Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors is easily one of the best bullet heaven titles out there – which is no small feat, considering the amount of competition there is nowadays. Excellent visuals, lovely gameplay, with the unique mining mechanics that add a lot of depth to the runs. There’s a ton of content to grind towards, with even 300 unique achievements at launch, making this title a strong candidate to stay installed on your SSD for quite some time. A bit of a shame perhaps that it lacks any sort of co-op, since that’s a huge part of the original Deep Rock Galactic experience. Even so, this is one of the finest bullet heaven games out there right now, and with it launching on Game Pass, you have no excuses not to dig into the deep dungeons of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors.

Machick 2 doesn’t quite reinvent the bullet heaven wheel, but it greatly expands on the already great ideas of the first game. Gorgeous 2D graphics and various unique concepts, such as creating your own wands and hatching chicks to fight for you, turn it into a unique enough experience to bother checking it out among the hundreds of similar titles out there – one that runs very well even on lower end PCs, in fact. Some readability issues and slightly less depth than the genre’s bests perhaps don’t allow it to become an unmissable classic, but fans of the genre should absolutely check it out. And with console releases confirmed to be coming in the future, bullet heaven fans on Xbox should absolutely keep an eye out for this one!

Garfield Kart 2 is a fun kart racer, in some ways better than its predecessor – but everything it does better is because it shamelessly copied another, much better game. With so many quality mascot kart racers out there, you can probably opt for something a little more remarkable.

LEGO Voyagers is a gorgeous, surprisingly emotional adventure about friendship, the joy of pure play and supporting one another. Even the smallest of us can achieve great things.

Borderlands 4 is a masterpiece.

My verdict? This isn’t just a retro release—it’s a tribute. To the creativity of the 90s, to the risks developers took, and to a mascot who still puts a smile on people’s faces. It may not be flawless—but it is, without question, the purrfect way to experience Bubsy.

Indiana Jones and The Order of Giants doesn’t quite rise to the incredible heights of the original game’s story, but what’s here is more of what I wanted. More incredible locations, puzzles and maze-like tombs, dripping with atmosphere and history. What more could a budding archaeologist ask for?

I’ve decided to make this a review-in-progress, rather than a final score, for a couple of reasons. The first is that getting 4-6 players together to pump in twenty or so hours in a week is a tough ask, and I want to play a bit more before I render a final verdict. I also feel like Void Crew is the sort of game I could recommend, especially for gamers that enjoy the chaos of multiplayer co-operative games. However, that recommendation can only come once it’s had a few more patches to resolve what I feel are some pretty glaring issues. Until then, fans of these sorts of titles should be aware that the fun is in there, but there are number of issues standing in the way of finding it. Perhaps they’re lost in the Void? [Review-In-Progress Score = 60]

If you’re a big fan of bullet heaven shooters, do keep an eye out for Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel, though perhaps it’s not quite an essential buy just yet.

Cronos: The New Dawn is excellent. Gorgeous graphics, smartly deliberate gameplay, an intriguing story, and incredible music create a new IP that is easily Bloober Team’s best.

Metal Eden can’t, nor it wants to hide its Doom Eternal inspiration in a more sci-fi theme, but it’s hard to fault a game for trying to live up to one of the best shooters ever made. Metal Eden is an adrenaline rush of a high speed shooter with excellent shooting, great traversal, lovely visuals and soundscapes, one that keeps throwing fancy new moves and brutal new weaponry to play with. It’s a short ride, ending just around 4 hours, and a couple technical gremlins and perhaps its lack of innovation may deny it a spot among the gods of the genre. Still, if you wanna burst through a fast-paced FPS’ campaign before the barrage of massive releases in the next couple months, Metal Eden is an excellent choice!

Autumn with the Shiba Inu offers a unique blend of dystopia and mystery, making it all work with a doggy feel to it. It works quite well and the writing does a great job of conveying intrigue throughout a playthrough. If you’re looking for a good, short read with a tad bit of an unsettling atmosphere throughout, look no further than this doggy’s story.

It’s good, simple fun and we’re all here to cheer Girl on and, if anything, intently watch as she fails to keep the buggers off of her. TurretGirls scratches that cheap arcade itch that’s been somewhat missing from gaming these last couple of years—you’ll know it’s for you right from the onset.

Hell Is Us is a game of two tales. One of a gripping world with devastating stories of humanity and lack thereof, challenging the player to truly think about their actions, understand the morbidly beautiful world around them, be able to solve intriguing puzzles and challenges without holding their hand, including the soulslike-inspired combat itself. The other tale, however, is of aimless wandering, tons of trial and error, getting stuck on some convoluted multi-level puzzle in some needlessly large and maze-like area, or dying to to some clunky combat features in some oddly designed areas. Such incredible highs with such frustrating lows are a rare sight, and your overall enjoyment of the game will largely depend on how much you tolerate the latter. I still feel like recommending Hell Is Us, to some people at least, because it is a unique experience worth digging into. Just, remember to arm yourself with a lot of patience – and maybe a guide or two.

Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek is a kid-friendly adventure with a few weird design choices related to the puzzles and combat, but ultimately, it’s quirky and charming enough to be blasted through, whether you’re a pre-teen or an adult who has fond memories of the iconic book series by R. L. Stine. I certainly had my fun with it, and would recommend it to those seeking a horror game that’s ideal for a younger audience.

In short, just like it was at launch, Helldivers 2 is a fantastic video game, one on which you can hop on for quick mission to just complete a daily objective, or team up with your besties as you settle in for a long night of patriotism, comradery and impromptu comedy when that misplaced airstrike hits. It’s pure, unadulterated chaos, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Its relatively limited budget is felt in many ways, with various invisible walls, flawed collisions and more to slightly hamper the experience. Yet, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Twirlbound’s open world adventure, as its cute visuals, on point humor, infectious sympathy and solid gameplay loop kept me more than intrigued enough to keep pushing on, with the end credits rolling before the game’s relatively limited scope would start hurting. Keep an eye out for this one, as it’s a pretty fun ride.

Gears of War: Reloaded is a solid graphical update to one of Xbox’s most important games. It is nearly 20 years old now, though, and some of that age is starting to show. With no true gameplay improvements it would be tough to tell Xbox’s hardcore to spend $40 on it. Thankfully it’s both a free upgrade if you ever played GoW: UE and is of course a Day One Game Pass release. For PlayStation and PC players who have never touched the franchise, this classic is still well worth checking out.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a 10 when it comes to combat and visuals. Incredible replayability, a decent story, and a good soundtrack are let down by frustratingly imprecise platforming. Still, the other parts are so strong that I can easily recommend this game to damned near anyone.

A short game that is absolutely brilliant.

Herdling is special. It isn’t technically amazing, though it can be stupefyingly beautiful. No spoilers, like always, but the last 90 minutes of my 3 and ½ hour playthrough had my heart in my throat, and at the end, a few tears in my eyes.

Giant Squid have taken a giant leap forward with Sword of the Sea, fusing gameplay, music and art together to form what I feel is their best work yet. Sword of the Sea might be on the shorter side, but through some sublime ‘hover-swording’ and wonderful design, they’ve given us an imaginative skatepark to play in for as long as we’d like. Bitchin’.

Don’t let that one oddity mislead you, however. Dorfromantik is a brilliantly crafted single player puzzle game that just happens to look like a board game, as it’s all about placing hexagon-shaped tiles in the most optimal ways possible, creating beautiful landscapes in the process. What seems like a simple formula that may bore you quick, may keep you up way too long at night – and it certainly did so for me, so you can trust my word on that. I’d really love some form of multiplayer options, but even as it stands, don’t sit this one out – it may just become your next addiction, alongside games like Balatro and Soulstone Survivors.

It’s a good-looking, if not very well-performing Unreal Engine 5 game that shows us a cool world, it populates it with an interesting lore and rich characters, and gives them just enough meat to get through a couple sessions’ worth of single player third person action adventure campaign, with a combat that is just enjoyable enough to last the ride. If that sounds like your jam, it’s cheaper than most AAA games of this kind, launching at under 40USD/EUR, with even a 10% launch discount. The lower budget is felt in a lot of areas, but fans of the genre who can close an eye on such things should have a good time with Echoes of the End.

I enjoyed my time with Discounty quite a bit, in part thanks to the pacing of the game’s narrative beats and because I can run a store from the comfort of my home. The town of Blomkest is in desperate need of a hero, and it’s got to be you that shines a light on the smog encroaching upon this secluded bit of land.

While Viewfinder’s story didn’t pull me in or leave me desperate to unravel the narrative threads, the concept, level design and puzzles on offer here are fantastic, filled with clever ideas and creativity. This is pure video game magic, manipulating imagination itself. Is there any better game than one that makes you exclaim aloud – “Look how cool this is!“?

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is about as much of a continuation as one should expect from an arena fighter sequel. You’re here for the spectacle, for Demon Slayer, and a game you can pull out to play with friends on a whim and not much more. The fights are extravagant as they are beautiful and for me, that’s more than enough. And I’m sure anyone eyeing this game feels the exact same way.

Dead Take is a solid four or five hours of classic horror puzzle fun, mixed with some excellent (and some mediocre) live-action scenes. It isn’t looking to break any ground, instead targeting a good, scary time, and nailing it.