The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered revitalises Bethesda's classic open-world RPG with a tremendous visual facelift and welcomed changes, even if some of its dated elements tend to derail that excitement.
Indiana Jones and The Great Circle not only runs well on PS5, it's a fantastic game overall that honours the legacy of the movies while bringing MachineGames' unique edge to the mix for a satisfying globe-trotting adventure.
South of Midnight plays it relatively safe in the gameplay department, but inspired art direction, strong characters and consistently great writing and voice acting make it Compulsion Games' most impressive work yet.
Avowed is easy to recommend to fans of The Outer Worlds or even Skyrim, blending epic, flexible role-playing with Obsidian's signature writing and storytelling - even if it feels more like comfort food at times.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is everything I've ever wanted from a sequel - a refined world, plenty of emergent gameplay possibilities and stunning atmosphere add up to make an unconventionally great game.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a polished, respectful and epic sequel with exciting gameplay – but also one that loses some of its predecessor’s simple charm and humour.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is easy to recommend as a compelling action-RPG with well-written protagonists and rewarding systems, though the second half of the game loses the plot - both literally and figuratively.
If you love your yearly fix or want to return to the IP without having to invest 100 hours, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is easy to recommend. If, however, you’ve been desperately waiting for some evolution of the IP, you’re out of luck yet again.
Starfield is a game that somehow enthralls me and irritates me in equal measure. On one hand, you’ve got a compelling galaxy-sized rabbit hole you can lose yourself in for hours on end, with complex questlines, refined role-playing mechanics, and that “new IP” freshness that makes it easy to ignore the flaws for a while. The problem is the more time you invest, the more procedurally generated content you experience, and the less rewarding the experience becomes.
Dolmen's janky combat, cheap difficulty, and grindy multiplayer mechanic make it tough to recommend to all but the most devoted 'Souls fans that'll stomach it.
While ELEX II’s core gameplay could be dismissed as traditional or dated, the way all the elements of the world interact with you and one another is what creates the magic.
There’s always something to do, the first-person parkour and combat remain top-class, and the story missions offer both memorable locations and set-pieces. On the other hand, the bulk of the gameplay on offer feels derivative. It’s hard to immerse yourself in the world when you’re engaged in methodical icon-clearing.
This is the President is an engaging take on the typical management sim genre, with a strong focus on story-driven elements that manages to charm and frustrate in equal measure. The story-driven elements serve to both elevate and detract from the overall experience.
Unfortunately, the presentation and strong opening hours are not enough to offset the repetition and grind that comes to dominate the experience if you want to unlock more of the narrative and see the true ending.
Life is Strange: True Colors is Deck Nine’s best work to date and I’d place it just behind the original brace of games. It’s more streamlined, has no “fail” states, and doesn’t delve quite as deeply into the supporting cast, but the story is compelling.
The intriguing narrative, fluid action, responsive controls, and phenomenal presentation all come together to create Supergiant Games’ finest to date.
A serious lack of polish and some unnecessary padding keeps it from being great, and it’s still got nothing on the criminally underrated and oft-forgotten Warhammer 40k: Space Marine – the pinnacle of action games set in that universe.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood might be fun during minute-to-minute gameplay, but it is seriously lacking in complexity when it comes to actual “role-playing”. If you’re after an experience akin to Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, you’ll have to hold out for its sequel.
As a linear, narrative-driven horror game, The Medium is easy to recommend – and a no-brainer if you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription – thanks to the balance of unsettling exploration, involved puzzles, a handful of terrifying encounters, and frequent narrative beats.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning still plays much the way it did in 2012 – ambitious in scope but lacking in depth. You may not be compelled to see it through to the end, but you’ll enjoy most of the time spent with it.