An average Action-RPG that features everything that the genre is known for: hordes of enemies, plenty of loot, and an expansive set of skills to choose from, but there is nothing to set it apart from the crowd.

Sadly, poor handling, catch-up AI, framerate drops and a general lack of polish to all aspects of the game render what could have been a success into a middling arcade racer that is less than the sum of its parts.

Overall, Dungeons & Dragon: Dark Alliance is a fantastic example of a third-person action RPG, offering a great amount of story and lore through varying missions. With only a few minor setbacks aside, I’d have no problem saying that Tuque Games has brought my Drizzt Do’Urden and companions fantasies to life in all of the best ways. I’ll be seeing this game through to the very end without a shadow of a doubt, and have no issue recommending it to anybody that enjoys action RPGs. Grab some buddies and head to Icewind Dale — you won’t regret it!

Dead by Daylight has the potential to become a cult classic among asymmetric games. Everything is finely balanced and the way that all of the random elements can alter a match adds an intriguing level of depth to the title. The chase, from the standpoint of both Killer and Survivor, is an intense, adrenaline filled, and nail-biting affair. This could be an ideal title to drop in and out of while grinding through the achievements and leveling up characters, but that concept of drop-in game reveals the achilles heel of the title: the waiting time to play. As a survivor, it seems to take numerous attempts to find a server and you have to be patient. With a few more tweaks, there is a good multiplayer survival horror title here for horror fans.

Underwhelming RPG elements and character customisation, poor loading times and a map screen that now seems to have a mind of its own do hold back the game from being something great. Those with a penchant for a tightly woven narrative and tactical thinking will enjoy the experience, but it is difficult to overlook some of the more glaringly obvious problems.

What works in Pixel Heroes is a successful blending of that classic, turn-based RPG gameplay with a modern, rogue-like twist. The shoddy UI, lack of a "stash" feature, and general lack of polish hold it back from being a resounding recommendation, but those who look back fondly on the realms of Alefgard and Corneria should definitely check it out.

When the Xbox version of SYMMETRY is updated to add a lower difficulty level it has the potential to be a great introduction to the management genre and satisfying for casual and experienced players alike. However, at time of writing, the steep learning curve, high difficulty level, and occasional game-breaking bugs make it more fitting for hardcore fans of the genre and people whose love of challenges is matched by their patience.

Micro Machines once meant something to many people. In fact, today it still does carry a nostalgic allure for many who have been playing this series since it first hit consoles way back in 1991. This title carries the name of the famed toy and video game property, but it offers surprisingly little of what makes that name memorable. It abandons its legacy in crucial ways as part of a gamble to stake its claim as a worthwhile competitive multiplayer experience, but it misses that mark so greatly that there's nowhere left for players to seek consolation. If you're interested in preserving the shiny aura that surrounds the brand name, don't play Micro Machines World Series.

The online is mostly where they lie. There's problems with games being abandoned, players not playing and the game not actually letting you play. On top of that, games can simply just go on for too long and they eventually just become tedious rather than fun. If you are just looking to play Uno then this offering will fulfill your desire, but with a game that is simply called Uno, what else would you expect?

The repetitiveness of levels and enemy encounters, the barebones story, and the constantly frustrating fighting mechanics – the game’s main draw – are all a reminder of how far gaming has come. Rather than build on a foundation set by juggernaut titles like The Simpsons and X-Men, ZHEROS copies their blueprints exactly as they were.

Black Mirror will leave you feeling a bit torn. It's a good story told in a good location, accompanied by an ideal soundtrack. The fact that it is carrying on with the same family from the original games is the icing on the cake. Sadly, it is let down by too many problems, including annoying movement and camera tracking, poor facial character designs and other issues that mount up to make the game more of a struggle than it should be. It's hard to recommend the game at its current price point, but a discount might warrant a purchase for those who like a good supernatural tale told via point and click gameplay.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is misguided by the unending trend of games going open-world. The idea may have been born with good intentions, but blatantly copying all of another series' structure is a bad look, undone much further by the fact that it does all of those same things very poorly. It's unclear for whom this game was made as it feels more like a middling title we rarely see anymore, possessing neither the polish of AAA nor the admirable quirks of an indie. It's a narrative bore, a technical dilemma, and a structural collapse. If fun was ever in the crosshairs, the subsequent shot is way off target.

