poetic metaphors and beautiful visual storytelling, but is so bogged down by the awkward and imprecise gameplay that it's hard to enjoy playing it, even if you appreciate its artistic value.

Put simply, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier for the PC is an unstable product with numerous gameplay, online connection, and performance issues. Even with the release of multiple patches, there are an array of issues still present within the game. An entertaining single-player campaign and engaging multiplayer are enjoyable if players are able to overcome the blatant porting issues from consoles to the PC.

The Piano could be a decent noir mystery but for now it needs a lot of work. Clunky gameplay, numerous graphical bugs and extremely poor optimization are holding this game back from telling its intriguing tale of murder and madness.

An absolutely basic game that does nothing to impress the player. It doesn't do anything terribly offensive, it's just a bore to get through and is over far too quickly.

While the original is a cult classic, this version won't carry on that legacy. EDF 2 has a patented premise behind it, but all of the pieces of this puzzle are inhibited by technical issues. It's hard to find the fun.

At only two hours in length, Entwined could have been a short but sweet action rhythm game, but a number of small issues add up to big problems.

Unless you’re a huge One Piece fan, you might want to think twice before picking this one up. It’s not terrible, but it definitely has its flaws.

XEL looks great on the surface, but unfortunately it has too many bugs and technical issues to warrant recommending it to anyone. The framerate drops and slow-loading zone transitions alone can cause some frustrations, but add in an uncontrollable camera that is overly distant from the action, difficult to detect enemies, and terrain that is easy to get stuck to - forcing you to reload from your last save point, and you have a game that is near unplayable in its current state. Patches may resolve these issues, but as of right now XEL is too frustrating to fully enjoy.

If you loved Geometry Wars and you’ve got three buddies looking for some couch gaming action then you might want to consider In Space We Brawl, however, in my opinion, you’ll have more fun simply going back and playing Geometry Wars.

The great presentation is undone by a number of questionable gameplay decisions.

Umbrella Corps has no clue what it wants to be, and that translates into a frustrating, confounding experience. Tiny maps, wildly unbalanced gameplay and a general lack of polish and focus makes this one Resident Evil entry that you’re better off avoiding.

Give this one a rental if your curious, otherwise, stay away.

I didn’t think it was possible but the Resident Evil games have gotten as loud, dumb and tiresome as the Resident Evil movies. Overcomplicated mechanics, a confusing, schizophrenic campaign split four ways and a ridiculous plot that doesn’t just break suspension of disbelief but blends it into a smoothie make Resident Evil 6 a real chore to get through.

Razor's Edge attempts to fix Ninja Gaiden 3. In some ways it succeeds, offering an experience with more modes and levels. But even with all of these changes, Ryu Hayabusa's newest adventure is hard to recommend. Ninja Gaiden 3 looks good, but is derailed with uneven difficulty and gameplay that is too fast for its own good!

The re-imagined and return of SimCity is a disappointment that's a direct result of the included always-online system. Even worse, the gameplay suffers from multiple issues including reduced map sizes to seemingly-unintelligent Sims. Individuals looking to purchase SimCity should wait until the online restrictions have been lessened and gameplay issues fixed.

This was probably the most heartbreaking game I ever had to review because I know this game went through so much developmental hell to get released and it really does feel like they tried, but sadly, the end product is just too broken to recommend.

Slender: The Arrival is more frustrating than scary. The atmospheric locations are wasted in this boring survival-horror game where players do little more than search around for numbered items. The game goes a long way to flesh out the story and mythology, but it never makes a convincing argument for why Slender deserves to be a franchise.

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 will go down as one of the biggest screw ups in video game history. EA and DICE had the easiest job in the world and completely ruined it with the absolutely ridiculous and downright unacceptable progression system for multiplayer. Combine that with the incredibly boring, lazy, and cliche story campaign and you easily have the biggest disappointment of 2017.

Atomic Ninjas had the potential to be a fun brawler for four friends, but falls flat due to problematic controls and wonky physics.