Indeed, with two factions and multiple races and classes, each with their own starter areas and specific questlines, there’s a good chance that your experience of WoW will be very different from mine. In a way, reviewing it’s like reviewing London or New York City from a week-long stay – you can only hope to tackle a slice, not the whole shebang.
Assetto Corsa has its share of problems. It can't compete with Forza, Gran Turismo or Project Cars when it comes to looks, cars or tracks. The career mode is tedious and often frustrating, and the presentation makes it feel even nerdier and less accessible than it is. Yet the core driving experience remains magnificent, with some of the best handling and most immersive racing around. This isn't a racer for everyone – it's tough, demanding and a bit too hardcore – but if you want a sim with thrills and authenticity, it's well worth taking for a spin.
A beautiful ballet dance with a few tumbles
Underground is most valuable to those who are already the most devoted Division fans, although if you’re willing to put in some hours, there’s nothing to stop you joining their number.
This isn't a casual gamer's sim-style racer, but if you're looking for a more authentic driving sim Assetto Corsa might just win your heart.
ABZÛ is a visually stunning arthouse game with a fantastic score and some awe-inspiring, powerful moments, but it's one that can't match the achievements of its nearest relative, Journey. The gameplay's never as compelling as the visuals, and while its undersea kingdom is a fascinating place to visit, the story doesn't quite have the same heart. Stick it on a big screen, put on some headphones and you'll be blown away, but will you keep coming back? I'm not so sure.
In many ways Abzu looks and feels like a successor to Journey, but while there's mystery and beauty in its underwater world, it's rarely quite as engaging. The simple, predictable gameplay is one barrier, the abstract nature of the story another, creating an experience that's big on audio-visual power and artistry but short on the stuff that made Journey truly magical. However, it's worth playing for its epic high points, its unique atmosphere and the chill-out meditation, but don't expect to find perfection or a game of vast scale and depth.
We’re not exactly short of Metroid clones these days, but Headlander rises above the herd through a mix of its ingenious body-swapping game mechanics and its bonkers '70s retro sci-fi vibe. It’s great-looking, absorbing and genuinely funny, managing to imbue its robot cast with a real sense of character. And if it has sequences where its ideas fail to click, these aren’t that numerous or annoying. While it’s not quite up there with Psychonauts, Headlander is still one of Double Fine’s finest.
Zombie Night Terror gets in chomping distance of greatness, only to stumble over its own shuffling feet. It’s smart, stylish, inventive and funny in its own gruesome, mildly sadistic way, but can also be a little too fiddly and demanding as the game goes on.
Ghostbusters has a vaguely half-decent core, but stretches it too far over interminable levels wrecked by mindless repetition and a lack of strong ideas. It’s dull played solo, tedious in multi-player and generally no fun whatever you do. The new movie has its lovers and its haters, but the game will create no such divisions. Whoever you are, whatever you like, it’s just no good.
There's precious little sign of excitement, imagination or progression, the weapons are weedy and the storytelling poor. Given that there are plenty of other twin-stick shooters with better gameplay and graphics out there, you'd be mad to buy it were it a fiver. At [its launch price], however? That's the biggest joke of all.
Necropolis is destined for a lot of love/hate reactions. It’s fun, challenging, stylish and sardonically cool, but frustration is coded into its roguelike DNA. With a few tweaks and online matchmaking it could still be a minor indie classic – it’s surprising how hard it is not to go back in for another run – but it’s a game that needs some work if it's to please a wider base of fans.
Get past a slightly drab, disappointing early section and you’ll find a feast of Monster Hunter fun. While you’ll miss the narrative thread and focused gameplay of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Generations makes up for it with a wider set of diverse locations, some fantastic monsters and impressive graphics, not to mention some additional layers of complexity which don’t make the game less accessible. Other additions, like Prowler mode, are more superficial, but if they bring more fans onboard, who really cares? Generations’ biggest failing is that it’s more of the same without a whole lot of real progression, but this is still Monster Hunter in all its glory and one of the last must-have games for the good old 3DS.
Beautiful, plays well – but could have been better.
As it is, the new combat and puzzle mechanics keep things fresh, while the lure of new stories set around The Force Awakens is hard to resist. Love the Lego games and The Force Awakens? You know what to do.
I won't tell you that Sonic & Mario at the 2016 Rio Olympic games is a masterpiece, because it isn't. It's every bit as shallow and silly as previous titles, taking on a broad range of disciplines without ever really mastering any. Yet, if you're looking for a fun game to play with the family then it's one of the most enjoyable I've played this year – and as a solo player, it's surprisingly good to boot.
From New Super Mario Bros. to Rayman Legends to Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds to the recent Doom reboot, we've seen games that mix twenty-year-old styles with modern visuals and new ideas and the results have been great. Mighty No. 9 isn't in the same league. Instead, it looks and feels like an amateurish homage to Mega Man with bargain-basement production values and a ridiculous difficulty level. While fans will find something to love in its hardcore gameplay and old-school character design, non-fans should steer well clear.
It might be short-lived and plagued by lobby issues, but Dead by Daylight is whip-smart, original, exciting and genuinely frightening. It puts you right at the centre of your own slasher movie, then asks you if you've got the guts and cunning to slay or survive. Only time will tell whether it can evolve into a long-term hit but, right now, it's a terrifying new entry on the multiplayer scene.
This isn't just a worthy sequel to Titanfall, but one that improves upon the original while adding a superb single-player campaign. The latter combines fast-paced action, pilot acrobatics, heavyweight Titan warfare and a surprising amount of heart in one of the most enjoyable solo storylines of the year.
If Frogware could just tighten up the good stuff and lose what doesn't work, it might just give us the ultimate Sherlock Holmes game. As it is, The Devil's Daughter is flawed but entertaining, with lots of great detective work, some fun if baffling storylines and annoying action bits you can cheerfully skip through.