Despite some decent combat and sustainable charm, Rumbleverse has very little going on to hold your attention beyond one or two sittings.

New animations help NHL 23 make steps toward greater authenticity but the series still needs a major overhaul.

Gundam Evolution might have shamelessly lifted some of its presentation and mechanics from other games (and I think it did), but it’s still a great game at the end of the day.

Hello Neighbor 2 is a gorgeous game with a solid concept, but unfortunately it is held back by some serious bugs and bad AI.

Regardless of how you choose to play Valheim, it is a fantastic survival crafting experience that is more than worth its cost for the potentially hundreds of hours you could spend in its world, and it will only get better with time. [Early Access Score = 90]

Risen is… fine. It’s a game that was influential and beloved in its time, but that time was long ago, and many other great games have taken its place since. So, unless you’re a die-hard Risen fan, your money is likely better spent elsewhere, though that’s no fault of the game itself. It just belongs to a genre that has been iterated and improved upon so much that going back doesn’t seem worth it, especially for new players.

There’s a lot to like about Death in the Water 2, and it's a very impressive game coming from a 2-person game studio. But the things it lacks hamper the experience quite a bit, especially if you stick with it to the end.

Gamedec has plenty of rough edges, but thanks to its emphasis on choice and consequence mechanics and its unique premise, it's still very much worth a look.

Even at its relatively lower price, I don’t think LEAP is worth your time. There are games with more personality and more fun that can be downloaded and played for free these days, which makes LEAP basically dead on arrival. Look elsewhere for your competitive FPS needs.

Players looking for a hardcore crafting/survival game on consoles likely won’t be able to find much better than Valheim, and its inclusion in Game Pass further makes it an easy choice despite a handful of issues. [Early Access Review Score = 80]

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 is a game that will appeal to those looking for an accessible tactical RPG, but it sticks too close to the rulebook of the original for its own good.

Final Transmission is the proper "ending" for The Callisto Protocol, and while it closes Jacob Lee's story, the overall execution and content leave a lot to be desired.

Ed-0: Zombie Uprising’s challenges are rooted in its poor difficulty balance and budget design, not so much in its nature of being a true rogue-like experience.

If you're craving more Atomic Heart content with all its underwhelming dialogue and iffy gameplay, Annihilation Instinct may be worth checking out, but even hardcore fans may be left wanting.

Even after a year of major updates and new regions, Tower of Fantasy still has fundamental issues which hinder it to a painful degree.

NASCAR Arcade Rush could have been an interesting real-life inspired take on a Mario Kart-style racer, but it doesn’t have the ideas or the content to pull it off.

Witchfire hopes to meld gameplay inspired by Soulslikes and extraction shooters while trying to forge its own identity. [Early Access Provisional Score = 80]

Dungeons 4 is pretty safe as sequels go, adding new features and bigger maps while upping the visual quality. The story is forgettable, the humor dreadful and the performance on Xbox Series X is questionable, but it still offers some addictive gameplay.

Calling it one of 2023's worst games wouldn't even begin to describe just how much of a mess The Walking Dead: Destinies is.

Though Arkham Trilogy on the Switch serves as an excellent excuse to dive back into Asylum and City, its Arkham Knight port is nothing short of diabolical.

There's a reason the phrase "Buyer beware" remains relevant, and it's because of games like The Day Before. The only bright side to its miserable existence is you can no longer purchase it. [Early Access Score = 1/10]

Palworld is equal parts charming and dark, with a massive world and no restrictions on exploration. Combat needs some fine-tuning and the survival crafting may not be for everyone, but it's early access release is a solid starting point. [Early Access Score = 70]

New Cycle is nowhere near delivering a mix of resource management, city-building and humane stories like, say, Frostpunk. As repetitive as its core gameplay can get, it is appealing, and hopefully, early access will expand on it while ironing out all the issues. [Early Access Review Score = 60]

While the genre itself is filled with games that are often too derivative of each other without a strong sense of identity, Enshrouded thankfully bucks that trend. [Early Access Score = 70]

Nightingale is brimming with potential and can grow into something truly fascinating, but it has a long way to go. [Early Access Score = 60]

Lackluster content, clunky combat, dull exploration and more plague DRAGO entertainment's early access survival crafting title. [Early Access Score = 40]

Lightyear Frontier impresses with its sci-fi setting, non-violent approach and nature-focused gameplay, to say nothing of the gorgeous visuals. It has a ways to go, though, and some issues to iron out. [Early Access Score = 70]

No Rest for the Wicked isn't bad - in fact, there's so much potential in this mishmash of genres that it's worth keeping an eye on. At this stage, however, there are a lot of rough edges to smooth over. [Early Access Score = 60]