Upstream Arcade’s West of Dead is an impressive roguelike. With a solid twin-stick shooting system, West of Dead has a more than serviceable gameplay loop. However, the game is truly anchored by it’s incredible visuals and art design. Add on top of this an excellent voice performance and unique sense of worldbuilding, and you’ve got a roguelike formidable in any standoff.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated may be the same game from 2003, albeit wrapped up in a pretty package with some extra, slightly frivolous bells, but it’s delightfully nostalgic. It’s a solid execution on a game that has only grown with popularity since its release. For those ‘90s kids out there, it offers a moment of relaxation, a short break to slip back to a time that was a bit easier than now. Much like SpongeBob, I need it.

Mimimi Games puts their pedigree to work in Desperados 3 in fantastic ways. It’s not easy, and sometimes it’s downright cruel, but when a plan comes together in Desperados 3’s vast and varied Wild West, it’s supremely satisfying.

The Last of Us Part 2 is not for everyone. It is a dark and riveting experiment. A symphony of madness, revenge, and brutality. It is the song of humanity’s greatest darkness, and an absolute delight to partake in. The fine folks at Naughty Dog have outdone themselves this time around. The clever blend of cinematics and gameplay all come together perfectly to create an unforgettable experience that rivals some of the greatest classics in American cinema. All that’s left to do now is see it for yourself.

Valorant delivers as a highly competitive FPS. From a pure design standpoint, Riot’s shooter stands tall on excellent gunplay, diverse agents, and balanced maps. This alone is enough to capture the attention of hardcore fans of the genre. It’s been clear in Riot Games communication that they are committed to responding to player feedback and using that to shape their development path. Valorant is already an insanely good game, but it’s poised to become a superstar of the medium in the years to come.

So much of Disintegration is just puzzling. It manages to eke out a space in a hybrid genre but never manages to capitalize on this newfound territory. It offers squad upgrades and control over their movement as a group but fails to let you select who to take with you on a mission or give you control over individual units. You’re given a flying hovercraft but you’re constantly butting up against invisible walls and fences one inch higher than you can fly. It’s unfortunate when a game is bad and broken, but it’s a damn shame when a game is forgettable. Disintegration does not feel up to scratch for a game releasing in 2020.

Those Who Remain begins with a cool premise that can keep it intriguing for a while, but that quickly fizzles out. There's just not much reason to stay and finish the game out, despite the fact that it can be completed in a few hours if you can figure each puzzle out quickly.

Atomicrops is an unlikely meeting of two genres. Set to the backdrop of a post-nuclear apocalypse, Bird Bath Games finds a way to adequately weave together two styles of gameplay that typically shouldn’t work together. Although there are moments where the two primary modes of play feel like they’re stepping on each others’ toes, those moments are few and far between. Bird Bath’s Atomicrops is an excellent addition to PC and home console indie catalogues.

The game works decently, in terms of mechanics. I can just think of plenty of other games you'd probably rather play more than this one. If you're in the mood for a relatively quick cyberpunk-tinged romp, though, Liberated isn't the worst you could do.

Much like its namesake, Wildfire takes a while to kick off, but once the perfect conditions are met, it can be chaos. The unique abilities make for interesting moments, which is needed thanks to the often monotonous stealth systems that plague the game. For those looking for a neat game to play co-op, you’ll find it in Wildfire.

This will be a better game once the community goes to work, but I’m not willing to drive my truck over this bridge just yet. 5/10 snapping steel beams.

Some of our favorite parts of Dungeon Defenders: Awakened lies in its art style and implementation of tower defense with meaningful looting, leveling, and gear systems.

If nothing else, Aftermath is a must-play for both newer fans of the modern Mortal Kombat narrative and old-school fans who enjoyed the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie. While there have been offshoot projects like the Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge movie that released earlier this year, Aftermath's story shows once again that there are no better tellers of the Mortal Kombat lore than the NetherRealm team themselves.

Minecraft Dungeons does provide a level of ease and accessibility and proves to be a fun romp in small doses. However, there are a few sticking points that prevent it from standing out as anything special. By the end, I couldn't help but feel like it was overly simplistic and somewhat restrictive. And that hurts coming from something with the name "Minecraft" on it.

Tripwire Interactive has managed to capture what it feels like to be Jaws, right down to jumping out of the water, landing on a boat, and chomping away at the hunters on it. That in and of itself is a momentous achievement to accomplish.

