Overall, Deliver Us Mars is surprisingly compelling, with a story of a daughter searching for her wayward father despite his crimes — while others on the crew are searching for him because of said crimes. Most of the gameplay does a great job of keeping things varied, but I wish that there were just a few more puzzle ideas to break up the times when it feels like the game ran out of ideas and popped in another MFT puzzle. Endure those, and Deliver Us Mars is a great game that balances the narrative with allowing the player to have agency. It is further proof that sci-fi stories don't need to involve aliens or explosions, and the humanity within the game's story is admirable.

The type of game that the Wii needs more of. It's instantly accessible, yet there are times when its genuine challenge and excellent design can cause the player to pull out his or her hair. Hudson needs to make a sequel to this ASAP.

West of Dead does most things right as far as roguelites go. The random nature of almost every element of every run can cause some large difficulty spikes, but the overall difficulty evens out in the end. The premise works fine even if it means having to hear it countless times over multiple runs, and while the measured combat feels fresh for a Western, the zoomed-out camera angle doesn't help you appreciate it. Overall, West of Dead is a solid roguelike for those who aren't burned out on the genre yet.

Despite the volley of issues that'll be unique to your experience, committing to the universe that Warhorse has built in Kingdom Come: Deliverance still carries an ultimately rewarding feeling. I wonder how much more I'd enjoy it if it were a little smoother (fast travel is not fast), but the atmosphere doesn't shy away from the brutality of the era, how rugged life was centuries ago as well as the omnipresence of God in their everyday lives, from conversation to action.

In short, Rhem 3: The Secret Library has one audience, and that is truly hardcore Myst-style adventure/puzzle fanatics. This isn't a bad thing, as niche games can be quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, the game's lack of presentational quality weakens it to the point that it has no ability to pull in a larger audience.

It is a perfect showcase of what's to come and although it is somewhat frustrating at first, it truly is a rewarding experience later on.

This release, however, is a merely average Prince of Persia clone with a bad movie sewn onto it. It may be worth investigation if you need your next wall-running fix, but don't come with high expectations.

It isn't particularly deep or thought-provoking, or noticeably challenging. It's just fun.

The title is funny, but I can't honestly say if it's particularly fun, as the brand of fun it offers is restricted to an extremely narrow audience. To all those who enjoy their punishment with a side of laughs, by all means check this one out.

The Driver franchise isn't quite ready for a bullet in the head, but it's definitely tired. Atari needs to let the series take some time off until there's a compelling non-financial reason to produce another installment, and Reflections should do some soul-searching to figure out which parts of the game work.

For the most part, it succeeds, but slippery control, merely average graphics, and short playtime leave this one to be a rental at best.

With a unique combat system, colorful graphics, and character upgrade options that deliver plenty of challenges, Rondo of Swords might not be the kind of war that everyone may want to fight, but it won't hold back those who decide to take up the struggle.

The worst flaw in any RPG is the lack of a decent save system, and in that respect, Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer is guilty as charged. This frustrating trait, combined with the mediocrity that's prevalent in the rest of the title, makes for a pretty poor showing.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has a gigantic amount of things to offer gamers, whether you're a dedicated follower of the series, or simply one wanting to experience a different way to use the Wii's motion controls.

In my opinion, Absolver is in the upper echelon of recent releases, but it still has a few issues. The camera can work against you at the most inopportune times, like when you're cornered, but that's more bearable to me than the motion blur. Other than those complaints, the game slows down its offerings after a dozen hours or so, unless you're playing co-op with friends. On the plus side, there's supposed to be free DLC in the future, and it seems like a pretty solid promise. Given Absolver's $30 price tag, you can't really complain about this purchase.

The campaign mode is outstanding and provides quite a few hours of fun and mayhem. Who can resist fun and mayhem? The lack of multiplayer severely hurts this title for me, but the cost helps ease some of the pain.

If your PC is good enough to run this and you're a big Aerosmith fan, then you could probably add as many extra points to my score as you feel that it requires.

It has a great many strengths going for it, and at the core, there’s a good game in here. Unfortunately, due to its scope, and more importantly, few ways to deal with that scope, few people will actually want to finish the bloody thing.

It may be a very straightforward journey and it may feel like a knock-off of Sega's Alien Syndrome, but Alien Breed Evolution: Episode 1 is still a darn fun and tense game with redone graphics and well-used sound.

Livelock is still worth checking out, so long as you know you're getting a B-level, sci-fi action-RPG with guns. It would've been great if it had received some more care and polish. It doesn't add anything new to the genre, and it can be rather obtuse when it comes to upgrading and learning about your new upgrades, but the basic gameplay is solid. The fast pace of upgrades may provide players with enough encouragement to forge ahead. The blemishes in the aesthetics and audio throw things off, and the lack of a more robust multiplayer, especially offline co-op, definitely counts against it.

Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles is basically a game for the fans. Do you want to pick your favorite character and beat up your other characters? Or do you want to see scenes from the original story re-created in beautiful 3D? However, that is about all it offers. It's beautiful, plays well, accurately captures the source material, and that is the beginning and end. If you're curious about the uber-popular franchise, it's probably best to watch the anime or read the manga before diving in.

I've struggled to properly rate Sherlock Holmes Chapter One. On the one hand, it does some great things in terms of the cases and the provided tools to solve those cases. I enjoyed that it never gave me an answer, and I had to arrive at my own conclusions given the evidence I'd found. On the other hand, the game is in a rough technical state with frequent frame rate issues on the PS5, basic animations that feel robotic, an empty open world, and voice acting that can pull you out of the experience at times. Fans of Sherlock Holmes or adventure games can check out Chapter One, simply for everything that it does right.

In the end, LEGO The Hobbit is most aptly described as Skyrim-lite.

It has slapdash controls and is riddled with gameplay issues, but the game achieves what it sets out to do: be a temporary distraction that's good for relieving a bit of tension.

Compared to the magnum opus of the series that was R-Type Final, R-Type Final 2 serves more as an epilogue that maintains how solid the series still is. The level design and combat feel just as good as in past games, with a level of challenge that'll test those who have cut their teeth on modern bullet-hell shooters. The number of unlockable ships and the processes needed to do so will make players spend more time with this than most other titles in the genre, and that'll make up for the lack of extras like online scoreboards. Despite having a few issues in presentation and a rather annoying load upon death, R-Type Final 2 will please genre fans.

It has a pleasing look and feel, and it’s simple but forces some cognizant thought to play it.

The lighthearted banter, the brightly colored scenes, enticing mystery, and solid puzzles make this something that the original Kickstarter campaign promised: "fan service aimed directly at those aching to experience one more story involving one of adventure gaming's favorite teams."

Section 8 is difficult to recommend to anyone but fans of the space-marine shooter subgenre.