The visual aesthetic of Away: Journey to the Unexpected sold me right away, as it’s absolutely gorgeous with its blend of 2D and 3D and bright colorful environments and characters. Below the surface though, the rest of the experience is as bland and uninspired as you can imagine a boy fighting with a stick would be. It’s tough to recommend when it’s only redeeming quality is how pretty it looks, like a gorgeous date you picked up that happens to have a terrible personality and annoys you.

If any time at all is spent on polishing up combat and the introductory segments of the game, then Outward could find itself in a much more favorable situation, but unless numerous patches or a sequel are in our future, then we may just have to accept this game for what it is: not great. That isn't to say that there isn't at all an audience for a game such as this. If you get off on diving into the unknown in a truly old-school way, only this time without an instruction manual, then you might consider giving Outward a try. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

I fully expected Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn to be a complete disaster, and while it has faults, it’s competent, but yet mediocre at best. Even though it’s not completely terrible like its predecessor, Shaq needs to be remembered for his ball skills, not voice acting and games. Icy-Hot won’t save you from this one.

I had some fun with Police Simulator at first, but the bugs and glitches really hurt the experience. It’s fun enough running around for an hour or so issuing tickets for parking, littering, drinking in public and jaywalking, but when you really have to interact with the AI the game really breaks down. Having the game mechanics of investigations, arresting and calling for backup completely fail due to poor AI is really disappointing. There’s a decent core game here, but it trips over its own feet too much that it can be really frustrating to play at times. There is some fun to be had causing havoc and seeing what you can get away with before your shift is forcefully ended, but after an hour or so of that the novelty wears off and you’re left with getting back to work.

Rooted in reality, the gameplay blends simulation with arcade, though because of the wacky ragdoll physics and awkward controls, it takes some time to really grasp and perform the moves you want to. Think of Pro Gymnast Simulator as a simple sidescrolling platformer where you can perform gymnast moves as you launch yourself in the air from one swing and bar to the next in some crazy setups that would never happen in real life, failing hundreds of times before you finally land on the finish mat but becomes fun when you get the swing of things. 'Dumb Fun' really is the best way I can describe Pro Gymnast Simulator.

It wasn’t scary, it wasn’t enthralling, and the only feeling that it ever gave me was that I wasted 4 bucks to rent it.

VED has some interesting ideas but it’s as though the game didn’t know quite what it wanted to be at times. This is possibly because it was a completely different game in its early stages. It's hard to be harsh towards a small indie team that clearly made VED with their passion, but there’s so many different components that don’t mesh cohesively, and a story that becomes so confusing that it’s difficult to follow. Even if you could follow the convoluted narrative, you’ll be too distracted with the abysmal voice acting to even remember that combat was actually quite interesting.

It saddens me when I see a game is very good graphically have so many glitches and issues with the gameplay. I feel like if more time was spent focusing on the puzzle experience, The Bradwell Conspiracy would be a fantastic experience for those who are veterans and newcomers to a narrative first person game. Right now, as it stands, I cannot score Bradwell Conspiracy any higher than where it is right now due to the problems that blocked my completion. I can see the idea and concept Bossa Games was going for and unfortunately this won't be a conspiracy I'll be recommending you delve into.

Tunnel of Doom is hard to recommend for Tower Defense fans, and for Roguelike followers there’s nothing new here to excite you either, so it falls into this kind of ‘meh’ category. Not bad by any means, but nothing excited me either, even when I finally faced and defeated the final boss.

All that's missing is a “hey bud, pass me a beer." DLC. I guess for now I'll just drink a real one and take a nap while I wait for a fish to bite. I don’t think developers MasterCode could have made Fishing Adventure any simpler, and it takes a lot of mundane grinding to get enough money to buy the best gear, though that's no different than real life I guess. Therefore, you could be dared to say this is an accurate fishing simulation because its exactly the same as fishing in real life for the most part. Seriously though I find myself conflicted because as I’m an avid fisher who enjoys going out fishing in real life whenever I get the chance, but with Fishing Adventure I found myself kind of struggling to stay interested, as the gameplay came across more of a mobile game than a console game experience.

This title is just one of those three-button platformers that can keep you entertained in bite-sized sessions, but only if you are a true Spider-Man fan.

SimAirport isn’t easy by any means. The learning curve is almost a sheer cliff, though that’s more due to the terrible controls of porting from its PC origins. With better controls I probably wouldn’t have had as many frustrations, but even hours in I was still struggling and constantly having to remind myself which buttons to use in different menus. The $25.99 CAD price point may deter some if you were judging solely based on its screenshots, but there’s an immensely deep management sim underneath if you can spend the time to figure it out how to best develop your dream airport, down to the smallest details, just be aware of the frustrating controls.

