Fitness Boxing 3’s weak voice work and shoddy motion detection somehow do little to keep you coming back for more. By gamifying the exercise, it keeps you engaged and motivated, and you’ll quickly find yourself surprised at how tired you become from these exercises.

Aesthetically disgusting, Scorn touches on several deep-seated phobias all at once, ensnaring you with its alien and disgusting universe. While the worldbuilding shines, the combat can be pure frustration. Come for the visceral stomach churn, and stick around for one of the stranger stories you’ll ever see. While the combat will frustrate, the setting is worth the fight.

For fans of the original, Code Vein II delivers more of what you enjoyed with meaningful expansions to the formula. For newcomers, the partner system creates a low barrier to entry. For those hoping Bandai Namco would finally create their own Elden Ring, temper your expectations.

In many ways Killzone is ahead of itself from the still graphics and immersion standpoints. However it is also behind with the framerate drops and the sameness of the enemies as you go through the game.

Overall, it's a fun game that I would play again just because it's exciting and offers a sniping experience that can't be found anywhere else.

Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires fails to make the leap to portability, as it’s marred at every step by technical limitations and boring metagames. Lacking any of the endearing qualities of other Warriors titles, it’s hard to recommend it even to the most diehard musou enthusiast.

New World’s ideas come across as very solid, but the more I’ve engaged with it, the more I see problems. Those problems have nothing to do with the foundation of New World, however. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with New World besides the economy and lack of main missions, and only the former can destroy the game. The rest of the issues can be fixed with time and enough attention to the details. We’ll see how Amazon Games decides to proceed with what’s working and what doesn’t as I work towards the end game.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is a fun, albeit relatively bare bones, experience which gets by more on its nostalgic charm and great presentation, than it does on being anything more than a competent beat ‘em up. The addition of on-rails levels and first-person fights are welcomed, and the variety of levels and the added time disrupter elements keep the game fresh for its short run time, but lack of combat moves and frustrating Megazord boss fights keep Rita’s Rewind from ever reaching the lofty heights it aims for.

Re-Reckoning is the most barebones remaster it could possibly be. It’s only barely been touched up visually, and the most gameplay changes are under the hood. If you’ve already played the game, there’s no reason to return here.

While Jaws of Hakkon is neither revolutionary or ultimately necessary, it is gorgeous and offers 6-8 hours of gameplay for the price of a solo trip to the movies. The new end-game content fits nicely into the fold, even if it offers very little deviation from the well-established formula.

Bursting with sophomoric charm and absurd sexiness, Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus will provoke either cringing or laughter depending on who’s playing it. What it lacks in maturity it makes up for with a refreshing lack of seriousness, and it presents it all in a content-laden game filled with easy, straightforward 3D ass-kicking.

Those who have fond memories of the original Pitfall! will relive some of those memories upon booting up the game. However, the simplicity of the original game is lost later, and it becomes more of a puzzle-solving, rope swing timing game.

This is one of the those rare times when a game was just made right, and while you have every right to love it or hate it, it’d have nothing to do with how it was made. This is an 80’s videogame power-ballad that hits all the right notes.

Darkestville Castle is a humorous point and click adventure game that doesn't add anything new, but offers a very polished experience. Some control annoyances do little to hamper the experience and jokes land more often than not.

RS3 has decent AI and plenty of scenarios, gear and gunfire. Definitely a great buy if you are a PS2 owner exclusively, and an avid FPS fan.

Shrek the Third does a great job at capturing the feel of the Dreamworks picture by the same name. Whimsical music and sharp-witted writing are the highlights of the title, with the puzzle-centric action keeping adults entertained as well.

While Quantic Dream tackles subjects usually only handled within the realm of film, it lacks the grace, subtlety, and class of its celluloid counterparts to do it properly. Technically, it’s a triumph, with some of the best looking graphics and facial capture I’ve ever seen in a video game, but if you’re going to put so much emphasis on the story, it better be damn good, and honestly, it just isn’t.

For fans of WWE games, those who grew up in the 80s and 90s watching WWE wrestling, or those who always wondered who would win between John Cena and Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and Big Show, or how about the tag team of Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase Jr vs. Dusty Rhodes and Ted Dibiase; this game is a must-buy.

It is commendable in a way since you know right from the outset that this is a game where you can just play. It is a lot of silly, good natured fun that, while not long in duration, provides a good time.

The good news is that fans can now play a new Worms game on their new consoles; the bad news is that Worms Battlegrounds does almost nothing to advance the series and so makes it hard to justify yet another Worms entry to begin with.

Strayed Lights is a short and sweet game exploring a unique, defensive combat experience. It can feel shallow and falls short in aspects like the music, but it remains engaging throughout its runtime.

With its stylish visuals, some rocking sounds, and a solid control scheme to all compliment the frenzied gameplay, you should enjoy the core of the game.

The key word throughout this review has been "surprising." Pearl Harbor Trilogy: 1941 - Red Sun Rising is way better than it has any reason to be. Legendo, the developer, is definitely on the right track with this one. If any of this sounds interesting to you, this game can be purchased for only $7 on WiiWare, and I guarantee you'll have a good time with it.

Highwater is certainly a looker (and a sounder(?)), but its predictable combat and uninteresting story make it difficult to drudge all the way through.

Rusty Rabbit is an interesting game that uses a fascinating literary twist to establish its lore. The story has some interesting moments but it doesn’t feel like enough to save the game from itself. Unfortunately, the controls aren’t as responsive as a game in this genre should be and the world design feels very paint-by-numbers. With so many other top-tier titles vying for attention in the same space, it’s hard to consider this a frontrunner. You may give it a chance if you want to experience the world or you’re looking for a simpler Metroidvania.

2023 has already been strong with Game of the Year contenders, and Atomic Heart is another one of them. It lives up to all of the hype and all of its promises; an amazing debut game for Mundfish. Nailing down a few things Atomic Heart is phenomenal at is nearly impossible because it’s extraordinary in all of them. This isn’t just my favorite game of this year, it might be one of my favorites of the decade.

Gex Trilogy is a must-play for longtime fans of the series, and a brilliant introduction for newcomers, being a perfect way to definitely experience everything Gex has to offer. The three games in this collection are strikingly varied, frenetically engaging and are oozing with personality. Games from decades past they may well be, but Limited Run Games have done a spectacular job of balancing the preservation of their original essence with the addition of modern gameplay features.

Sine Mora EX is a tough-as-nails but engrossing shoot ‘em up that has some innovative mechanics and a pretty interesting story. While it may not be for everyone, those who are interested in the genre will find something to love with the new improvements that the EX version provides.