Sean Colleli
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark tries to coast on the goodwill established by the previous two games, but mishandles their gameplay concepts with a badly rushed execution. Boring level design, an awful framerate and a confusing story make this game a slog from start to finish.
I didn't think it was possible but the Resident Evil games have gotten as loud, dumb and tiresome as the Resident Evil movies. Overcomplicated mechanics, a confusing, schizophrenic campaign split four ways and a ridiculous plot that doesn't just break suspension of disbelief but blends it into a smoothie make Resident Evil 6 a real chore to get through.
The Piano could be a decent noir mystery but for now it needs a lot of work. Clunky gameplay, numerous graphical bugs and extremely poor optimization are holding this game back from telling its intriguing tale of murder and madness.
Umbrella Corps has no clue what it wants to be, and that translates into a frustrating, confounding experience. Tiny maps, wildly unbalanced gameplay and a general lack of polish and focus makes this one Resident Evil entry that you’re better off avoiding.
Rudimentary in visuals, content and gameplay, Boxing Champs barely qualifies as a free phone game, much less a 15 dollar eShop title.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood takes one of my favorite FPS series and ruins it with repetitive grind, bloated FPS mechanics, a broken, mandatory co-op system and a frankly insulting story. Don't touch this one with a ten foot pole.
Call of Cthulhu sadly doesn't live up to either its literary or pen-and-paper heritage. The setting, atmosphere and some of the voice acting are impressive, but the detective gameplay is shallow and fairly linear, and any other gameplay aspects feel buggy and tacked on.
Castle of Heart goes for that Souls level of challenge but without the nuance and balance needed to make that kind of difficulty satisfying. It's visually striking for an indie game but it needs some fine-tuning; for now it's mostly just frustrating.
Clockwork Empires has a lot of promise but numerous technical issues and a baffling UI, not to mention disappointing use of the steampunk aesthetic, make the game a frustrating and tedious experience.
Trials of the Blood Dragon is a confused concoction. The Trials gameplay is as solid as ever—RedLynx know their craft—but the side-scrolling levels are clunky and out of place. The whole thing feels like a waste of the Blood Dragon IP.
As a joke Omnibus might be fun for a few hours, but playing it through legitimately, level by level, is an exercise in diminishing patience.
Dinocide isn't a bad game but it isn't particularly noteworthy either. It has a couple good idea but the platforming is fairly rudimentary and very derivative. With a few content updates it might become something better, but as it stands Dinocide feels like it's still stuck in early access.
Sym is a valiant effort to convey how social anxiety feels, but its platforming mechanics aren't solid enough and distract from the story and themes. The art style is striking, but the story and thematic elements are too broad to leave a lasting impact.
The Weaponographist is a decent mix of Roguelike and arena brawler, but the controls are a bit stiff and there just isn't enough content or personality to put the game above its similarly-priced competitors.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 adds too many half-baked ideas to the original game's elegant framework. The result is a game that is half good, half frustrating, and all tedious. Just about every good idea in this game is held back by something that isn't quite finished or just plain doesn't work. Here's hoping Beenox gets more time to develop the inevitable Amazing Spider-Man 3, because there are good ideas here that just need some time and polish.
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is an accessible turn-based strategy title on the PS4, but it lacks the polish, depth and variety needed to have real staying power.
Infernium is a survival horror game with a creeping, insidious kind of logic. It gives you very little to go on and punishes nearly every wrong turn you take. If you're a fan of old school survival horror you might get into this one, but most other players will probably just get frustrated with the repetition and trial and error.
Minecraft New 3DS Edition isn't a bad game at all—at its core it's still the same brilliantly addictive creativity sandbox. That said, its complete lack of multiplayer and the availability of the vastly superior Nintendo Switch version for the same price unfortunately makes Minecraft on 3DS functionally obsolete.
2Dark is a compelling horror game that tackles some truly horrific subject matter. But cheap deaths and uneven level design hold it back from being truly great.
Mario Party Star Rush gets rid of a few bad ideas from the previous games in the series, but it just doesn’t have the staying power to keep players come back for more week after week.