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.
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.
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.
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.
FIFA 16 is light on sweeping changes but heavy on refinement, building an excellent new foundation for EA's football series.
PES 2016 offers a smart, strategic, thrilling and unpredicatable game of football.
This generous collection of the first three Uncharted games is a thrilling and fascinating history lesson.
Rock Band 4 is a successful return for a familiar headline act.
[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.
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.
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.
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.
But that focus is what makes Siege's multiplayer so good. In a year with a glut of good competitive first-person shooters –the sci-fi fizz of Halo 5 and Star Wars Battlefront or bombastic ordnance of Battlefield Hardline and Call of Duty: Black Ops III- Rainbow Six Siege's smart, sharp tactical nous marks it as one of the best.
When your mind and digits are one with the music, there is little to beat it.
While nothing can ever bring back their little boy, I am glad the Greens had that faith. And I am glad they were brave enough to share it with us.
There's a haunting elegance to Oxenfree that's there because each of its constituent parts are working together to create it.
Short, sweet and really rather good.
In a stark textual introduction, this is the first thing you see in Firewatch. It is unusual to see the video game condition laid out so plainly at the start of an adventure. You are Henry. You are someone else. Get ready to play your role. It is an effective gambit, with deft writing settling you into the mind of this character. It is notable because many video games rely on you being yourself, or make an effort to cast you as a controlling observer. A puppeteer. But Firewatch says this with such conviction: you are Henry. But are you really? This is a character that exists, that has already been created. The choices you have in this introduction are slight variations. Firewatch is a video game that extols both the virtues and drawbacks of being someone else , conjuring an illusion of choice within a pre-set story and bumping against the limitations that ensue.
I firmly believe that Street Fighter V will become the finest fight game ever. The basis is too strong for it to fail. It is too important to Capcom for them to let it slip. The prize is too big. But belief, however strong, is a shaky basis on which to unconditionally recommend a game. It is why this review remains scoreless.