Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun belongs in every game dev's syllabus, filed under "why encounter design is a pillar of any retro shooter."
Rainbow Six Extraction might be one of the most trite co-op shooters of recent memory. Testament to the fact that making an enjoyable PvE shooter is a little harder than simply rehashing a seasonal event, it's hard to see where the effort went. Shallow, scant, and lacking any soul whatsoever, it's as bland as the black goo that adorns its promotional material.
Battlefield 2042 mixes muddy combat, poor performance, and bind-boggling design choices for one of the series' most underbaked offerings yet.
Anthem is two core ideas clashing violently, making for an abrasive and dull experience. On top of feeling incomplete and low on content, it struggles to achieve even a mildly addicting gameplay loop: a death knell for games of its kind.
As charming as it may appear, Save me Mr. Tako never convinced me it was being genuine. Barebones level design, poor writing, and frustrating design choices make this overly-sweet experience nauseating.
While the aesthetics and music are fantastic, limp-wristed gunplay and hordes of tanky enemies make HYPERGUN a familiar and frustrating experience.
Vampyr competently displays an understanding of combat, dialogue, and narrative choice, but it never rises above mediocrity, and is an utter failure on a technical level. The aesthetic of the world is the best thing on display, but beyond it lies a derivative title that fails to leave a lasting impression.
Salt and Sacrifice is a Souls-like that would've made a killing a decade ago. Failing to learn from its contemporaries, it struggles to feel enjoyable in today's saturated market.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is, heartbreakingly, not spooky. It's also not particularly interesting, and I certainly didn't find it very fun to play. I'm sure genre-fanatics will find something to latch on to, but nothing ever quite hooked me enough to make the journey feel compelling.
Shadow Warrior 3 invokes gaming's simpler past while lampshading the fact that it borrows so much from more modern games. It sits in a no-man's-land of middling design decisions and absolutely terrible writing, even though its action and presentation sometimes shine through.
Solar Ash hinges itself upon two core mechanics -- and almost nothing else. Skating around and dispelling corrupted masses of black goo is fun for a while, but when you've seen a game's whole hand in the first half-hour, it's a little hard to stay on board for the remainder.
At every turn, Back 4 Blood frantically alludes to its superior predecessor, digging its own grave as it crumbles under the weight of blasé characters and overly complex systems.
Sparklite is a safe, stock-standard rogue-lite RPG that attempts to mimic The Legend of Zelda, but never manages to emulate it. An otherwise brief journey that requires some samey exploration to prepare for late-game hurdles leaves this adventure feeling a little stale.
The combat of Rage 2 is its saving grace, and depending on how many gibs you're producing it can be a blast. Like a string of neon pink Christmas lights, there are fleeting moments of brilliance, but every moment in between feels dull.
The game equivalent of a fortune cookie after a filling meal, The Heist is simply more of the same in a bite-sized package. There are few new ideas here, and a weak ending and overly short experience should make fans wary.
With none of the quality-of-life improvements of the original collection and scarce new features, Mega Man X Legacy Collection can feel like a bit of a let-down, and warrants close consideration from newcomers looking for a little accessibility.
Death's Gambit never quite sheds its skin as simply a Dark Souls-inspired side scroller, and is done no favors by gutless, awkward combat. There's plenty to love in its visuals and designs, but ultimately it's a title that struggles to find footing in a saturated genre.
Overwhelm has something interesting going on under the hood with its enemy evolution system, but it doesn't hold up its end of the bargain when it comes to providing rewarding gameplay and a fun challenge.
There are better narrative-driven games, and there are better co-op games, but I find myself hard pressed to think of one that does both as gracefully as A Way Out. While let down by its writing, it's worth your time if you're looking for an adventure that can only be shared with someone else.
DOOM suffers some undeniable downgrades in graphical fidelity on Switch, which anyone could've predicted. It's when these downgrades effect enjoyment of the game, however, that one starts to wonder if it was all worth it.