There's a definite sense of curiousity felt when playing 'n Verlore Verstand, but ultimately it just doesn't hit the mark. The game just has too many negatives that outweigh the positives, like a dodgy camera, lack of direction or a collectible tracker, and frustrating elements throughout the enigmatic title. It does redeem itself slightly with a thoroughly listenable soundtrack and some lovely environments, but sadly these are not enough to make this game any better than just okay.

With competent, if simple, hack and slash action, a short but varied story mode and a decent amount of outside content to encourage replaying, it's a game that fans of the show or the genre may find enjoyable. However, if you're just looking for a quality game to spend some time with, RWBY shouldn't be your first or second choice thanks to a total lack of character development that leaves half the game's heart simply gone and enemy design that would be worthy of a low score.

Exploring the facility and discovering the nuances of the plot are certainly the highlights of this game, but the lack of direction is a double-edged sword, giving players the opportunity to discover as much as they can but often leaving them unsure of what exactly they are supposed to be doing. The survival elements of this survival-horror also aren't as fully realised as they could have been and only appear during the short second half of the story. With a length of only one to two hours, it’s easy to finish a single playthrough in one sitting and still have plenty of time to go back in for more, but once you have discovered what secrets are lurking in the basement, there is very little to entice you back other than finishing up any missed achievements, of course.

Earthfall is a decent try at filling the Left 4 Dead 3 hole in our hearts, but it's rarely strong enough to be anything other than a lesser imitation of that classic series. Occasionally, the AI director will put on its best show and it'll feel exactly as fans of this sort of game want it to feel, but those moments are too few and far between. With flat characters, AI issues on both sides of the war, and above all else, some glaring pacing problems, Earthfall is a tough sell when the game it's cribbing so closely is backward compatible and still superior a decade later.

If you grew up playing Q*bert, the Rebooted package is both a revitalization of a formula that you already enjoy, as well as a nostalgic trip down a colorful and snake-infested memory lane. For everyone else, however, it doesn't have the lasting appeal of a contemporary puzzler.

Gungrave G.O.R.E proves that keeping with a series' core elements, no matter how old, can be a positive weapon to use when bringing an older franchise back to the masses. Its arcade-style gameplay loops offer quick ten-minute bursts of explosive action that are thrilling to play out while challenging to master at higher difficulties or chasing top ranks. Iggymob has created a game that brings nostalgic PS2-era mechanics to the latest generation of consoles and Xbox Game Pass, and you should definitely check it out. Grave remains the badass hero we need in our lives.

Think of the Children is carried by how fun it can be with friends. The silly situations, crazy cosmetics and chuckle-worthy court dialogue are best enjoyed with others. But the flaws become overwhelming in single player where levels aren't balanced for the lack of players, leading to a lot of frustration to merely beat the game, much less be eligible to get the coveted A+ rankings. Local co-op only and lacking controls and mechanics are other reasons that make Think of the Children a niche recommendation to only those dying for couch co-op experiences because the game is a disaster for solo players.

Valkyria Revolution comes from a line of highly-acclaimed titles, but this one undoubtedly misses the mark. Gameplay takes a backseat thanks to the primary focus on long, drawn-out cutscenes that take up a solid 70% of your playtime. Even when it is at the forefront, that gameplay is outrageously easy and complimented by braindead AI that will rarely do what you want. Worst of all are the constant loading screens, sometimes in the middle of combat. Still, the game really feels like a war and the combat is still fun if you're looking for something simple. The payoff of the story is ultimately worth it, and the party members are fleshed out and have their own personalities, which helps to get through the cutscenes. The bottom line is that there are much better JRPGs out there if you have access to a PS4. If you've played them all or if Xbox is all you have, this is a game that can be worth your time.

Redfall isn't a bad game per se, but its lack of a clear vision or sense of direction prevents it from being anything more than just decent at best. It spreads itself too thin and overextends beyond Arkane's wheelhouse, falling back on systems and mechanics borrowed from around open world games and beyond that don't really gel with one another, and leaving Redfall a game confused. Enemy AI is largely pretty shocking, which stops the big multi-faction fights being as interesting or intense as they could be, and while gunplay and abilities do feel good, you're constantly re-gearing up for an endgame challenge that never comes, upgrading to new gear simply to tread water against the same threats as before at a slightly higher level. There's definitely a decent time to be had with Redfall (especially in co-op) in spite of some baffling design decisions, but given Arkane's track record, it's hard not to be deflated by what Redfall could have been compared to what it actually is.

