Despite this episode’s focus on item collecting instead of verbal crime solving, it continues to deliver on the fairytale angst.

Yoshi’s New Island isn’t a bad game; it just doesn’t live up to the legacy set forth by its predecessors.

Ultimately the pace of Smoke and Mirrors is quite different from Faith, but it’s a change that seems necessary for Bigby to do his job. Familiar camera angle issues and an oddly placed fight aside, The Wolf Among Us continues to deliver. The game is still a great bridge for new fans to familiarize themselves with the Fables lore and old fans to connect the dots only they know exist.

Ultimately, it seems a bit unfair to give Continue? a score—it’s a game that can mean everything or nothing depending greatly on your worldly interpretation. Where games like Gone Home and Papers Please have a clear fundamental message tugging on your principles, Continue? is either answering life’s questions or presenting some you weren’t considering before—apparently while “late at night with a glass of wine or some weed.”

Alien Rage may have made a positive impact if it were released in 2007; however its ambition isn’t matched in execution. The shooting and technical graphics work well, but a lack of distinctive moments fail to distinguish Alien Rage from a sea of same-y space-marine, sci-fi, alien shooters.

The core gameplay is still enjoyable and the addition of DC characters makes this game the most expansive yet. But if you’ve already played around as God with Maxwell’s notebook then there is little reason to return.

Foul Play is a combination of good and not so good. On one hand the overarching theme, visuals, and humor are top notch. But on the other the gameplay is boring and there is little challenge.

Though actual gameplay is on the lower end, witty writing and impressive visual variety ensure your time spent with the crossover strategy RPG is memorable.

Urban Trial Freestyle isn’t Trials HD, but it can have its moments: when you’re flying through the levels, landing after huge falls, and getting super fast times the game is quite fun.

If you’re open-minded enough for that to justify your time, Game & Wario will satisfy you. I suspect that won’t be too many gamers though.

By and large, Rush Bros. stumbles across the finish.

Playing for the humor and Deadpool’s banter with other Marvel characters are good enough reasons to give Deadpool (the game) a shot. The best jokes are evenly spread out and make the journey through generic levels more tolerable. Yet, if the likes of God of War and Ninja Gaiden have spoiled you with sublime and fluid framerates, Deadpool might be hard to swallow.

Racing die-hards may find GRID 2′s schizophrenic approach to driving physics an interesting curiosity, but you can find any angle of GRID 2′s experience executed more successfully in other games.

If you’re a fan of RTS and strategy games, you can get a few good evenings out of StarDrive, just don’t expect the endless addiction and spotless interface of Civilization.

I do wish that the story had more meat, and did more to make me care about the four characters.

For as “action packed” and “feature laden” as it is, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge suffers from a lack of balance and will no doubt be a source of frustration for those who try to go against its painful grain.

The concept of an open world zombie survival game is still good on paper, but somehow Techland has failed for a second time to make sure it works in execution.

Monster Hunter takes for granted a lot of extracurricular effort on behalf of its players. How much extra research are you willing to do on a game’s systems before you expect to have fun with it? How many nonsensical, anachronistic hoops are you willing to jump through just for a slight taste of what this game will hopefully become in ten years’ time?

SimCity as a game is thoroughly entertaining, if flawed in several areas, and now at least we can experience it fully, and hopefully put the disaster of launch in our rear view mirror.

Disappointing. On its own the game is mediocre with a missed opportunity in character variety, short time to completion, and only a small amount of enemies. Compared to past games this is a downright disaster.

The roster of Sega stars and tracks is commendable. When the game hits its strides it can even be as entertaining as genre king Mario. But more often than not the game’s suite of issues holds it back from greatness.

The HD treatment, online multiplayer, casual mode for newbies, and extra goodies to unlock ensure plenty of playtime for each of the various titles.

It’s really hard to be excited about the future of Tomb Raider after this game. It fails where more successful films and games of its kind succeed: in its characters. The way in which Lara goes from inexperienced to full-on action movie hero survivalist is so jarring that it’s near impossible as a player to remain on the same emotional wavelength as the story. Because of this the rest of the game falters.

There’s biker and vehicle customization in the game, and a fair amount of it. With outfits, accessories, and bike upgrades to attain, enough reason exists to go out of your way to nab cash in-game and increase your star count.

