Override2: Super Mech League is a game that has a good foundation but fails to take it anywhere exciting. The actual battles, even against computer bots, are initially fun and satisfying and become less so the more one plays. There’s plenty of character variety but once one or two are mastered there’s little drive to get to understand more. The lack of human players to battle online is an even bigger issue. The game needed to have cross-platform play between most if not all its launch platforms to maintain a community. It might also have been better to launch the game as free-to-play with a smaller roster and to then deliver paid extra options, once a group of players became fans. Maybe a future title in the series can focus on creating a community first, to make the mech fighting concept the successful brawler it can be.

Super Meat Boy Forever is not a bad game but it feels like a regression from the original, which was just as tough but offered more options for players willing to try and get past the many obstacles the game threw at them. Fans of the concept will appreciate the unyielding difficulty and the lack of ways to tweak it. But given the changes to the mechanics, it would be nice to see Team Meat make their new title easier to appreciate with less frustration.

Observer System Redux is a better game than the original and manages to convey the thought-provoking story in a more structured fashion, with added details. It does not offer just a graphical upgrade but also manages to better portray the surrounding moral and physical decay, improving the atmosphere and the overall experience. The bugs are annoying, but can easily be fixed. Those who did not try the game yet, should go ahead and dive into this adventure, they will not regret it. Thanks to the added extra content, Observer System Redux can be also recommended to those who already unveiled Dan’s story. Still, it feels that it would have been more appropriate to offer System Redux as a free upgrade to those who already own the game, instead of charging extra money for it.

Suzerain is a good experience that sometimes feels like it needs a little more game. Following the career path of President Rayne and facing the many challenges can be both thrilling and boring, with a side of frustrating at times. The developers clearly have a lot of talent for world-building and dialogue writing, which makes the game a treat for anyone willing to learn about the world and play with its possibilities. Come to Suzerain first for the feeling of power and the scheming, stay longer to discover the characters and the way choices are interlocked in an interesting way.

Despite not being groundbreaking or innovative, Immortals Fenyx Rising blends a couple of winning formulas from other games that work together almost flawlessly. The resemblance to Breath of the Wild is uncanny, but I'll take that any day over another Assassin's Creed rip-off. It might not be on par with Nintendo's masterpiece, but combat is solid and the puzzles and mini-games are a lot of fun. I also loved the light-hearted tone and colorful visuals, something that I've rarely seen in a Ubisoft game. A little bit of a warning though, if you're not into dry humor, you might want to skip Immortals Fenyx Rising since this is a big dad joke.

Serious Sam Collection is the most complete console edition ever released, but these games feel more natural and appropriate on PC. There is no better alternative if you want to experience Serious Sam on consoles, but if you have a PC, and you don’t need the most modern or expensive one, you are better off enjoying Serious Sam with a keyboard and mouse, as it was intended. Still, the console version remains a fun experience and despite its dated looks, Serious Sam immerses its players completely, transcending them in the middle of the action. You don’t need strategies or tactics, just the controller and the mood to blow up everything alien you encounter in the game world. Technically there are no improvements, the fun is still as mindless as ever, and the price of the package is a fair one.

Empire of Sin has the core of a good game that blends three genres in cool ways. I am especially fond of the man-management and the ways the various mobsters work with one another and react during combat. But the current implementation, especially that of the battles, is frustrating. Romero Games needs to make management more important and to bring the characters to the front more. Patches also should include auto-resolve and a big balance update. Empire of Sin needs all of this to begin to realize its clear potential.

Per Aspera is a very good science fiction driven management and building game. The story will keep fans of the genre engaged and mixes well with the core mechanics. Once that’s no longer interesting a Sandbox mode introduces the freedom to build-up Mars however one wants. The twin challenges of expanding and re-building for greater efficiency are carefully balanced and truly engrossing. Just make sure to take tour time and explore as much as possible before moving through the checkpoints of the campaign. And spend as much time as possible running at the slowest speed, watching how mars can be changed from inhospitable wasteland to a new cradle of humanity. Just don’t forget to ponder whether it’s actually worth it, just as the protagonist A.I. does.

Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp is a worthy successor to the impressive first title in the series. The setting might be less engaging but the characters and the interactions are on par if not better. The team has refined its writing and style in interesting ways. The game also makes it hard to wait and see what they can deliver with the rest of the titles in the series.

In the end, Mars Horizon turns out to be quite a simple game, despite the initial complex impression. Because of the repetitive gameplay, although the game has replay value, most players will be rather bothered by the end they finish the race to Mars and will not be tempted to try again. It is worth a try if you are a fan of space exploration, but curb your enthusiasm regarding the fun the game can provide.

