Gabriel Zamora
Rogue Corps is one of the least polished and most disappointing titles of the year, and that's even with the low expectations that preceded its release.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood is as run-of-the-mill as you can get. The Nazi-killing angle and co-op functionality give the game an interesting edge, but the forced RPG mechanics and limitations that arise from it keep Youngblood from greatness.
Anthem mimes shoot-and-loot games, but doesn't do enough to stand apart from the competition. Plus, bugs and tedious level design mar a potentially entertaining title.
The Crew is an overenthusiastic attempt at marrying racing gameplay and multiplayer to a massive open-world driving map. Unfortunately, repetitive missions, cheap AI, and poor balancing hold the game back from greatness despite its impressive and detailed world.
Dead or Alive 5: Last Round gives Steam users a new and complex fighting game to add to their libraries, but the abysmal online play limits the fun and lasting appeal.
Chocobo GP has the makings of a great kart racer with its diverse cast of specialized racers, excellent power-up combos, and terrific visuals. However, uninspired track design and excessive microtransactions mar the experience.
Battlefield 2042 is an ambitious shooter that features the excellent Portal mode-creation tool, as well as a few, cool game types. Unfortunately, technical issues and balance problems mean that you may want to hold off buying the game until EA Dice irons out the kinks.
With Back 4 Blood, developer Turtle Rock tries to revive Left 4 Dead's cooperative, zombie-shooting glory days. The result is a mixed bag that features solid ideas, but half-baked execution.
The Falconeer blends aerial exploration with dogfighting, but doesn’t stick the landing. It delivers an interesting, but middling, action-fantasy experience that's filled with gorgeous sights and clunky combat.
Jump Force makes combat its focus, giving you addictive, if unbalanced, manga-inspired gameplay at the expense of a compelling story. If you want to beat up your buddies with your favorite Shonen Jump character this is the game for you, but don't expect much else.
Lust for Darkness is a decent horror-adventure game with strong visuals and satisfying mature themes, but the weak story and annoying gameplay quirks weaken the experience.
This zombie-crushing survival game features solid base-building systems and RPG development, but repetition and bugs bog the experience.
Ghost Recon Wildlands does little to improve upon the familiar open-world, collect-a-thon formula, but its stealth-based action and cooperative multiplayer mode keep things fun.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 delivers absurd action and offers hours of replayable content, but drops the ball with its botched PC transition and lack of online multiplayer.
Dynasty Warriors fans will know exactly what to expect from Arslan: The Warriors of Legend. Despite flashy visuals, great art, and a good story, the gameplay is par for the hack-and-slash course.
Armello oozes charm, and its myriad gameplay systems keep you busy for hours, but it relies too much on luck to keep things interesting.
Frigid racism, heated mob violence, and tepid gameplay make for an interesting, but fairly mediocre, entry in the Mafia series.
Mario Party 10 tightens and polishes the series' mini-game shenanigans and introduces new game modes, for better and for worse.
Onechanbara Z2: Chaos offers up a campy, but repetitive monster-slaying bloodbath. Gameplay is straightforward enough to allow button mashing, but the underlying systems give action game fans something more substantial to sink their teeth into.
The Steam version of Final Fantasy III offers plenty of old-school charm, but there are better versions out there.