My most concerning issue with Special Forces: Team X, though, is how lost it seems. It lacks personality even though its title and pre-launch trailers exude it; it seems to exist as just another multiplayer shooter with no innovation aside from its map system.

I haven’t been this disappointed in a game in a long, long time. Not only does the campaign welch on its opportunity to create interesting and additive content in the Aliens universe, but the multiplayer is languid, broken, and laughably frustrating. Colonial Marines plays it as safe as possible and still can’t manage to copy successfully proven ideas.

The whole experience feels like an anachronism. Younger gamers might accept some of these problems more readily, and when the game is on, it’s a lot of fun. If you enjoy the simplicity of the gameplay or collecting lots and lots of shiny objects, you’ll get tons of that here, giving you more entertainment after you’ve completed the main story.

If you’re the type of gamer that likes talking about games as much as playing them, The Cave will give you plenty to talk about. Otherwise, if you’re just after a fun and well-crafted experience, there’s too much chaff in this package.

Those of you looking for a more engaging, worthwhile, and ultimately enjoyable RPG should look past Unchained Blades and not look back.

EDF2017 has a particular magic that defies logic. If you've played the original to death, you may simply want an excuse to play the game again despite the disappointing renovations in Portable. Hell, I'm in that camp myself, so I won't talk you out of it. Just make sure you have some friends lined up for co-op ahead of time.

The core of the Horizon Rally DLC is solid; it recreates superbly the rally racing experience. Only in the additional features does this DLC fall short, which is less forgivable given its price point.

I won't say that the framerate issue is a deal-breaker, but it's definitely keeping me from wholeheartedly recommending Armored Edition.

Proven gameplay mechanics and the wacky sense of humor that is Adventure Time make the game a blast to play from start to finish. Just don't expect to be playing it all that long.

Despite how interesting the gamepad is used to play the game, the ten-plus hour campaign itself just isn't fun. The multiplayer is a better experience, but that's not saying much. ZombiU is for those gamers that truly want difficult survival horror with no end purpose, and that's fine for those that don't need complexity to their zombie apocalypse.

F1 Race Stars is simple, charming, looks great (particularly thanks to a silky smooth frame rate) and has some clever nods to the real life sport without getting technical. Its simplicity makes it better suited to families or more inexperienced players, and it could be great fun in local multiplayer.

The Career mode is deep and involving, with a rewarding sense of progression as you earn new sponsors and bolt on better car parts...On the other hand, the multiplayer, which only offers single races online or in split-screen, is lacking more engaging features (and players, sadly).

A game with an identity crisis trying to be too many things to too many people. It's more successful than it should be but ultimately the entire package is brought down by being pulled in these two polarizing directions.

It's nothing that I want to particularly spend much time with, since it's just generally lackluster in modes and variety. It's a pretty game, that's for sure, but there was nothing in Ravaged that really drew me in, nothing that made me want to turn it later once I'd shut it down.

There's a little more depth to Primal Carnage than its premise might imply, but only a little. The interplay of the game's classes provide some intelligent play, but at the end of the day there's simply not enough game here to justify its cost.

Despite serious gameplay and production issues, Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes is still a memorable and enjoyable game.

007 Legends isn't completely terrible; Bond fans could even enjoy it. But for every step forward it takes two steps back.

Doom 3 has aged fantastically well. Provided you haven't already played the games in this collection, BFG Edition is also a solid value.

Though the variety of gameplay gives Retro City Rampage a broad scope, the redundancy of driving back and forth quickly becomes stale.

Wii controls continue to disappoint.

It's totally fine, and if you feel like devoting an afternoon to this game, you could certainly do a lot worse. But considering the robust, low-cost options that offer solid online multiplayer action on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace, why bother with a game that's content to be merely better than average?

Everything about this game is fantastic except the parts where you have to actually play it. That's what makes recommending this game really tough. Devout Fable fans will enjoy the check-in with the world as well as promises of what's to come, and some children may be indiscriminate enough to not care about perfect accuracy in controls. Everyone else should avoid the heartache.

For the Poke-Maniacs out there, these two games are easily the definitive versions of this generation, but only because they offer a few added side missions and graphical enhancements. For anyone that played and enjoyed the two games before, Black 2 and White 2 can be skipped without question.

With Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, the game is starting to feel stale. The Pokemon series has been living off its laurels for some time now, and the series is in need of change.

