A fun start, but there's a lot here to build on.
Despite an increase in action, Game of Thrones continues to disappoint with a sidenote storyline.
By no means a bad game, Shadow Fall instead feels consumable, there to be experienced and then forgotten. Enjoyment is there in spades, although each moment of awe is fleeting with no lasting impact. Killzone has finally become part of the Sony legacy - not as a franchise of compelling depth, nor in delivering iconic gameplay. Instead its legacy will be one of visual fidelity - a legacy that Shadow Fall attempts to rise above but to which it seems eternally bound.
It might not be original but it's polished and practical; not the most effusive of compliments, but a recommendation nonetheless.
Based on the story so far, Game of Thrones is very much worthy of your time but has plenty to prove in the space of a handful more episodes to come. It also needs to find its own identity and move away from archetypes already covered in the books. Hopefully this will be the expository episode, with the tension ratcheting up as things continue to fall apart for House Forrester.
A major improvement on past episodes, but the narrative arc is hard to distinguish and there's too much thematic crossover with the series. Game of Thrones looks and acts the part but lacks 'water-cooler' moments that shock and provoke discussion.
Thrilling and polished, Infinite Warfare is a generously loaded game but one that does nothing new against its rivals.
Refinement brings excitement, for newcomers and pros alike. Madden NFL 17 has the stride and the force - it's just a few minor quibbles that stop it becoming legendary.
The capstone to a brilliant game, Polarized is a little too melodramatic to feel fully satisfying.
More an update than a new game, it's great to be able to re-access your songs and freestyle solos rock.
Not dead on arrival, The Following is a meaty chunk of gaming fun.
It's still messy and there are problems, but Final Fantasy XV is appealing to most, fascinating and, most of all, the new approaches make a great recipe.
A rollicking, ridiculous ride that is pure nonsense, but generous in both amount and quality and a campaign that isn't as jingoistically brainless as usual.
It doesn't do anything new and it doesn't feel next-gen but Dead Rising 3 is a solid and welcome return to gleeful, quirky zombie killing. Like the rotting corpses that populate its streets, Dead Rising 3 has a long life after it's finished. The game is one to which, amidst a barren forthcoming release schedule, you'll keep revisiting.
It's not going to surpass Rock Band as the de facto music party game, neither is it going to save Kinect. But, as a potential swansong to Microsoft's neglected camera, Fantasia: Music Evolved is more than worthy.
In taking and refining the best bits of previous games, Ubisoft is admittedly treading water and, some would say, stagnating. The eavesdropping should really be, well, dropped but those moments of frustration and repetition are far outweighed by the lure of the sea. Not a flagship title for the series then, but one that will delight fans and newcomers alike.
In bringing the challenging subject of slavery to the forefront of such a blockbuster franchise, Ubisoft has shown that games are the perfect vehicle to reopen discussion and confront darker moments of history. Freedom Cry may not be particularly long or radically different from Black Flag but as a companion piece it feels important, imbuing its protagonist with a desire for retribution and justice that bleeds through the screen and inhabits your own persona. For that reason alone it deserves your attention.
Wrapped in the grainy trappings of detail-perfect environments, Creative Assembly have done devout fans proud, managing to create a game that fits the right tone. It's a love letter for the fans - one so delicately written that it's fun to imagine what the studio would do with other films.
In doing this, Unity is not the huge leap forward that a next-gen Assassin's Creed promised it would be - rather it's a familiar adventure dressed in exceptional decoration. The artistry to be found in Paris far outweighs the by-the-numbers story. In essence it's more Assassin's Creed, then - that will tell you all you need to know if you're mulling over a purchase. Perhaps this is why this Assassin's Creed feels as though, like its time-spanning storyline, it has one foot in the future and one in the past.
Techland used to elicit a groan, an expectation of being underwhelmed. The game more than redeems their reputation and is a great step in the right direction. There are new ideas that emerge from the old and it is this attitude could spell greatness for the studio. Like your character, all they need to do is keep moving forward.