Blaston

While getting into virtual gunfights can be amusing for a while, the shallow campaign and clunky matchmaking causes this game to mis-fire too often to be enjoyable. Blaston is a game with a very simple premise: you face off against another player or AI competitor to see who the best shooter is in two out of three rounds. There's a wide variety of weapons, which helps keep things fresh, just like the ability to shoot incoming bullets out of the air. It's also a lot of fun to imagine that you're Neo from The Matrix, physically ducking and dodging out of the way while returning fire. But play for a little while and you'll see the issues start to stack up. Matchmaking is horribly broken and unbalanced. When you're starting out, you may be matched up against more skilled veterans that can wipe you out with better weapons and duck behind better shields. Even worse, you'll get repeatedly matched up against the same player, even if there are plenty of other people online to fight against. It's not just competition you're scrambling against. In the middle of battle, you may have to wait longer than expected for a gun to reappear, leaving you defenseless. Plus, instead of putting weapons in your line of sight, they sometimes spawn behind you without onscreen indications of where they are, leaving you open to a shot in the back as you turn to search for them.

The recently introduced Campaign mode could've added a lot of depth, but it's very shallow. Here, you face off against a computer opponent with a slick intro that shows off what the game can do. But once you defeat your opponent, the game adds padding by forcing you to play random arcade games or darts in the lobby between rounds. It's unnecessary, it distracts from the dueling gameplay, and it highlights that there's not really a story or anything to keep you engaged. As a result, you'll probably hop in for a round or two against other players once in a while, but you may not stay long enough to become a Blaston veteran.