Ashen's slant on the Soulslike subgenre isn't revolutionary, but is a wonderful example of the familiar formula executed well. It's thoughtful, gorgeous, challenging and a dream to explore.
Football Manager returns with a kitbag full of new and overhauled features. It's the best at what it does, and FM 19 is the best it's ever been.
The quintessential football management sim is back with its most ambitious undertaking in years.
An intense and thrilling psychological survival horror sequel that improves on its forerunner in almost every way.
It's taken nine years to land, but Owlboy is well worth the wait.
What makes Heart of Iron IV work is the fact that although it’s moulded around just ten years of history, it offers so much historical background and variable outcomes, and as such packs a mightier punch than might be at first expected. It’s complicated - overly so at times - and may not offer the same amount of replayability as other genre similars, but one thing is certain: there is rarely a dull moment.
Stellaris is simply wonderful. If you enjoy grand strategy games then you'll love this. If you don't then this could be the one to change your mind. If you've been too intimidated to try the genre before now, then here's your ideal starting point.
Fallout 4’s second slice of DLC is under a fiver, yet still somehow feels overpriced. Granted, there’s a good idea hiding in there somewhere – capturing wild creatures for defense or spectator sport purposes is a genuinely interesting concept, particularly against the end of the world scenario – but Wasteland Workshop fails to execute it with the finesse needed to see it through. As such, it instead feels like a paid, and therefore largely underwhelming, mod.
Fans of Supreme Commander and Total Annihilation will lap up the similarities, but Ashes of the Singularity is far more than a clone. When you take all of this into consideration and add unsurpassed scale to the mix, you’re definitely onto a winner.
You'll cry. And cry and cry and cry. But I think you'll love it.
It's a game that understands everything about itself and how it works. It's the best stealth game ever made and feels like a game-changer for the medium as a whole - through its scope, the freedom it offers its players, and its deft structure. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is the apex of the series and a fitting way for Kojima et al to bow out: as one, as best, as Big Boss.
Despite the butterfly effect's premise, a ham-fisted story means you won't care about who might live and who might die. It's not enough to save the game from disappointment, and in the end, Until Dawn is its own self-inflicted nightmare.
At times, Volume may fly too close to its Metal Gear Solid roots - creator Mike Bithell has unashamedly noted 1998's stealth 'em up as a distinct source of inspiration - but what it lacks in immediate originality, aesthetically at least, it makes up for in innovative, engaging, and challenging level design. To brand this a clone would be more criminal than Gisborne's corporatocratic rule.
It can get frustrating at times, but it's meant to - and that's what makes it work.
This year has blessed us with many massive, must-play releases. Her Story regally joins the list and is one that we're sure will be discussed for years to come.
Payday 2: Crimewave Edition has been given a spit shine and a sprinkling of new features, but unfortunately the nuance ends there. If you already own the original on PS3 or Xbox 360 there's not an abundance to write home about. If you don't, Crimewave Edition is still worth your time, but it's far from the perfect score.
It's a unique take on the war-based theme, and will evoke your inner voyeur, dazzling in its moments of exposition as well as its suggestive junctures.
OlliOlli developer Roll7's newest project is a frantic shoot 'em up that revels in its messy, hedonistic chaos.
Acid Nerve's tough boss run is precise, ingenious and rewarding.
When it's good, Dennaton's subversive, hyper-violent sequel is outstanding, but questionable design decisions and a confused story means it does not have the precision of its predecessor.