Deadbeat Heroes is an average game that is made far worse by poor design choices. At a quick glance, it's a simple brawler with a neat comic book art style that doesn't take itself too seriously. Upon further inspection, it's a frustrating game that encourages — no, forces — replaying missions with its minimum score requirements and strict punishments for failure, but it's excruciating to do so because dialogue, level intros and enemy introductions can't be skipped. Despite the emphasis on reaching target scores, the mysterious scoring system is never explained. Replaying levels isn't as bad in the early levels of the game when failure isn't as prominent, but the unfairness of the later levels may have players stuck in a painful cycle of dying and having their hard-earned scores wiped because of it. Do yourself a favor and leave this comic book on the rack.

Jump Force somehow only achieves mediocrity at best despite the star power found on its roster and the potential that comes with that cast. The characters are indeed faithfully recreated, stylish abilities and all, but nothing feels seamless. From the horrible cutscenes and choppy combat animations to the struggling frame rate, everything feels cut together haphazardly. Jump Force looks like an excellent idea on paper as a crossover containing over 40 characters from various Shonen Jump series, but in practice, the vision falls flat due to a serious lack of polish.

Right now, Battlefield 2042 is offering plenty of new features and gameplay elements that will benefit the series’ veteran players, although I’m not sure if there is enough there to hold the attention of players that don’t already have a vested interest in it, at least while they wait for the various problems to be fixed. That really is a shame because even though the persistent issues are frustrating, unnecessary, and annoying, underneath it all is a game that is brimming with potential, and one that I’m enjoying much of my time with — combat is tense, challenging, and unpredictable, and it offers the very best Battlefield experience in recent years... when it hits right.

While fun for a little while, Bridge Constuctor Stunts ultimately falls short. The game has a simple premise that ends up being a little too complicated at times. What starts off as enjoyable ends up getting repetitive and a bit boring. The actual look and sound of the game is bright, bubbly and upbeat and it's just a shame that the rest of the game doesn't match this. This game is not going to wow you and will only offer a flipping amount of fun for a short while; only the true architects out there will be able to fully appreciate the game.

Perception is the latest in a recent run of walking sim horrors to try and deliver a satisfying game in each genre. It's also the latest game to lend evidence to the theory that these two genres simply don't mesh well. Perception tells an intriguing story and if that's enough for you, it's worth playing. Its audio-visual experience is also unlike anything else and if you're looking for a fresh idea, The Deep End Games' debut is worth supporting. It's important to keep in mind, however, if you expect the game to also scare you, there's nothing to see here.

Underneath its flaws, Rogue Trooper Redux is good, old-fashioned fun. Its linear levels are solidly designed and offer a variety of ways to approach the objective at hand. Different play styles are also encouraged with stealth, distractions or running in and mortaring everything in sight all being viable tactics. Multiplayer exists, and that's about all that can be said about that. However, Rogue Trooper is a 2006 game, and Redux still feels like one. Just to name a few of its flaws, the cover system is clumsy, attempts at platforming are awkward, switching weapons is imprecise, the enemy AI have a collective IQ of seven, and it occasionally checkpoints when the entire room is shooting at you. Simply put, when you're not annoyed with Rogue Trooper, you're going to be having a good time with it.

It’s a gorgeous game with a gritty story; sometimes overwhelming or tiring, but nearly always beautiful. It might not reinvent the genre in every aspect, but for a fantastic story, an insanely detailed world, and brilliant dialogue, you’ve got to try it. The achievements will likely take you quite some time, mind: in over 30 hours of playtime, I unlocked six.

Anoxemia has a wonderful sense of tension and a dark atmosphere with an interesting enough plot highlighting Dr Bailey's isolation and possible decent into madness, but it begins to lose its charm as you progress. The lack of checkpoints can make repeating the areas very tedious if you die from any of the hazards or from your supplies running out, but the short levels do make up for this. There is some incentive to exploration and it does provide you with some helpful upgrades, but your main objectives rarely differ from collecting a number of items or reaching a specific location. There is enough to keep players entertained for a few hours, but the repetition and lack of variety in objectives holds back what could have been a far more exciting game.

Whilst there are moments when the arcade racing feels like fun, there is an omnipresent sense of Déjà Vu, that you've played this all before. NFS Payback doesn't bring anything original to the genre and if you've already finished with those other racing titles, you're unlikely to find anything new here. It feels like the game is following other racing games and has somehow lost its own identity in the process. It's not a bad title, but it also fails to distinguish itself. It feels like an option and an alternative; it no longer feels like a must-have title not even for arcade racers. However, the main issue is the progression system that relies more on luck than skill, and judgement that almost seems to debilitate the player's advancement. Despite the previous reboot and this latest title, Payback already feels aged and needs a dramatic rethink if it is to reclaim its crown from the likes of Forza Horizon.

Cobbled together from parts of previous games, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is one of the worst entries into the series. From the vapid campaign with those woeful DMZ-like open combat missions to the Multiplayer that relies on nostalgia for anything interesting and the toothless, uninspired Zombies mode that is just an awkward version of DMZ, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III absolutely nowhere near justifies its $70 price tag.

Wanted: Dead is very much an acquired taste, but those for whom its eclectic nonsense clicks will likely love it, even if it's not technically a great game. It's a throwback to a bygone age of gaming that's clearly made with passion, with the team just doing whatever the hell it likes rather than sticking to typical gaming standards to create something that certainly stands out in the modern landscape, if not always in the way it intends to. Stingy checkpointing can kill the game's momentum should you fall foul of a tricky encounter and have to replay large portions of a level, but there will be some folks who like that extra punishment for failure — just as with more or less everything else about Wanted: Dead, it's all going to land for someone out there, and I can see this one going down as a bit of a cult classic.