Dead Effect 2 is a game with big aspirations that simply doesn’t reach the heights for which it shoots. Every neat premise is compromised by shoddy balancing, uninspired combat or strange design decisions. While there is a ton of content with 20 story missions and a bunch of additional game modes, none of it is as fun as it could have been.

The AI poses no challenge when compared to human players and there is only one difficulty for bots, so multiplayer is the place to go to get the most enjoyment. Unfortunately, with only two game modes and six similar maps, even with the ability to play online there just isn't a lot here to keep players captivated any longer than short-term.

Mighty No. 9 fails to fill the shiny blue, metallic, oversized boots of its predecessor. The game manages to capture the essentials of the previous titles without capturing the essence.

The level design and watered down combat leaving the game feeling more like a button mashing grind than the deep combat intensive hack and slash that it could have been.

The story is unique but it can be difficult to follow at first as you will become confused by the unusual cutscenes that play at the end of each level. If you persevere with the game, though, it is a rewarding experience that will offer you plenty of content.

The Dyatlov Pass Incident is one of the most fascinating real life horror stories of the last century. It's a topic built to be adapted to different forms of media, arguably video games more than any other. Somehow Kholat is given this head start and trips all over itself. The story fails to take off while the gameplay only serves to annoy. It's never scary, save for a theme song that even then is played so often that it loses its effect. Horror and walking sims are my two favorite genres in the medium, but Kholat serves as another unfortunate reminder that they don't belong together.

Away: Journey to the Unexpected tries to do a lot at once, which is a tall task for a game mostly built by just a pair of people. Ultimately, its strange direction lends to the charm of it all, but it's also clear the game is lacking in a few key areas — namely, shoddy combat and inconsistent level randomization. Still, it was billed as a "feel-good" indie and I'd have to agree. Despite its faults, I'm happy to have played this weird game.

Ultimately, the game falls between two stools, not realistic enough for the hardcore enthusiasts and not gamified enough for the gaming community. If a better balance could be found, then there is great potential here, but sadly, at this moment, the title just can't reach its own lofty ambitions.

Revenant Dogma feels like a game of missed opportunities. The story is either much too confusing or later all spoonfed to players. Spelling mistakes and subpar visuals make the game feel too rough around the edges. The characters' conversations only tell, never show and the gameplay soon gets repetitive. For genre-deprived fans, it may be enjoyable enough, but for anyone looking for a great Xbox JRPG, Revenant Dogma falls short.

Doodle God: Ultimate Edition is the most complete version of the title to be released to date but compared to some of it predecessors that are available on other formats, not much has changed.

This game is probably only for enthusiasts of the twin-stick shooter genre or for those with a large enough streaming audience to keep the game interesting.

In the future, we may view Friday The 13th as one of the year's great games. Its mix of laugh out loud moments and tense chase sequences is unique, refreshing, and a draw even if you're not usually a multiplayer fan. As it stands currently, however, the game is weighed down by far too many issues that hurt the overall experience. A lot of the game requires wits and patience, but it'll be hard to retain those qualities when the game is regularly throwing technical flaws at you. The bright side of this is its issues rarely relate to design. Bugs can be patched, like some already have been. If Illfonic can rein in the many issues seen in Friday The 13th it will go down as a classic multiplayer game. Until then, it's simply wishful thinking.

Super Dungeon Bros is not the first Games with Gold title this year that seems to have been rushed to release, unfortunately. It's broken in many ways and boring in several others. To the former, those issues can be resolved and the studio at the helm seems intent on doing so, but even if those blemishes are addressed, what shall remain will still be a mostly forgettable freebie that can serve some purpose as a couch co-op game. With better options for sale even in its own genre, it's more likely that SDB will sit in your digital library without a chance of ever actually taking up hard drive space.