The average visuals, clunky animations, clumsy controls, and nonexistent lip-syncing represents a distinct lack of polish, but this doesn't ruin the otherwise solid game tucked within.

Don't get me wrong, I love the amount of jiggle, it's been a ridiculous and hilarious theme for several sequels now. But what I was really hoping for was more focus on how to play the game and tools to improve. I didn't see that in this installment.

Red Johnson's Chronicles: One Against All is for puzzle lifers. The puzzles are intense, complicated, and obtuse. To top it all off, you attack these puzzles back to back without much levity or downtime to let your brain recover making it even less friendly.

The gravity fluctuating gameplay combined with simple platforming make for devilishly difficult levels that only hardcore puzzle fans need apply for.

A unique blend of turn based and real time battles is squandered on bland battles and a pacing that is far too slow.

Only problem is that novelty doesn't make the game concept really workable, and thus you get a jumble of mechanics that partially invalidate themselves.

Tequila Works certainly understands the 2D space and there is some sense of satisfaction in navigating Randall Wayne through miles of hallowed out buildings, a treacherous underground, and zombie-infested roads.

The 3DS itself seems like an odd choice for a game like this, what with its small screen and isolated user base-compared, at least, to the massive communities surrounding PC games in the same genre.

Most Civ players will find the changes too minor and the original game complex enough that an expansion isn't necessary.

While Gungnir is in no means a bad game, there isn't anything about it that calls out to be played. The story isn't entirely original, but the lower class uprising setting fits well with the gameplay (as it does with most titles in the genre).

The controls are not only responsive, but they show a subtlety we don't normally see in motion-controlled games. It's just too bad that what could've been a fun, magical romp is deflated by generic fantasy tropes and equally uninspired visuals and sounds.

But much of the time, the controls simply don't work, and instead of feeling immersed, you feel enraged and helpless. If the graphics, story, or even gameplay mechanics weren't as good as they are, I wouldn't be wasting my time with a game with such messy, unreliable controls.

This isn't a bad game at all, but its relatively low score is more a reflection of how much gaming bang you get for your buck. It's just not quite worth the ten dollars it costs on XBLA-especially considering you can get pretty much the same game for five on Google Play. Babel Rising is mostly saved by its multiplayer options.

I was nonetheless impressed by the interdependence of the sea and ground battles, and it's the kind of gameplay mechanic of which I want to see more in future games. Battleship is worth a rental for sure.

Mario Tennis Open is like Jessica Alba with a giant, puss-filled zit right on the tip of her nose. Its flaws are glaring and hard to overlook – a beginner-friendly control system that harms competitive online play for purists and, more crucially, a distinct lack of imagination.

Game of Thrones is satisfactory at best, and dreadfully slow and ugly at worst. But there is fun to be had here. Despite all the shortcomings, I had fun, and with video games that's the most important element for my enjoyment. It's not for everyone.

If you dig DotA and want to play a streamlined version of that game on a console, Awesomenauts will deliver big time. But don't be surprised when, well, you wind up never being surprised.

An overall completion time of around five hours doesn't help the game either.

Starhawk is definitely a game that was made; I just don't know if it was a game that was designed. Its scope seems at odds with its mechanics. There's nothing inherently broken about Starhawk, it's just painfully straightforward, as if the question of "why" was never asked. And it's one I continued to ponder as I played the game and don't think I ever really came up with a satisfying answer.

While it drips with cinematic style and unrelenting action, the game is held back by camera issues and a game-breaking exploit that can't be ignored.

While it partially succeeds in exploring some of the aspects of pirate life, it doesn't deliver on it enough to make the experience super exciting.

While the graphics are barely passable in many instances, the frame rate inexplicably drops to a total crawl with every other in-game cutscene.

Operation Raccoon City is not wanting for cool ideas and ambition, but cool ideas don't create a new game experience by themselves. It's a clunky, glitchy third-person shooter that just happens to have zombies in it. You can do better, so you might as well.

The obtrusive HUD and messy atmospheric bits aren't bad enough to ruin this, but as with some of the questionable facets of this game, you can't help but wonder how much more fun it would be without them.

Too many quirks and glitches still exist in the gameplay for me to fully immerse myself into the sport. 2K12 makes pitching more challenging and stands out as the most polished aspect of the gameplay. Very little has been added in the way of game modes this season, but the standards still play true to form.