After seeing the Cold War the hardcore fans will keep their preferences aiming towards the episodes developed by Infinity Ward. Although a fair effort, the latest Black Ops struggles to come out from the shadow of last year’s Modern Warfare and fails. On every level, it feels like a step back compared to the previous iterations. Moreover, the visuals are outdated, and some technical issues should have been fixed before launch. We expected more from Black Ops Cold War, but I am sure that Activision will rake in enough money from the players to have another Call of Duty next year.

Football Manager 2021 is a very good management game. It offers more options than before, takes up more time than ever, delivers such an accurate take on the real-world sport that it is sometimes unnerving. It also makes it a little harder to create truly alternate worlds, like one where Wrexhman wins the Premier League. For those who want something that moves faster and is more focused on just tactics, the Touch version of the game is a better choice. I love the depth that the series has been adding and I don’t mind playing at the most 3 or 4 seasons in one run. But for those who want 20 year-long attempts at greatness, with plenty of regens and takeovers, delegation and quick matches are the right way to go. Football Manager 2021 is a game best enjoyed a few virtual matches a night, preferably with some real-world football in the background, wondering whether you can get Fulham out of that bind (maybe, in a season or three) or if you can be the one to lead 1. FC Koln to greatness (it might take a decade).

Chicken Police is not the most innovative or complex adventure game, but it is one of the most atmospheric ones. It is immersive and fun, with an excellent soundtrack and stellar voice acting. The puzzles are a bit simple and limited in number, but you will not miss them so much thanks to the excellent story and well-written dialogues. The noir atmosphere is the most important element of the recipe, Chicken Police charming you from the very first minutes and guiding you gently to the end by fueling your sense of accomplishment with new discoveries. It is not perfect, but it is an experience you will not regret.

Stirring Abyss is a very good indie take on the modern XCOM formula that will make tactics fans happy, although it is not really a spiritual successor to Terror from the Deep. The campaign itself, on Normal difficulty, offers a solid challenge by itself and the game also has an Endless mode for even more replayability. Yes, there are difficulty spikes, especially the boss battles, that can frustrate. But the tension between preparedness and speed that the mechanics created is something that more modern tactics focused titles should try to replicate.

October Night Games has a cool premise but suffers a bit when it comes to executions. The mix of Lovecraftian horrors, rituals, alchemy, and spooky characters works well in the context. But the game needs to have more information available to players, especially when they play against the A.I., to allow them to make clear decisions and reach their goals. The team at Octobear Knight Games is promising tutorials and manuals are coming, which is great. In the meantime, gamers need to be armed with quite a bit of patience to navigate the world and learn all the mechanics. Make sure to play the tutorial campaign at least once. The deduction, dice-based combat, horror powered rituals, and weirdness at the core of October Night Games work well in single player and would be even more engaging with friends.

Remothered: Broken Porcelain should have not been released in its current state, since any resemblance with a finished game is pure coincidence. You can barely finish it, and only if you have iron patience to try until you get lucky with some of the bugs that can be game-breaking. It is a shame because the atmosphere of the game is so on spot, feeling creepy and scary, constantly wondering what horror awaits you after the corner. Even though it would still be very short, if the technical aspects would have been fixed, the artistic part and atmosphere would have compensated for the length by offering an intense and memorable experience. Unfortunately in its actual form, even the most basic gameplay mechanics from Remothered: Broken Porcelain are broken, and as such, no one should waste time with it.

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remaster is fair game, that will be fun for a while, but it is an anachronic production. It feels stuck in 2010 and refuses to see all the evolution that happened to car racing games since then. Those who have played it have no real reason to buy it again, since nothing new has been added, and the graphic update is not breathtaking.This leaves those who have never played it as a potential audience. But honestly, they are better off with newer games than Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remaster, since this is a remaster only in title, stuck in 2010 practices.

Airplane Mode would have probably been a better game if it also included the check-in process and some extensive and tension-filled passport control moments. It should also have worked harder on the humor angle.

Stories Untold is an interesting experiment, that starts well, immerses you in a mysterious world of puzzles, but ends with a rude awakening. The first three episodes are great until they focus on the puzzles, but the walking simulator part puts the game experience on a slope and unfortunately, it never recovers. It is unfortunate that Stories Untold builds up such an immersive experience just to ruin it with such a humdrum story. If you are a fan of adventure games you will have to try it, even if in the end you will be left wanting more puzzles and a story that would do them justice.