The singular lasting impression of Don't Knock Twice is one of bewilderment that it somehow exists at all. A movie tie-in game for a limited release and poorly reviewed film that wrapped its quiet and brief theater tour over half a year ago is not the mark of something promising. Ultimately, the game is exactly what it appears to be: bare bones, forgettable, and not worth your time. Horror fans have too many better choices these days, and fans of first-person exploration games have a growing list of their own. Put Don't Knock Twice at the bottom of each of those lists and only get around to it when you've exhausted all other options.

Xuan-Yuan Sword is gaming’s homage to a so good it’s bad B-movie. There are some really great aspects to the game. The combat’s potential depth is realized in boss fights, the story is engaging, and it has strong characters with depth. It’s got all the essentials of a good JRPG, but it's mixed with a poor localization and shoddy technical work to create a game that is almost enjoyable at first. The technical issues and translation are comical at the beginning and you’ll find yourself surprised at the absurdity, but the humor slowly erodes as the hours pass by. Eventually you’re left with a paper mache house built around a solid framework. It’s a game that could have been good with another few months of development and a better translation, but what we got could still be a fun romp if you approach it with the right mindset.

DreamBreak is a short but still enjoyable title for those who decide to jump in. The intriguing story could have been expanded upon a little more, however the game doesn't needlessly outstay its welcome purely for the playtime. With different mini-games and mechanics spread throughout, the two or so hours that you will spend will be engaging. Eugene's slightly clunky controls need tightening for fluidity. Meanwhile, the lack of replay value means that the game won't have much of a lasting effect in today's market, but that shouldn't deter fans of the genre. If you're a genre fan and don't need DreamBreak to break the mold of point and clicks, it'll be a short but fun adventure.

Purely as a game, it is mediocre at best, but for fans of the show, there is something quite entertaining and quite enjoyable about the title. Fans will have a smile on their faces as they work through all of the content and events, and if that is what the title is aiming for, then that is probably more than enough.

Extinction isn't what it could have been. The story is a complete afterthought but in its throwback sort of way, it doesn't feel out of place. Frequent camera problems get in the way of battling the Ravenii, and overall Extinction fails to deliver on the one thing it must get right, its man versus beast moments. They might be giants, but they're definitely boring.

In short, if you're not a fan, steer well clear of this one.

As a saving grace, the game can be fun when you’re throwing out abilities into hordes of enemies and the boss battles are interesting, if not difficult. ZAMB! sounds like an exciting pop, but I’ve come to realize that in this comic book it signals one deadening idea: boredom.

It's not a pretty game and it lacks in content as well as having slightly awkward mechanics. However, there are decent maps to be seen and a couple of the modes work very well for the game, namely Team Objective and Free for All. You'll get frustrated with the game deign, but also laugh out loud at how ridiculously entertaining it can be at times.

Below the surface there isn't too much else to see with this title, so you will be done with it relatively quickly. Nonetheless, if going on a killing rampage while dancing the night away sounds like your kind of night out then it may be worth checking out.

If Avalanche can improve the inventory system, fix quest tracking, and get it so the enemies can't cheat through walls and other physical spaces, they'll have repaired most of what ails these dysfunctional machines. Generation Zero isn't the game I wanted it to be today, but in a world where games are alive and changing all the time, I'm hoping the singularity is still near.

At its heart, AereA is a game about pulling levers, opening doors and being really lost, which is the opposite of what anyone wants out of their musical action RPG. You’ll most likely lose interest quickly and quit out without any desire to return to the world of AereA. The presentation is beautiful thanks to the colorful visuals and a delightful soundtrack, but it falls under the shadow of mundane and repetitive gameplay, a complete lack of challenge and a confusing navigation system that forces you to waste most of your time backtracking. It's an action RPG with no action and it’s just not fun.

The bright and innocent atmosphere here gives off a walk in the park vibe that is undermined by the game's deceptively challenging puzzles. With seemingly no incentive given to each level's time and unlockable stars, however, Skyling missed out on an opportunity to challenge the player to continually outdo past runs and perfect each level.

The addition of multiplayer feels as though it comes at the expense of Fallout’s memorable story-driven moments. What good is a vast map full of players if they're given little to no purpose? When no other players are around, the game’s world feels almost empty. The attention-grabbing locales and landmarks add to Appalachia's charm, but it's difficult to not wish for living, breathing characters to inhabit it. Post-apocalyptic West Virginia is described as a wasteland, and this term paints an inadvertent but accurate picture of what Fallout 76 is right now.

