If you persevere, there may be some small enjoyment to be found in Stranded Deep. After all, it is (mostly) functionally playable. But most, including myself, won’t be in a hurry to load it up again after their first few hours.
Saints Row is one of those hilariously bad games you have to experience for yourself. But it’s not ‘awful’ – just excruciatingly generic and downright dull.
If you enjoy fighting endless waves of enemies in simple combat, then there might be something here to enjoy. But for most, South Park: Snow Day! is a decidedly skippable spin-off game, even if you’re the most diehard of South Park fans.
If you’re a fan of the Silent Hill series, The Short Message is definitely worth checking out... However, if you’re hoping for a revolutionary entry in one of gaming’s most iconic horror series, you will be disappointed.
I really wanted to like Forspoken. However, its obnoxious protagonist, generic story, visually unappealing and uninteresting world, and shallow gameplay make it nothing more than an average experience that I’m in no rush to revisit.
Unfortunately, unless you’re a hardcore looter-shooter fan looking for something free, this sci-fi take on Escape from Tarkov simply doesn’t cut the mustard. Bountiful glitches, a tedious gameplay loop, and an uninspiring and empty world make The Cycle: Frontier a truly mediocre experience.
While there’s fun to be had with the deep combat and competitive multiplayer, Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown is let down by underwhelming graphics, poor sound design and the critical lack of any story.
For people who have the time to sink into it, they’ll likely find some enjoyment in Hunter’s Arena: Legends. The steep learning curve will unquestionably put casual players off, though. And if it wasn’t a freebie, I wouldn’t recommend it for that reason.
Scarlet and Violet would probably go down as two of the best games in the series if not for these [performance] issues. Instead, all anyone will likely remember are the viral glitch montages that have swept across social media. And that’s regrettable because at their core is an imperfect yet charming and highly enjoyable adventure.
Ghostwire: Tokyo‘s biggest flaw is its one-dimensional gameplay. I cannot stress enough how simplistic and repetitive it is. And that diminishes any replay-ability once the main story is over. Unfortunately, this makes Ghostwire: Tokyo a largely forgettable experience and one I’m in no hurry to revisit. This is a game best left until it receives a substantial discount.
Ready or Not is a remarkable yet hollow achievement that should have aspired to be more than it ended up being: fun and flawed in equal measure.
Atomic Heart is worth checking out for its incredible setting alone – especially if you’re a Game Pass subscriber. But its disappointing gameplay lets down the exciting promise of its awe-inspiring world.
The Callisto Protocol is about as close to Dead Space as it could possibly be without bearing the same name. And for many players that will be more than enough to leave them satisfied... Nevertheless, the more you play of The Callisto Protocol the more its flaws stand out.
Valhalla would’ve benefited from being smaller in scope. This is something that is blatant throughout. Even at 20 hours in (a third of the overall 60-hour length), the game begins to feel repetitious.
Call of Duty: Vanguard does everything except Zombies very well. The problem is, we’ve seen it all before. Over and over and over again. While WWII can still be enjoyable in CoD, it very much feels like Activision relies on the same bag of tricks.
Fans of stealth-action Assassin’s Creed will be satisfied with Mirage as a game that delivers on its central promise to revisit what first made the series so special all those years ago.
I doubt I’ll be playing Knockout City long into the future. But I think I’ll enjoy it for a few more weeks. And as a PlayStation Plus freebie, I’d certainly recommend you check it out.
Amnesia: The Bunker comes together as a thrilling race against the clock that should keep even the most steely-nerved players on their toes.
A Plague Tale: Requiem more than justifies its existence thanks to a brilliant continuation of the series’ story and general improvements all round.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is imperfect. The repetitious and unoriginal nature of its gameplay does hold it back and might be a deal breaker for some. Even if it is technically sound. But I would still recommend it for its story and atmosphere alone.