Mechanically, A Machine for Pigs deviates significantly from The Dark Descent, and this is where it's most disappointing. The Dark Descent employed several mechanics that ratcheted up the fear and tension, most notably the insanity system.

Assassin's Creed Unity is the best and worst of Assassin's Creed. It's hard not to appreciate everything that it gets right, and you'll have a good time if you can wrangle some friends for co-op, but it's impossible to ignore where Unity falls tragically short.

Warriors of Rock adamantly refuses to evolve the series in any discernible way, and, as a result, the Guitar Hero formula's gone stale.

It's just a shame the co-op isn't better implemented -- without a compelling multiplayer component, Dungeon Siege 3 lags behind its role-playing competitors.

It's a brief, underwhelming and unchallenging experience that never really gets up to speed as a sequel -- never mind a particularly good platformer.

Book of Spells is a children's game that retains the magical appeal that makes Harry Potter's world so intriguing, even for older players. The games are easy, true, but if you, as a grown-up, can read a young adult novel on a packed bus without shame, you can probably enjoy Book of Spells in the comfort of your own home.

Never Alone is a glimpse into the real lives of Alaska Natives, and it's a peek at a different kind of fairy tale.

Doing tricks and nailing tough shots can be rewarding, and the movement and sliding of the Splatters helps it feel more unique than the multitude of Angry Birds clones out there. The simplicity of the mechanics, however, doesn't always translate to addictive gameplay, and you may soon grow tired of performing the same actions over and over again, especially when it feels that success is owed more to luck than skill.

Frankly, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom might have been better off with no combat at all. In about 15 hours of playtime, the puzzles stay fresh, while the fighting feels stale from the start.

Assassin's Creed Rogue is not a bad game, but it is a derivative game.

Young Thor may be light on content, but what it does offer is polished and well-executed.

As if getting excited for the involved games wasn't difficult enough, NES Remix's ideas for challenges are repetitive and widely underwhelming. The arbitrary goals friends assign each other for games they've mastered are better than all but NES Remix's few fleeting moments of greatness, and that's genuinely disappointing when considering Nintendo's usual brilliance at reworking its history in enjoyable ways.

What I'm saying to you is that Shank is so fun that it's actually a cure for murder, and if that's not worth 4.5 stars, what is?

Playing cards with some talkative favorite characters is great ... for about the first 30 minutes.

WWE '12 is fun. It's a great combat game, and excellent for those that aren't marks for the innards of wrestling. You know, the "real" stuff. There's no doubt that THQ and Yuke's could make a game for those purposes, where stories are better told and interacted with, and the actual business of pro wrestling is out there for players to toy with. That's not on the cards here, as wrestling stories are told through action, and players have to connect a few dots themselves.

Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes features more variety than its predecessor, but the campaign content included in the base set is still quite repetitive.

Tomodachi Life wore out its welcome for me quicker than any Animal Crossing game ever did, due to its comparative lack of structure and progression, and its brilliant spark of creativity fades much more quickly than you'd like.

Probably the most realistic recreation of the inevitable and oncoming zombie apocalypse in video game history. It's typified by desperation, sacrifice, frustration, terror and the overbearing sense of hopelessness. But there's a catch. Though the zombie apocalypse may occasionally be grimly satisfying or fleetingly triumphant when you survive another night, there's one thing it almost certainly won't be...Fun.

A solid hunting adventure, but hardly a departure from the monster hunting genre.

It's my new favorite installment in the series, and it offers a great example of how to update old-fashioned RPG mechanics for the present day.

Unit 13 has its shining moments, but there's an odd inconsistency to Zipper's execution. There are A.I. issues and, thanks to the lack of story, an air of meaninglessness to the proceedings, though the actual shooting is well-executed and fun.

As a game full of puzzles that just happen to star DC characters, Unmasked isn't as fun as last year's Unlimited, which I'd suggest over this release for those who want the best Scribblenauts experience.

Driveclub is a well-made, sometimes irritating juxtaposition of the old and new.

The game's not perfect, and if the genre doesn't already appeal to you, this probably won't be the entry to convince you otherwise. But it is a neat experiment in translating a very PC-centric experience over to the console space, and a fun throwdown featuring some of fantasy's finest.

My absolute favorite feature of Escape Plan is the ability to skip levels. As the game helpfully, and humiliatingly, tells you after a few failures, you can skip any level and move onto the next one.

Hohokum offers more than you'd expect but less than you'd want; without gameplay depth to back up its visuals, it sparks the imagination but doesn't kindle it.

Thankfully, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 almost always rises above its annoyances. There's plenty to see and do, from its magnificent moonlit views to its sensational bosses (infuriating stealth boss excepted).

Doki-Doki Universe isn't for everyone. It doesn't challenge your reflexes, and adventure game purists will likely turn up their noses at the simplistic and easily-solved puzzles.