Nickelodeon: Kart Racers squanders its should-be exciting premise of combining a fun genre and beloved characters. It's a bit of a feat for a game with this sort of head start to end up so poorly. With so few characters, unattractive audiovisual design, and a Nickelodeon license that feels almost tacked on in the end, it's very hard to recommend to anyone other than families with low expectations who just want a kart racer with SpongeBob or the Ninja Turtles in it. That's a small target audience, and for the many more outside of it, Nickelodeon: Kart Racers definitely isn't worth the ride.

MagNets: Fully Charged is a dull and uninspired game that will ultimately be overshadowed by a marketplace that sees games pumped out at a constant rate.

Minimal story, frustrating design, and a revival of all the bad things of which survival horror washed its hands years ago — these all crop up in Vaccine and combine to have the game miss its mark. Instead of a love letter to bygone scares, what we get is a tiresome endeavor for anyone but the most diehard fans for old school horror. What's worse, even such fans might be turned away by Vaccine's blatant ripping off of Capcom's renowned franchise.

Asemblance is the type of game worth rooting for because it dares to try things in its own unique way. Having said that, its execution leaves far too much to be desired. You can't commend the game for being weird, because it's so weird that it fails to connect at all. It's one of the shortest games you can find on the Xbox One, which should not inherently be an issue, but in this case it is. There needed to be a few more breadcrumbs to help players care about the bizarre sequence of events that unfolds over the game's 30 minutes. Lacking all resonance and intrigue in its playthrough, Asemblance is a decent story once you look it up online later, but more of it needed to be expressed in the actual game.

While it may be a little rough around the edges, Coffin Dodgers is a fun and simple racer. The cartoony feel to the game makes it easy to admire while you race around the annoyingly short tracks, and the soundtrack is a perfect light accompaniment. Unfortunately, the game has a few problems that keep it from being great, rather than just good. The lack of online multiplayer in a racing game of this kind is a disappointment, and the length of the story and tracks themselves mean the game is over too quickly.

It's possible to have fun playing this game, but only for one short burst during your very first game. After that, you'll be questioning why you ever spent your time with this one in the first place.

This poor excuse for a dungeon crawler doesn't even have enough entertainment value to fall into the "so bad it's good" category. It's a masterclass in lazy design, from the abominable graphics and abysmal soundtrack through to the gameplay that is laughably unbalanced in your favour. Bugs and frame-rate drops are the final nails in the coffin.

Hello Neighbor is a fantastic premise that falls apart in practice in nearly every way. The game was billed to have cunning AI but offers only an overbearing Neighbor with occasional moments of goofiness. It was meant to feature a bizarre and secret-filled house, but ends up wanting to streamline players with little wiggle room. If you're really dying to know what the Neighbor is hiding and can easily forgive the many trouble spots, you might have limited fun here. Alternatively, another hefty patch could undo a lot of these problems. Such a makeover would need to be drastic, however. When simple tasks like reliably picking up and using or placing items are clunky, it's a good sign that the skeletons in the closet aren't worth discovering.

It is impossible to look past the constant problems and bugs. Most of these don't make the game unplayable, but still cause a lot of bother along the way.

Super Street is not a good game. It is borderline irredeemable.

There's certainly room for difficult and frustrating platformers that eventually reward you when you succeed, but Bounce Rescue! rarely feels worth the trouble because it's challenging for all the wrong reasons.

Past Cure is a game that tries to do too much at once to the extent that it ends up doing none of it well. To varying degrees, it lacks polish in every area. Shooting needs some help in the options menu, melee is borderline broken, stealth is missing key features, and the story abandons a strong start and gets worse with every chapter, all while it weaves in and out of several genres and forgets to make it coherent by the end. In one light it's commendable for a rookie studio to aim so high by designing a game akin to Max Payne or Quantum Break, as they obviously intended to do here. Sadly, Phantom 8 seems to have rejected reasonable restraint in their design aspirations, which may have been the cure for what ails this game.

The best-case scenario for Agony is that patches fix the many technical problems plaguing this game right now. If or when that happens, it will then start to be playable, but even then it will contain a host of gameplay issues. A patch isn't going to redesign the entire stealth system, find new voice actors, or design a vision of Hell that is better than the doodling of a 15-year-old metal fan. There's no fix for much of what hinders this game, and what can be fixed absolutely should have been before this ever hit stores. One thing is clear, it definitely feels like Hell trying to play Agony.

