With new official DLC, a glorious audiovisual overhaul and a touch of modern quality-of-life polish, this is now the best way to play Age 2 - though it'll take a while to match the HD edition's user content.Sam White
Despite its strategic depth and craft, you can't help but feel that Fire Emblem has had its run on 3DS. This isn't a criticism per se, and it's more remarkable now than ever that the handheld console with a low-rent screen and barely any processing power is still able to churn out such deep and engrossing experiences. Intelligent Systems is likely looking to Nintendo Switch for its next big strategic adventure – but for now, Shadows of Valentia is great enough to warrant dusting off your indestructible little pocket toy for one last hurrah.
The result is a game that packs meaning into almost everything you do. It doesn’t surpass the emotional heights of its late 90s forebear, but Numenera’s incredibly distinct world and unique approach to gameplay offer something really untraditional to sink your time, thoughts and choices into. For RPG fans this is super exciting, and will be sure to entertain across multiple playthroughs over dozens, if not hundreds of hours.
Prey's greatest success is its approach to choice and exploration. For players looking for a direct and focused single player shooter experience, this will undoubtedly disappoint and perhaps even frustrate, but for players looking for a smart and immersive world rife with intrigue and tension, Prey is a quality companion for some true classics.
The Collection’s biggest missed opportunity is that it doesn’t do much to win over players who have poured dozens of hours into these three games.
It's a blast, no matter how easy. Kirby Triple Deluxe, like its namesake, has the fine-tuned ability to suck you right in, no matter who you are.
As a near-decade old game, Resident Evil 4 is frequently amazing. As a first time player, there are more than a couple of moments that feel archaic, often frustrating to the point that you may give up playing. See it through to the end, however, and you'll come to realize just what an achievement Resident Evil 4 was for its time, and how well the large majority has held itself together across the last ten years.
In the end, Burial at Sea finishes on a much stronger, series-apt note than the one it began on, and it's impressive how Irrational Games drops curtains on its universe with something truly unexpected but wholly fitting. With so many extravagant worlds existing behind an infinite number of doors, you might feel sad that you only experienced two of them. It's credit to Irrational Games, then, that by the end the two is all we needed.
Arkane's standalone game is a bit of an indulgence, but it offers a beautifully dark and detailed world of grand interiors and dimly lit streets to get lost in
The game's greatest strength is avoiding the pitfalls of the first; removing frustrating boss fights and lessening the amount of forced stealth sections.
Ten years later, replaying the original BioShock is a risky prospect.
F1 2016 is the game Codemasters has almost been making for years; complex, feature-full and still packed with the adoration for the sport that the studio has demonstrated since it got its hands on the license back in 2010. For anyone that’s a fan of racing, this is without the doubt the most unmissable recreation of it you can buy. For anyone that likes going fast, this will probably convince you, too.
Even after half a decade, Skyrim is an RPG with an unprecedented level of soul.
The detail in Watch Dogs 2’s world, the colour in its characters and the sheer fun you can have mucking around with its mechanics make for a great, albeit not all-time great, open-world adventure.
No Man’s Sky is a fundamentally simple game; one that’s flawed, slow, and where the moment-to-moment activities are sometimes even... boring. But its intoxicatingly rare attitude towards pure discovery create a game that’s captivating unlike any other.
After enjoying almost a year of Early Access on PC, the final release is now available on PS4 and Xbox One, complete with a few dozen of history's most iconic cars from over 50-years of rally, a smattering of tracks from some of the world's most beautiful point-to-point hotspots. It's an impressive return to form; an intense, hardcore recreation of rally with an emphasis on careful trial and error rather than race and rewind.
This meticulously crafted title is more than just an ode to the golden age of animation – it's a punishing yet moreish game that's not for the faint-hearted
A devilishly delightful return to form
With competition from the likes of Driveclub and Project Cars, the franchise isn't quite the benchmark it once was, but it's damn good to see Turn 10 back on track with such impressive flair.
There's definitely a sense that, like Max himself, Avalanche's latest game has been left alone to find its own way to greatness. But the studio has given the series the attention to detail and authenticity that it deserves, and this is without doubt one of the most punchy examples of gaming post apocalyptia in quite some time.