Jaz Rignall
A short, sweet, melancholic exploration game that offers precious few hours of gameplay, but it's beautiful to look at, and highly enjoyable to play.
A fantastic package that charts the history of one of Britain's most important developers. It works both as a historical archive, and as a top-tier package of classic games. There really is something for everyone in this wonderfully crafted anthology.
A great new direction for the series, and the best-playing digital version of Magic the Gathering yet. However, it's buggy, and you will need to invest a fair chunk of change to get the most out of it.
An engaging and quirky game that packs some intriguing puzzles... as well as some that are almost too easy to solve. The narration sometimes feels like it's trying just a little too hard for its own good, but the overall experience Pneuma: Breath of Life delivers is an enjoyable one.
Project CARS features an excellent roster of cars and tracks, and delivers some of the most exciting and visceral racing action money can buy. It's not for everyone, since driving the game can be quite tough, even with all the assists turned on, but for those who are up for a challenge, few other racing games are as involving and potentially rewarding as this.
Smaller in scale than last year's epic adventure, The Old Blood treads familiar, blood-soaked ground and doesn't offer much in the way of new ideas. However, it's very well produced, has some great moments of dialog, and offers a load of Nazi-slaughtering action that's somewhat relentless, but still plenty entertaining.
A great concept that's well executed in terms of the way it combines music and movement. It's certainly fun, but the game is short, and its difficulty level is very steep indeed.
A good-looking, minimalist twin stick shooter that delivers intense, if somewhat repetitive action at a price that feels a little too steep.
An enjoyable, randomly generated FPS romp that's surprisingly addictive. Despite being priced perhaps a little high, and occasionally exhibiting some slowdown and minor glitches, Ziggurat offers many hours of potential entertainment for those willing to take up its considerable challenge.
If you want to test your FPS skills, Tower of Guns throws down a tough and engaging challenge that's best enjoyed in short bursts.
A retro-feeling throwback to the days of arcade baseball games. It offers simple, basic fun, but the pitching and hitting just doesn't feel robust enough to appeal to anyone other than the most casual of baseball fans.
Although it closely follows the Metroidvania blueprint, the brilliantly designed and executed Axiom Verge adds enough new and original features to make it a truly great game in its own right. An absolute must for retro fans.
An entertaining and challenging sniping/stealth game that holds up for most of its eight expansive levels and supplemental campaigns. The action can get a little repetitive at times, but it's still a lot of fun, and its kill cam offers some great moments.
An original and addictive puzzle game that includes a terrific roller coaster builder - and plenty of user-generated content.
A well designed, challenging and entertaining shooter that's best appreciated as a multiplayer game. More variety in mission types would help it feel less of a grind, however.
A clever, abstract take on a bullet hell shooter that breaks the action up into very short bursts. It's challenging, fun to play and very addictive. A great indie game to play between AAA titles.
Without doubt the definitive version of Super Stardust. Some might be disappointed about the fairly limited new additions, but regardless, it's still one of the greatest arcade shooters around.
An enjoyable puzzle game that features a surprising amount of depth. However, its gameplay can sometimes be as frustrating as it is rewarding.
The Crew is a vast, expansive driving game that packs a solid story mode and tons of things to do. However, much of its endgame content feels like repetitive filler.
Despite some occasionally frustrating difficulty spikes, Never Alone tells a fascinating, evocative tale that leaves a deep impression. A terrific platform game, despite its flaws.