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.

Despite low expectations, AeternoBlade manages to show some promise in its time manipulating mechanics – especially when they're used to solve puzzles and explore. Ultimately, though, this single strength is compromised by the rest of the package.

Maid of Sker may be this developer's best attempt at horror yet, but it still falls short of something actually worth playing. A tightly-designed breathing mechanic proves there's potential to be realised and an engrossing setting could have been the cherry on top. However, Maid of Sker is let down by monotonous gameplay and enemies that aren’t even close to being scary. And that's probably the worst thing a game that claims to belong in the horror genre could do.

Gun Commando is a neat idea, but it falls apart in the final stages. The nostalgic presentation is a strong lure, but the sloppy controls and relentless difficulty let it down. It may be an accurate representation of the genre that it's attempting to celebrate, but times have changed.

While there is a lot of potential on the surface, Ratloop may have wanted to sit on this egg a bit longer before it hatched.

Exhausted Man is not really a game that'll wake you up at all. It begins feeling very samey fast and, outside of planning where to place items before a level each time, there's not much of a strategy to be had. While it has a unique play style, there are plenty of other everyday-life indie games we think should be played before this.

Derrick the Deathfin is a real heartbreaker. It's agonisingly obvious that Different Tuna tried really hard to make something special, and as a player you're rooting for them – but the base gameplay just isn't good enough to keep you hooked. If the graphics grab you, then the price is low enough to make this a worthwhile gamble, just don't dive in with any unrealistic expectations.

Ridge Racer is devoid of content and modes as standard. It plays well, handles as you'd want it to and is as fun an arcade racer as ever, but there's just not enough here to hold interest for more than a few hours – unless you want to wait for all the downloadable content to arrive and reluctantly tip more money into it.

We Happy Few isn’t bad per se, but it’s a very near miss, as the game comes right up to the brink of collapsing in upon itself from its many missteps. The game offers such an intriguing backdrop for its world, and really grand art, that whenever it's more focused and non-procedural, it’s a grand old time. These spikes of enjoyment are however far too infrequent given the scale and running time of the title, often times leaving you floundering amid strong art direction and music without a real desire to actually play what’s on offer.

There's a kernel of an idea buried within The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing that has potential. The son of a legendary vampire killer continuing where his father left off is at the very least a vaguely compelling starting point, and the action RPG genre could certainly benefit from some more humorous titles to serve as palette cleansers between all the hell and death and misery. Van Helsing's lighthearted tone certainly helps it to stand out from most games in the genre, but neither the battle system or the narrative are interesting enough to make it worth persevering with the other.

There's a solid sidescroller in here, but Game Freak's taken it in the wrong direction.

The sprite work is undoubtedly impressive, and the audio is as hyperactive as you’d expect. But this is a wafer-thin experience, with only the draw of a better score to pull you back for a second playthrough. As a piddly, rose-tinted reminder of the retro shooters of old, there’s very little to truly dislike here – but it’s important you know what it consists of before parting with your cold hard cash.

Despite solid gameplay mechanics, Germinator is let down tremendously by poor presentation and a tacky, annoying art style. It’s a game better suited to the burgeoning mobile market, making the asking price seem a little too steep for what you’re getting – especially since there’s no cross-buy option.

It successfully straddles the line between accessibility and authenticity, but presentation issues let it down. Still, if you’re eager to experience the basic thrills of bagging a buck without needing to bathe yourself in real animal urine, this may just about be worth the punt.

White Day: A Labyrinth Named School may not be the king of fear and terror anymore, but it could still be a worthwhile experience for horror fanatics. This blast from the past certainly brings with it a lot of baggage such as the clunky puzzles and glitchy AI, but it has enough intrigue to it that we’re still left pondering its story and themes long after the credits rolled. White Day is most definitely not a remake for everyone, but those wanting to take a trip down memory lane may leave somewhat satisfied.

Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is a definite improvement on its predecessor — but that's not saying much. The return of set maps and straightforward objectives is welcome, and in typical Empires fashion, there's so much potential for interesting player-driven storylines. There is an addictive hack-and-slash loop at work here, and it's tempered by some decent tactical tweaks. But to fully enjoy it, you've got to wade through a mire of shockingly ugly visuals and boring map design.

Given time, ANTHEM could slowly start to bloom into a much more cohesive experience, but the worry is that it won't be given a chance. There's a good game in here somewhere, but only the flashy, satisfying combat stands out amongst a background mess of shockingly bad design decisions and woefully undercooked systems. ANTHEM feels unfinished and, frankly, undeserving of your time when there are much better live titles currently available on PS4. Check back in a year from now, and we might be onto something.

Despite bringing a few new mechanics to the table, Far Cry 5: Hours of Darkness is a lesser experience when compared to the base game in every possible way. Its story is almost non-existent, the open world is completely generic, and with a fair few features from the original experience missing, it all feels like a step back. The core of what makes this a Far Cry game is still present, but you were probably already tired of that long ago.

More of the same. All of the content feels recycled from a main game you're probably already burnt out on anyway. It doesn't help that the few new bits – suits and an enemy type – feel lazy and uninspired. The only reason to grab this DLC is for more of the story, which is as well done as ever, if a bit short – clocking in at around three hours max. If you're patient, grab it in a future sale just so you can see what happens next.

If you're a JRPG fan and can see past its dull dungeon design and grindy friendship system, then there is still fun to be had here, but you'll have to push through layers of tediousness to get to it. The Caligula Effect is a game with plenty of good ideas, but sadly, they're just not executed very well. It feels like developer Aquria has tried to implement so many ambitious concepts, but it doesn't actually take the time to flesh them out, and instead, repetition has been used to fill in the gaps.

After capturing our attention with a strong concept and an intriguing open world, Homefront: The Revolution struggles with the basics: weapons feel unsatisfying to use, side quests are repetitive, characters are under-developed, and the online multiplayer represents a step back for the series. Sadly, for all of its ambition, there's just not much here worth fighting for.

F1 Race Stars tries its best to adapt the F1 license into a fun and quirky racer, but it ultimately fails to deliver a charming take on the typically serious sport. As with other titles in the genre, the game really shines as a way to pass the time with your friends, but the frustrating, luck-based gameplay effectively cancels out all of the things that the release does right. Younger fans of Formula 1 will love seeing their favourite drivers rendered as cartoon caricatures, but when it comes to race day, gamers of all ages will be left frustrated by the title's complete disregard for skill.

It's a frustratingly average title that does nothing particularly well nor insultingly bad. The Chant is just very okay, which is probably the most boring route it could take.

We generally love the marriage between story and gameplay that Supermassive Games creates, but without the many advancements of The Dark Pictures Anthology, The Casting of Frank Stone feels far too simple. With an uninteresting narrative to boot, the first effort to expand the Dead by Daylight universe is a misfire.

It's by no means a bad game on the whole, but it opts to float idly on the side of numbingly average rather than attempt to stand out in any way. Well, unless you're making music videos.