Jon Denton
A bizarrely hollow yet mechanically competent open world action RPG that struggles to justify its own existence.
David Jaffe returns with an obnoxious, sketchy shooter that packs a surprising - if not entirely pleasant - punch.
With noble intentions but scrappy delivery, Verdun is a bit of a mess.
A characterful and generous shooter, though its lack of balance is a thorn in its side.
Gearbox's blend of shooter and MOBA is generous and inventive, but the marriage of genres doesn't fully convince.
This is a shooter with ambition, designed with skill and craft, and rich with tactical possibility. If it had the punch and physical feedback of some of its less-intelligent genre mates, Evolve could have been a classic. As it is, we'll have to do with a monster with plenty of bark, but not quite enough bite.
Sledgehammer takes Call of Duty back to its roots, refining rather than redefining the series for the best entry in years.
LawBreakers is an inventive, electric and expertly engineered classic competitive shooter that deserves your time.
In a banner year for first-person shooters, Respawn delivers what might well be the best.
A misguided attempt at parody, underpinned by a poor sports game by anyone's standards.
Agony. It's a pretty fitting name.
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.
Uninspiring, if solid enough.
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.
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.
EA Sports UFC is a game capable of brilliance. It's let down by some curious design decisions, signs of a team perhaps too interested in capturing non-essential moves seen on YouTube rather than nailing the essence of the sport. But when it flows against human competition, it offers beautiful destruction and glorious drama. Landing a picture-perfect head kick in the final minute of the fifth round of a title fight? Well, it doesn't get much better. And if that's not worth a fistbump, I don't know what is.
Still, it's hard not to be impressed. The fact Intercept is due for release as a standalone product later in the year suggests Guerrilla intends to offer continued support. The meagre number of maps means repetition soon kicks in, but the gorgeous visuals, frenetic carnage and demanding teamwork make for the tightest Horde variant since Mass Effect 3's. A surprisingly good time for all.
Strong, handsome and, at times, fantastic, but FIFA 15 still never quite feels like football.
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.
Another high-quality first-party title for the Wii U.