Warhammer Underworlds Online is practically a 1:1 recreation of the board game. Players are restricted on how many moves they’re allowed to make between turns, forcing them to carefully consider each and every move. While everything has gone digital, the game still operates using a virtual die. In several cases, the fate of a match came down to either a good or bad dice roll. This could potentially frustrate some players.

While this year’s new additions add a sweet amount of new things to do for the franchise, they also arrive with a larger price tag. Super Mega Baseball 3 will launch with a 50% price increase over the last game. For players only interested in pick-up-and-play exhibitions, there is little new content available outside of crossplay. Prospective buyers who are intrigued by the Franchise Mode will need to consider the value offered by stepping up to something like MLB: The Show for a full-featured experience. For those who don’t have access to a PS4, Super Mega Baseball 3 still offers a solid overall package and will not disappoint anyone looking for a good time. 7/10 frozen ropes.

As for Telling Lies itself, it's an outstanding story and one that's told in a novel way. What makes the game especially memorable is the individual acting performances and how the actors are able to convey a range of emotions. There was nothing over-the-top or anything that made me want to mock the dialogue. Everything is well-written with strong performances to match. I missed the original PC release, but I'm glad I got to experience the Telling Lies story on Switch.

SNK Gals' Fighters is a pocket-sized triumph with exciting combat, a fun selection of female fighters from throughout SNK's various franchises, and collectible items to keep coming back for. It may be a very short play and there's nowhere near the amount of mods you'd find in a modern brawler, but it's a fun distraction and absolutely adorable throwback that you can throw down a few bucks for on Switch – especially if you're an SNK Heroines fan.

While playing, I am reminded of the feelings I got from Minecraft, Euro Truck Simulator, Portal, and SimCity 2000. Simultaneously relaxing, infuriating, perplexing, and rewarding, SnowRunner is on my shortlist for game of the year. If I could show this to my six-year-old self, he would give birth to a litter of puppies on the spot due to sheer excitement. If you need a path cleared, a load hauled, or a vehicle rescued, I am the man you call. 9/10 38-inch Super Swamper TSLs

It seems to suffer from many of the same launch and ongoing issues that plagued Friday the 13th: The Game, but there's a silver lining here. Should the issues I lined out be addressed and improved with future updates, and additional maps and objectives rolled out over time, this could indeed be shaped into an exciting prospect. In its current state, however, it's best left to hardcore Predator fans insistent upon adding any related media to their collection.

Drug Dealer Simulator isn’t an altogether terrible game, but it fails to reach its true potential. The world feels empty most of the time and the game's basic systems get in their own way quite a bit. At the end of the day, what is meant to be a full-fledged simulator experience ends up feeling like a half-finished early access title with plenty of room to improve.

I dove into the PC version of the game and it delivered a rock-solid performance outing at both 60Hz and 120Hz at max settings and high resolutions, making it the clear choice over its 30Hz console cousins. If you are going solo or not worried about missing out on playing with friends on a specific console, the PC is the version to snag. Admittedly, I am starting to suffer Milestone motorbike game fatigue. It has affected some of the initial excitement I had for MotoGP 20, but I cannot deny that my time spent was mighty fine. 8/10 crotch rockets.

Streets of Rage 4 might be one of the pinnacles of the beat’em-up genre, seamlessly mixing arcade and co-op fun with absolute depth of visuals, a good soundtrack, and fantastic overall fighting design.

If you’re looking for the full depth of tactics, decisions, and consequences in XCOM or the full spectacle, gritty beauty, and intensity of traditional Gears shooters, you’re likely better off playing those, but if you would like an acceptable marriage of the two, Gears Tactics may be well worth your time.

A fantastic gem, and an excellent spin-off for one of gaming's most celebrated strategy franchises.

Filament is a unique and robust take on the traditional puzzler. It’s colorful, satisfying, and rife with characters and situations you want to know more about, which pushes you to keep playing, even when your brain feels positively exhausted. If you’re looking for a slick puzzler that’ll have you mired in your chair for hours turning around solutions, look no further.

Trials of Mana amazed me with just how robust a story it has to offer. There isn't a lot in terms of side quests, but this is not a game that needs any. There is a lot of story to go through and a lot to explore well after the credits roll. And while I'm not a huge fan of the characters, they didn't sour me on the game to the point that I won't keep exploring. Lore-hungry RPG fans will have a lot to feast on with this game. It has its problems and its quirks, but I've greatly enjoyed Trials of Mana. I would easily call this the best RPG remake that Square's made in a long time.