Featuring characters it's difficult to give a shit about, as well as an entirely throwaway narrative that you'll immediately forget as soon as the credits roll, Bloodshore is mildly entertaining, but only in a “look at how bad this is” way. Don't waste your time.
I understand that Balan Wonderworld wasn't made with me in mind – clearly it's meant for a far younger demographic. But even from an objective standpoint, I can't figure out why anyone would want to voluntarily sink hours of their life into such an annoying and incoherent game.
A failed attempt at resurrecting a cult favourite, Fear Effect Sedna is a tactical shooter in which tactics are largely irrelevant. Atrocious cut-scenes, dreadful boss encounters and dire presentation overall, make this something better left in the past. Steer well clear.
While the apocalypse is traditionally painted in varying shades of drab brown and grey, here it's brought to life in lovely bucolic greens and yellows. This pastoral loveliness doesn't disguise the fact that Generation Zero is unremittingly, cripplingly dull, providing protracted periods of walking vast distances with all-too short bouts of gunplay. How the developer behind Just Cause managed to create this vacuous, pointless game is beyond me.
Gungrave G.O.R.E looks like an uncomplicated and enjoyable arcade-style romp, but it's actually an unrepentantly dull and dated chore that will make you want to cry.
A profoundly boring racing game that initially holds your hand, then tears it off and eats it. Overpass is too hard, too irritating, and just too damn loathsome an experience to recommend in any way.
Failing to deliver as an effective horror story, Man of Medan is interminably slow to get started, and when it does, the narrative and performances prove more laughable than scary. The best kind of horror is the stuff that really gets under your skin, but sadly, this barely even pricks it. A soggy first chapter in The Dark Pictures Anthology, Man of Medan is best left on the seabed to rust.
On paper, The Bunker sounds like a fantastic premise for a taut psychological horror that's both claustrophobic and frightening. As it stands, however, the game doesn't hang together as well as it should, most moments of drama provoking laughter when you should be on the edge of your seat. One instance made me grit my teeth and squirm, but the rest of the game is ineffective in generating any real atmosphere. I really wanted to love The Bunker, but it just doesn't work.
Hood: Outlaws & Legends takes a unique 4v4 multiplayer premise and fails to do it justice. While the art style is cool and the concept is neat, the execution falls short with a lack of content, balancing issues, and a slew of frustrating elements.
A wretched, annoying puzzle game that consists primarily of tedious busywork. While Felix the Reaper has bags of personality, a vein of dark humour, and the inimitable voice of Sir Patrick Stewart, it regrettably isn't nearly as fun as it looks. As far as I'm concerned, Felix can go dance off the edge of a cliff.
Pneuma: Breath of Life should have been the kind of game you turn to between Call of Duty sessions, but instead it's a slightly insipid, short-lived and ultimately disposable puzzler. Console gamers like us are crying out for games like these, but Pneuma really isn't it.
As remakes go, Alone in the Dark has a hard time measuring up to horror stablemates like Resident Evil. All of the requisite ingredients might be here, but they're poorly realised and implemented, resulting in a game that has its moments, but is hamstrung by shoddy combat, half-baked visuals, and more than its fair share of bugs.
While Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection is a lovely bit of games preservation, the lack of behind the scenes material or any other extras make for a fairly perfunctory package. Not quite one big pile of, y'know, but evidently, some expense has been spared here.
On paper, Wanted: Dead has everything you could possibly want from an action game, but it’s mired in poor execution, ropey presentation, and more than a few unusual design choices. Wanted? We’re not so sure.
Should you manage to look past the shoddy presentation and dodgy visuals, Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong will reveal itself to be a mildly engaging tale of hidden.
Outriders is a looter-shooter built upon solid enough foundations, and its blend of gunplay and powers can prove intermittently enjoyable. But it's also a game lacking an engaging narrative heart, characters that you'll care about, and any sort of exciting long-term content. The quest for loot will only sustain you for so long.
Fans of Monkey D. Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hat Crew will undoubtedly find something to like in World Seeker, but that doesn't hide the game's poor mission structure, the lack of variety and overall dullness. This ship's sunk.
Boasting a roster of great Shonen Jump characters and a decent fighting game at its core, Jump Force forgets all of the other elements that you'd ordinarily take for granted. Fans might find something here to enjoy, but anyone who doesn't know their Frieza from their Vegeta might do well to steer clear.
A fine idea at its heart, Extinction ultimately falls flat on its arse thanks to a dearth of interesting objectives and gameplay sorely lacking in variety. Chucking in loads of content clearly isn't the answer when you're doing the same damn thing over and over again.
Despite creating a macabre atmosphere and delivering some decent puzzles early on, Black Mirror is a somewhat insipid and uninspired adventure game exacerbated by frequent loading screens and shoddy presentation throughout. It belongs at the bottom of a deep loch.