Van Helsing 2 is a near-complete title that NeoCore are clearly racing to finish in time for release day. It'll end up a better game than the first, but will almost certainly retain some deadline-crunch bugs until a couple of patches are out of the way.
Friendlier F1 handling in a Grid 2 wrapper, Grid Autosport is a tour through the Codemasters back catalogue. Single player is hampered by predictable AI, but tuning options and improved cornering elevates the multiplayer above Grid 2's.
A touching and bold portrayal of World War One in wonderful animated style, Ubisoft Montpellier's Valiant Hearts shows that videogaming doesn't have to be an Anthem for Doomed Youth.
ACE Team's mastery of visual imagery finds a welcome home in solid Roguelike(like) elements and capable, cancel-heavy Fighting mechanics. Abyss Odyssey is their most impressive all-round title to date.
Unrest is a short narrative full of ethical dilemmas, presented through the eyes of an unusually diverse cast of RPG characters. Those choices have an isolated impact, but don't expect them to alter the story to a radical degree.
Suitably self-contained and demonstrating some of the best level design in Dark Souls 2, Crown of the Sunken King suggests that FromSoft's DLC team may well be up to the daunting task of creating three essential add-ons.
Season Two's early promise has consolidated into sporadic flashes of greatness, but the consistent excellence of Clementine's character alone isn't enough to carry the series. It needs the lift of an outstanding final episode.
A decent pool model that tends towards natural-style simulation, let down by several minor annoyances and one crippling problem. It's a multiplayer-leaning title, and Pure Pool's PC server troubles mean any online play is currently a non-starter.
Crown of the Old Iron King is another accomplished and well-constructed addition to Dark Souls 2, with a pair of bosses who rank alongside the best the series has to offer.
Superb faction design and twists on 4x genre conventions, combined with rather passive AI (even at higher difficulties,) mean Endless Legend is a strategy title that falls frustratingly short of being sublime.
While EA Sports luxuriate in Ultimate Team wealth and licensing heaven, they're doing the bare minimum to maintain the series' technical aspects. FIFA 15 still plays decent football, but with the same (increasingly inexcusable) bugs and instabilities of the past few seasons.
Crown of the Ivory King's snow-swept ramparts are an exemplary example of intricate, looping level design. This third and final release wraps up the most consistent set of DLC I've played since Fallout: New Vegas.
Styx is an honest attempt at a traditional stealth title that, like its protagonist, all too often grasps for the ledge and falls short.
Ryse is a little better than its reputation as a tech demo in search of a game. But not much beyond a mediocre combat system in want of something more than its predictable, opulent story.
Lords of the Fallen isn't going to triumph in a direct match-up with Dark Souls, but seeing the Souls combat system and level design transplanted with this degree of success into a shorter, more accessible game is really no bad thing.
Assertive: The Sports Interactive lads have had a solid pre-season, I think Football Manager 2015 can really crack on for top honours from here.
Relic's attempt to create a more dynamic single player campaign is partially successful, but the systems of company permanence don't entirely gel with the inflexibility of an Iron Man save system, and the map is light on grand strategy.
Gentle RPG systems collide with robust pinball design, triggering a modest gaming jackpot.
Putting a solid score on a game whose overriding ideology is a rejection of certainty is an act of high absurdity. But it's also somewhat appropriate for The Old City: Leviathan's other persistent theme of reconciling incompatible truths.
A well-paced, well-observed and suitably vicious opening episode, showing that Telltale's latest series is up to the task of matching the theme and tone of the Game of Thrones source material.