Short on modes, but big on racing, F1 2015 gives fans their most immersive F1 game to date. It could be stronger visually and the AI needs some work, but the first F1 to hit the next-gen consoles delivers both a thrilling drive and a strong core for future F1 games.
It's early days, but WildStar has a lot of potential. It's focused on doing what MMO fans know and love about the genre that little bit better, and it has a lot of the excitement of World of Warcraft's early days. Quests are the game's biggest weakness – a little more thought and variety wouldn't hurt – but there's enough interest in the game's clever Path missions and structure to compensate for that. If you love MMOs, you'll probably like WildStar. If you're a recovering WoW addict, this might be the last thing that you need.
A richly atmospheric, story-led adventure which makes up for in chills what it lacks in challenge. The puzzles could be tougher and more varied, and at times all the wandering drags, but it's a superb-looking, forward-thinking mystery game that creeps you out without resorting to the usual sudden scares.
The Guitar Hero score attack crowd might go away disappointed, but this is a genuinely magical musical experience, and one of the best applications of Kinect. Even when you've burnt through the short single-player campaign, you'll keep coming back to explore the realms and try new remixes, conjuring and conducting your way through bizarre collisions of classical works and Carribean rhythms, or chamber music deconstructions of rock and pop hits. It's a game of exploration, both of the realms and of their music, and brilliant fun for music-loving kids and would-be maestros alike.
It might not be the year's most ground-breaking or innovative action game, but Sunset Overdrive is one of the most entertaining. Its mix of grinding and gunplay works beautifully, and the amps and the ridiculous weaponry ensure that slaughtering hordes of slavering mutants never gets old. It's a little too scrappy and repetitive to be a classic, but who cares? Grab your biggest gun and let the good times roll.
Dirty Bomb is off to a promising start. It's very slick, feature-packed and polished for a free-to-play shooter, and while there are elements of pay to win in the business models, you can still have a good time and build up your Mercs without splashing out a lot. Most of all, in returning to its team-based, objective-based roots, Splash Damage has crafted a fast-paced, enjoyable shooter where everything meshes to get players to work together. It's definitely worth your time.
Attila adds new layers of depth and complexity to Total War, and its dark, chaotic atmosphere does a brilliant job of breathing life into one of Europe's most troubled periods. The problem is that all that depth and complexity can make it a very demanding and – at first – unrewarding game. Keep at it, and the epic battles and challenging campaign mode make it well worth persevering. Overall, this feels like one for the fans, but is that really such an awful thing?
A classic sci-fi saga that's stood the test of time. Thanks to a sympathetic visual update, the graphics look spectacular even by today's high standards, while the well-balanced gameplay and excellent mission design haven't dated much at all. Old fans might not like the way the original Homeworld has been fixed to reflect changes made for the sequel, but it's great to see two legends not just return, but reaffirm what made them legendary in the first place.
With a 1080p resolution bump and a smoother frame-rate, God of War III retains its place as one of the mightiest brawlers ever made. You can quibble about the lack of new features or the failure to upgrade and include the earlier two games, but when a game delivers this much intense, imaginative and downright magnificent spectacle you're almost helpless to resist.
Some folks will be telling you that Gears isn't as good as you remember, but this Ultimate Edition proves that they're talking nonsense. Don't blame Epic's blockbuster for the dumb, dudebro sci-fi action games that followed; it's a lean, superbly-paced action game with slick mechanics, stunning aesthetics and some fantastic set-pieces, all of which work as well now as they did back in 2006. The AI has its dodgy moments, but the game is still phenomenal.
The Taken King isn't so much a Destiny expansion as a thorough reworking, building on the foundations laid by the version 2.0 update to make the endgame both more compelling and more accessible. The campaign itself is strong, varied and engaging, introducing a great new setting that should fuel quests and strikes for months to come. Come back Guardians, and bring your buddies with you - Bungie looks to have delivered the Destiny we've all been waiting for.
It can be rough around the edges and it takes a while to gel, but once it does this is as gripping an RPG as Bethesda has ever produced. We'll handle disappointments like the lengthy loading times, poor facial animation and minor bugs because Fallout 4's world is so rich, strange and beautiful, and because the stories you can make in it are so compelling. Buy it, then dig in for the season.
How you feel about Black Ops 3 as a package will depend on what you're looking for in a shooter. If your focus is on competitive play, then this will be your favourite CoD of recent years. If you and your mates love to smash things up in co-op, Black Ops III gives you plenty of opportunity, so get stuck in. Yet it's hard to escape the nagging feeling that this would have been a better CoD had Treyarch focused less on the co-op and the extras, and a little more on delivering their best CoD campaign to date.
So, back to the original question: Halo 5 is definitely good, but is it great? Well, I'm tempted to err on the side of greatness.
Final Fantasy 15 is the best single-player Final Fantasy in a decade. The new combat system is more action-oriented, but still surprisingly tactical, while the new focus on open-world exploration brings the game and its world to life. Crammed with character, choice and interest, it's an RPG where the good times keep on rolling down the road.
You might come for the quickfire fun of the Ten Mario Challenge, but you'll stay for the pleasures of creating and the unpredictable delights of the Course World. Nintendo hasn't just produced a Mario construction kit, but a celebration of all things Mario where you're encouraged to get stuck in. Super Mario Maker is the real Mario Party.
Meet The Phantom Pain's disposable, delinquent cousin, dedicated to the art of blowing things up as loudly and as frequently as possible. Just Cause 3 doesn't have the depth or richness of the year's big open-world blockbusters, but it has a fantastic set of toys, some great destructible environments and a physics engine designed for maximum carnage. More importantly, it seems hell-bent on making sure you have a blast while everything goes bang. You'll love it, feel slightly guilty about loving it, but keep on coming back for more.
Like Destiny, The Division ruthlessly exploits the pleasures of the RPG, MMO and shooter to create one hideously addictive feedback loop. Combine that with the excitement of demanding co-op play and it can be an unstoppably thrilling game.
More than just a me-too Toys to Life game, Lego Dimensions is both a high-point for the genre and the best Lego game since Lego: Marvel Super Heroes. Be warned: the add-on packs will soon get irresistible and expensive, but the starter pack delivers enough fun to just about justify a rather jaw-dropping asking price.
The biggest and best Disney Infinity yet, with more activities to get you started in the Toybox mode, and stronger playset campaigns when you just want to play a game. The lure of Star Wars will be enough for many gamers, but it's still the creative stuff where Infinity shines, giving kids not just the chance to explore the worlds of Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars, but the power to build their own.