Unfortunately the game just gets annoying and repetitive after a while, ultimately falling short in keeping you engaged for any significant time.

The Town of Light has a story to tell, one that isn't afraid to shy away from its uncomfortable subject matter and creates a sense of unease that follows players throughout the game. The story is well-paced and encourages players to keep going, even if it leads to more horrifying discoveries. The developer has succeeded in accurately portraying both their subject matter and location, but this accuracy comes at the price of uninteresting exploration and technical difficulties that mar the game's walking simulator experience. You'll remember the story long after the game has finished, but you'll likely forget how you got there.

Gunscape's aim to give users a simple way to create and share their own arenas and campaigns is no small feat, but Blowfish Studios has managed to achieve it using an editor that is already familiar to gamers. The main downside is that the game's stability issues can be a major hindrance and lead to more frustration.

Kung-Fu for Kinect can occasionally suffer from problems with reading the more complicated moves that are required from players, and navigating through the side-scrolling levels is a chore, but players will feel like a kung-fu superstar with even the most basic of moves. Or they'll feel like a physical wreck.

The online pursuits and chases are genuinely good fun, more fun than possibly any other part of the title to date. Ultimately, splitting the difference between the highs and lows of the new content leaves the expansion feeling a little middle of the road.

Having the right expectations with Skylar & Plux is the key to enjoying it. Although its desire to replicate and resurrect the 3D platformer is handled well with reliable mechanics and familiar design, it seems to have forgotten to age the difficulty level in stride with its nostalgic but now adult demographic. In that fault also lies its greatest attribute, paradoxically. Because the game is well produced but just too easy, it ultimately serves as a great family game to experience with the next generation of 3D platforming fans. The puerile jokes, the hand-holding level design, and the forgiving difficulty won't keep a veteran video game enthusiast busy for long, but it may be the eye-opening, family-friendly experience a child in your life will remember for years to come.

It's fitting that just days after Microsoft announced the name change of their internal production branch from Microsoft Studios to Xbox Game Studios, Crackdown 3's launch screen displays the old moniker. After a year of exciting studio acquisitions for the company in 2018 and a stronger push for first-party moving forward, Crackdown 3 is the last remnant of the bygone era of Smartglass, live-action/video game hybrids, and forced Kinect purchases. It survived the purge where Fable Legends and Scalebound did not, but even in its best moments, Crackdown 3's campaign feels like it was born too late.

This is a game with no personality despite a can't-go-wrong premise of Nazis and monsters. This is a game with poor design, little depth and artificial intelligence so catastrophically bad that it is inexcusable. I love the genre, but I couldn't recommend this title to anyone.

One Piece: Burning Blood is enjoyable even for those unfamiliar with the anime, but the game is at its best for those who already have some knowledge of the story's events.

If you look past the frustration, though, Feist is a commendable title for someone who is after a simple story and simple gameplay.

NASCAR HEAT 2 is packed full of content for the fans and to get the most out of it, you really need to be a fan of the motorsport. The visuals are the weakest link and are the only thing to really complain about. Underneath, there is a solid racing title that is good fun especially when racing in the pack surrounded by other cars. Monster Games has done well to capture all of the glamour of the sport whilst keeping it authentic at the same time. For those looking for more diverse disciplines in their racing, other titles will be better suited, but for NASCAR fans it's a great title that pays homage to the sport.

Cars 3: Driven to Win is a competent kart racer that is accessible to players of all skill levels. There’s plenty of content on offer and the pleasant art style, cast of characters and location will keep fans of the films entertained for quite a few hours. It doesn’t do anything new to reinvent the genre and is lacking in a number of areas, but what is there is decent and that’s more than can be said for a lot of movie tie-ins. As a full priced title Cars 3: Driven to Win is hard to recommend to anyone except the biggest fans of the franchise, but for anyone else looking for a new kart racer to sink their teeth into, it might be worthy of your time once it hits a more realistic price point.

Zombie Vikings takes an interesting premise and a beautiful art style and squanders them alongside a bulk of other issues. Bugs that should've long ago been patched out before migrating to Xbox, a sense of humor that only induces cringe, and a campaign that overstays its welcome and rewards button-mashing come together to form something fittingly brainless. Minimal simple pleasures might be found here if you and a few friends are looking for just another co-op game, but even then there must be others you haven't yet played that more often reward you in nearly every way.

If you’re looking for a standard Japanese shmup, Defenders of Ekron is going to disappoint, but this Chilean gem offers a nuanced level design that allows it to excel, becoming far better than most of its contemporaries through a revolving door of fun, challenging encounters and enough content to leave you more than content. Sure, it’s full of awful anime tropes that make you resent every story section, and it’s got some game design systems that actively hinder your enjoyment, but those negatives aren’t nearly enough to weigh down the game.

The developers have done a great job in creating a tense adventure and if you're simply curious in seeing what it's like to play a live-action game, or if you're up for a little atmosphere in your next title, then The Bunker is certainly worth the trip.

Mount & Blade: Warband features some innovative ideas that many other games in the genre haven't explored. The focus on the political nature of warring countries as well as the actual combat gives players multiple ways to play. It is unfortunate that many of these features are left largely unexplained, though, and they require more than a small amount of trial and error to figure out exactly how to proceed. The steep learning curve and low production values may put many people off, although its open-endedness offers players far more replayability than many other games in the genre.

While the novelty is good for a few laughs, once that wears off, I Am Bread is a loaf of sourdough that's nine parts frustrating and one part fun.