On the surface, Bond might seem a natural fit for IO: all glitz and gadgets that make it feel like barely a skip away from the world of Hitman. But what I saw had me feeling that the studio has not leaned into its strengths, trading the absurd clockwork worlds of Agent 47 for a more tightly choreographed, linear, and "cinematic" game that IO has never been all that good at. The last time it tried was Hitman: Absolution. We know how that worked out. [3-Hour Hands-On Impressions]

I haven't been too blown away by what I've seen of it so far, but if Masters of Albion could help revive the god game genre, at least a little? That'd be fine by me. [Early Access Impressions]

It's such a disappointment that I'm worried this will kill any chance of us getting a meatier Legacy of Kain game—but at the same time, given how Ascendance sets up Elaleth's further adventures, it might be better if Kain and his pals go back into their coffins.

Black Ops 7 is Call of Duty at its most obnoxious and least enjoyable.

A decent but cliched mob story and bland, frustrating gameplay make this the weakest Mafia yet.

Wuchang brings some fun ideas to soulslike boss fights, but the rest of it is a pale imitation of much better games.

Overwhelming monetization and exceptionally dull third-person hero shooting sour a game that could've been a mech fan's dream.

Mycopunk shows a ton of promise, but that doesn't mean it's infallible. The progression can become a bit of a slog, and it can take a while to level up or collect enough resources to upgrade your kit. There's also definitely a cap as to how many missions you can do in a row before it all just blends into a violent blur. The variety in mission types only keeps things fresh for so long. There are also some glitches, many of which the devs are aware of, but that doesn't make them any less annoying. I've been lasered by an Abomination through a wall more than once now—you're never safe, even when you think you are. But none of this ruins the fun, it's just something to bear in mind: The fungal growths of Early Access. [Early Access Provisional Score = 79]

The action would be passable if it were buoyed by a compelling story, but I ain't gripped so far. [2-Hour Impressions]

It's so mundane that I expected Schedule 1 to get boring by the fifteenth time I'd lugged a bulk order of plastic baggies to my crappy apartment, but like my latest strand of weed called "Wedding Ass," the drug-dealing sim dominating Steam right now is undeniably habit-forming...Chalk up that success to a lot of smart design choices from developer TVGS—its constant sense of progression, clockwork open world, expressive characters, gratifying supply/demand loop, day one co-op support—but I reckon Schedule 1's secret sauce is a crafting system that doesn't suck. [Early Access Impressions]

Honestly, I would have preferred Krafton give this game even more time to cook. It almost feels like I'm playing pretend at playing pretend right now—engaging with a variety of set pieces I can do a cute peace sign in front of before moving onto the next thing. In an attempt to offer something different to The Sims, Inzoi has failed to establish any sort of identity of its own. I'm not even sure Krafton knows what direction it wants to take right now, but it needs to figure that out quickly, otherwise I fear it'll be another casualty of the genre. [Impressions]

Another fumbled PC port blighted by poor optimisation and unpredictable performance issues.

Repo is a fantastic co-op horror game that can hold its own against big shots like Lethal Company. It's also only in early access right now, and with plans to introduce more player customisation, story elements, equipment, levels, and enemies, all I can say is that I'm really looking forward to seeing where the devs take this co-op horror game. [Early Access Impressions]

Insultingly short for its price, but that might be its one saving grace considering how derivative it feels.

Despite plenty of style and cheek, Keylocker can’t get past the repetitive grind of its battles.

A collection of fun hacking minigames attached to a bland metroidvania.

Concord feels out of touch and already out of time.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a disappointing anniversary for a series that really should take a break.

The game barely qualifies as playable given its myriad of technical issues, but even when it is working as intended, you'll wish that it wasn't.

If Fort Solis really was a Netflix series, it wouldn’t get a second season.

Beyond the shock value of its demonic horrors, this survivalist city-builder has little to recommend it.

Redfall's empty open world, flimsy shooting, and siloed systems make for a flat, dull experience.

Lacking the sharpness needed by both shooters and comedy, High on Life is a low point in the gaming calendar.

Somerville never hits its stride, thanks to flat direction and frustrating mechanics.

After a promising opening, Ghost Song collapses under the weight of its ill-conceived mechanics.

Gotham Knights attempts to differentiate itself from the Arkham series with new characters and a new canon, but spends most of its length poorly imitating what made those games great.