Soda Drinker Pro, gaming's equivalent to carbonated sugar water, might be enjoyable in very strict moderation, but it's hard to forget that one would be better off to consume nearly anything else.

You can easily spend over 20 hours here if you explore all of the areas, complete all of the quests, and finish all of the levels of the Maelstrom arena (normal and/or veteran). The quests with which you are presented are interesting and allow you the chance to complete them in different ways, depending on how you want to play the game.

Game of Thrones, while a solid Telltale experience, has limited appeal. The Venn diagram of interest is flatly composed of people who love Game of Thrones with people who like/tolerate Telltale's experiences. If you love Game of Thrones and enjoy Telltale's previous offerings, you shouldn't hesitate to pick up the game.

Overall, the Thieves Guild have been updated nicely, and will be enjoyable for anyone who has had fun among the sleuths in past Elder Scrolls games.

DC Universe Online isn't going to be an MMO that will be remembered for years to come, but it is still entertaining for those who are fans of the genre and for someone who wants to get stuck into a world of superheroes and villains.

Whether it's quest givers taking an age to actually appear, murder targets similarly not showing for a while when you travel to a town, or simply the screen constantly jerking whilst you try and travel, all of these ruin what should be an enjoyable, if not slightly disturbing killing spree.

Despite its age, TT Games continues to breathe new life into the LEGO franchise each year and brings both new and old fans in for some block-tastic action.

Videoball is a wholly different experience with friends -- extremely fun, ultra competitive, and endlessly rewarding. Rivalries will form and bonds will be tested, but in the end, Videoball does more good than harm and exists as something unlike anything else that you've played.

Only the most patient players will succeed here and a completion will not be easy, but those that persist will be awarded with many hours of gameplay.

It's a boring, aesthetically nauseating slog through puzzles that more often annoy than challenge.

As a strategy game, it offers enough depth and complexity to stand out from the crowd. As an RPG, it's simply burdened by too much complexity to reward the player. Sadly, thanks to a story that is difficult to appreciate and a heavy focus on run-of-the-mill missions, the gameplay becomes repetitive far too quickly as there are not enough interesting story missions to breathe life into the experience.

It is a bare bones game that only just scratches the surface in its gameplay.

The title's cheesy dialogue is light and fun and matches the game's simple graphic style very nicely. While the whole experience is fun, especially in Versus mode, the game could have used more content seeing as all six chapters of Story mode can be finished in an hour or two.

The game is slow-paced and simple, a strategy title much in keeping with checkers. Although not the same game, it's fun in the same way; it's simple yet surprisingly hard from time to time as you adjust to new opposing skills. Unfortunately the campaign can become monotonous, while multiplayer lacks online capability and much purpose. Overall, the game is no more than average in any way.

While the graphic style and music add to the entertainment, the crazy grind required to claim all of the achievements takes a lot of the fun out of it, as does having no online play ability.

Eekeemoo Splinters of the Dark Shard is a game of missed potential. All the workings of an action-adventure game are there, like characters, story, and boss battles, but none of them are fleshed out enough to make the game worthwhile. It's a quick and easy jaunt for those who want only gamerscore, and each chapter is unique in design and colour, but no singular aspect of it feels like it does something special or even particularly well. Without the polish and care it needs, it is only functional, never exceptional.

Bloons TD 5 is a game that simply makes you happy to play it. Its quirky monkeys and cartoony setting deliver a tone that’s fun and it makes everything you do in the game similarly enjoyable. The tone is backed up with a huge variety of towers, plenty of which are viable additions to any arsenal, and a set of tracks that are visually interesting and have creative paths which force you to adapt strategies that may have worked fine on previous tracks. While a poor difficulty curve and some lingering quality of life issues related to the game’s previous life as a free to play title keep it from a perfect score, the end result is a game that’s a joy to play and worth time from any fan of the genre or anyone looking for a little happiness in their life.

Clicker Heroes styles itself as an idle game in the body of an RPG, but it is really just all of the RPG grind without any of the interesting plot that helps drive you. In the end, the game, if you can call it that, pretty much plays itself. Despite this, it has a surprising amount of depth, though a lot of patience and a great deal of time is needed to uncover it all.

