Football Manager 2016 may not be heavy on new features, but its increased transparency and accessibility make it the most enjoyable and immediate entry in the series to date.
Lara Croft's latest adventure is a smart, alluring thrill-ride through Siberia.
Lara Croft's latest adventure is a smart, alluring thrill-ride through Siberia.
The narrative is suitably epic and grandstanding – and makes a bold decision with a long-standing character – but takes itself far too seriously. Which, for a game about purple aliens, planet-destroying super weapons and bionic soldiers, seems a little off-key.
[T]his reboot captures the score-chasing and self-improvement of the early Guitar Hero games and puts them into a thoroughly modern spin. The commitment to its ideas makes Live a confident, bold and stylish game. History will tell if the decisions it has made are the right ones, but for now, Freestyle has started down an exciting new path for the genre.
Rock Band 4 is a successful return for a familiar headline act.
This generous collection of the first three Uncharted games is a thrilling and fascinating history lesson.
PES 2016 offers a smart, strategic, thrilling and unpredicatable game of football.
FIFA 16 is light on sweeping changes but heavy on refinement, building an excellent new foundation for EA's football series.
Super Mario Maker's chaotic smorgasbord is part of its appeal. Wild, unbridled and even inspiring, Super Mario Maker achieves the envious feat of making both Play and Creation a joy. And all it had to do was remove the barrier between the two.
There is no doubting the actors commitment to their archetypes, though, and their performances are a big part of why you start to warm to even the coldest character. You end up wanting them all to survive, unlikely as that seems.
It's car football, but not as we know it, as Psyonix's exhilarating mix of chaos and control marks it as one of the year's best multiplayer experiences.
Life is Strange's progression from a promising, awkward experiment to a confident, bold narrative is one of the year's most interesting gaming tales.
You might need some prior connection to Rare to appreciate the nostalgia, of course, but Replay makes you stop and think 'blimey, Rare really were very good'.
Rory McIlroy's first PGA Tour might eventually have enough to keep golf fans amused.
There it is again. The feeling. I'm Batman. This is what has made —and continues to make— Rocksteady's Arkham series so good. Knight, for all its foibles and frustrations, consistently gives you that injection of adrenaline. It is supposed to be Rocksteady's final Batman game and you get the impression this is a developer pushing the absolute limits of its series, perfecting it in some areas... breaking it in others.
I enjoyed Wooly World's fuzzy embrace and flashes of invention, though left it feeling somewhat ungratified. However, I also managed to get a different viewpoint. This was the first game my wife played to completion in several years. And even my two year old son managed to flutter his way through the first few levels using the easier 'mellow' mode, which gives Yoshi wings. Seeing the grin on his face as Yoshi gobbled up pieces of scenery and delirious giggle at the ground pound reminded me of the balance Nintendo face.
This generous standalone prequel to the excellent Wolfenstein: The New Order may be leaner than its parent game, but its breathless rhythm entertains from the off.
This side-scrolling spinoff of the famous series is a striking, well-executed game, but it could have been a lot more.
The controversial fighting series returns, but beneath the blood and guts is a confident, generous and thoroughly modern brawler.