A bland alternative to a genre-defining game millions of people are very familiar with.

An overpriced game with a solid combat system that's buried under a mountain of banality and monetisation.

Scarf is a nice if not particularly original idea, disappointingly executed on almost all fronts.

In PR terms, it's the world's costliest public beta. There's a lithe control system in the wreckage, but it'll take many updates to dig it out.

Necromunda is a sight to behold, but it's undermined by wonky shooting, superfluous mechanics, and bugs.

Playing Mass Effect Legendary Edition is a constant see-saw of noticing an improvement, then wishing it went further. You can sprint outside combat, but only for like three seconds. There's a dedicated melee button, yet no way to separate the sprint and take cover actions to separate keys. You can skip the elevator rides, which are the only way to hear banter that could be filling the stretches where you jog from place to place. The graphics are better, but there's no FOV slider. [Mass Effect 1 score = 77]

The result is a competent remaster and the best way to play this classic Total War, but it still can't compete with its modern heirs.

Empire of Sin's many bugs, balance issues and competing systems undermine what could have been a novel mob management game.

There's two chapters left to turn things around but Tell Me Why is going to have to pull out all the stops to make up for a bungled first act.

Despite some cool heroes and a neat twist on battle royale, Amazon’s long-awaited hero shooter wasn’t worth the wait.

The Suicide of Rachel Foster builds a haunting hotel, but fills it with an insensitive story ill-equipped to deal with the issues it covers.

A mediocre XCOM-like in the form of a deeply worrying depiction of militarised police.

Poorly stapled-on mechanics and a general lack of polish make Breakpoint's open-world tactics simply not worth the time.

Riddled with bugs and bizarre mechanics, Underworld Ascendant is a bafflingly poor debut from OtherSide Entertainment.

It's a spectacular disaster, which feels like a rarity these days: there are lots of bad games, but for a game that was announced at E3 and made by a major publisher and studio to be this catastrophic is something.

There is potential for amusing cat-and-mouse exchanges, but a lobby full of humans is hard to find.

A flimsy remake of a flawed 16-bit favourite that exacerbates all the original’s problems while failing to recapture its strengths.

Frustrating, buggy and overly dependent on trial-and-error, this is a missed opportunity.

A horror game with few scares, Inmates is imprisoned by its lack of ambition.

Brainhacking will blow your mind, but you'll want to get the cop out of your head by the end.

A misguided attempt at parody, underpinned by a poor sports game by anyone’s standards.

I like Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator's conceit—I used to love creating AI skirmishes in Garry's Mod—but here any potential drama is squandered by the poor execution. UEBS is good at the moneyshot—the ridiculous joy of seeing an unreasonable number of chickens swarm over some Nazis, or a super-powered turtle take on a cavalry brigade. But the joke soon wears thin, and, outside of that single gag, Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator fails to entertain.

Some solid puzzles can’t rescue what is an otherwise terrible adventure game.

Updates are planned, but this needs too much work under the hood to be worth your time or money. [May 2017, p.89]

The basic combat is fine, but WWE 2K17 botches everything, from performance to presentation.

An unsatisfying, forced march through the source material.

A beautiful action movie that punishes improvisation, with under-populated multiplayer that can’t compete with a nine-year-old game.

I'm enjoying Battlefield 1. It's not a huge departure for the series, despite the period, but it is meaningfully distinct from Battlefield 4. That may disappoint those who simply want progression that mirrors the jump from Battlefield 3 to 4 – more guns, more features and new maps.

ReCore buries a great action platformer beneath layers and layers of open world busywork.

Fascinating, but not in a good way. It's rare for a major publisher to release something that, for a significant part of its short length, feels so bad. Yes, the bike sections are standard fare for the series. RedLynx is good at making Trials levels, and has made a handful of them here. But their quality only serves to highlight how bad the other levels are. This is the worst Trials game. It's also the worst Blood Dragon. Neither series comes out of this partnership looking good.

Dangerous Golf has a good variety of levels and lots of stuff to destroy, but offers weak, unsatisfying control over that destruction.

A few good ideas, but Prospekt is hurt by uninspired design and infuriating combat encounters.

An ARPG with weak combat and too many bugs, Bombshell isn’t worth your click-click-clicks.

Tharsis is well made, but not well designed—an attractive, interesting board game idea, but only the first draft.