KONA wants to tell an interesting story within the construct of a survival-adventure hybrid game. It succeeds more greatly at doing the latter but even the story provides enough intrigue to merit seeing the brief game through to the end, as ultimately off-the-mark as it becomes. If you're a fan of either genre by which it's inspired then you'll find something to enjoy in the snow-topped Canadian forests of KONA, but pack lightly — it'll be a short and somewhat forgettable stay.

A stale experience that can't be recommended to anyone. The game's tutorial is abysmal, leaving new players wandering helplessly until they consult third party resources from outside the game. The core gameplay loop is simple and devolves into the same strategy in every game, severely inhibiting the replay value and even the first play value. Combat is dull and very poorly balanced thanks to blatantly overpowered ranged units.

There are a few anti-fun mechanics and sometimes the collision can seem almost random, but it's not enough to totally kill off the fun factor. Like most physics entries, your enjoyment of the game — as well as how much content you're able to squeeze out of it — is heavily dependent on your like or dislike of this style of game, so be sure to know your own preferences before proceeding any further with this one.

Has-Been Heroes is an initially appealing title that quickly becomes bogged down by a lack of good instructions, too much luck-based randomness, and permadeath that never quits. The clunky controls are very non-intuitive, making it hard to get comfortable with gameplay. The game does have a huge number of unlockables that fans will enjoy discovering, but for anyone struggling with the game's difficulty, it's doubtful that most of these goodies will ever be seen. For those who enjoy rogue-type games and don't mind a stiff challenge, this title could be a gem. For those of us defeated by that boss just one too many times, however, Heroes is an exercise in frustration.

Use Your Words is the latest in Xbox One party games, but it is by no means the best. Its lack of variety makes the experience repetitive and boring after only a few games. Furthermore, while Use Your Words is priced cheaper than other party games on Xbox Live, its competitors have greater variety, depth, and replay value. Unless you're aching for a new party game and have already milked every last drop of fun out of all of the others available, Use Your Words is worth a pass.

Although there is a good variety in terms of puzzles in the game, there's very little else to shout about here. The story feels overly confusing from start to finish, and the variety in puzzles is let down by the sheer difficulty of some of them. A peculiar soundtrack accompanies a surprisingly short adventure that finishes way too soon and leaves you with more questions than when you started. Mr. Pumpkin Adventure could have been a really interesting point and click game, but only lands in the average category instead.

Thea does almost everything decently, but its flaws hold each of its parts back from being great. The one undeniable success in the game is the top tier story and worldbuilding that makes the game worth your time if you can get past the flaws.

SpeedRunners is simple but fun, and is definitely made more fun with the addition of three friends. The chaos of the fast gameplay, the power-ups, and the welcome stress of keeping pace makes a great combination. Whether it's online with friends or offline with the bots, the game mostly works well mechanically, outside of some camera concerns. It does feel a little overwhelming at first and the story mode feels short, but thanks to the multiple modes on offer, SpeedRunners is a race worth chasing.

Little Nightmares is a pick for Game of the Year right now and its first DLC chapter, The Depths, enjoyably builds on the intoxicating and mysterious mythos of The Maw. It doesn't resolve the long loading times seen in the full game and it's admittedly a brief stay, clocking in at just an hour of play time. Still, because of its world-building and new unsettling villain bolstering the gallery of the grotesque, The Depths returns to the surface all the reasons to love Little Nightmares.

Echoes of the Fey: The Fox's Trail succeeds in a couple of areas but largely fails in others. The story is genuinely interesting when you manage to get your head around it, and presumably the successive episodes in the series will expand on the game's lore in ways that will clarify things better. The various quests and side quests help you paint a brighter world and the clues are fed to you through this . However, the game does not look like a 2017 release, with poor graphics and minimal locations. Couple this with unlikeable characters and overall the game is largely disappointing. If you adore visual novels, you'll probably find something to enjoy from The Fox's Trail, but otherwise probably give it a miss.

For the grand price of £1.99, Battle Cars adds three new cars, two weapons, three new modes and a brand new season to play through. It is a decent amount of content for such a cheap price, but unfortunately it just doesn't add that much to the actual gameplay. The weapons, though limited by overheating and unlocking after a certain time, tend to cause more chaos than anything else and take away from the actual racing. The game didn't really need weapons adding to it, leaving the DLC basically a moot point, but no doubt it will bring a little bit of fun amongst the frustration.

