Empathy: Path of Whispers attempts to tell a series of intriguing personal stories in a mysterious, abandoned world. The end result however is a visually dated, largely boring, and technically broken game that doesn't deserve your time and money.

Anthem manages to offer up moments of fun, with occasionally chaotic action, Javelin gameplay variety and freeform traversal. But an overly convoluted and forgettable story, underwhelming RPG elements and outdated design choices make for a rough introduction to this brave new world.

An experience which exudes humanity and warmth, from the writing to the visual style and music. A short game with some issues, but it packs a true emotional weight.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics isn't a swing and miss, because there wasn't a swing. This is a quirky and strangely-charming world, but the game has dulled it to a bog-standard strategy game, leaving behind the technical prowess that made the show interesting, and playing it safe in a way The Dark Crystal creator, Jim Henson, never would.

With weaponized nostalgia, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III delivers a satisfying experience in multiplayer and zombies. A diverse selection of returning battlegrounds augments the competitive action and the deep open-world undead mode is entertaining for hours, making it worth playing despite the disappointing campaign.

This revival of the miniature racer has a promising core, but poorly-handled multiplayer and a lack of replayability leave it sputtering on the starting grid. Micro Machines World Series might fulfill a night of local matches, but that’s about the extent of its strengths.

Memoranda has a nice art style with a story that features a few intriguing concepts, but the high level of difficulty and the nonsensical nature of the puzzles will frustrate all but the most dedicated adventure game fans.

While the bunker in Paradise Lost is interesting to explore at first, it is not packed with enough narrative content to match its ostentatious surrounds. This brief walking adventure quickly becomes frustrating as you wait for the mostly unsatisfying story to reveal itself.

Compared to its predecessor, Ghost Recon Breakpoint takes one step forward then tumbles down a hill. A completely out of place loot grind, pointless survival elements, dim-witted AI and repetitive missions are the main reasons you should avoid this sequel, even though the story is improved and co-op stealth gameplay remains at times enjoyable.

With underwhelming presentation, disappointing gameplay and lots of technical issues, Space Hulk: Deathwing fails to live up to its potential. The game attempts to stay true to the source material, but even so requires players to be familiar with the Warhammer universe.

Wanted: Dead is a bloodthirsty romp with challenging gameplay, but it feels unduly harsh, and more frustrating than fun. Accompanied by an inconsistent narrative, poor presentation, and repetitive boss battles, it results in a mediocre experience overall.

1-2-Switch contains minigames that are both fun diversions and promising examples of the technology at work within the system’s Joy-Cons, but several duds, a lack of substance or progression, and an expensive asking price make it feel like something that would have been better suited as a pack-in title.

The Path of Motus is ambitious in what it seeks to communicate about the relationship we often share with games, and includes several notable spins on traditional gaming components of the puzzle platforming genre. But its arguments need to be embedded within a more rigorous gameplay structure if they're to truly land.

Skater XL feels incomplete. There's not a lot of content, and the game is lacking a personality, a vibe to engage the player. In a year that has Skate coming to mobile, the Pro Skater games being re-released (again), and Session also working its way through Early Access, you should hold off on Skater XL.

Gear.Club Unlimited 2 is a quick sequel that only marginally improves on its underwhelming predecessor. Any forward strides are largely undone by unresolved issues from last year and some new performance problems.

Bloodshore finds itself stuck in a cruel circle, as a bland game adaptation of a roughly cut movie, which in turn is a bad adaptation of a game genre.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is unable to recapture the magic or originality of its predecessors, nor keep up with the current leaders of the genre. It's an open world racing game that lacks content and has too many frustrations to qualify for the starting grid.

Crude, repetitive, rarely scary, and quite often boring, Choo-Choo Charles butchers an unusual concept and only offers a few moments of mediocre tension.

While the atmosphere in Fort Solis is excellent, backed by great visuals and understated horror, the ambiguous story, poor ending, and cumbersome interaction means that this walking adventure does not always put its best foot forward.

