The character that you play is dull, so if he died no tears were shed. While some games get you hooked with “just completing one more quest” since you have none, there was no desire to continue. I know many people will disagree but I’m just being straightforward. It was hard for me to find anything within Darkwood that I truly admired besides the theme. Just because it’s not for everyone doesn’t mean it’s a bad game. Lots of people will love it. I just think that the majority won’t.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about Letter Quest is the fact that it really doesn't feel like it makes that much difference when you craft an unusually long or complex word.

I loved the idea behind Typoman, but sadly the the actual implementation didn't play out as I hoped. The graphics are stunning, but the gameplay itself doesn't hold up. It's also extremely short and worse still when you consider the 3 hour runtime is being padded out with lengthy cutscenes and having to repeat sections due to unfair instant deaths. On the other-hand, The Antonymizer mini game was a real hit, but not quite enough to save the game and warrant a purchase.

If you honestly feel you must play Mulaka, you may want to wait for a sale, but I can’t fathom recommending the idea of doing so at all. Mulaka is a game with a beautiful and rich lore based environment plagued by not only the enemies but also by the core failures of the game.

Jump Gunners has a strong main concept, but the game does so poorly at highlighting it that it merely feels like optional bells and whistles. That leaves us with a basic core of a competitive sidescrolling shooter, and while it works, it doesn’t have a high level of polish. It’s a mediocre party game you’ve seen a million times before; while it has enough mayhem to be fun with a few friends, it’s not going to leave a lasting impression on anyone.

Ittle Dew 2 was a fun little title that I enjoyed about 80% of the time. It controls well and unabashedly pulls from many classic games from the past. However, it fails to achieve the same level of greatness their inspirations achieved. Instead, you find bosses who feel impossible to beat and solutions to puzzles you will only find by accident or Google. The idea of me finishing off as many bosses in as many dungeons as I did and never once feeling accomplished or masterful was saddening. If you're a fan of this genre in need of a quick fix, maybe check it out, if not, don't waste your time.

It’s just too basic and doesn’t live up to a lot of things being released these days. I understand it’s more of a throwback to the old school arcade shooters, but even they seem to offer more. The story itself is a bit confusing and a bit hard to follow. It’s not a bad game by all means although it’s nothing that should be on your radar.

I really didn’t enjoy my time with The Final Station at all. Combat, whilst not particularly difficult, was still frustrating and often unfair, and the infuriating menus aboard the train meant there wasn’t any point during my playthrough that I was actually having fun. I suspect the story is the real draw here, but the text was too small to read without sitting with my nose to the T.V. screen and the ending just made me want to uninstall the thing as fast as possible.

While I really like how it looks, the gameplay was mediocre. No fast travel meant a ton of running with a bad mini-map you can’t zoom into. It certainly has potential but it’s just not there yet.

I would only recommend Gear Gauntlet to those hardcore gamers that love to be constantly challenged, and who are always looking to shave that extra tenth of a second of their best time.

Heart&Slash probably would be a lot more fun if it wasn't a roguelike. Its weapons are really cool, the combat has some potential and the light RPG elements are rather neat. If the level design was more deliberate and there were checkpoints instead of permadeath, it may have negated some of Heart&Slash’s biggest issues. A good roguelike is constantly challenging but always fair., This one is just provides cheap frustration.

Sadly for a game that is all about memories, Dear Esther just never does much to leave a lasting one.

Despite my love of physics-based games, I didn't have fun with this iO at all. At its worst, it's a mess where things just don't work the way you want, but most of the time it's just a dull platformer with lackluster visuals and repetitive level design. The concept is novel, but it left a lot of room to grow.

Cool on the surface, you’ll likely enjoy what you’re looking at. The style and idea of this evil world with female fighters who are an unlimited supply of clones is just awesome and unique. The major setback is the repetitive gameplay that isn’t varied. It’s like you’re just playing a demo for hours with no feeling of actual progression because of how many times you’ll be restarting. Without a really fleshed out story, you almost don’t have anything to really fight for. Seeing the conclusion of the story isn’t exciting because you expect it to just end without any dramatic elements in place. There just isn’t enough meat in it to satisfy your hunger. It’s a beautiful world, but not one you’re going to stay in for long.

Four Sided Fantasy is a visually appealing game with low replayability. Its screen-wrap mechanic is a fun idea and works well, but it needs to be fleshed out to add more complex puzzles. I also experienced a few glitches as I progressed further into the game that forced me to quit the level and start it over. This game is a quick and easy Gamerscore booster, but needs some work to make it stand out. If the puzzles and mechanics were as creative and polished as the artwork, this might be worthwhile.

