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Fluster Cluck has the makings of a game, I can say that much. It might run smoothly and have a very simple look and design, but this can’t save a game from the mediocrity. Play with the AI or play with your friends, either way you’ll probably end up hating yourself and giving your friends a headache.

Alien Isolation is a great game marred with problems that make it frustrating the longer it goes on, and it goes on for a lot longer than it should. I love the ideas, I love the environments and the atmosphere and I wanted to love the entire game, but it kept giving me reasons not to. In the end I recommend it to fans of horror games, and those obsessed with the Alien universe.

On the court the magnificent gameplay ensures you’ll want to play game after game. Unfortunately, if you want to play those games online you’ll inevitably hit a brick wall. If your plan is to play mostly offline you’ll find a lot to love here. Hopefully 2K will quickly iron out their issues and give this game the infrastructure its gameplay deserves.

Costume Quest 2 is still a charming game. The writing, look and over all feel of the game had me constantly coming back, even when the combat and health mechanics dragged the game down a bit. Seeing all the new costumes and areas/time periods made me want to keep playing, and while the RPG elements are simplistic, there’s enough here for the casual RPG player.

Between the chibi character models to the muddy, uninteresting battlefield, this game looks like it’s straight out of the PS2 era. At the end of the day I was pleasantly surprised by this little gem of an SRPG, and while the poor graphics and pacing holds it back from true greatness, it certainly has the heart of what could be a cult classic.

Year of the Snake on the other hand feels like a classic kung-fu movie dipped into the Sleeping Dogs world. In fact, it almost reminds me entirely of Enter the Dragon. A tournament is being held and Wei Shen decides to join up to gather information. It is interesting, but one of the final combat sequences is frustratingly hard. Still, adding both packs does spruce up the package quite nicely.

Borderlands: The Pre-sequel feels like Borderlands. There’s a ton of loot, multiple quests to take on and some pretty good humor. While I know most people think this is more of an expansion than a new game, I would have to argue against that. It is more of the same, but that same is still very good and very enjoyable.

Even with these issues I still enjoyed the lengthy adventure Evil Within delivers. It has been a long time coming, but Mikami has definitely delivered classic survival horror. Fans of the genre should not miss this. While it is plagued with visual problems, the pacing is almost perfect, and the tension is unmatched. There is a lot to love with Mikami’s latest title, and I cannot wait to see where he goes next.

Styx: Master of Shadows surprised me. The fluid controls and inventive game play kept me coming back to its lengthy campaign. I also liked Styx as a character. I might not have remembered what he did, but I had a good time getting him there. The price might be a little scary at $30, but for those that enjoy a pure stealth game, this one is definitely worth a look.

Even with these quirks Trap Team is still the best game in the series to date. Sure it is yet another massive investment, but I am glad to see that the team continues to improve the core game and make it even more fun with each iteration. I still wonder how many years the series has left. My collection of plastic toys is so large I can’t keep track of which ones are upgraded or need more gold.