Unfortunately, Symmetry doesn’t make itself clear fast enough to keep someone playing in the long term. The collection of resources becomes grindy as you try to last long enough for the game to tell you the next story point, with no indication of how or when that next story point will occur, or what you need to do differently (if anything). There’s a lot of potential here, and I’m trying to see it, but I guess this face-hugger is in the way.

It is incredibly frustrating and ultimately lacking in long term fun.

The biggest issue is that this experience is just way too short, especially for the amount it costs to have it. You can get many of the books at this cost! If you haven’t read any of them, then I would highly advise against buying this game. If you have, then I would just give you a little warning. The gameplay is mediocre and the story is a lesser version of the movies. The only real delight you’ll get from it is the fact that it has characters from the Goosebumps universe. I dream for the day we can see a larger universe to explore with many more references to the books, besides just the handful they keep reusing.

Defenders of Ekron – Definitive Edition is not the game its advertised to be, nor the game you’d want it to be. The second half of the game is a tedious, confusing mess with no real support from the storyline; it doesn’t help it stay afloat. The hour or so of shmup style gameplay that is there is solid, but its blurred by the rest of the game’s mechanics and gameplay elements. The puzzles, while occasionally interesting, are completely out of place. The game overall is a failure. It’s playable, but it’s not likely what you’re wanting or expecting.

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.

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

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.

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.

The turn-based strategy is solid, but everything else surrounding Acorn Assault: Rodent Revolution is a hard nut to swallow. The repetitive slog and poorly written story make this quirky game uninteresting, albeit weird. I have a tough time recommending this game to anyone including those who enjoy strategy games, as the core turn-based gameplay is not good enough to warrant having to trudge through the issues the game has.

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.

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.

While A Knight’s Quest can have its moments, the negative outweigh anything positive. The fun is eclipsed by an infuriating nonexistent roadmap of what you’re supposed to do. While I was able to get to the end, for some reason my save file got erased and all of my progress was lost. After that mishap, I had mixed feelings. I love getting achievements and feel I didn’t have long to complete the game which had me upset. However, I realized it was a blessing in disguise and freed me from having to continue getting lost again or wasting hours figuring out where to go next.

Quantic Pinball tries to stand between the greats, but doesn't present anything memorable. Honestly, it feels more like a beta than a full release. The name of the game is plastered in the top right corner, and the play area is presented in a little box, with a splash covering the left and right sides. It's bland. Space Cadet Pinball from early Windows operating systems came free and pre-installed and it too had more depth and design than Quantic Pinball has. Unless you’re a hardcore pinball enthusiast, it’s probably best to avoid this game altogether. If you have $5.00 to burn, there are tables in Pinball FX 2 and 3 for the same price that offer more than any of the 7 levels in Quantic Pinball could.

Indeed, I was a sucker for this horror game. It could very well be the worst one I have ever played. Still, that fan inside me kind of enjoyed it. I have to respect the attempt, as if another fan of the genre had decided to make their own version based on previous titles they’ve played. Unfortunately, that’s all it has going for it. I cannot recommend this game because it was poorly done. Everything about it is a disaster. From movement to the clunky item management system, it just doesn’t work smoothly.

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.

At first, it was an eerie nightmare I got excited to become entrapped in. Things start becoming much brighter and the mood is suddenly less appealing. The music even changes (it’s pretty decent though). I quickly began to lose interest because the story never really plays out well. I had some guesses and then it gets even more confusing by the end. It’s even left open for the possibility of a sequel. So the title stays true; it is indeed unknown.

This is a game purely for the faithful who want a return to the days of old-fashioned hardcore Nintendo games. Folks who like modern day advances such as auto-saves, adjustable difficulty and the like should probably skip this if they want to keep their temper under control.

Though the gameplay itself is fun, the lack of any balance to the difficulty at early stages of the game — even on the easiest difficulty — is maddening.

The tracks, power-ups and controls aren't offensively bad; they're just average and lacking in innovation. Coffin Dodgers can be a good bit of quick fun with friends, but don't expect most to stick around for more than a few races or an hour or so for the most dedicated drivers.

Telltale squandered the opportunity to make a great game for one of The Walking Dead's coolest characters. If you haven't read the comics, all you'll get out of the game is a dull story. If you have read the comics, this will likely sting you a whole lot more.

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.

Chasing Carrots started with a rather good idea and failed to deliver what it seemed to promise. The driving and shooting always felt slow and unadventurous. Most of the time you could just stop driving if you needed a break from the action. That eliminates the hard edge that a shmup style game needs to be good. Endless mode is fun in co-op or by yourself, but it isn't enough to carry the weight of the game. So even if you've got money to burn, there are much better fire pits to throw it in.

The game is simple and allows for you to pace it however you please. The glitches in the game and some poor design choices leave it buried in a heap of rubble without any feeling of real accomplishment after you finish. Because of the negatives, I would have to say this game is just pretty mediocre.

Every level felt the same and even in the bonus stages I always seemed to be running around like a grotesque hamster. The only thing I truly enjoyed was the boss battles. There were a few fun moments while playing, but the riddle of where to go next was beyond frustrating. I never gained any bandanas (gives you perks) because you have to beat levels in under ten minutes, which is a ridiculous target. I don’t know how you could memorize where to go. I’m still confused about how everything works, even after several hours of playing. With a map being no help, and everything just looking bad (on purpose I’m sure), this is the kind of atmospheric experience I can’t recommend.

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.

I certainly enjoyed looking at Hunter's Legacy while I was playing, but I can't really say that I enjoyed the act of playing it. The combat is slow and exhausting, and the lack of awareness afforded by the camera when fighting enemies that fly off screen is an enormous pain that leads to countless deaths. There's plenty of game in Hunter's Legacy, and a 100% will probably take close to 20 hours; I just can't think of who would be interested in such an offer, especially with far better Metroidvania games on the market.

Siegecraft Commander will grow on you, but how much, I can't say. The controls and the rubbish drawstring aiming spoiled it for me, and with a better implementation of those things, I think I would have found less to fault about the building chain mechanic that could actually have been quite interesting.

It’s a game you will want to like and respect because of the retro feeling that it provides. Having goofy characters and themes does help, but everything else seems to fall apart as you realize you’re just not having all that much fun. It’s a short game that allows you to get all but three achievements easily. You likely won’t have the patience to play the more difficult modes. Cooperative couch play is a minor bonus but there is no online to be seen. I commend the approach but don’t feel it harbored any real interest. Void of any replayability or extra content, Coffee Crisis leaves us with a short and unrememberable creative idea.