PositronX has a good set of first-person shooter mechanics, equal to anything that the classics have to offer. Finding a good combination of weapons and powers to clear levels is a great experience. But, despite the procedural generation, once the game progresses, runs become too similar to one another for long-term engagement. The game also lacks much in terms of story to keep one interested. The fact that PositronX also lacks multiplayer, or the suggestion that it might be added in the future, also means that a game with instant appeal cannot convert its strong opening into long-term loyalty.

It's clear that Watch Dogs Legion is Ubisoft's first step toward innovation after so many years of generic formulas. I'd say it's a good start, but the “play-as-anyone” system is quite basic and doesn't offer that variation and richness that you would expect. It's a great and ambitious idea, but the execution is far from perfect. Despite these shortcomings, I have to admit that Watch Dogs Legion is actually a good game. I'm not familiar with Ubisoft's plans, but Legion opens up a lot of potential for the future of the series. Anyone who liked any of the previous games will absolutely love Watch Dogs Legion. It offers a lot of content that you can go through with a customized team of hackers, so no playthrough should be the same.

As a long-time fan, I was excited about Torchlight III. I hoped for a hidden gem that would scratch my co-op itching, offering moments of laughter and fun all around. After giving the game several chances, just to have my hopes go unfulfilled with each new patch, I have to admit defeat: this game should have not been released, at least not now, and not like this. The bugs can be corrected, even though the patches seem to not really deal with them. But the main problem is the peculiar concept choices, the serious lack of variety, and the feeling that you are investing time and effort in a free-to-play game still in development. As such, I cannot recommend Torchlight III, not even to long-time fans of the series.

The best part of the game remains the atmosphere, every element of the game being purposefully conceived to contribute to the gloomy feel, that will grow heavier as you advance through the narrative. We cannot say that Rebirth is revolutionary, despite bringing several new gameplay elements, but it is still a solid horror game, recommended for both old-time fans and newcomers alike.

The Signifier has all the conceptual elements required to deliver a great experience. The world intrigues and engages, the personal relationships have potential, the brain scanning idea opens up a lot of gameplay possibilities. The game never quite reaches that potential but it’s still great to see such solid foundations for an indie title. Gamers who love immersion and emotional experiences should dive deep into the memories and dreams The Signifier offers, even if the gameplay is a little limited and the ending fails to live up to the initial excitement. And I truly hope that a sequel or a spin-off is in development to take advantage of all the solid groundwork that the developers created.

Despite some technical issues, Cloudpunk remains a memorable game with an atmosphere that almost makes you forgive the technical issues. You will thoroughly enjoy the story and some questions about human nature will remain with you even after the credits. Sadly, the traffic on the skyways and the moments when the NPCs are affected by amnesia will break the spell and yank you out of the immersion. But there is nothing a patch could not fix, restoring Cloudpunk to a hidden gem worth experiencing by everyone.

Neighbours Back From Hell is fun but misses quite a few opportunities. The veterans would have loved to get the three absent levels, for the newcomers it would have been a tremendous help to see the tutorials and a leader board would have added replay value and would have extended the short gameplay time. As it stands, Neighbours Back From Hell feels like a hastily put together package that with a bit more attention could have been the remaster we did not know that we needed, but we really enjoyed, instead of the remaster no one asked for and no one will remember.

Little Big Workshop should be a tremendously fun and immersive experience when the countless bugs are fixed. Currently, the console experience will be just as worthy of your time as the PC version is. Fortunately, the producers seem to be aware of the countless issues, and they are working on fixing them (several patches have already been deployed). Still, the state of the game at launch remains inexcusable, and even after several patches, some major issues continue to plague the game's complex mechanics. If you have picked up Little Big Workshop right after release and got turned down by the technical issues, then wait for a few more patches and give it another chance. If you're considering the game, wait for a discount since Little Big Workshop might be fixed by then.

Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix is bigger than the first installment, but it’s not better. It still is repetitive and it loses any appeal it has quite quickly. The single-player part still feels flat and boring. Despite the addition of countless challenges and a plethora of characters, the game is still very short, something the developers tried to overcompensate through repetition. The multiplayer part was only working in local mode, the online playground being a no man’s land. You could still try to overlook the shortcoming, by saying that the game is targeting mainly the younger audiences. This statement is contradicted though by the advanced difficulty levels with an AI that does not get smarter, only more aggressive, taking advantage of the conditions feels rigged against the player. Although a better effort, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix is still far from the finish line it wants to conquer.