Numantia's setting is unique, the story is interesting and allows you to make important choices, and the gameplay is challenging and strategic. However, this turn-based title is wrapped in an unpolished package that doesn't let the positive traits shine: frequent bugs and glitches are off-putting, inputting commands feels sluggish, the controls aren't well-suited for console, and there are lots of missed opportunities to guide and educate the player more. Despite the fact Numantia might not be the pinnacle of strategy games, if you're an Xbox player craving the genre, you might be willing to put up with the flaws.

Batman: The Enemy Within offers a third episode a touch above most Telltale middle sections thanks in large part to just how great Catwoman is portrayed by Laura Bailey. Her work, along with the episode functioning primarily as a romance story, keeps this episode intriguing even as the rehashed environments try to drag it down considerably. It's exciting to see how Telltale will play this love story through to the end of the season. Knowing their proclivity for remixing familiar plots and characters, it feels safe to expect they're building something between the star-crossed lovers. If they can trust themselves to focus on the stronger points like this romance and not sell out to hit some punches thrown quota, this season could feel uniquely different than other Batman stories.

911 Operator is a game that most would assume to be a laughably bad title. However, the game proves that wrong as it takes itself seriously and tastefully addresses the pressure that emergency services no doubt feel in reality. Approaching situations strategically will generate the best results, and handling emergency phone calls is an exciting concept. However, when you begin to hear the same call twice, or another collapsing bridge appears, the initial rush from encountering these for the first time quickly diminishes. Nonetheless, the fun factor never disappears entirely, so you will garner the same amount of enjoyment out of the game in correlation to the time you invest in it.

Whilst War Stories does not bring any changes to the combat or battle mechanics of the game, it introduces a single player element that has been much requested by the community. Each story is short enough to be played in a single sitting and provides a platform for beginners to learn the basics of the game and for veterans to try out new tank builds and tactics. Players can additionally use the scenarios to farm a few more credits and experience points without the necessity of joining online games. It may not be a wealth of content, but there's a good few hours of gameplay, new achievements and the comic-book introductions are a novel new approach for the game. With the combat essentially untouched, it remains as engaging as ever, not forgetting that this is a free update for a free-to-play title without paywalls or loot-crates, so it's a good time to jump in if you already haven't started.

Ultimately there's not a lot to say about Drift Zone. It does one thing serviceably, but that one thing is done better in bigger games in abundance on Xbox One. As an Android title, you may have fun on a bus or in a waiting room with Drift Zone, but on your home console, it's hard to overlook just how sparse the gameplay suite is. Diehard fans of tuning and tweaking cars may enjoy a half dozen hours or so here, but for most people, Drift Zone is simply an unremarkable experience that makes a strong case for curation of the Xbox digital storefront.

Super Lucky's Tale is perhaps a game best served in small slices, so that the surface cheerfulness isn’t ground down by overexposure to the game’s faults. It certainly seems so based on the short but sweet Gilly Island DLC. The expansion is simply one extra world with a handful of levels plus the inevitable boss, and despite some lovely tropical art design it really does next to nothing to improve or alter the basic gameplay loop.

North is an interesting game with something special to offer despite its flaws. As a gaming experience it will be most satisfying to those who enjoy thought-provoking titles or exploring dark worlds. However, it will also appeal to achievement hunters looking to gain an easy 1,000 Gamerscore in less than an hour.

The vigilante track is unique to Telltale and thus feels more compelling for players, but not everyone gets to go down that route. In either case, the climactic fight scene delivers, Joker is finally here in mind and body (and finally portrayed well by his actor), and there's a lot of fallout from the events that teases what comes next time, which will inevitably be revealed over the coming months. If you enjoyed the season up to this point, The Enemy Within's finale is an unexceptional but solid conclusion.

To say Darkest Dungeon is a challenging and satisfying RPG doesn't seem like nearly enough praise. The sheer amount of customization — 15+ different classes, seven abilities per character to choose from, equippable trinkets, and much more besides — makes for a highly involved, appetizingly deep adventure that can be approached with many different play styles.