Sloppy controls make for an infuriating platformer. If you want a modern Sonic game, get Generations instead.

Armikrog’s memory puzzles and tenuous humour are a low point in the adventure game renaissance.

For those hoping for a game in which killing innocent people provides you with some sort of entertainment—be it humor, revulsion, guilt, a vicarious and morbid thrill—you can find it done better, in one way or another, in every other game I've mentioned in this review.

Stripped down to arcade basics, it's buggy, bland, and not much fun.

Hektor's level design mind games are cool, but its 90 minutes of jump scares would be better spent on so many other horror games.

A mod too short on content and aspiration to warrant the price as a standalone release.

In summary, 'wrath' was an apt choice of name. [Feb 2015, p.77]

Defenders of Time multiplayer mode is conceptually interesting, but ultimately not worth trying because of many technical issues and poorly-executed fundamentals.

The sentimental, dull, superficially interactive story isn’t worth a few cute moments and some interesting surrealism.

It just doesn't measure up to the imagination and potential of the setting, and you feel like little more than a jumped=up errand boy. [Holiday 2014, p.66]

The tractors look great, but the rest of Farming Simulator 15 comes off like shovelware from 2012.

Parts of Final Fantasy XIII are worth the absurd amount of time it takes to properly open up, but this port is a big letdown.

Makes you work a lot for very little. The repetitive churn of missions and activities further spoil an only occasionally entertaining shooter.

Slow, technically flawed and dogged by premium microtransactions. A sorry take on a classic card game.

A promising concept but dismal execution on just about every level.

Lacking in meaningful challenge, Murdered: Soul Suspect fails to deliver on its promising premise at every step. [Sept. 2014, p.70]

The very definition of style over substance. Great art, but boring levels, lightweight combat, and dubious minigames sour the experience.

You can’t just chuck players in a maze with a ghost and tell them to be scared. Unfortunately this is exactly what Daylight does.

Deus Ex: The Fall belongs on your phone, not on your monitor. This is a woeful port with few redeeming features.

The worst gaming goat since that one in Broken Sword. This is a dumb, limited novelty game that's not worth the asking price

But LocoCycle is unchallenging, unengaging, and chronically unfunny, and when ideas start to repeat themselves, the game drags along like Pablo himself. [May 2014, p.74]

MOBA genre conventions are much better executed by Dota 2 and League of Legends. Dragons and Titans just isn’t a worthwhile alternative.

A miserable blend of flawed game mechanics that's a giant leap backwards from its predecessor.

Starts out funny, but quickly becomes frustrating. A wonderfully weird and original concept that falls flat like its jelly-limbed hero.

X misses the spot. The occasional bit of spectacle can't save this boring, broken and charmless space simulation. [March 2014, p.60]

This clumsy, dated misadventure steals from all over and contributes no ideas of its own. Brilliantly bad dialog though. [March 2014, p.58]

For $5, it might be worth it on a tablet, but as a PC game Ace Patrol would be hard to recommend even if it were free. [Feb 2014, p.74]

The features that aren't missing are bugged beyond use. Takedown is a bare-bones wreck in need of substantial patching. [Holiday 2013, p.56]

I just sat there and gambled until I finally felt so angry with the game that I wanted to stab my screen. [Nov 2013, p.78]

A work of sulky blandness that does itself no favors by latching onto better games and cooler vampires. [ Nov 2013, p.68]

Under-delivers on the promise of the licence. A middling action-RPG that you’d have to be a Marvel fan to love.

An apocalyptic disappointment that never rises above mediocrity, but often sinks into tedium. [July 2013, p.72]

A dumb shooter that feels like a rubbish stealth section dragged out across the length of an entire game.

We suggest you play the original, free, Flash version instead – the full explanation isn’t worth the outlay.

Deeply underwhelming. Neither staged carefully enough to be scary nor dynamic enough to be exciting, it succeeds only where other players are capable of breathing life into it. There are better linear shooters, better asymmetrical multiplayer games, and better Aliens sequels, and your love of the motion tracker and pulse rifle would need to be profound to surmount those obstacles.

Ace of Spades contains some good ideas and tries hard to ape its influences, but it lacks their charm and stability.

Little Inferno's argument against games I would never elect to play left me rather cold. [March 2013, p.79]

A shameless knock-off that repeats many of DayZ's problems. Worst audio ever. Bullets for sale? Really?