Aided by its magnificent setting, purposeful suspense, and slick pacing, Still Wakes the Deep is a nicely crafted first-person horror game that needed more complexity.
With neat retro visuals, smart puzzles, and an interesting theme park location, Crow Country is an appealing survival horror game that suffers a little from clumsy action and minimal challenge.
Harold Halibut overstays its welcome like a free diver that descends too far. Its painfully boring gameplay consists of walking back and forth as the story unhurriedly transpires. Still, the oddball characters and sublime stop-motion aesthetics may hook a few gamers who are happy to wade in the shallows.
Although the Australian setting is good, and it occasionally shows potential, Broken Roads is a clumsy party-based RPG with mediocre combat, pacing issues, and bland fetch quests.
While some walking sims have evolved, Open Roads is stuck in the past. Its two good characters cannot offset the bland interactivity and mystery that is as flat as the game's 2D conversations.
Underneath the spaceship setting in Between Horizons is a grounded detective game that features good logical deductions and math-based solutions. More case depth and presentation tweaks could have taken the mission further, but it is still a fine option for the gumshoes of this generation.
With movement and combat upgrades, Outcast – A New Beginning eventually comes close to being a decent open-world shooter, but terrible fetch quests, bland activities, tech issues, and narrative gaffes mean that the colorful world of Adelpha does not bear enough fruit.
Like squeezing blood from a stone, The Outlast Trials is a repetitive chore that features monotonous searches and running laps through mazes until there is nothing left but pain and the option to share the misery with others.
Pacific Drive is a fantastic survival game with an addictive gameplay loop that involves forging deep connections to junctions, progressing deeper into an ever-changing Zone, upgrading a quirky vehicle, and navigating through challenges that appear on the road ahead.
Ordained by a clear narrative, resolute characters, intriguing hauntings and an eventually favorable combat model, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a morally infused spirit smasher set in a large world that needed a little exorcism.
Despite The Cub's basic platforming, with clunky trial and error, its slightly bizarre world, cool and varied music, and great visual design make it worth playing.
The Lost Crown is a good modern template for an old franchise, taking the essence of Prince of Persia into a familiar metroidvania format. With fun combat, good boss battles, and smooth platforming mechanics, only the convoluted levels and overlong platforming keep it from being timeless.
Codemasters' first shot at the WRC license is underwhelming. Despite a responsive driving model and decent rally stages, EA Sports WRC offers an awkward career mode with shallow team management. Even the presentation quality is inconsistent, with some bothersome stuttering.
With weaponized nostalgia, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III delivers a satisfying experience in multiplayer and zombies. A diverse selection of returning battlegrounds augments the competitive action and the deep open-world undead mode is entertaining for hours, making it worth playing despite the disappointing campaign.
Despite its wonderful atmosphere and interesting locations, Alan Wake 2 is a middling third-person survival-horror game with sluggish pacing, a lackluster Mind Place feature, and lazy jump-scares, too concerned about being obscure and filling itself with quirky meta-references.
With thought-provoking philosophy and sharply varied puzzles, The Talos Principle 2 is a sublime sequel that seeks the knowledge of the gods but maintains its humanity.
Assassin's Creed Mirage is a decent return to the series' roots that puts stealth and free-running parkour back into focus. While it has several issues, and Basim's story is uninspired, many will still appreciate silently exploring a smaller sand castle.
Cocoon is a clever and original world-stacking puzzler with complex mechanics that are kept in check by limiting how players arrange and explore worlds. While it's possible to stumble upon solutions through a confusing haze, the game's few moments of brilliance make it worth checking out.
The Expanse: A Telltale Series is a short, unexciting, and slow narrative adventure, full of unlikable characters and repetitive gameplay. Despite a great performance from Cara Gee as Drummer and a few engaging player choices, it is a waste of space.
Starfield is a grand interstellar adventure with exciting pockets of exploration, detailed cities, interesting side quests, memorable characters, competent action, and fun ship building. Despite minor issues, it gracefully blends Bethesda's trademark gameplay with the wonders of space.