Offers an adequately suspenseful adventure and expands the series' lore, just barely making it worthy of the Silent Hill name.

The tension-inducing design present in I Am Alive's mechanics extends to its checkpoint system, which I would describe as torturous.

There are so many aspects of this game to which I can say "if only"… if only the camera worked right, if only the controls were tighter, if only there were more to do than find keys and kill the same dudes over and over again. But the game is what it is, and the bad seems to outweigh the good at every turn.

A broad comprehensive battle system makes each fight worthwhile, if a bit repetitive. The story is told at the right pace and will keep you interested throughout the entirety of the game. But the experience isn't entirely perfect, with some odd sound issues, a knack for getting you lost, and 3D visuals that should never be used.

If you've never played any version of Lumines before and you're looking for a solid puzzle game for your new Vita, then this title is certainly worth your time. But if you'd rather save your money and stay home with your block-dance-party-game, then Lumines Electronic Symphony is a bit of a tougher sell.

The core fighting system has been ported perfectly to the 3DS and the animation is very well done, but everything else has been stripped down to the bare essentials. Substantial lag makes most online matches unplayable, and just two single player modes doesn't give too many options for replayability.

I can't help but feel like there could've been more to Gotham City Impostors.

At its core, this is a really good game with a winning gameplay mechanic, but its flaws often grind the fun to a screeching halt.

I was disappointed with this game. Killing zombies with friends is a fun, if short, adventure, but highly repetitive gameplay makes the game stale. A great deal of backtracking and monotonous quests holds the game back even further. The nail in the coffin is no online multiplayer, because this game is just screaming to be played with friends over Xbox Live.

Professor Layton this is not, but imitation it tries. Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights fails to capture the magic that it is trying to emulate. Repetitive puzzles and a lack of player interaction during gameplay will leave you wanting much more.

Sonic Generations for the 3DS is by no means a bad game, it is just a disappointing one. Being able to play as both Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic in an assortment of old and new stages is a great idea, but everything is over very quickly.

There is a good game somewhere in the hybrid FPS/arcade title Xotic, but it's buried beneath gameplay mechanics that don't go well together. Collecting points, going for high scores, and zipping through levels for the fastest time is both fun and challenging, but having to slow the pace down to hunt and kill every enemy in order to advance takes away from what could have been a great title. Overly complicated controls and confusing visuals don't help either.

Once again a 3DS game fails to realize its huge online multiplayer potential.

A good dance game that uses solid gameplay mechanics. While the visuals are distinct, they're lacking on a technical level.

Even though the game gets repetitive you're constantly receiving rewards and increasing your stats, which makes the game addictive.

When a game's stated purpose is to relax the user, but it winds up doing the exact opposite, that extra credit can only carry it so far. Above all, there are some wonderful experiences to be had in Leela, but they're forgotten as soon as the frustrations set in.

Revelations very much feels to me like a team checking off items from a list. Ezio, Altair, and Desmond are here; there's parkour; there's combat; there's a bad guy, eventually; there are puzzles; there's a big beautiful world to explore. The problem is, they never seem to cohere into a single experience, and the kind of passion and quality that has made this series so good in the past is missing.

The story is decent at times but fails to compare to the magnitude of the original books' story. Leveling up and getting new gear is fun, but the combat becomes repetitive quickly.

Mahjong Cub3D is exactly what it needs to be - a collection of mahjong puzzles with a neat gimmick that works well with the 3DS's display.

If you're jonesing for classic, Rare-made GoldenEye and your N64 is nowhere to be found, then the updated Reloaded is definitely a must-buy. But if you don't already have an attachment to the old game, there isn't much here for you.

Despite the fact that PixelJunk Sidescroller isn't that bad, it isn't that good either. It's a mildly-entertaining-but-shallow offering from a studio that's usually at the pinnacle of PSN development.

Contra and Metal Slug are the KFCs of the 2D shooter world. And this game is literally like hardboiled chicken–enjoyable for the price, but is no gourmet dish.

Though the underlying action RPG mechanics are well done, constant grinding through improperly balanced levels brings the game down a couple notches.

Aliens: Infestation is a bit of a mixed bag: blasting through aliens in a desperate fight for survival that is both challenging and fun. Unfortunately these parts of the game are separated by a lot of backtracking that is both tiresome and frustrating.

Only the most ardent Dead Rising fans should buy this game.