Jump Force is an exercise in wasted potential, which is a real shame considering the strong roster of characters and engaging worlds they all hail from. The combat is lackluster and repetitive, despite being punctuated by flashy iconic special moves. Heavy grind and boring mission structure turn saving the world into a chore.

Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - The Official Video Game is comprised of a very watered down collection of minigames that offer just a few fleeting moments of fun. Fans looking for something casual might as well pick up the Mario & Sonic spinoff instead - and even so, temper your expectations.

Though its unique art style is masterfully executed, and some of the gameplay elements have a solid foundation, it is the array of technical and multiplayer issues that keep Drawn to Death from succeeding as an arena shooter.

Predator: Hunting Grounds occasionally offers a satisfying and violent asymmetrical multiplayer showdown, but doesn't look or play well while doing so. Hardcore fans of the series might get some value out of this title, if they're patient enough to wait in the long matchmaking queues.

Bit Dungeon Plus isn't the worst game around, but it doesn't do anything particularly noteworthy with its mechanics. If you're just dying for a co-op roguelike, I suppose this will do, but you can find a lot of better examples elsewhere.

Into A Dream has some interesting ideas, but the muddled storytelling and enjoyment-sapping gameplay stifle its ability to have a positive impact.

Fade to Silence is an unremarkable and slow slog for survival through a wintry post-apocalypse. Technical problems, underdeveloped gameplay systems, and a confused tone erode away most of the enjoyment in a setting that showed potential.

Beat The Game does not feel like a complete game. You scour a tiny area and collect a bunch of unusual sounds for limited mixing purposes. A few well animated cutscenes are not enough reason to experience this extremely brief adventure. Aspiring DJs may be able to create something pleasing to the ear, but others will prefer the sounds of silence.

There's nothing that helps redeem Black Mirror for all of the issues that plague it. There are bits and pieces of a good game but they're buried under bad design and awful tech that keep Black Mirror from ever becoming an engaging experience.

Jumping Joe and Friends embraces simplicity, requiring enduring vigilance as it challenges the player to accumulate as many points as possible. The result? Not only a tense arcade platformer, but a reasonable party game that suits the Switch’s pick-up-and-play charm.

The Great Perhaps is a nice looking adventure game that takes players on an interesting journey with solid dimension-shifting gameplay. Just be wary of the poorly handled mood swings and occasionally annoying design elements.

You'll likely be able to finish Cloudpunk without running into any game-breaking bugs, but the question is whether you'll want to. Fans of the cyberpunk genre may enjoy running and flying about for a while, but you'd be forgiven for abandoning ship before long.

Painfully plain mechanics and an inadequate narrative render SolSeraph insufficient entertainment for nearly anyone. ActRaiser fans will find its flaws indefensible, and anyone else who manages to stumble upon it will fail to be captivated by the excruciatingly repetitive tower defense and tiresome action platforming.

Has-Been Heroes is a solid tower defense experience that borrows attributes from Plants vs Zombies, while putting its own twist on the formula. Plenty of repetition and frustration - exacerbated by too many randomized elements - but the addictive and enduring gameplay shines through on occasion.

Dark Alliance is a dull and unpolished multiplayer action RPG with repetitive and glitchy combat, broken online connectivity, unbalanced solo play, and more than enough technical issues to put off anyone even slightly interested in checking it out.

A mildly fun multiplayer experience at best, and a flawed, derivative dungeon crawler at worst. Good for some fun with friends in short bursts, but has a knack for growing old rather quickly, especially when venturing out solo.

FlatOut 4: Total Insanity is a valiant effort and a modestly satisfactory sequel. Its track design and relative speeds help make it a much better destructive racer than the last effort. However, it still requires tuning when it comes to stunts, visuals, physics, and vehicle damage.

