When I first saw the announcement for Sonic Boom, barring the weird Knuckles redesign, I was excited by the prospect of change. The Sonic series hasn't taken many risks in recent years, particularly when it comes to the 3D aspect of the franchise, and Big Red Button had a lot riding on its inaugural effort. Unfortunately, the game could have used a few more months in the hopper and taken many more risks. Better luck next time.
As a hypothetical free PlayStation Plus title, The Weaponographist would have some room to flourish as a mindless hack and slash game with a poorly implemented, but nonetheless existent, reward loop. But as it exists right now in its sole PC incarnation, there are many more titles worthy of your time -- including that 1000th run of Isaac you've been putting off.
You should only pick up Putty Squad if you're a fan of the original, and have an unhealthy affinity towards platformers. Everyone else need not apply unless the game drops to a rightful price of $10 or less.
For those of you who don't have a motion option on PC, Blue Estate is one shooter you can absolutely pass on. One day it may catch your eye on a dirt cheap Steam sale, and a light gun may come across your desk -- at that point, you may as well give it a shot.
Bungie took a rooster, slicked its hair back, and dressed it up as a human. House of Wolves is the Chicken Boo of video game DLC.
Fable Fortune doesn't offer much that hasn't been done better in the years before it.
An original Xbox platformer that coasts by in some respects, but is mostly stuck in the past.
Mystery Castle as some clever ideas and gets pretty good later on.
Rogue Stormers takes place in a fantasy action setting with a run and gun tint. If you think "Contra meets Metroid" you'll get the gist.
As-is, High on Life is great weekend Game Pass pickup, and something to go into with caution if you’re a fan of Roiland’s work.
Like the meh Terminator project before it, if you’re really craving something substantial from the Alien IP, you might like to blow apart some creatures here. Otherwise, wait for a sale and give the campaign one run-through with two other friends over a weekend: it’s the best way to experience this extremely proviso-laden game.
Earlier this year Team Ninja and Nintendo spoke about "story scenario" content. Where is it? The new characters are great for the most part, but we need more zones to actually use them in. Having an extended campaign with some really out-there storylines would have been a fantastic use of paid DLC, but for now you're stuck just doing the same errands over and over or restarting once again.
It's a shame because sometimes, even when I'm fighting the game, I'm enjoying myself. Contra: Rogue Corps needed more time in the oven, and I'm not sure the whole "segmented ways to play" concept is going to go over well with everyone. But when it's firing on all cylinders, there's some silly shoot 'em up fun going on.
It has a lot of potential, but Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot ends before it can reach most of it. Still, I hope Bethesda doesn't give up on VR. A few games like Doom VFR have been nice optional companion pieces, and I think they could stand to push that concept further, as the fundamentals are there.
Aside from the incorporated change that made previously limp exotics actually fun to use, it's clear that Bungie has a lot of work ahead of them.
While I see potential in Sonic Forces, the execution just isn't there, especially with the Switch edition. In the future I really hope Sega reinvents the wheel, taking a more Mario Odyssey adventure approach. The whole level-based 3D "thing" hasn't worked out so frequently that it's worth a shot.
Knack II has the bones of a good platformer and a hint of charm but it just doesn't execute. I'm not sure what the Knack series attempted to accomplish, but after a sequel, it stands as one of the most missable franchises Sony has ever crafted. Maybe one day Sony can combine both of these together on the PS5 as a free PS Plus item and call it the "Knack Pack." That one's free.
Starblood Arena gets a lot of things right, but it failed to pull me into its world and feels dated on arrival. Although the fact that loot boxes aren't tied to microtransactions is appreciated, it would have been much better served as a budget or even free-to-play game to help push the PlayStation VR. It's weird to see the PlayStation VR launch with RIGS, an insanely polished game from a now defunct Guerrilla Cambridge, then put out Starblood months later.
Feral Rites ends up coming across as a budget Bloody Roar beat-'em-up that's not actually budget priced and clocks in around 10 hours. If it was multiplayer (another base issue with VR) and had a more encapsulating setting, I would be more on board with it. The cartoony, arcade brawler subgenre isn't as prevalent as it once was, and I saw flashes of classics like Fighting Force in this project that brought a fleeting smile to my face.
I was holding out hope for Metroid Prime: Federation Force, but at this point, there are so many other dungeon crawlers that are worth your time. Just like Hunters on the original DS, the main questline of Federation will probably fade out of the limelight over time and become a whisper in hardcore Metroid crowds -- though I can see Blast Ball having longer legs.