For how clunky the overall experience is, I will admit there’s plenty of replay value if you can ignore all of its shortcomings, issues and suffer through Silver's delivery. While some might not being locked into their choices permanently, it makes you deal with the consequences of your actions, also a clever way to force multiple playthroughs if you want to experience everything The Last Oricru has to offer and I did enjoy going with my gut reaction rather than seeing a ‘good’ vs ‘bad’ option. Unless you’re a massive Soulslike fan looking for a new game to stream or master, it’s hard to recommend joining the Ratvolution.

For those that truly enjoy Souls games, even budget titles, Dolmen should give you a good twenty or so hours of content to get through, but at its current high price I can only suggest waiting for a massive sale for the rest of everyone else curious. While I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as say Hellpoint, I have to commend their bravery releasing this so shortly after Elden Ring. There’s some good ideas here, and with some more polish and refining I probably would have enjoyed my time with Dolmen much more than I did, but as it stands now I simply wanted it to end.

Perhaps you have a friend or family member that isn't into gaming but is really into drones and you want to crossover the hobbies to spend a little extra time together without the overall cost of the drone equipment and/or potential damages. If so, then go ahead and give Liftoff: Drone Racing a try, but otherwise, maybe see if you know anyone who does play with drones in real life and see if they have one you can learn on; it might be more fun.

I had just hit what I thought was the climax and I got really excited. But then, shortly after, I was met with a brick wall of disappointment. I was ready to score Headspun much higher than what it received, but unfortunately without the ability to progress and continue Theo's story, my hands are tied. Theo's recovery might be a little longer than anticipated.

Blood Bowl 3 was lackluster at launch due to many problems, but the core gameplay was solid and could be fun once you got past all of the issues that will hopefully be fixed shortly in the future with some patches. Most of the aforementioned issues can be patched later, but the version I played on felt like it did not change much from its prequel.

I’m still somewhat surprised at how little actual racing there is, as you’re generally just managing your meters and team orders throughout a race for the most part. Races are quite long, so you need to have a dedicated amount of time to see each to completion, but it does become monotonous to simply be watching two meters for the majority of each race outside of the attacking portions. I’m sure true fans of the sport will enjoy seeing actual Pro’s and Teams as it caters to its niche audience, but as a newcomer there wasn’t enough to want me to compete for that yellow jersey.

While I’d categorize Firefighting Simulator - The Squad more of a simcade than a pure simulator, it does have some enjoyment to it regardless of its many shortcomings. Even though it has a lot of ‘jank’, I found myself trying to do just one more mission until the late hours of the night. Aside from playing alongside from friends though, there’s not much longevity here, as the gameplay loop doesn’t change from start to finish. On a half-off sale I could recommend Firefighting Simulator - The Squad for a few hours of entertainment, but at full price (currently $38.99 CAD), it’s a bit too pricey for what it offers.

Overall, the game is a brilliant idea that was executed terribly.

Don't get me wrong, the simplistic core gameplay mechanic of destruction can provide hours of enjoyment, but there are also hours of waiting, and it is the latter point that takes away from the overall enjoyment of it.

There’s a ton of potential in Raiders of the Broken Planet, but it feels like a game that shouldn’t have been released without more QA testing and all of the campaigns available. There’s only so many times you can repeat the same four missions, eight if you buy the Wardog Fury DLC, unless you’re a true glutton for punishment or simply have an obscene amount of time to wait for matches to be found. Sadly, potential doesn’t equate to an enjoyable experience, as the game in its current state, even with the second campaign DLC, is nearly void of this completely.

MX Nitro is a title that had a chance to be good, but it failed to really make much of a mark as a result of several unfortunate mistakes. The game’s frustrating rubber-band AI and the need for near perfect runs on the included tracks really hurt it, which is a shame because those issues could have been aided if not wholly corrected by the inclusion of a difficulty system. Do your research before buying this one folks, because it’s not the easygoing, fun experience that its title makes it seem like.

You’re going to die a lot, and in the beginning it’s going to feel unfair, especially when you starve to death. You’ll eventually learn all of its quirks and how to circumvent many of its ‘unfairness’, but I found I had to focus on doing that more so than simply enjoying a mindless zombie slasher. Ed-0: Zombie Uprising has a long grind to strive towards, but it’s monotonous and feels like a very low budget title, even if there are brief moments of fun here and there.

I have to say that the music is the best part of this entire game, though that isn't saying much. With so many sources of inspiration that would have set this game up for tremendous success, you can't help but feel that this was an opportunity that sadly missed the mark.

Balance is the keyword here. Some of the weapons are actually pretty fun to use. Too bad they dont let you use them. This game is in dire need of extensive testing, and should be recalled for wasting time.

If you're buying Splatterhouse (past or present) you're most likely getting it for the over the top gore and violence which granted; should be the main selling feature of the game. Unfortunately the rest of the game outside of combat and voice acting bring down the whole package so much that it becomes mundane and a chore.

Starting a game off incredibly difficult and then getting easier as you go seems like backwards game design, but if you can reach that apex of gameplay and bring back a vaccine or two, subsequent runs become actually much more enjoyable, again, as long as the randomization gods are on your side.