A bizarrely hollow yet mechanically competent open world action RPG that struggles to justify its own existence.
Sledgehammer takes Call of Duty back to its roots, refining rather than redefining the series for the best entry in years.
EA Sports UFC 3 is a fine attempt at recreating one of the most complicated sports on earth; a dynamic, exciting and often thuddingly violent fighting game that makes marked improvements to its striking game, but just like poor old Francis NGannou, still needs a lot of work on the ground.
There's always a temptation to cut indie studios some slack. Clearly, Past Cure has a much lower budget than most action games, and it's refreshing that the team didn't use crowdfunding to get their project off the ground.
Subset games has achieved a mastery of the microdrama, and as such, Into The Breach is about as essential as indie games get.
Some fans may feel aggrieved at the removal of certain modes. Season mode is now completely absent, meaning you'll have to battle through the entire 162 games if you want to complete a year in Franchise Mode, and some of the creation options have been stripped out of the game entirely.
So, like many others over the years, War Machine is a serviceable DLC map pack and nothing more. There isn't anything here that alters the dynamics of the gameplay, no new modes or ideas – just good, solid environments in which to do the same kind of battling you've been doing for years.
Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire is a truly superb RPG from the masters of the genre. Unlike, say, a Bethesda game or even The Witcher 3, this isn't an accessible entry point for curious newcomers; it's a game that demands the kind of attention and commitment that is rare in 2018. However, if you have that mindset – and the time – then you'll discover one of the deepest, densest and most rewarding Role Playing Games in years.
Agony. It's a pretty fitting name.