The Blackout Club is what happens when a concept isn't executed well. Everything about the setting and lore should lead the game to be a surefire hit. But, with the lack of a main story path, painfully repetitive levels, and a torturously grindy progression system, The Blackout Club feels unbalanced, unpolished, and immensely unrewarding. The only thing saving it from being a complete waste of time is that communicating and working as a team, planning out your strategy can be enjoyable, although only in short bursts.

A dated and niche license receives the game that it deserves - shallow, simplistic and unsatisfying. Turn left before you get to the checkout.

A bare bones concept, lacking any consequence to choosing to pursue what the game is supposed to be about: strategy. Only the most diehard of Dynasty Warriors fans will try it out, otherwise buyers are better suited to sticking with Dynasty Warriors 8.

Despite having to rustle up the occasional cup of coffee or tea, this is one of the least interactive games to grace the PS4. A little more effort on the part of the developer with character interaction could have made the storytelling more enjoyable and given the game some depth. Otherwise if you're happy relaxing and reading the dialogue for a few hours, it could be for you.

There’s a lot of potential with Archangel, but when so much potential is unrealized, then the end product loses its luster. Archangel is exactly that, starting off with a bang and tapering off too quickly to maintain its level of initial intrigue.

There is an attempt to make Farming Simulator 17 entertaining, but it’s a rather poor one. Dull, uninventive, and drier than sandpaper on crackers.

Lost Records is a visually gorgeous game and proves that the team who pioneered Life is Strange still have the aesthetic nailed down. Unfortunately this and some smart adaptations of mechanics do little to hide a story that tries in vain to recapture the same energy, managing to totally lose itself by the end. I can see what they were going for here, but that vision is lost in a game that doesn't know what it wants to commit to. A deeply personal story is subsumed by what feels like an obligation to the supernatural. A story about the supernatural is lost in a story about the personal. Neither is done justice and both feel like they deserved more.

Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed might be a brutally honest remake of the original game, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant to sit through all its rough parts. Few elements of the core gameplay remain as fun as they were on the PS2, but it's far too shallow to be worth it, especially when it is still riddled with performance issues that can seriously effect your experience.

City of Light may shine on occasion, but it too often slips into the darkness of bad writing, plot development, and characterization. A season finale that finally kills the hope of redemption for what has been a thoroughly disappointing Batman outing.

There's promise going forward, for the story at least, but this is an otherwise messy episode on several levels.

The side scrolling side of Smelter has a lot going for it. It has a welcome execution that doesn't demand much effort and doesn't bog you down with much, even if it is overly simplistic. The tower defense side of Smelter contradicts this simplicity, however. Bad control choices coupled with halfhearted explanations makes it a hard sell for the entire package. Smelter has something unique, but that's nowhere near enough to warrant your time.

A flawed take on the survival adventure template, The Solus Project's subpar execution ultimately undermines the few moments of true enjoyment that it occasionally provides.

Trillion: God of Destruction is an SRPG that probably should have been a visual novel. Its great character design, and top notch writing are held back by constant micromanagement. Worse still by a combat system that's hard to comprehend, and isn’t even fun when you do. Come for the art, don’t stay for the gameplay.

There's no doubt that White Shadows has something to offer in raw artistic spectacle, but there's far too many issues with the game to be celebrated. It comes across as a game that has its priorities completely upside down. While it's commendably brave that a brand new studio would explore delicate themes on their debut game, this preoccupation has apparently left no mind toward the fundamentals of what makes a gaming experience rewarding. Furthermore, these themes have not been handled in a very sophisticated manner. Social commentary aside, unoriginal level design, a forgettable narrative and poor frame performance sadly render White Shadows as one you can miss.

A shell of its predecessor. All the fun mechanics from Guided Fate Paradox have been removed and changed, leaving a generic but tedious combat system. The story, while potentially interesting, has major pacing and voice acting issues that dull the experience. Only a diehard NIS fan will want to play this game.

An unnecessary port of an already unspectacular game. It may find an audience, but it’ll make it as tough as possible to like it first.

Kerbal Space Program is a fascinating educational tool. There's a childlike joy to be had in experimenting with your space-faring efforts. You'll find it hard to appreciate that on PS4 though, as this version is a mess on multiple levels. A genuinely good game is spoiled by a terrible port.

Foregone is a mix of ideas that don't mesh well. The name of the game is simplicity, but Foregone contradicts itself with randomized loot, an immense difficulty spike, and a hard turn away from "play as you like" after committing to that formula. Foregone is a copycat title through and through with a couple good ideas that are encrusted with careless execution.

Dead Reset has horror, it can gross you out, and the choices and their deviating paths encourage experimentation-but its low-budget thrills quickly decay into rot as it fails to hold your attention or invigorate you in surprising new ways.

Aragami 2 could be a good stealth game, with a good foundation of stealth gameplay and even an intriguing story, but it is plagued by constant bugs, performance issues, poor level design, pacing, rough implementation of gameplay mechanics and a visual style that only further serves to make its flaws even more evident then they already are.

An otherwise robust combat system is summarily undone by dunderheaded AI, repetitive grinding, a lack of modes and uneven presentation. We've wanted to return to Ancient Rome for years now on PS4, but not like this.

With finicky controls and oversized maps, it’s hard to recommend this game to anyone other than those who love the franchise and the two series themselves.

There's a solid foundation to build upon here but far too many decisions feel contrived and confused for a strong recommendation to anyone other than the most diehard Touhou fan. Far too many mechanics can be borderline ignored, and the game hardly evolves throughout, leading to a game that struggled to keep my attention throughout its runtime with some nice visuals only doing so much to alleviate this tedium.

A voxel based console RTS that tries to simplify things for the platform but comes up short. There is a whole lotta game here but the simplistic controls and poor AI end up making the whole experience hard to enjoy unless you really love the RTS genre.

King Of Seas ultimately suffers through a lack of visual polish, some frustrating gameplay mechanics, and dull pacing and sequences, which when all combined together create a thoroughly unremarkable experience that doesn't manage to hold its own against even some of the most average of pirate games on the market.

Ever tried driving with butter smeared all over your tyres?

Blitz: The League II disappoints on almost every level, leaving gamers praying to be tackled by Lawrence Taylor himself rather than being forced to play the game.

A promising premise and some well-executed puzzles aren't enough to save The Station from the dull nature of its story and characters.

This rather short expansion can be fun for fans of Little Nightmares, but lacks content and isn't as impactful as the main game.

Crazy by name only, this iOS port costs three times as much for the same amount of content. With simplistic controls and bad replay incentives, this game has little to recommend.

Funny in small doses, the concept of Oh Sir…! The Insult Simulator is sound but the execution is lacking. Some great character voice work and the occasional witty retort isn’t enough to keep you laughing for long with the game’s scoring system and nonsensical dialogue dampening the humor.

Dolmen attempts to add some potentially good ideas into the Soulsborne formula. Unfortunately, it misses the mark far too many times in important areas to make it worth the effort you need to play it. Great level aesthetic and enemy design are wasted on far-too-flawed combat. With so many other Soulsborne clones available, Dolmen can easily be passed up.

Antab Studio provides living proof that style should not come before substance in an eye-catching albeit below average shooter which would've felt at home on the PlayStation 2.

An admirably niche racing game which gets the look and feel of truck racing just right, but manages to get the single player career experience all wrong.

Bus Simulator 21 offers a cathartic toy box for the most dedicated of bus fanatics, with dozens of hours of gameplay hidden beneath its flaws. Unfortunately, it misses the mark too often and in too many ways to warrant a recommendation to anyone outside of its extremely niche audience.

Though pretty to look at, and maybe fun to play for a bit with some friends, the combat system here just isn't meaty enough for any long-term or tournament worthy enjoyment. Really only just for people that still don't have an internet connection, or are just really into this sort of thing.

Pac-Man needs to go back to his maze-running roots if he is to have a chance of starring in a decent game again, because efforts like this come across like a fading actor phoning it in on an awful movie for the sake of another paycheque.

Late Shift is an interesting update on the idea of the interactive movie. While it brings decent tv-quality production values and soap opera level acting to a genre notoriously riddled with far worse, it still doesn’t do enough to stand out as a film, nor offer enough interactivity as a game. There’s potential for this template, but the interactivity needs to be much more ambitious.