The actual interactive component of The Grand Tour Game is really quite poor, with awful handling and dated presentation making the races and challenges vastly inferior to the segments they attempt to replace, in between clips from the show you've already seen.

Almost every good piece of design in Last Encounter is knocked down multiple pegs thanks to an oppressive grind. It successfully manages to invest you in the world and its systems, before quickly erecting barriers that direct away from the interesting features. Had the game been a bit more generous with its upgrades, or toned down the monotony, this could have been a solid roguelike.

Fallout 76 retains the same captivating immersion, atmosphere and organic exploration that made Fallout 4 so enjoyable thanks to an excellent open world, though you’ll have to contend with a poorly implemented online component and the typical Bethesda technical hiccups and rough edges.

While this is a semi-competent port for Switch, ultimately Star Horizon's core gameplay is uninteresting and tired, while its mechanics lack polish.

The Waylanders tries to imitate a variety of mechanics from leaders of the RPG genre, but fails to implement any of them effectively, while offering nothing original apart from the astonishingly poor dialogue.

Overkill's The Walking Dead squanders whatever little potential it had with poor presentation, unenjoyable gameplay, technical issues, and simply poor design.

It's apparent that Forever Forest is a port of a mobile game. With randomly generated biomes, there's plenty of gameplay for those who seek it, but much of it proves too mundane, shallow, and repetitive.

Generation Zero is an amalgamation of ideas, some of them pretty decent, but none executed with any great level of confidence. Despite the surprisingly strong atmosphere, gameplay annoyances and serious technical issues prevent it from having a chance to survive.

Simplistic, unpolished, and lacking any sense of inspiration or effort, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle will neither entice any new fans nor satisfy the nostalgic hopes of those familiar with the TV franchise’s brand of goofy action.

Vane is the kind of game where you can see what the developers were going for. It has moments where the vision comes together and perhaps you've turned a corner, but all too quickly it goes back to its old, disappointing ways.

We Should Talk is an interesting first effort from the small team at Insatiable Cycle, but it feels more like a beta than a finished product. There's just not enough content here to justify taking the time to check out this narrative adventure.

Art is certainly subjective, but most people will be hard pressed to get more than an hour's enjoyment from ART SQOOL.

Ego Protocol: Remastered is competent, only in the sense that it works. Outside of that, the game is an uninteresting test of your ability to endure apathy.

WWE 2K20 is a complete debacle, and in the running for the worst entry in the series to date. Outside of the solid 2K Showcase and plethora of match options, this is a downgrade in almost every way. The visuals are repulsive, there are glitches everywhere you look, and the gameplay has been significantly compromised.

You'll want to steer clear of Dead Alliance, especially at its ridiculous $40 price tag. There is a decent game buried here, but digging through the bugs, shallow gameplay and underwhelming mechanics is just not worth it. If you simply love FPS and are quite fond of the idea of weaponized zombies, at least wait until a big price reduction, a number of major patches, or give it a rental.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood is a forgettable and disappointing adventure. The World of Darkness is rife with potential, but Cyanide squanders it with this dated action adventure title.

Frequently more frustrating than frightening, Hello Neighbor is a disaster from top to bottom. There’s a nugget of a good idea here, but between the irrational puzzle design and inconsistent AI, the finished product isn't up to snuff.

Protocol is a tortuous experience that combines clumsy, awful gameplay with an abysmal script. I would much rather fail the protocol, and be nuked, then have to play through this again.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum offers a bleak and lackluster adaptation of Middle-earth, with one of its more divisive characters in the spotlight. Whatever potential the game had is buried under dull, generic gameplay, a variety of technical issues, and low quality visuals.

The metroidvania-lover in me wished Randall turned out to be more enjoyable. There are some interesting ideas here, like the use of mind control, but the good of that is buried under a litany of technical problems and just general sloppy design. Like the titular hero, I found myself frequently battling headaches during my time with the game.

