SpellForce 3 isn't a bad game, it can even be pretty good at parts.
Nioh: Complete Edition is a great game. That much should be expected as the original release was. However, much like all Koei Tecmo PC ports, this release suffers from some glaring omissions and limitations. Fortunately, Team Ninja have already announced some patches to start improving the release.
Ashes Cricket offers the very best cricket game so far. As well as being the most realistic, it offers more approachable gameplay to help draw you in and looks excellent, particularly the licensed players and major stadiums. While it has a few bugs here and there, it also features an extensive customisation system and a number of game modes. There's a lot to love and keep you engrossed.
New features have brought Football Manager 2018 closer to the beautiful game than ever before. Personalities, the heirarchy and social groups all play a part in the way you interact with the players. The system is rusty but still revolutionary for the series as it brings an ever more emergent way of telling stories. In addition to this are improvements throughout the game in how data is viewed and represented.
Wolfenstein: The New Colossus subverts the old-school shooter tradition by featuring an incredible cast of characters with varied personalities in a world that makes you want to explore more and more of the society it features. The gameplay is very engaging, though can sometimes outstay its welcome at parts with a mixture of levels that range from the extremely interesting to dull and repetitive. Whatever its flaws, Wolfenstein is a great game that's well worth playing and will keep you coming back for more as you purge the US of Nazis.
In addition to poor audio and visual qualities, including large re-use of assets, Empyre is let down by the poor world and character building. Sadly, in addition to this are poor audio and visual qualities. Sadly, I can't say much positive about the game, besides it having an interesting setting and a decent combat system, neither of which are used as well as they could be.
Dungeons 3 has taken the series to its highest point yet. While overbearing on the forced comedy, it can be genuinely funny. Most of all, though, it's addictive. Dungeons 3 features incredibly polished gameplay with great visuals and audio and the wide variety within the campaigns 20 missions never gets boring.
Forza Motorsport 7 is a great game. There's no doubting you'll enjoy a lot of your time with Forza, but you're also guaranteed to run into a few problems here and there. It's extremely approachable and simply oozes content out of the gate. Racing is fun and exciting even at the worst of times. It is, however, marred by an invasive microtransaction system as well as elements of the game feeding into this, either forcing a grind or inevitably letting you pay real money to have easier access to later content.
Total War: Warhammer II takes the fantasy setting to its next logical level. Bringing in completely unique factions, giving them all a personality of their own in the franchises most focused campaign ever has led to an incredibly compelling game. The only problem is that the old Total War issues of poor AI with diplomacy still prevails and that the economy is easy to game to your advantage. Still, altogether an outstanding release.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 is, simply, the most realistic rendition of the beautiful game so far. While the atmosphere is lacking and game modes are in need of some improvement. Konami still desperately need to overhaul the commentary and fix the licensing issues. Fortunately, the on-pitch action more than makes up for any problems you may encounter.
Is it a great game? Likely the best racing sim around. Does it need to open itself up to those less skilled? Yes.
Oriental Empires offeres more than enough to keep long time strategy fans happy. It looks great and does try one or two new things that don't turn out as well as they could, lacking the depth and variety to push it into being a great game.
Absolver features one of the best fighting systems to be found in gaming. In addition to this, it looks and plays fantastically. However, it's let down by a few balancing issues, some glaring design problems caused by the unpredictable multiplayer feature. The end-game, however, could make for one of the best multiplayer experiences the year has to offer.
F1 2017 is the best in the series and arguably one of Codemasters best titles. A few minor flaws slightly blemish what is a brilliant game, which looks, sounds and feels fantastic to play. Furthermore, a more extensive career mode with a host of other modes gives the game great variety and longevity.
Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth is a surprisingly well grounded game. As mundane as the subject matter may seem at first, it's incredibly absorbing as you follow the lives of realistic people. While not perfect, suffering from general adventure game problems of backtracking and long-winded puzzles, the game more than makes up for it with compelling characters, a great script with fantastic voice acting and an aesthetic design that benefits the game greatly.
Sudden Strike 4 is a sound tactical game with a great depth of units and tactical options. It is, however, let down by limited AI which leaves missions feeling more like set problems to solve rather than dynamic battlefields, limiting any replay value.
Aven Colony has the trappings of a good city-building game but simply lacks the depth to make it so. While the game looks great and plays well, the setting of space is underused outside of its aesthetic and the lack of variety or challenge inevitably leaves the game feeling dull.
Redeemer is a flawed title at best. It's a brawler at heart and succeeds on that line, offering visceral and often entertaining combat. However, the inclusion of cheap enemies and a hugely fluctuating difficulty curve makes for often irritating experiences in a number of levels. Though not a large concern for the genre, the story is a mess throwing in characters and concepts with no explanation.
Rise of the Necromancer brings in what could be the games most entertaining class yet. Hugely adaptable with the ability to both summon minions and be active in the battle, the Necromancer has an excellent duality. However, this new class pack is very expensive for what it offers. Wether it's worth it or now will be very much down to how much you like Diablo III.
At best, MotoGP 17 can be described as a stopgap. With only minor at best improvements, the game leaves a lot of areas lacking. The major feature is a new career mode which is engrossing as you work your team up through the ranks. Sadly, the game does have plenty of bugs and technical issues, as is the norm for Milestone games at release.