The subject matter is deep, almost invasive. It might be something that actually helps you consider your own destiny. However, the actual gameplay is bad. There are easy puzzles then there are ones that slow down your progress, making you wonder if it’s worth continuing because the experience hasn’t been that great to begin with. It’s kind of bland and sometimes boring. Some may like the personalized questions that allow them to have a bit of self-discovery but usually games are an escape from reality. Instead, Solo: Islands of the Heart can actually bring back those memories. It really depends on your own life and experiences. If you’re happy and together with someone, the game will feel pretty pointless. If you’ve had your heartbroken or are alone, it may just highlight your failures instead.

The difficulty in this platformer is beyond frustrating. It has its moments but falls just as often as you will. You won’t even worry about your times; you’ll be more concerned with surviving. The ranks end up feeling like you have to find the faster routes which require a lot of upgrades. It’s either you complete the level with a low ranking, or you find an alternate route to get a cheated S rank. There’s really not much in-between. This leaves the whole idea of speed running in the dust. It just doesn’t work, and I don’t feel many people will enjoy trying to obtain better times. Razed is playable even with its flaws, but how much you play will be up to your patience and determination.

Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek isn’t horrible, but it isn’t great. It finds itself somewhere in purgatory, floating in between the spectrum. On one hand, you have a game that lets you skip all the gameplay, and enjoy a simple ghost tale. On the other hand, you have a game with roundabout puzzles that are not so fun to play through. Either way, Maple Creek is filled with mystery and trash.

For the brief moment it lasts, SPIFFING is a great game with an excellent script and a fairly high standard of production. Unfortunately, it's so short that it feels like a tutorial or a demo even. I'm known at XBLA Fans for commenting on game prices too often, but I can't ignore the fact that SPIFFING weighs in at nearly $20, yet lasts for less time than a decent TV drama.

Like a trip to Whole Foods, Organic Panic is not without its share of fun, but its cons unfortunately outweigh its pros. Destroying the environment and flooding out meat and cheese monsters has plenty of charm, but some variety and polish would have gone a long way toward extending it. This is definitely not a bad game, but it does get a little boring — just like veggies.

This is not a good experience with a controller and I’m sure it’s much better with a mouse and keyboard where you have more control over what you’re doing at a faster pace. It’s a shame because it was briefly very fun and addictive. Just it wore out its welcome a bit early. If you’re a fan of strategy games you may be able to ignore the negative stuff, because it’s not a terrible game, just one I couldn’t find enjoyable as I progressed.

When this game landed in my inbox, I did have very high hopes that this would be the Burnout of old that helped introduce me to Xbox 360 racing, as one of my first Xbox 360 purchases was Burnout Revenge. Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed by an ostensibly full-featured release that appears to be a beta in disguise. Three Fields is promising free updates that add content and fix issues. Unfortunately, as it stands today, players would be better advised to set their satnav’s destination for another title.

Reus tries to simplify a complex genre, but loses what makes the genre interesting in the first place.

If you want to play an interactive book then you will probably like this. There just isn’t enough changing dialogue to really keep you engaged with repeat passengers even though a few are designed to have second pickups. You can refuse a passenger if you realize they are the same, but then you just lost gas money and precious time. I will probably play through the other missions just to do them, but I’m not entirely excited to do so.

Songbringer is a good approximation of a classic exploration-based adventure – when it sticks to the overworld. The dungeons up the challenge in a very uncomfortable way and do little to support the game's strengths. Even though the hub fares better, it's still where the bulk of the grating story happens, so no part of the game is without its frustrations. Sure, throwing around a boomerang top hat has its moments, but it's not worth slogging through the dungeons to experience.

I was completely enthralled with Bad North‘s simplified take on the RTS and its straightforward yet tactical gameplay – up until I died the first time. There are some neat ideas here, but the roguelike structure highlights its weaknesses more than its strengths. The brilliant minimalism is really only intriguing the first time around; all other times you’re trudging your way back to the part where it gets interesting, then suddenly losing it all.

Home Sweet Home is a game that lacks the direction and polish that it needed. The various locations that the game has to offer really bring on the horror feeling, but once the broken AI rears its ugly head, it just takes the horror appeal away completely.

It’s not that I didn’t like what I played, but that I couldn’t enjoy it more. You’re forced to abide by randomness. The less control I have in a game, the less I want to continue on with it. I liked the style and theme. The mazes were great and shooting monsters is always a pleasure. But then you die. That powerful new rifle you bought is no longer in your inventory. The shop that sold it might not have it in stock anymore. And they are overpriced anyway. Damage over time seems to ruin the combat. Everything I liked was overshadowed by exactly what H.P. Lovecraft was all about. Madness. If Untold Stories was meant to create that feeling in real life, then it sure succeeded.