Steven John Dawson
The Escapists is a "deeper than appears" puzzler that will take some getting into, but the pay-off is worth it.
A new campaign for those looking for a bit more longevity out of the series, with some nice new features. However, for those looking for something largely different out of the series, you might be best looking elsewhere.
A fun little shoot-em-up with an interesting twist, but only if you're not really interested in a story line and just want to pop some bad guys when you have a bit of down-time.
A huge open world, filled to the brim with life, death and everything in between. It truly is a sight to behold. CD Projekt Red have done great things with this title and RPGs all-round should take note.
Codemasters' latest F1 title may be construed as feeling a little rushed - perhaps pushed out from under the rug as the team focus production on DiRT Rally, but there's still a lot of fun to be had in this title, even if it's not a whole world of difference from the previous outings and the brief frame-rate issues.
Rico's back, with some nifty new tricks up his sleeve, and some great refinements, however, a couple of technical issues with frame rate and lengthy load times sully the fun experience that's waiting for you.
Another competent puzzler from Artifex Mundi, with improvements in the right places. Puzzles that are demanding yet fair, and a fantastic steampunk aesthetic. Next time, more story and more Matthew, please!
Action Henk is the perfect combination of easy to learn, but difficult to master gameplay with a massive helping of nostalgia in between. You can pick it up and play for 10 minutes, sure. But you’ll still want to know what’s happened with the last three hours.
For what was initially meant to be a humorous take on the many "simulator" titles, it’s not quite GOATY, but Goat Simulator and the Mmore Goatz expansion does a good job of being entertaining in a way that you'll be laughing too much at the on screen carnage to really care about the 'intentional' bugs.
Slightly Mad Studios have, in the year since release, tidied up Project CARS no end. There's still a few small niggles here and there, but overall this is now a title I will happily have adorning my shelf.
If you've been harkening for something like Limbo, that isn't Limbo, then take a peek at Monochroma. It's a little frustrating to start off, but once you've got the nuances down then it all starts slotting together. As Nowhere Studio's first title, I can only see their future games getting better as they go.
It’s a fun and rewarding experience given the difficulty that it brings due to it’s 90s platformers inspiration. However, for the price, you could do a lot worse...
FRU delivers the game that the Kinect needs to remain as a viable device. The clever set of mechanics that are on offer means that if you have a Kinect currently gathering dust, you owe it a game of FRU.
A marked improvement on last years entry, with plenty of new features to keep all levels of players interested. The new features add much needed playability to the sessions in the career and the manual starts/pit entry and formation laps add the extra sprinkling of realism needed to help it feel more immersive.
It’s about time the genre got the kick up the exhaust it needed and VooFoo Studios has given it just that with Mantis Burn Racing.
Decidedly average attempt at a reboot of the franchise, with controls that just aren’t fun and load times that sap what was left of any real enjoyment from the title.
A simple-on-the-surface, yet tough to master puzzle platformer that will keep you coming back time and time again to obtain the best medals that you can.
A nice little real time tactical game that takes cues from The Lost Vikings and brings it up to date, let down by a frustrating control scheme and some odd choices that have made their way to the final game.
Playground have managed to extract the awesomeness stored in the collective hive-mind of every "big-kid" out there that wants to be able to play with their Hot Wheels sets without strange glances from onlookers. It's a fun outing for the series as a whole and something I hope to see more of down the line.
Excellent. If you're a fan of rally and want an accessible game, go out and buy it. If you want DiRT Rally's level of simulation with more to do, go out and buy it.