Tamarin strives to be a spiritual successor to Jet Force Gemini, but its poor art style, stale and disappointing gameplay, and shoddy controls result in a game that won't be remembered as fondly as its inspirator.

Fast & Furious Crossroads just can't get anything right, becoming yet another licensed movie tie-in that fits the negative stereotype. The presentation is dated and actors reprising their roles is but a small consolation. A brief and very linear campaign with poor gameplay offers terrible value for a full priced release. The PC version suffers further, with empty multiplayer, instability, and barely any options.

One tiny step forward and three huge leaps backwards. Some minor modern improvements fail to mask the failures of this remake. If you want the best experience, the 2003 original is the definitive edition.

The Quiet Man is a failed experiment, but unlike other games that share this fate, it doesn't seem constrained by budget or technical limitations – but rather poor execution and abnormal design choices that cause its own undoing.

The latest 8-Bit strategy game isn't without its shortcomings, but its offer of streamlined, accessible, Starcraft-esque retro RTS combat is no less tempting than those that came before it.

Killing Room's onscreen murderhouse makes for a challenging roguelike shooter, and its reality-TV slant injects the sadistic premise with a welcome touch of humour; even if it routinely finds itself punctured by irksome design details and patchy technical performance.

While the idea of a throwback to classic 16-bit era platformers has merit, Orange Adventure mostly squanders it with clunky controls and frustrating, archaic game and level design.

Lara Croft GO is a brief, intelligent, relic-hunting, snake-shooting, boulder-bypassing, turn-based puzzler.

Minecraft: Story Mode - The Complete Adventure offers a couple of thrills and some likable characters, lost in the midst of subpar gameplay and an uninvolving story. A missed opportunity to create a great new Minecraft spinoff experience.

Wells is a rather bland, forgettable experience with mediocre gameplay and visuals. At least the price tag is agreeable.

Stage Presence combines mic-improvisation with the immersive givens of the headset to deal a gut-punch of stage fright. Outside that momentary thrill, however, it's a noticeably mundane gig: if conquering one's fears means facing them head on, then Stage Presence unfortunately sets itself up to grate after its first few objectives.

High Noon Revolver borrows the arcade formula of rapid-fire gameplay and frequent deaths, and emulates it moderately well. The difference is at least you don’t have to keep throwing away your quarters. This type of experience isn’t for everyone, but there are plenty who will get a kick out of it.

Algotica - Iteration 1 is a fun puzzle game that effectively uses the basics of programming logic alongside a colorful world. It doesn't reach its aspiration to be an educational title, but there's still plenty of head scratching to be had for fans of the genre.

Strafe has the look and style to stand out, but Pixel Titans should have been focusing on making sure the game was not only fully functional, but actually fun to play, as well.

The Golf Club 2 is a satisfying and challenging golf simulation that succeeds thanks to the depth and quality of its core mechanics and number of courses available, despite a lackluster visual presentation and lack of proper online multiplayer.

Derelict Fleet feels like something that was unearthed by a science team digging for artifacts from the early 2000's. This is a game that was somehow preserved until a 2017 release, and now has the audacity to ask for $10 from unsuspecting players. Not many redeeming qualities to be found here, nostalgic or otherwise.

Feral Fury is a fun little pick-up-and-play shooter that serves its function quite well. It feels at once familiar in its gameplay, and fresh in its cartoony overlay.

For $5, you could do worse than YANKAI’S PEAK. While not bad, it just lacks anything distinctive to call its own.

Peregrin's simplistic puzzles, technical quirks, and uninteresting combat hold back an adequate tale of a hero's desolate journey into a lost and fractured land.

Rule with an Iron Fish is a decent offering if you're looking for a mobile-like experience on PC and don't mind the price tag, with a focus on simple and repetitive gameplay with subdued presentation.

With a rigorous control scheme and tweaked level design, Balthazar’s Dream could have offered a quite adorable puzzle-platformer to complete in a few hours. Yet its attempt to give each mechanic its own doggy bent results in a toilsome, repetitive experience that feels disappointing against its charming concept.

