In attempting to emulate the cinematic aesthetic of many narrative-driven triple-A games, Deliver Us Mars lost a lot of what made Deliver Us The Moon work. Instead of a charming indie, we’re left with a disappointing wannabe. There’s an interesting story in here that’s able to shine through the dust occasionally, alongside some gorgeous vistas and wonderful sci-fi imagery, but if we get a third entry in the series, I hope it returns to its roots instead of trying to be something it’s not. Bigger isn’t always better.

This is the kind of indie game that I would love to see succeed, and the next steps post-launch, both in terms of ongoing development and community support, will be crucial in determining whether it’s remembered as a Justinian or an Honorius.

I’m old enough to have grown up with unforgiving games, and so I can appreciate a project that goes against the grain at the risk of alienating modern audiences. Even coming in as a genre appreciator, I felt alienated by Shadow Labyrinth. It’s an example of bold game design in a market that becomes more and more risk-averse by the second, and though I hated it at times, I love what Shadow Labyrinth is, and all the respect and admiration for Namco’s video game history that went into it.

The Casting of Frank Stone is among Supermassive’s best work yet, with one of its strongest casts, a story that emboldens Dead by Daylight’s world while standing on its own two feet, and so much thought and care behind every single interaction. Not only is Frank Stone its best since Until Dawn, it even surpasses that seminal modern classic.

Every looter struggles in the early days, and it would be naive think a studio that's never made a game of this type before would nail it right out of the gate. That being said, it's already in way better shape than I ever expected it to be at launch, and, most critically, the combat — particularly in multiplayer — is an absolute blast. I'm hopeful, and I'll be sticking around to see where things go from here.

Rushed is basically the best way to sum up Serious Sam 4. In development for around eight years, I imagine the current global pandemic played a big role in how scattershot everything is. At its core, the weapon feel and early level designs aren't bad. There's a solid game buried under these weird choices, but Croteam seems to have shoved it out the door with little finesse.

As I sit here now, wrapping up this review in an attempt to shut myself up before I accidentally spoil something I would rather people experience for themselves, I am wearing a stupid smile. I am, at this moment, thinking about how great it would be for Recompile to garner the attention, respect, and acclaim it deserves. This is no ordinary game - it is brilliant and ambitious and frustrating in the one and only way that frustration can be a positive term. Recompile is a rare gem in a cave of unremarkable cobblestone, a pearl among cracked shells and coarse sand. If you do one thing after reading this review, do both yourself and I a favour: download Recompile, and once you're done with it, tell your friends to download it, too.

It’s hard not to be disappointed with this 2042 offering. You know when the devs said this is a game to “celebrate Battlefield”? They’ve stripped away some of the most fundamental elements of the series and added tornados and Wingsuits to make up for it. It’s Marketing 101. Explosions, tornados, and swooping helicopters look great. One day, they probably will be great. DICE is one of the best when it comes to post-launch patches - for better and for worse. But if you’re on the fence about buying Battlefield 2042, I would just wait. It’s hard for me to condone purchasing what is essentially an unfinished product - an unfinished product with Battle Passes, too. Just wait. It will be a better game in a year’s time. Maybe even six months. If you’ve never played Battlefield and want to experience some of the sheer beauty of 64v64, I say go for it. Just don’t expect an experience that will keep you interested for more than a couple of weeks.

Even if I’m not quite ready to take Employee of the Month away from Battle for Bikini Bottom, we have the makings of something amazing here. Nickelodeon needs to recognise this potential, and sets its sights higher with the next SpongeBob game.

Despite my frustrations with math and science, the game is carefully designed to encourage experimentation and exploration. A wealth of resources and notes in the encyclopedia help guide you to finding the cure for your illness all while working alongside the most adorable mushrooms you’ve ever seen.

Full Void is on the short side, but that’s no bad thing. There’s only so much you can do to keep someone invested in a dystopian narrative that does little to explain the world it resides in, and this adventure thankfully provides mystery, suspense, and climax in quick succession. I clocked in at just under two hours and came away satisfied. While the metaphors at work err on the self-indulgent side and the gameplay is relatively shallow, Full Void delivers a memorable experience about how it feels to have your childhood ripped away by forces you can’t control.

Its visuals can be striking, but that's about all I can remember about my time with it. At this point, I've played plenty of Soulslikes. The ones that I did enjoy tried to play around with the formula in some way. But Shattered doesn't reinvent the wheel or even try to gussy it up. It's just a so-so Soulslike that tries to stand out by having the same aesthetic as The Corpse Bride. And that's simply not enough.

