Gravity Ghost hits the notes of big-budget platformers on a smaller scale; its story fumbles along the way, but it's short and sweet.
My main complaint is that there isn't enough of it—clever puzzles, shooting, and platforming have zero fat, and make its four hours fly by.
Defenders of Time multiplayer mode is conceptually interesting, but ultimately not worth trying because of many technical issues and poorly-executed fundamentals.
Dungeon of the Endless borrows from many games to create something new, and it's a fun challenge, even if there isn't much reason to beat it more than once.
Ryse: Son of Rome's combat and incredible graphics are entertaining, but it's too narrow and repetitive, even for a short game.
Should have been a great, massive RTS in the tradition of Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander, but crippled by technical issues.
Defense Grid 2 isn't just another tower defense game, it's the best tower defense game.
Hack 'n' Slash starts as a clever game about game design, but ends up feeling like homework.
A delightfully weird aesthetic is wasted on a fighting game-platformer hybrid with shallow combat and structural twists that failed to grab me.
Shovel Knight lovingly recreates the simple pleasures of 8-bit platformers and improves on them with modern ideas that make every level different and worth playing.
Cloudbuilt's platforming-as-time-trial-racing premise puts Sonic to shame, but its visual design detracts rather than supports it.
Loadout's gun customization and well executed twists on shooter staples make it a free-to-play game that doesn't feel like a compromise.
Neither a good LEGO game nor tribute to the movie—at best, The LEGO Movie Videogame is enough fun to be called a functioning promotional product.
Strike Vector's aerial combat is brilliant and beautiful, but it needs to be put into a package that does it justice.
There's no point in detailing Ghosts' plot because Infinity Ward didn't put much work into writing it.