Unfortunately, Micro Machines World Series has been forced into a corner where its online multiplayer only nature, buggy online play, and less than half features of the content of its non-licensed predecessor makes this a hard purchase.

There’s not much positive to NBA Live 16 apart from the unique menus and the well-conceived game modes. Gameplay is borderline crippling, leaving the final product on the whole incomplete. Uneven growth keeps this year’s outing from being justifiably on anyone’s radar.

Gamers need not apply. This one is for the arty folk out there. Add five points to the final score if you fit into that category.

For the amount of staff that worked on this game, they do have a good base to work from, but unfortunately there are so many issues that it detracts from being an enjoyable affair. Its sub three-hour gameplay has no replayability at all, and the consistently harsh frame rate dips heavily impact the game.

A broken mess in almost every way. Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris doesn't deliver on it's promised product. With so many technical issues it's hard to imagine anyone with the patience to get through the game. Alicization Lycoris should have been the crowning achievement in a beloved franchise but instead, it ends up being the worst title in the Sword Art Online franchise.

A novel concept is unfortunately lost in a muddle of confused mechanics and cheap presentation that makes me question exactly why this foregone Stadia game even made the jump to major platforms. Where I managed to have some small fun on the virtue of this still being the PAC-MAN we know and love, I found myself quickly wanting to reinstall other versions of the game. Given that this isn't even the first instance of a PAC-MAN battle royale, I'm sad that this didn't manage to emerge as a worthwhile competitor.

ELEX is bad in almost every way. It’s a poor attempt and impossible to enjoy anything outside of its interesting setting and backstory.

The Devil's Cartel takes what made the original Army of Two intriguing and replaces it with quick and simple gameplay that doesn't require much skill. Together with a weak script, this shallow experience is only for the most devoted of fans and trophy hunters desperate for another Platinum.

Even the most hardcore Gundam fans will find it hard to say they enjoyed VS-Force. It may look and sound like a good game but it doesn't play like one. Poor controls, pointless story, and some crazy difficulty spikes leaves VS-Force missing the mark in almost every way.

While Foamstars has a strong foundation in terms of core gameplay, I found myself quickly growing weary of the small annoyances that kept rearing their heads. Awkward navigation, ho-hum singleplayer offerings and egregious monetisation and design choices bring down an experience that is really fun if you can ignore those things, which is something that shouldn't have to be done. I hope updates are able to address some of these issues in the coming months, but for now this party has left me feeling exceptionally mixed overall.

There is the odd glimmer of something greater in Gemini: Heroes Reborn. For whatever reason, you never get to see it very often. Combat can be gleeful fun, but a forgettable, pointless story, dull characters and uninspired design work are just some of the things that work against any potential.

Unfortunately, far too many of Hardware’s ideas are poorly executed for it to be the saviour it might have been. It doesn’t do it any favours to see it presented in such a generally unenthusiastic, haphazard fashion. With variety sorely lacking and balancing currently an issue, there’s little to suggest a long-term future for Hardware: Rivals in the heaving ball pit that is online-only gaming.

Very little of Neptunia Virtual Stars makes it a franchise entry worth playing. Simplicity here lacks the success of other entries, instead offering something clunky and dull. Consider this a Neptunia title barely meant for die-hard fans and no one else.

A highly unsatisfying and directionless tennis game, with an abysmal character creator and career mode. Steer well clear and buy AO Tennis 2, bizarrely made by the exact same team responsible for this monstrosity.

Looks good with some decent boss battles, but lack of content and replay value disappoints.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is a game crying out to be more straightforward, more-focused, but instead it’s added one more wafer thin gameplay mechanic after another, flying in the face of common sense, and now its bloated frame has exploded because it simply can not hold all that mess in and still function. A dull, frustrating misfire.

A poor 2D platformer that has no redeeming features; don't waste your money on this drivel.

Shooting in Warfighter is excellent, and the presentation is great, but it doesn't stop the game from being broken literally, and thematically.

Akiba’s Beat is a step down from its predecessor on almost every level. A bland, soulless JRPG that yearns to emulate more successful titles without any of the style, grace, or nuance.

