I was certain I was in for another grueling and frustrating disappointment. I was wrong, incredibly so. Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 has clawed its way up from the grave of a series that shouldn't be, and has made itself a decent title. Maybe one that will finally turn things around in future installments.

Symphony of the Machine does what I'd like to see more VR games do. It doesn't try to shoot above its developers ability or resources and promise a life-changing experience. It doesn't rely on gimmicks that quickly lose their luster. It doesn't toss VR in for the heck of it just because it can. It's a title built from the ground up for room-scale that delivers a game not possible with a mouse and keyboard that accomplishes what it sets out to do efficiently. Symphony of the Machine is an easy recommendation for anyone with a VR device.

While playing Paradigm, I was having recollections of playing some of my favourite games of yesteryear. The surreal, yet hilarious characters could definitely become memorable pop-culture icons if this was made by a Triple-A development team with their huge marketing budgets. Paradigm does so many of the things that the golden era of point and click adventures did so well and makes it a worthwhile addition to the genre. The puzzles, the humorous storyline and characters, the fully voiced dialogue, the wonderful, somewhat retro visuals all combine to make Paradigm a modern day classic of its own. I sincerely hope that developer Jacob Janerka sees fit to produce a follow up title.

It feels good to be back in the base building, hard hitting, cool looking world of Warhammer 40,000. Winning early skirmishes before slowly building up your armies for a single massive engagement is still exciting, and very rewarding when you win. The single player campaign is good, if a little stale at times, and multiplayer has mostly gone back to what made it great in the first place. There are some issues to be found, but if you’re looking for a modern game akin to the popular origins of Dawn of War, this is certainly a good attempt.

Expeditions: Viking spins an absolutely wonderful tale of exploration and conquest. The setting, the story, the ambiance –my imagination ran wild in ways you’d expect to experience reading a good fantasy novel. Betrayal angered me, new friendships elated me, and changing the balance of power in Britain made me feel equal parts devious and mischievous. Reconstructing my home, making it safe, strong and prosperous made me feel proud of my achievements. Every battle, every camp site and map scrubbed clean of its hidden treasures felt like it played a part in the grand scheme of things. There aren’t a lot of games that can pull something like this off even adequately. Expeditions: Vikings does it masterfully.

Shiness is an ambitious game with a whole lot of charm and character that’s held back by some design choices that just didn’t do it for me. I appreciate the effort put into building a colorful game world filled with characters that do seem straight out of a long-established anime or manga, and the simple puzzles make exploring and progression pleasantly relaxing. If I wasn’t fairly sour with the way combat has been implemented I’d find the experience to be an easy recommendation, but as it stands there’s a bit too much that needs to be polished before the game can really shine.

A perfect storm of gore, atmosphere, tension, scripted and unscripted scares and a memorable plot that dares to explore darkness that can hide within the human psyche, what more can be said? Playing the game on even just normal mode for seven and a half hours was an inviting challenge of fear, misery, adrenaline, and despair which when combined together spells out fun in my book. The closest thing I can give to a negative is that the ending is a severe cliffhanger, and I hope to hear that Red Barrels will be tying up the story one way or another. I’m in love with a monster, and her name is Outlast 2.

Overall then, Manipulated is only worth the small amount of money it costs if you’re willing to play through a couple of hours of puzzles for a slight twist and the small amount of payoff which comes from it. The puzzles aren’t particularly tricky, and the platforming and combat is completely unnecessary.

Ultimately, Shock Tactics is a bland and forgettable game that did little to engender itself to me in any way, shape or form. While the AI is particularly bad, the rest of the game does not try and elevate its mechanics and presentation into something that is more than just a copy of XCOM.

Late Shift is a unique experience that I probably wouldn’t have given much attention too had I seen it pop up on Steam or elsewhere, but I’m very glad that our paths did cross. The few issues that it does have are easily outweighed by what it does right, providing a compelling experience that engaged me, and has me wanting more. Both endings I experienced left me with a completely different opinion on the story’s purveying themes, and I fully expect to watch through the story at least a handful more times to see what else I can change.

