Flashback 2 is not a blast from the past – it’s a total misfire.
Like a Dragon Gaiden’s combat hits with flash and fury and its story is sharp, but its setting and side activities feel a bit on the stale side.
Alan Wake II is a superb survival-horror sequel that makes the cult-classic original seem like little more than a rough first draft by comparison.
Cricket 24 is a disappointingly modest and often slipshod update that seemingly lacks the confidence or creativity to advance further down the wicket.
Moving Out 2 is a colourful and chaotic co-op sequel that tasks you with bending at the knees while consistently splitting your sides.
If you’re after a frictionless, family-friendly platforming adventure that’s heavy on charm and light on challenge, then Disney Illusion Island fits the bill better than a muzzle on Donald Duck.
Spellbindingly surreal and stimulating to the end, Viewfinder is the freakiest form of photo mode in which every snap is a happy one.
Layers of Fear is an atmospheric tour through the shattered psyches of some seriously tortured artists, but predictable shock tactics fail to provide more than a handful of genuine scares, let alone layers of them.
The Last Case of Benedict Fox is a disappointingly uneven Metroidvania that’s just as likely to engage as it is to enrage.
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened could have been an intriguing clash of Cluedo/Clue with Cthulu, but instead it’s just a case of squandered potential.
The Resident Evil 4 remake is the series' most relentlessly exciting adventure rebuilt, refined, and realised to the full extent of its enormous potential.
Like a Dragon: Ishin! is an enjoyable and interesting spin-off from the Yakuza series, but not an essential one.
Dead Space is a superb remake and undoubtedly the definitive way to experience one of the best survival horror shooters that Capcom never made.
The Callisto Protocol is a satisfyingly gory spiritual successor to the Dead Space series, but it’s ultimately more of a striking modern mimic than a scary new mutation.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me’s tour through a maniac’s mansion is disappointingly lacking in any real menace or surprise.
Metal: Hellsinger might not be the greatest demon-slaying shoot 'em up in the world, but it's certainly a stirring tribute.
Immortality is a thoroughly mesmerizing mystery and one of the most surprising video game stories of 2022.
Saints Row delivers no shortage of shallow shoot 'em up thrills, but it's a very familiar and uninspired brand of sandbox fun.
Madison is a creepy crawl through a twisted haunted house with enough genuine out-of-your-seat scares to leave you shaken like a Polaroid picture.
Matchpoint Tennis Championships serves up a smooth-playing game of tennis, but saddles it with a sub-par career mode and under-featured multiplayer.