I can’t, in good conscience, recommend this game to anyone playing on PC. Loyal fans of the Madden franchise probably already own Madden 22, and won’t be getting anything new, and those looking to make Madden 23 their first Madden game would probably be better off buying 22 instead. Console players should feel free to pick up 23 and experience all of its promised next-gen features, but PC players should wait until EA (hopefully) patches their promised updates into the game.
Creature Lab, while boasting an interesting premise, ultimately fails to deliver an engaging and captivating experience worthy of the concept. By lacking a visual narrative and eliminating any meaningful player involvement in missions, the game fails to provide the excitement, challenge, and sense of accomplishment that players seek when creating their ultimate bioweapons and sending them into the world. The gameplay is overall way too menu-heavy, and the repetitive and often confusing gameplay isn’t worth how short the game ultimately is.
Fractured Sanity is a game that was built on interesting bones, but just needed more time to be fleshed out properly. Maybe with six more months and another couple of people working on it, Fractured Sanity could have been the VR horror game of the year. However, it didn’t get these things, and it isn’t.
Though cute and inoffensive, Blooming Business: Casino isn’t going to be what many players are looking for in a casino tycoon game. If you’re looking for a chill decorator or sim game with a short narrative, this game is more up your alley.
The Creepy Syndrome is an ambitious little game, plagued by amateurish writing and cheap jump scares that at best won’t satisfy horror fans and at worse will annoy them. Half of the game’s anthology of stories is held back by the other, and the two decent stories aren’t strong enough to make up for the weaker ones.
Oxygen offers an interesting twist on many City-Builder staples, especially when it comes to the setting. Unfortunately, the originality is not enough for the game to stand on its own, and I have trouble recommending it when titles like Frostpunk and Terra Nil exist.
Curse of the Sea Rats is a game that fails to justify itself. For all the work that went into the beautiful art and the concept of mouse pirates, the game would very likely have been better off as a visual novel instead of an action-platformer with unambitious gameplay.
“Infinite Guitars” is full of ambition but fails to deliver on many of the things it tries to. For players subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, it might be worth checking out “Infinite Guitars” just for the rhythm segments, but beyond that, I can’t see myself recommending the game.
Undead INC takes an amazing concept and fails to fully realize it. Be it a lack of time or vision, the game feels incomplete, coasting off a great idea and doing very little to execute on its own potential. You might find something to enjoy in Undead INC, but I personally don’t recommend it.
I wasn’t able to get far in Monster’s Domain, gatekept either by overtuned enemies, frustrating mechanics or bugs that kept me from proceeding or wanting to try. In the end, Monster’s Domain feels like a promising game that is nearly ready to go into early access. Unfortunately, however, this beta test for a strong premise has already hit its full release.
Knight Crawlers is a game I wish I could love. While some players will certainly find a solid, if short, experience in the title, I found myself too distracted by the game’s seemingly untapped potential to really immerse myself in it. I’m not saying skip it, but I personally will be keeping my eyes out for some big updates before I play again.
Library of Babel is full of beautiful art, excellent worldbuilding, and a story worth telling. Unfortunately, poorly designed platforming and boring stealth segments make up the majority of the gameplay, putting a damper on an experience that was clearly a labor of love.
Ghost Signal: A Stellaris Game is, in a word, disappointing. The gameplay is solid, even if it is simple, but feels held back by the technology. The game fails to take advantage of the VR presentation and overall feels more like a mobile game than an immersive VR experience.
Farlanders has a well-written story and some interesting ideas behind it. However, the game does a bad job of presenting its most important gameplay mechanics and will punish you hard for not knowing them fairly quickly into the campaign.
Starship Troopers: Terran Command is a game with great bones. The foundation of this game was built well, lacking any major bugs and ready for some really great meat to be added. Unfortunately, it feels like the game was released before that step. We can only hope some much needed content will be added with future free updates. Until then, maybe pass on Terran Command unless you’re a major Starship Troopers fan.
This game is disappointing. It doesn’t commit to its story enough, and the gameplay mechanics it chooses to make vital parts of the game are lackluster or strange choices that the game would have been better without. To the game’s credit, however, it’s only disappointing because it managed to build up an expectation. If it could deliver on its own promises, it would truly be one to remember.
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut is better than Death Stranding. Beyond that, there’s not really a lot I can say about it. If you didn’t like Death Stranding, you’ll find this game a little bit more tolerable. If you did like Death Stranding, you’ll enjoy this upgraded version; Or you won’t. Seeing as the point of Death Stranding was to struggle, maybe a less frustrating version of the game isn’t what fans want.
Outcast – A New Beginning features dated storytelling, poor writing, and an overliance on tropes we’ve all seen a thousand times by now. If none of that matters to you, however, you’re in for a pretty ok gameplay experience, with some unique mechanics and freedom that thankfully allows you to bypass a lot of the game’s storytelling, no matter how confidently it seems to throw it in your face.
Though rich in unit and character variety and full of phenomenal art, Iron Marine Invasion doesn’t deliver so well on the gameplay aspect. While certainly not the worst RTS on the market, the game could use a few improvements and expansions on its combat before I would consider it living up to its full potential.
Dark Envoy has interesting gameplay mechanics locked behind some of the worst presentations I’ve seen in a while. It felt like the team behind the game was missing a few core pieces to make something special; With some better writers, animators, and artists, this game could have been a new favorite. As it stands, however, it’s an okay game with a lot of hiccups you have to look past to enjoy it.