Battle Brothers may not be a game that I think about months from now, but in the moment I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. It's a break from the fast paced games constantly bombarding me. If that sounds like something that would be up your alley, then don’t hesitate and start building up a mercenary band for an adventure to call your own.

At the end of the day, I enjoyed my time with The Keep. I wouldn’t go as far to call it especially memorable, but the accessibility of its gameplay deserves recognition for anyone not-so familiar with dungeon crawlers. It’s the sort of game you can dip into, kill a few monsters and hop out again with a nice sense of achievement. Admittedly there is an elephant in the room, Legend of Grimrock from 2012 does almost everything The Keep does, except better. That isn’t to say The Keep doesn’t have a place, as if you aren’t familiar with RPGs and would prefer a much more casual experience, it’s still worth a look. The spellcasting has a surprising amount of depth too, so maybe if you’ve already tried Legend of Grimrock and want to play more, The Keep will keep you satisfied.

I never got the chance to play the original Planescape Torment, and so I wasn’t totally sure what to expect with Tides of Numenera. But the game brings with it a story that is wonderfully detailed. Each choice you make and each person you meet along your journey seems to alter the course of the game and those within Numenera. And this is to be commended. Unfortunately, though, many may feel that there is not enough action or combat, and I’d probably agree with them. The game did take me a long time to warm up to it and I’m still not totally sure if it was worth the time I’ve spent. But the story has drawn me in as I delve further into the story of the land and its characters. With some wonderful visuals and some beautiful locations, Torment: Tides of Numenera is well worth a look for RPG enthusiasts.

The writing is rarely funny, and the actual predicament Jack Kelly is in takes quite some time to get going. There are also some glaring spelling and translation errors to be found. The 1980s had a very distinct style, and it’s not captured very well here. As for the gameplay, the point is that you’re balancing a boring work life and a stressful private life, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring to play. There are some interesting choices to be made here, and some of them have real consequences, but actually getting to them feels too much like hard work.

Narcosis only runs a few hours in length, not short enough to be a waste of time but not long enough to wear out its welcome. Even still, it could’ve been another hour or so longer but perhaps that’s just because of how much enjoyment I was finding lumbering around the wreckages and sea caves. With a scenario rooted more closely to reality than other horror games, well executed voice acting on part of the player character’s VA and adequate performance from side characters in other instances, you really feel like part of a survival story. The replay value itself isn’t high, but for $19.99 it’s worth visiting it at least once if you’re a horror fan. Even more so if you can experience it in VR.

When it comes down to it, Yooka-Laylee just feels good to play. It’s great to control, it’s fun to explore, and it scratched the collectible itch in me in a way that few games have managed to properly accomplish nowadays. If you’re a fan of wide open 3D platformers, or are wanting to take a nostalgia laden trip through one, Yooka-Laylee is certainly the game for you.

I’m not the biggest fan of point-and-click games, but I really dug Bad Dream: Coma and its brand of tonal, moody horror not reliant on cheap scares and jumps. While it has some issue with some of its puzzles and doesn’t quite commit to some of its plot points as much as I’d like it to, its relatively short run-time makes it the perfect title to sit down with and run through on a dark, rainy weekend evening right before drifting off to sleep...

For many turn based strategy titles it is the combat that keeps you engaged. The Great Whale Road has some really great writing but ultimately that is not enough to carry the game. The combat is so intensely unrewarding that this is one story I’d rather have read in paperback format.

When it comes down to it, Rise & Shine is unable to create an engaging experience by itself, with mechanics that are not utilized to the best extent. Worse, the game feels like a chore to play, as I felt that I had to rely predominantly on luck in order to advance through much of the game. For all the strength of its graphics and introductory stages, Rise & Shine is unable to create a compelling experience worth playing.

