Jon Ledford
The plastic peripheral-slinging music game developers at Harmonix have returned to their roots with a modern remake of Amplitude.
Rainbow Six Siege's unique brand of intense, tactical shootouts are unlike anything else in the first-person shooter scene.
Battlefront certainly doesn't reinvent online multiplayer FPS gameplay or even have any lasting reasons to keep you coming back for more, but its presentation and nostalgic values are more than enough to keep casual gamers out there entertained.
Black Ops III might not reinvent the wheel or even be the best Call of Duty game to date, but it is certainly one of the grandest. Even better, this one is meant to be played with your friends.
Utilizing the full extent of the current-gen hardware, Need for Speed revs up into a promising experience that is all about underground and urban street racing, but that doesn't necessarily guarantee a smooth ride.
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water's full price tag might shy away some would-be buyers since it's only available in North America as a digital release, but veterans of the series or survival horror fans in general will certainly have a good time having an otherworldly photo shoot at Mt. Hikami.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate is a proper return to form which makes amends for Unity's shortcomings while establishing itself as one of the finer entries of the franchise.
Ultimately, SOMA provides a unique tale of sci-fi horror that is unlike any of its contemporaries. While it's fun to get the heart racing while being chased down by a huge robot set on dismantling you, it's the narrative parts of SOMA that left me thinking about it long after completion.
As an enhanced version of the hit 2012 game for last-gen consoles, Dishonored brings back its unique take on stealth gameplay told through a first-person perspective.
While they already had excellent source material to work with, The Coalition has given us the definitive Gears experience.