It's fun, but it never feels like something special. At $5, it's priced right for what it is, but it's hard not to think that the developers could have found a way to make a game that feels more cohesive and consequential - or at very least, found a way to do more than mash different types of classic gameplay together and call it a day.

It's very rewarding.

Even for the niche audience that this game is aimed at, I imagine this will be too unintuitive and exhausting. With a better user interface and some quality of life improvements, I could see how this game could be enjoyable for everyone and not just history buffs. As it is right now, Port Royale 4 is great for those who love crunching numbers, but probably won't be much for those who want to play a video game.

The idea of trying to execute a medieval GTA-style heist while fending off other players is so good that I want it to work. This is just missing some kind of secret ingredient to make everything come together. Maybe after some time and the addition of DLC, this could be a worthwhile game to play with friends. Hopefully, that happens sooner rather than later, as right now Hood: Outlaws and Legends feels more like a missed opportunity than a bullseye.

It is a little rough in places and there's room for improvement, but I'll gladly play something that's as weird and creative as this over another generic triple-A open-world game. If the idea of a mech game crossed with Fern Gully sounds like a good time to you, then I'd say Stonefly is definitely worth a try.

With those yearly grievances aired, Madden NFL 22 is still a worthwhile pickup if you were on the fence. There's nothing that's painstakingly new in this year's release. However, next-gen technology elevates gameplay with more realistic player movements, while home field advantage is, finally, exactly that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go draft Tim Tebow as my starting tight end.

Blanc is nice. It’s not revolutionary, both as a single-player experience and a co-op puzzle game. However, it’s pretty and simple, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s the sort of game that serves a purpose. It’s a pleasant way to spend a night in with someone else.

Life Eater humanises your victims with deft skill and crafts simple, emotional stories without once giving your sacrificial lambs a voice. I often found myself imagining my own life cut up into violent video editing software, and reassessed my own priorities as I stalked through an innocent person’s mundane existence, preparing to rip it away.

Exoprimal is a prehistoric relic of its own making, and a harsh but necessary lesson for a developer who has been sitting atop the pile for far too long. Future seasons could salvage the flashes of excellence on display here, but I doubt players will stick around long enough for that to become a reality. And to think we could have had a new Dino Crisis instead.

Encodya doesn’t bring anything new to the point-and-click genre, but that’s not really what it’s going for. It’s a coming-of-age tale set in a dystopian world that, honestly, doesn’t seem too far off from where we as a society might be headed. Chaosmonger Studio does well to ground Tina in reality, despite living in a world full of superficial facades and virtual dangers - all with the help of her lumbering, lovable companion SAM-53. (Great name, by the way.)

Session is the skating game I've always dreamed someone would make, where performing even a 'simple' trick is significant and challenging. There are no mile-long grinds or 900-degree kickflips here: just real skating in its rawest form. It doesn't just simulate the sport, but the art of skating too. You need to get creative, looking at the everyday clutter of a city and dreaming up ways to make something rad out of it. That's what street skating is all about, and why Session is the best virtual expression of the artform yet.

Miniatures is a game I’m going to ruminate over for a long time. It’s beautiful, melancholy, and purposefully weird, and I really appreciate that. In an industry that so often plays it safe, it’s invigorating to play something so creative and so intent on doing its own thing. Miniatures is beyond comparison, a game to be experienced for yourself above all else.

Somerville is one of the year’s biggest surprises, and I’m still shocked to see it fly under the radar. Its portrayal of an alien invasion raging across the British countryside hit close to home, while the story of a father searching for his family and being tied up in a dilemma so much bigger than he ever imagined is both nothing like I expected and everything I wanted. I can’t wait to see players far smarter than I piece its most devious puzzles together, since there are still so many questions waiting to be answered.

Even if the new artwork lacks even a single iota of the originals’ charm, Langrisser I & II is still a very solid package for SRPG fans.

Even if you don’t become an expert player, Destropolis has plenty to offer in the way of a casual quickplay experience. It feels like it could easily be a mobile title, but it fits well on Nintendo Switch. Destropolis is, at the very least, a nice way to take a break from the holiday craziness for a quick gameplay session or two.

Grit & Valor is, in many ways, exactly what I look for in a roguelike - individual runs aren’t too long, so it’s easy to squeeze in a game or two when time is tight, but there’s plenty of incentive for multi-run marathons as well. Between the compelling combat and the excellent visuals, I can see this being a mainstay of my late-night gaming sessions for the foreseeable future.