Albedo is one of those games that, with a few small changes, could have been quite decent. The shlocky sci-fi B-Movie vibe is a good one to utilise for an adventure game, and it’s definitely the most unique facet of Albedo, but sadly, as a game, it never quite maintains any kind of consistency to recommend it to anyone but the most patient and understanding of adventure game fans. The game’s protagonist often says ‘I see something’ without any clue as to what it is he’s referring to. That sums up Albedo all too well.

Sword and Fairy 6 is an unfinished broken mess that should probably be avoided at all costs. What should have been a triumph for Chinese game development is instead a massively wasted opportunity.

A dry, unchallenging game that needed a proper remake far more than an underwhelming remaster. While it is refreshing to have a game like Praetorians on PS4, it’d be a bit more refreshing if it was a good one.

A highly lacklustre standalone addition to both the Trials and the Blood Dragon series. Trials of the Blood Dragon is a pointless exercise that suffers from far too much awful platforming, and a very tight-fisted use of the Trials set up.

There will come a day where The Park is available on PS4 for peanuts, and that day is when I’d fully recommend trying its fresh, but flawed, brand of horror out. Until then, the price of admission is too high for the brevity of the ride. Especially for one that has more than a few nuts and bolts missing from it.

The setup for 2DARK holds intrigue, with a grim plot, and suitably creepy settings, but so much of how it actually plays out quickly diminishes the horror aspect of it. Respectable enough as a game, a failure as a horror.

A game that will appeal to fans of the Gundam anime series and Dynasty Warriors franchise only. If you haven't played DW before, then steer well clear of this.

There's really no way to gild this filthy lily - Overpass is an infuriating and deeply unsatisfying experience which should be given a wide berth by anyone who values their sanity.

Earthfall is a hard pill to swallow. Almost everything it does will lead to frustration. Your money is better off spent elsewhere unless of course you constantly love to scream in your friend's ears.

Rennsport doesn't leave a positive impression at all by overcharging players for a flimsy racing game package that's clearly unfinished. Yes, the car handling is nuanced, the featured track selection is nice, and while the car selections come up short, they are hulking and sound as impressive as they look; however, Rennsport falls very short in just about every way and will not hold racing game aficionados' attention for very long until they drop off and find a better and fairer alternative to spend their time with.

If this game came out in 2012 I'd probably have nicer things to say. It could potentially have been ahead of the pack back then. But now, in this day and age where developers have taken the formula and ran with it, having created racers in the same vein that are more impressive in almost every way, KT Racing have sadly finished in last place.

Despite its charm, Commander Cherry's Puzzled Journey is too flawed to recommend to adults and kids alike.

The entertainment of sniping in Sniper 2 is plagued by bouts of mediocrity between each shooting scenario, resulting in a rush to get to the next sniping roost. The multiplayer isn't even equivalent to a cut-and-paste of other shooters, and the narrative is something found in any military movie. $40 may be cheaper than most games, but so is the experience in Sniper 2.

Strictly a game to be played with friends, but even then Operation Racoon City will leave you wondering: why?

Though the setting is evocative, the poor combat, raft of bugs and meagre duration all conspire to ensure that Fimbul fumbles its setting and results in disappointingly poor roaming brawler.

Stormrise's major innovations are also its biggest downfalls.

Unearthing Mars takes you on a journey from your living room to the red planet in 10 short levels. Push a few buttons, twiddle some knobs and that’s about all there is to this title.

A mediocre third-person stealth effort revolving around a singular gimmick that is both intriguing and also damning to its ambitions, Shadwen is nowhere near the lofty standard that we would expect from the house that Trine built.

Don't be fooled by the impressive visuals. This dated and deeply unsatisfying arcade shooter manages to make space combat feel flimsy, boring and anything but immersive. Perhaps on a mobile phone, its limitations can be overlooked but on a console it's not worth bothering with.

Knights Contract is essentially one, giant escort mission plagued by a myriad of gripes including horrendous AI. and repetitive combat. Despite its interesting concept, there is not enough on offer to salvage the game from the sheer magnitude of problems encountered throughout.

X-Blades has visual charm, but the grind of monotonous combat soon starts to wear thin. The longer you play it the more you'll hate it.

There’s some positives to be found in Mark McMorris Infinite Air’s setup, but some poor design and plenty of shambolic mechanics throw this rider from its board.

