Successfully preserving the spirit of Carmageddon, Max Damage is addictive and good fun. Unfortunately, it's also a hideous looking game, with a dodgy handling model and repetitive race types that add up to a frustrating, and ultimately disappointing whole. Carmageddon: Max Damage has a certain appeal, but if you don't get the game's uniquely sick sense of humour, you're going to hate it. Otherwise, you'll love it regardless, like an ugly dog with three legs or something.
An uncompromisingly bleak look back at a time when mental illness was completely, horribly misunderstood, The Town of Light is an interesting psychological horror, of sorts. However, technical shortcomings and repetitious, often dull gameplay makes for an experience that's severely lacking.
Fans of the show will no doubt get something out of this, but on a fundamental level, South Park: Snow Day! emerges as a somewhat shallow and unsatisfying experience, despite its best efforts to provide depth through cards and other light RPG elements. After Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole, this feels like a backwards step.
A disappointing campaign and a Zombies mode lacking in focus makes this a hackneyed Call of Duty entry that those thirsting for more multiplayer action will still enjoy. For anyone who plays for the campaign or loves to blast hordes of undead, however, Modern Warfare 3 is hard to recommend.
If you're expecting a Martian mission like Total Recall, then recalibrate those expectations. Deliver Us Mars is a rather slow affair with little variation in its puzzles and a languidly delivered narrative. In spite of its issues, however, this is a journey just about worth sticking with.
Fighting game nerds will no doubt be all over this in a heartbeat, but everyone else might wonder what all the fuss is about. Nonetheless, it's nice to have The Rumble Fish 2 out of the arcades and ported to modern consoles, even if it might be one to file away as 'strange forgotten curio' that should have perhaps stayed in the arcade.
A bizarre supernatural horror, The Chant's setup is a promising one, but developer Bass Token's execution is unfortunately lacking; reminiscent of something you might have played during the early 2000s. Nonetheless, this is a perfectly solid, albeit incredibly weird, third-person experience, and there are far worse ways to kill seven or eight hours. If you're desperate to play a curiously odd survival horror with a cosmic, psychedelic leaning, then The Chant fits the bill.
Chinatown Detective Agency is a disappointing miss, that, with just a little more time in the oven, could so easily have been a compelling hit.
While it has a few nice ideas, Rainbow Six Extraction is nonetheless a generic first-person shooter that feels more like an expansion, rather than a full-blooded game. I’m not entirely sure Tom Clancy would approve.
Starting to feel like a case of diminishing returns, Far Cry 6 retreads the same formula that's stood the series in good stead for a while, but it's a formula that's starting to wear a bit thin. Still, there's some fun to be had here, despite there being little that's new or innovative.
It looks lovely and plays well enough, But Greak: Memories of Azur is hamstrung by awkward puzzles, maddening boss battles, and annoying backtracking that'll have you rolling your eyes out of their sockets.
Boasting solid combat marred by a woolly lock-on system and repetitive objectives, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is, nonetheless, a mostly enjoyable hack 'n' slash adventure that's best played in co-op.
Turning its back on the options that made WRC 5 accessible to casual players and hardened rally fans alike means WRC 6 simply won't appeal to many people. It's a title resolutely aimed at the hardcore racer, with a stupid penalty system, twitchy handling and as steep a difficulty curve as you can get in a racing game. It's especially galling, as you can see some clear improvements here. I've played plenty of sim racers in the past and enjoyed myself, but playing WRC 6 feels like a thankless chore. Die-hard rallysport fans/masochists need only apply.
A love letter to fans, Dragon Ball Xenoverse features almost every character, masses of content and the trademark vibrant and frenetic art style. Unfortunately, it's not really much fun to play, succeeding in being something of a repetitious slog. A game for the Dragon Ball purists, Xenoverse is unlikely to appeal to anyone else.
As endless runners go, Infinity Runner is a fine example, but greatly lacks polish and finesse. Repeated use of assets also leads to deja vu, and some parts of the game are just plain broken. The story too is deeply unsatisfying with its eye-rolling conclusion. But then for the price, you can't really go too far wrong. If nothing else, Infinity Runner offers a few hours of silly sci-fi entertainment. With space werewolves.
Cutter Slade's long-awaited return has flashes of jetpack-fuelled brilliance, but tiresome missions and a story that fails to engage ensure that playing Outcast: A New Beginning quickly develops into something of a chore.
While we'd hoped for better things from Aspyr's remastered Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection, this is nonetheless an adequate way to revisit a couple of shooter greats from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. I mean the mid 2000s. No doubt further patches (there's already been a significant one) will improve things somewhat.
The Outlast Trials is almost entirely devoid of fun as a solo experience. Add friends or other random players, however, and there's ample enjoyment to be had fighting through the unrelenting horror together. As long as you have the stomach for all that blood, guts, mutilation, death, and unsettling imagery, of course.
As a new start for the eponymous gang, Saints Row ticks most of the boxes, but falls short in offering up anything fresh. A litany of technical and visual bugs also conspire to spoil the party, making for a solid enough, enjoyable, but ultimately uninspired, return for the series.
Final Vendetta is so very nearly another scrolling beat 'em up revival that could have rubbed shoulders with Streets of Rage 4. Instead, it's scuppered by an egregious level of difficulty that slowly sucks the fun away. If you crave retro beat 'em up nirvana, then do yourself favour, and play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge.