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.