For $1, I cannot be too harsh on Puzzle Dating. It doesn’t offer a lot of content and it mostly exists as a joke, but it’s fun and cute enough to get by on charm alone.

Greedy Guns is a relatively humdrum and uninspired - if perfectly functional - Metroidvania-style adventure that makes an admirable effort to spruce itself up with light shoot 'em up elements.

SiNKR doesn't redefine the puzzle game genre, but it provides a solid entry with some genuinely clever puzzles and a simple to understand interface. Anyone can play this, even without knowing what a video game is.

BLIK uses a typical first-person puzzler template to produce a substandard game. Because of its bad reflection mechanics, playing with mirrors has never been so irksome.

All the creative problem-solving satisfaction of algorithm design with minimal nuisance coworkers. Algo Bot is a little bland and tiresome at times, but it’s still far cleverer than you and I.

Novel and cleverly designed, Roguemance makes for a delightful, tempestuous little fling while its ideas are still fresh, but its failure to make the most of them may leave you with a spot of premature exhaustion.

Copy Kitty exemplifies Nuclear Strawberry's emphasis on fun, and through an accessible control scheme and periods of glorified heroic power, it could very well open the action platformer genre to wider audiences.

Well written, quaintly designed and only occasionally fatiguing, Towards the Pantheon fully embraces RPG convention, using the genre's familiar narrative themes and battle systems to provide an unavoidably charming fantasy quest.

The Free Ones puts the grapple gameplay mechanic above all else, which manages to produce enough thrills and momentum to carry the game to its conclusion, across chasms where story and presentation should be.

Next Up Hero feels a bit more like an online app or a means of promoting Mixer rather than a fully realized game. If you happen to have the Xbox Game Pass, this might be worth giving a try, just don't expect much substance or variety.

Frustrating puzzles, bad visuals, and prevalent glitches don't keep Trinity from being an unintentionally funny experience, but they come extremely close. It's largely unpleasant and nearly impossible to finish, but the morbidly curious will find the story snippets well worth the impractical effort.

Final Days fully embraces its identity as a predictable co-op romp, and in so doing will likely provide genre fans with a comfortable mutant-mashing session.

Joggernauts is a charming party-platformer that will invoke feelings of both joyful laughter and rage. The game forces your brain to think in an obscure new way, as you scramble to juggle color coordination, pitfall hopping, and team communication.

The Greater Good may not appeal to those scouting for intense systems, strategic play or hefty challenges, but like it did me, it just might win you over in spite of its technical hitches.

PC Building Simulator is one of the better entries in the genre, with nice touches of authenticity and attention to detail. It's too limited and simplistic to replicate the experience of putting a rig together yourself, but it does a good enough job to get you started in the right direction.

Ravva And The Cyclops Curse is yet another reminder that an old formula can still be both fun and interesting, if the execution is up to snuff and a few bits of innovation are sprinkled in. Those who enjoy a bite-sized platforming experience should find much to like about this little indie.

Sci-Fi tropes aside, Hazardous Space runs with a unique blend of gameplay elements, which work to a degree, but feels shallow or unrealized in certain areas. Should provide short bursts of entertaining RPG gameplay, at least for the roguelike enthusiasts.

Koral's ambition to bring awareness to the problems faced by marine life largely falls flat. While it looks nice, the formulaic and repetitive gameplay means this title fails to stand out in a sea of similar indie releases.

Mushroom Crusher Extreme is an amusing, albeit sometimes frustrating, isometric retro romp. It offers some thrills for those willing to overcome the somewhat clunky mechanics, and repetitive grinding needed to tap into all of its content.

Traffix is nice little game that takes a seemingly straightforward puzzle concept and makes a fun experience out of it.

Quench is an okay puzzle game that has a few solid mechanics with a noteworthy art style, but its linearity and awkward controls don't help offset the somewhat steep asking price.