A neat concept alone is not enough to save a poorly-designed, technical jumble of an adventure game. Divide flickers into life on occasion, but far too briefly, and nowhere near bright enough to keep it interesting.

AO International Tennis does not have any competition in this current market when it comes to tennis games, but AO Tennis lacks both refinement and variety that a good sports game should have.

Wolfenstein Cyberpilot will be remembered as a curiosity; a failed side project with cool mechanics and no gameplay. Released without the Wolfenstein name, this would be a slight, middle-of-the-road title with little to recommend it. But with the Wolfenstein name attached, Cyberpilot becomes a debacle. Wolfenstein fans should not play this game. Neither should anyone else.

Even with its impressive character customization options and solid visuals, Valhalla Knights 2 falls short of being a must-own title on the PSP by a very wide margin.

A wholly unenjoyable experience, completely devoid of any fun and intrigue. Fishing Sim World couples that gameplay experience with ugly character models and environments, leading to a game that quite literally has nothing going for it.

Though it boasts a resoundingly striking aesthetic, a haphazard save system coupled with a raft of glitches and a misjudged waypoint system all manage to tarnish what should have been one of the first major indie darlings of the year. Vane is simply too frustrating to recommend in its current form.

A great concept that summarily misfires on all cylinders, Milanoir is an admittedly stylish retro shooter that is simply too frustrating and poorly designed to recommend.

If you've got a few mates together and the drinks are flowing, then this should only be considered as a last ditch attempt to inject some fun into your evening.

Element Space looked like such a fun game to play but ended up being a nightmare. In 2020 your game shouldn't be crashing every hour of playtime Element Space simply isn't optimized and need a lot more time in the testing stages.

Decay Of Logos is the worst game I have ever played. It is filled with poor design decisions and mechanics that don't challenge the player and instead decide to punish them for no reason at all. The game actively tries to make your experience worse. The list of issues with Decay of Logos is long: a bad and jarring camera, no meaningful connection to the world or characters, framerate issues, pointless mechanics. I could go on. Just save yourself twenty dollars and don't buy this game.

Extinction is a frustrating mess that has problems that in this day and age shouldn't exist. Camera problems, repetitive missions and frustrating climbing mechanics will have you rage quitting before you get halfway through.

Initial intrigue brought upon by Soul Axiom’s cool concept and sharp art design quickly tumble downhill when you discover that everything else is a rough, unsatisfying husk that disappoints in a way that brings out your frustration more than your anger. This is one poor soul.

If Crime Boss: Rockay City pulled off even one part of its package, it’d be passable. In reality, it doesn’t do a whole lot of anything right. So we’re left with a lot of wasted potential and a game that is about as pleasant and exciting of an experience as being stuck in a lift with Kevin Sorbo.

Arc of Alchemist is not technically broken, which is the best thing I can say about it. Combining the most basic combat, the most complicated menu system, the weirdest economy, some pretty poor PS2-era graphics, and the densest, most indecipherable tips section, Arc of Alchemist is indeed reminiscent of a work of alchemy – if said alchemist was attempting to turn your valuable time into dust. Avoid at all costs.

I can well imagine that when you're situated in a hydraulic miniature car attached to an arcade machine that is blaring out the audiovisual presentation of Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition at full tilt, that it's something of a compelling if not a mildly intoxicating quick fix of arcade racing goodness. At home however, and stripped of such performative trickery, Fast & Furious: Arcade Edition fails to impress and really needs much more meat wrapped around its bones to justify its existence away from the din of the arcade scene which birthed it.

Interesting co-op concepts are lost in a title riddled with copious amounts of gameplay and audio/visual glitches.

A poor PSVR shooter, given the pedigree behind its development Bravo Team, should have been much better. As it is, there are much better alternatives worthy of your cash and attention.

Remothered: Broken Porcelain should have been a good game but instead ends up as one of the year's biggest disappointments. The great soundtrack and atmosphere can't save it from terribly broken enemy A.I., an overly complicated and confusing story, and the plethora of bugs and glitches that plague the title. This final release is here, but it feels like Broken Porcelain needed at least six more months of development time.

There’s little value and almost no substance in Harmonix Music VR. Its drab modes and environments fail to add anything interesting to the music listening experience.