I love Surviving Mars, one of my favourite management games this year, but while this expansion adds lots of little things, it doesn’t add anything significantly new, or even successfully realize the ‘race’ it titles itself for — I’m sad to say, it feels like a pricey update.

The potential is there, but Darkout just hasn’t reached it yet.

Bridge Constructor has its moments of frustration; sometimes you’re just doing it wrong.

I hate to say it because there is a good deal of potential in the The Saint, and its obvious that the solo developer has put a great deal of effort into it's spooky atmosphere, but it is not worth playing in its current state.

The game is just too complex for its own good which is a shame as there is fun lurking just around the corner. Fix combat, explain things a little better and chip away some of the needless aspects and Thea: The Awakening would be a much better game.

Had it been released as a good sized piece of DLC for Beyond Earth, it might have felt completely different, but as it stands I cannot help but feel a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.

The Weaponographist has the small advantage of being light, mindless and easy to pick up. It would be tempting to recommend the game for those impatient or uninterested in more intricate Roguelike mechanics, but it is exuberantly padded and becomes increasingly difficult in the later stages.

Mordheim: City of the Damned had the potential to be an interesting and challenging game. The progression system is deep and filled with interesting choices and options, and the Warhammer Fantasy Universe provides sturdy groundwork to create your own tale on top of. But the gameplay is monotonous, the technical issues are annoying and the game is among the most frustrating I’ve played in some time.

It was a well built, but rather boring, strategy experience. I can't stress enough that it's not a bad game, it's just not one to look at for the true thrills of battle other strategy titles can offer.

If I was twelve again I might had enjoyed the game more, but as it is, Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded falls well short.

While less tiring than real world politics, Shape of America's first episode fails to capture the intrigue, tactical ambition, and most offensively the platform for in-game debate that should make you feel good about getting the upper hand on your climb to power. When I start the game out as a waiter, I want to feel good when I beat a senator at his own game. I want to feel good when I talk my way through corporate and political big wigs. I want a sense of accomplishment, not a quick payout and a pat on the back. Shape of America's biggest flaw may be that it portrays politics as a machine with barely any emotion; and while that may be true to a point, at least the real thing has the thrill of debate and discussion.

While its art style is pleasing to the eye, the low resolution appearance of the textures, even when the game is played on the pre-determined "High" visual quality setting, make models and other assets appear blurry and indistinct. The minimalistic nature of the options menu makes it effectively impossible for players to rectify this through further increases and tweaking. The message is clear: Either accept mediocrity, in all areas, or walk away. Given said options, walking away may well be the only viable solution.

Ironcast certainly is a little bit of fun, initially. But as you grind your way through mundane turn based battles, one mission feels like the next.

It lacks a lot of polish. With upgraded visuals and better controls and some adjustments to the dull combat system, the game could have been really good.

Alien Spidy is a platformer that features challenging level design and nice visuals, but the gameplay is not there to back it up. The scoring targets are often too hard, and are made worse by the poor movement controls. There is potential for a good game here, it just lacks the overall quality needed, which is a shame.

You'd expect a game with this kind of play time to be a narrative experience pumped out of a game jam, but there's little-to-no reason to add this brawler to the growing list of multiplayer options. And while a lot of OutRage: Fight Fest's faults don't necessarily rest at the feet of the developers, they'll certainly feel the effects. This is a multiplayer-only game, and unless you have a large group of friends to sync up with, the lack of a community has a distinctly negative effect on the gameplay experience. All the music, flashy lights, and simple but recognizable art can only take it so far. Any potential favor earned by foregoing monetization was burned before its day showed up on the calendar. There's a possibility, however slight, that a turnaround happens. Again, the foundation remains solid enough, but built on top of it is a Lincoln Log cabin for an audience of a handful.

I expected better from Wolfenstein: Youngblood. After loving the last three outings, I had every right to assume that, despite being something different, Youngblood was going to be a well made experiment to switch things up. I was expecting a gripping narrative, a likeable cast, and thrilling gameplay. What I got was pure disappointment on every level. The one positive I can give Wolfenstein: Youngblood is that the more open map designs (it is co-developed by Arkane Studios, of Dishonored fame) are a welcome addition to the series. Beyond that, I can only say I'm thankful that this retails at $29.99 instead of full price but even that lessens the disappointment only little.

I respect that Micro Machines World Series is an ambitious game that attempt some legitimately cool ideas, some of which bring it pretty close to being a really cool game. I do believe that there was a legitimately high amount of thought that went into this game, and it’s a shame that most all of these good ideas are ultimately fruitless due to the nature of the game itself, buckling under its own design. Perhaps if there was a more lively online community it’d be worth finding a group of friends to develop some tactics and strategy with, but as it stands this is a title that’s going to be disappointing for most.

No Time to Explain is insanity at its finest and funniest, with plenty of ludicrous scenes throughout the game. But the fun and fast paced gameplay is brought down by imprecise controls and hideous boss fights designed to test your patience. There’s a good game somewhere in here, it’s just a shame that I have to suffer to find it.

There is no accounting for this Quest’s missing element – company. Even bad games can be fun alongside the right sort of people.

Being a simple office worker in a private security firm / robotic takeover is a fairly original premise, but it’s not one that can make up for some pretty standard gameplay.

If this was a typical five or six episode ordeal like the main Walking Dead series, Give No Shelter would be a welcome down-episode that could be used to develop characters further and build up an impending threat the group will face. Instead, it’s a very brief, underwhelming episode with little character-anything other than a little backstory on Sam.

There’s little doubt that seasoned foragers will find the survival aspects easier to manage but for those people, there are more satisfying experiences on offer elsewhere with survival components as the main selling point. Despite a story that was beginning to heat up, The Wild Eight ultimately leaves you feeling cold.

As Dark Quest: Board Game stands at this particular moment, it is, quite simply, a boring game to play. There’s not much going on, and the pretty aesthetic is not going to keep you playing it for more than an hour or so (unless you really force yourself) or listen to podcasts in the background while you wait for something in the oven to finish cooking so you can, at last, have something of more substance to consume when you finish playing.

EMPYRE: Lords of the Sea Gate is a game that I really, truly wanted to love, but ultimately let me down in more ways that not. Glitches aside, it doesn’t do anything offensively bad, it just doesn’t really do anything all that cool either. I love the idea of a pseudo-steampunk turn-of-the-century waterworld, but the game fails to use that creative setting to tell a meaningful story or explore much of the world’s possibilities. With a serviceable but unremarkable story, basic writing, and combat that doesn’t often outreach “fine,” this is a title that's destined to slip silently down into the murky waters of time.

It baffles and frustrates me that Wayward Manor is such a mess. All the ingredients were there: a great indie developer, a great author, and a great idea. But it goes to show that it's all in the execution.

There's a level of creativity and care that went into so many aspects of Human Within. The story, as boilerplate as it is, has its own spin. The production behind the real-world settings suits the story well. There are even moments where you can see attempts at innovating the VR space that could influence games going forward. It just never comes together as a package that fully justifies being a VR game instead of an outright interactive movie.

There are certain moments where everything clicks, where the stars align and you’ll feel like the dark puppetmaster you should feel like the whole game, and most of these moments are because of the powers.