Shaan Joshi's Reviews
Some of ReCore's ideas show promise, but its repetitive combat and cumbersome platforming will prove too much for most players.
Homefront: The Revolution has plenty of potential with its unique setting and premise, but its completely let down by dated design, unengaging combat, a boring story, and performance problems to boot.
Looking back on this review, I'm actually a bit depressed that the highlight of the game (for me, at least) was simply how good Ryse looked. It's obvious that Crytek is capable of so much more, but Ryse simply borrows the best that a few franchises has to offer, and instead chooses to cobble them together quite lazily with a few superfluous mechanics thrown in for good measure, rather than refining and building upon the core game. Granted, Ryse could have been doomed from the start, having started out as a Kinect-only title with a fairly limited control scheme, but I can't help but feel that a brand new IP deserved a little bit more than what we ultimately got. But hey, at least it looks good, right?
One might be quick to dismiss CounterSpy as nothing more than a half-broken stealth game, but you'd be remiss for doing so. I for one prefer to look at it as a half-working stealth game, one that has passion and enthusiasm where it counts. Dynamighty may not have hit a home run the first time around, but based on the love of the medium of the team there, I wouldn't count them out just yet.
Cold Darkness Awakened has one or two noteworthy moments, but its very short run time doesn't justify its existence.
If you're a fan of its anime art or simple tower defense mechanics, Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault might be worth your time, but it doesn't exactly have any major selling points.
Pixel Piracy has a lot of untapped potential, but it's bogged down by shoddy AI and bugs, and a detrimental lack of in-game guidance.
Rather than offering up a bite-sized entry into the somewhat intimidating strategy genre, Sid Meier's Starships serves up a half-baked entry that fails to provide much in the way of strategy.
Dead Nation is a title that's actually deserving of your money, even if it's still carrying the same baggage from its first outing.
WarioWare: Move It! offers up plenty of hilarious, colorful, and creative microgames — it's just a shame that players will have to contend with an unwavering dedication to motion controls and a story mode that only lasts a couple of hours.
Detective Pikachu Returns hasn't lost the charm of its predecessor, but the overly simplified gameplay might alienate some players.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet make a strong case for the continued development of open-world Pokémon games, but its frankly unacceptable number of technical issues put a damper on the entire experience.
Saints Row is ready and willing to leap back into the mainstream, though it's unfortunately weighed down by a few odd design decisions and a handful of technical issues.
Mario Party: The Top 100 is a pretty bare-bones experience, one that has little to offer for those who aren't interested in local multiplayer.
If you can look past the various issues and shortcomings that have cropped during the transition to the PC, Little King's Story is still one of the most fun games from the original Wii's catalog.
With only a few minor additions, it's hard to recommend Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy+ to anyone but the most diehard of fans.
There's plenty of good times and fun to be had with Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, but it's all bogged down by a restrictive and archaic level selection system.
Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch is a great reason to return to Rise of the Tomb Raider, assuming you can look past its short playtime.
Unless you're absolutely dying for a local multiplayer racer, Riptide GP 2's barebones approach to jet ski racing isn't worth the time, even with the low price of admission.
Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is the perfect example of a solid game that's brought down by how it looks and handles. If you can get over the paltry career mode, there is some fun to be had here, though a few patches and refinements would do a lot of good.