As a single player game, Death Squared is a fairly run-of-the-mill puzzle game. But add a few friends and play as a pair or in a team, and Death Squared become a heap of fun. Sitting down on a couch with a group of friends to discuss (read: argue about) how to solve the next level is as enjoyable as it can be frustrating at times. But the game is wonderful as a party game, one that even a family could play without any worries. Although there isn't much of a story, the puzzles are well designed and will often take a few attempts before getting right. With the great voice acting giving the game a light-hearted nature to ease any frustration that may evolve from the puzzles, Death Squared is definitely one that will have your friends coming back to play some more.

I don’t think anyone will consider Viking: Wolves of Midgard’s hack & slash play as anything novel but some of its other innovations are very welcome. The environment forcing you to take some time to recover is a nice little feature but the town building aspect is what I enjoyed the most. It sounds like a simple enough addition but the impact on character progression and the relevance of loot and materials should not be overlooked. What you do during a mission, or rather bring from one, actually matters beyond a few gold coins in your inventory. Fun? Fun.

Andromeda’s plot is quite inconsistent, bouncing back and forth between some fantastically impactful moments and others that fall extremely flat. Like I said above, I do like the general set-up. Separating things into a new galaxy (and by virtue or travel time, about 600 years) from the events of the previous Mass Effect games is smart, and it works. Beyond that, I’m glad they didn’t just jump right into another galaxy-ending threat right away. This slower burn of trying to get Milky Way civilization started is different, and a welcomed change of pace. I will note that there is a bit of a beginning lull that may turn some players away during the first few hours of the game.

I did have some issues with the game servers early on, but they seem to have been ironed out. And as mentioned, the voice acting and the story mode could have fleshed out a little better. But if you look past those issues, For Honor is a wonderful title. The variation in game modes makes sure that there is something for everyone, and the maps are rotated enough to keep things fresh. The character classes allow you to choose a play style that suits you, whether it is the strength of the Heavy or the speed of the Assassin class. And with controls that are so smooth and optimised, it never seems as though any class or enemy is overpowered. So, if you excuse me, I’m going to don my armour, collect my shield and blade, and head back out to the battlefield... my team needs me.

If circle strafing, weapon switching, and sci-fi monster killing is right up your alley, then Desync is an easy recommendation if you’re willing to deal with some obscure menus and high difficulty. It’s got a lot of style, and the combo kills feel great when you’re in the zone, but resist the temptation to get pulled in if you’re looking for a game to blow off steam. Desync will have you on edge and frustrated for a lot of the time while playing it.

2Dark is a game that clearly knows how to build an atmosphere, but seems a bit confused when it comes to using it to actually frame an engaging, compelling game. The whole experience seems to be caught in a sort of limbo between being a stealth, top-down action, or point-and-click experience, and fails to do be any of them exceedingly well. A bit of re-focus to clean up the gameplay and narrative a little would go a long way, though it will be perfect for that niche market looking for a Taken-inspired plot of cartoonish gory stealth adventure.

The playing field is so dramatically stacked against you, and the rules of engagement so staggeringly poor and badly realised that the whole experience is incredibly frustrating rather than rewarding. The presentation is lacklustre to say the least, and the game struggles to bring anything worthwhile to the table. A one-man development project is admirable, and his continued support with the release of new maps is to be commended. Unfortunately, the title fails to fulfil its basic tag-line premise of being at all ‘tactical’, or offering any kind of ‘sandbox’.

The first game was an unsung hero of 2014 for me, but now with a little more kick behind its sequel Styx: Shards of Darkness has set itself up to be noticed by more eager gamers looking for a challenging stealth experience. With a more optimized experience, more freedom to the players and more of that sarcastic and vulgar goblin goodness, Styx has found his way once more back into the heart of this gamer - with a sharp dagger and sarcastic commentary.

I don’t think that Unexplored is ever going to knock anyone’s socks off, but it is a fun little game that I think is worth it’s low asking price. It probably isn’t one that I’ll be coming back to much after my time spent with it for this review, but, then again, not everything has to be. It’s dungeons do feel pleasantly organic, but outside of that it just doesn’t really do anything outstandingly better or differently than others in it’s genre. For some this sense of “been here done that” may be too much, and I think that’s reasonable. For others, solid is more than enough to warrant a purchase, and I think that’s just fine too.