With each passing episode of Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy, the chances that the series will evolve from a mildly entertaining diversion into an essential purchase grow dimmer. There's nothing here that's especially bad, and it's certainly not the worst series that Telltale has put together, but so far there's precious little beyond the easy Platinum Trophy to warrant a recommendation to anyone other than those enamoured with either the Telltale format or the Marvel characters. More Than a Feeling, quite simply, is more of the same.

Simply put, Monster Monpiece is a game that doesn’t really need to go to the extremes that it does.

New shooters need to be special to stand out in an arena of bigger brands, and Loadout doesn't quite have the quality required to back up its ideas.

Sports games are pretty predictable. From one year to the next, you’ll see one or two sweeping changes and then a number of smaller tweaks, but beyond that, you’ll by and large be playing the same title. By that logic, it’s actually impressive how much EA Vancouver has managed to change this year given how quick its turnaround is from game to game. Less impressive is the implementation of said changes. Selecting your pass targets is a wholly welcome inclusion and a rousing success. The majority of the other changes, particularly the new checking system, leave much to be desired. Why do so many things feel like they took steps backward? Isn’t this kind of problem usually reserved for the dawn of a new generation? What happened?

KOI is a game that knows how to push your buttons. It draws you in with its beautiful soundscape and enchanting premise, but then takes you through an often shallow experience with some frustrating moments that discord with its otherwise serene exterior. It's a game which seems far more suited to mobile play than console, where longer play sessions highlight its lack of depth. It has moments of beauty, and comments on larger, prominent ecological issues – but ultimately feels like a missed opportunity.

Siegecraft Commander is a good idea which very nearly works. There is a lot of game packed in, and if a decent multiplayer community can be formed then it could be a fun one to be part of. The problem is the wonky control system which never quite feels right and undermines much of the good stuff on display.

Ultimately, the biggest problem is the technical hitches. During the game's two hours, we experienced two hard crashes, and the framerate was almost never stable. Despite such a short run time, this made the experience feel much longer than it should have.

Unless you're going to play with others, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City isn't worth your time. Single player is infected with poor artificial intelligence, lack of useful feedback and abusive enemies. Rope in a couple of friends - or open your game up for anybody to join - and ORC improves, still beholden to many of its problems but better for the replacement of its inadequate AI with human players to help deal with its viruses.

Everspace is a fun and fast paced space exploration roguelike with beautiful visuals, solid combat, and rewarding progression systems. Unfortunately, it’s let down by regular crashes and major drops in frame rate throughout. Rockfish has created a slick ship in the form of Everspace - it just requires a few patches before it can take off.

NHL 25 isn’t great. While there are welcome changes this time, almost all of them are cosmetic, or menu-oriented. Ultimately, that’s what this iteration amounts to: a hyper-fixation on presentational components. Where are the new game modes? Improvements to the controls? Sure the game looks great, but wouldn’t it be awesome if it played great as well?

Old Time Hockey is not great. While it's not as bad as the 2016/2017 Colorado Avalanche, the game still has a whole collection of problems. Most of the elements of gameplay feel either unpolished or just poor, but the game's overwhelming charm and low price-point make it more palatable than it would otherwise be.

There's an undeniable charm to Outcast: A New Beginning, and twenty years ago this could have been the breakout hit for an ongoing Outcast franchise, but in 2024 players are spoilt for choice in the realm of third-person action-adventure games. If you're a fan of the AA, mid-tier shooters we used to get back in the day then this might be worth a look, but otherwise, there's just not enough here to warrant your attention.

There's still some fun to be had in a spare 30 minute session alone, and it excels when played with friends – but on the whole it fails to provide enough depth and variation to keep the average player Obliteracing after the initial taster.

It's another expensive piece of DLC that doesn't quite justify its price tag unless you're a feverish fan of BioWare's latest.

Mega Coin Squad's decent in multiplayer, but it's over all too quickly when playing alone.

Despite all of its issues, Dead Nation isn’t a bad game.

Life is Strange: Reunion could have been a full Double Exposure sequel, and it could have been a full Max and Chloe entry. Instead, both narratives are squeezed into a bloated finale with dull pacing and a lacklustre resolution. There are sparks of brilliance in there and fantastic chemistry between its two leads, but it's never given the love and care to blossom into something beautiful.

Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is a bit like when you fancy watching a game of footy but there's only the Scottish league on the telly. Sure, it looks like football to the untrained eye, and yes, occasionally it's entertaining just like real football, but you're mainly there hoping that someone is going to get chinned.

Heaven’s Vault will satisfy budding archaeologists and linguistic fanatics in fits and starts, but the overall experience that brings those mechanics together leaves a lot to be desired. Alongside technical frustrations and tedious movement between locations, this is hardly a game we can recommend with any sort of confidence.

Ultimately, Neon Chrome is a game that wants you to keep coming back for more, but one that offers few reasons to actually do so.

Shadow Warrior is more than just puerile jokes and demons – there are some quite interesting technical faults in there as well. The personality of the game is enough to recommend to those that enjoy old-school shooters, but it comes with a warning: Wang should probably be taken in small doses.

Once the novelty of playing a game within the My Hero Academia world wears off, all that’s left is another fairly average arena brawler. Different modes aren’t enough to make the title stand out, and ultimately, My Hero One’s Justice 2 offers an experience which, although enjoyable, is forgettable and somewhat bland. It's safe to say that we expected more from this sequel.

We can't imagine who Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai is for, as it mostly boils down to being a worse version of an existing IP, with some fairly bland gameplay tacked on for good measure. Newcomers will be lost, and enthusiasts won't appreciate the corners cut, so while technically — and mechanically — sound, it leaves very little to recommend.

Wales Interactive's Tron-like puzzle game has great atmosphere, a compelling setting, and an engaging concept – but it's ultimately not that interesting to play. The story lacks pace and substance, while the puzzles are lacking in difficulty and nuance – especially given that the powers used to solve them quickly become tiresome.

Playing LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 is a constant battle between being pulled in by TT Games' charm and being pushed away by the repetitive gameplay. For every excellent moment there are seemingly multiple forgettable ones, but if you can stomach the lows of the story, then there are some fun times to be had. Still, this middling effort shows that the LEGO series is in need of some revitalising changes.

Hardware: Rivals is slow and safe – it's a far-cry from the high-octane vehicle eviscerator that we'd anticipated. Its slightest of similarities to Rocket League may have hurt it, but even if Psyonix's excellent on-wheels outing didn't exist, this would still be a pretty darn tedious title.

The script itself doesn't strike a good balance either, often transitioning from subjects such as a rumination on class inequality directly into a slapstick comedy sketch before interjecting a news bulletin about an impending natural disaster. It's, to put it mildly, a mess. And this happens over and over throughout the 4-5 hours required to complete the game. While pitch-black comedy can work, the writing in Mile 0 is awkward enough that it feels accidental rather than deliberately irreverent. What you're left with is a fun rhythm game surrounded by a plethora of questionable writing decisions.

Cricket 24 fails to build upon the series’ solid opening partnership from its previous instalments in a significant way. Its enjoyable core gameplay is practically identical to Cricket 22, with the only noticeable addition being franchised tournament formats. Its abundance of bugs and glitches, and barren online lobbies, leaves little reason to take another swing at the series if you’ve already played an innings of a previous title.