However, it does do its absolute best, and in trying still manages to be a fairly enjoyable, if somewhat frustrated, production. At the very least, it’s “more Battlefield“, which is by no means a bad thing – yet – and at its highest points, it’s a bit of silly, Vice-inspired fun.

The episodes have frequently quoted Franz Kafka to serve as a running theme for its ineffectual storyline. I’d like to end my review of this episode – and the game overall – with a Kafka quote of my own. “Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.” If Capcom had done that, maybe Resident Evil Revelations 2 would have been good.

Atlas Mugged is pretty good stuff all around – not as explosive or hilarious as last time, but consistently entertaining nonetheless, with a handful of slick action sequences to keep things spicy. As far as the bigger picture goes, Tales From The Borderlands currently runs the risk of becoming my favorite Telltale game series.

It’s a great game. One I almost hate. One I find spiteful and cruel and perhaps even somewhat abhorrent. A game that’s beautiful as well as hideous, that makes me feel queasy while keeping me thoroughly fascinated.

At this point, the whole game is in desperate need of something big.

DmC is a beautiful, bold, and supremely enjoyable videogame in its own right. It deserves to be praised...That’s what I said back then, and I’m sticking with it.

Aside from some problematic resource balancing and some unavoidable repetition, Hand of Fate is a clever game of risks and rewards that is well worth getting dealt into.

It works extremely well on the New 3DS, with the system’s rubber clit working surprisingly well in manipulating the camera.

Rather than feel like an episodic release, Revelations 2 currently feels like a full game that keeps getting rudely interrupted, and it’s hard to maintain a sense of investment this way.

With its sledgehammer humor and clever blend of stealth and action, Helldivers is a lot smarter than a passing glance might have you believe. It’s a game in which life is cheap but the deaths aren’t, where carelessness gets you turned into kibble, and sustained battle will leave you with an empty gun and a horde of pissed off monsters.

Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires is everything a Dynasty Warriors hater thinks about the series made real. It’s a contemptuously assembled recycling project, and I’m sick of it.

Its episodic nature comes off as arbitrary to begin with, the DLC slinging is flagrant, and overall it looks and plays like something either very old, or a budget game punching above its weight. Raid Mode offers some longevity, and nothing the game does is particularly awful, but not even the return of Barry Burton makes this debut episode more remarkable than it is.

Minor annoyances aside, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse continue’s Kirby’s hot streak of lovable, imaginative, joyful adventures. As shrewd as it is straightforward, HAL’s latest effort provides an afternoon of unassuming fun for a fair price, and no matter how much I try, I just can’t ever over how damn wondrous it looks!

When it allows itself to focus on action, it can provide a stimulating round of pop-and-fire combat, at least before it allows itself to drown in common distractions and intellectually insulting button prompts. While clearly assured in itself as a concept, it doesn’t extend that same faith to the player, so eager it is to hold its audience’s collective hands and guide them through corridors of patronizing tutorials and arbitrary gates to progression.

As an overall game, it offers a basic shooter with a nice gimmick, and I do think you can gather some friends together to get an afternoon’s worth of laughs out of it. I don’t believe there’s enough mileage to have those laughs regularly, though, and certainly not enough to where I’d recommend rushing out and getting it so soon after launch.

While its intoxicated physics can lead to occasional despair, the overwhelming joy of the whole experience is a strong tonic, over the handful of hours it takes to get through, I couldn’t help maintaining a smile.

I’m still waiting for things to kick into high gear and truly take hold of me, but chapter two of House Forrester’s tale leaves me in no doubt that such a moment is coming.

Quite a strange little item. Its dialog makes me wince, but I will confess to being more amused by the awfulness than upset by it, at least half the time. It’s embarrassing and hella lame for totes, but there’s something almost charming about it. Still, I don’t quite think that’s what Dontnod had intended.

Dying Light desperately tries to be all of the videogames in a bid to impress everybody. If only it had tried as hard to be its own thing, we’d have had an amazing horror game on our hands. Instead, we just have another indistinct jack-of-all-trades to throw on top of the ever growing pile.

This ReREmake preserves everything that made the original remake great, and what a world we live in where “original remake” can be a valid term. In fact, I’m going to tell you right now that this is one of the most pointless reviews in existence – everybody should know already where they stand on this one. Either you squared the money away the day this was announced, or you’ll never play it.

This expansion is pretty enjoyable, but not essential. It’s got some great new weapons and provides an easy excuse to dip back into a world of shameless comic violence – it’s also a fairly disposable adventure that doesn’t offer much in the way of essential material. You do get to shoot Satan in the face, however, so at least Volition is true to its word.

It’s the Watership Down of videogames, and I can only mean that as twisted compliment.

There’s enough to satisfy those looking for either puzzles or an interesting story, but if you’re searching for both, then The Talos Principle is going to be something very, very special for you.

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is a fun distraction that, while not exactly gripping, will provide several hours of enjoyable loot n’ shoot adventuring.

Assassin’s Creed Unity is a beautiful game that’s fun to play with friends. It’s also an outmoded mess that incenses with its dated controls and shoves Ubisoft’s executive-minded priorities directly in the player’s face.

Something ugly to the point of actively affecting gameplay, something that requires multiple reloading of saves to fix glitched doors, something that crashes when given a chance and boasts a user interface that actively fights the player. That this saw a release and expects to sell for real human money is lunacy. Then again, that’s this game all over – sheer, unbelievable lunacy.

Iron From Ice is a strong start to the series, with some promising narrative setups, a believable atmosphere, and one particularly shocking moment that made my jaw drop... I do hope we see the playable characters get a bit of a personality injection, but I think we’ve got a favorable introduction that lays out its pieces in such a way that Episode Two is only going to be fascinating.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker isn’t going to blow minds with its humble presentation and laid back puzzling, but it’s still got plenty of imagination and some really sagacious architecture in its level structure.