Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a nearly flawless remaster of a mixed bag that I'm still incredibly fond of, even after so many deaths.
While decent RTS campaigns increasingly feel like my white whale, I can usually depend on Relic for something better.
These enhancements are great, sometimes even game-changing, but Paradox are offering so much for free that it makes the actual premium DLC less vital.
Sanctus Reach’s unit and faction design and flexible mechanics deserve a much better campaign and fewer constantly recycled objectives.
Together for Victory doesn’t simply buff the Commonwealth nations to make them more viable however – it gives them more options and more nation-defining decisions, especially in regards to creating an alternate history. It’s an entirely different focus, and a welcome one. There’s more room now to carve your own path, as Hearts of Iron IV takes another step toward being more than just a World War 2 game, instead becoming a 20th Century sandbox.
The Wood Elves are a worthy addition to Total War: Warhammer’s burgeoning list of fantastical armies. Distinct and terribly tricky, they make the game feel new again, while forcing half-arsed commanders like myself to up our game.
Is it currently fun? Undeniably. It’s gross, silly, and more than a little thrilling, and while the matchmaking system is a bit rubbish, there are always plenty of active servers to choose from manually, ensuring that you won’t have to spend much time looking for a game. But for that single mode to remain fresh, a frequent injection of new stuff is going to be necessary. Thankfully, Tripwire have already confirmed a mace and shield weapon combo that’s on its way, which should be great for tanks, and some new monsters are in the works too.
So desperately, it seems, the developers wanted to recapture the magic of this series that they forgot the context of its many successes. Master of Orion and its sequel were bold games, forward-facing and bar-setting at the time, and you can’t simply recreate a game that’s over 20 years old and expect it to have the same impact. If it wasn’t for its name, Master of Orion would be forgotten in a year.
While Worms W.M.D. might evoke the halcyon days of Armageddon, it’s more than capable of standing on its own as another high point for the series.
I find it difficult to picture the person who wouldn’t enjoy Starbound. Parts, sure, but the whole is this sincere, incredibly ambitious sandbox that’s as full of charm, and space-faring pirate penguins, as it is stuff to build and places to explore. And whatever you do, if you decide to add this digital galaxy to your collection, make sure to blackmail some friends into picking it up.
With the combat system and the way it's actually trying to make a point with its exploration of social issues, The Fractured But Whole does improve on its predecessor in some ways, but it quickly starts to coast, relying too much on familiarity to get by.
Halo Wars 2 is simultaneously conservative and inventive. It's definitely trying to evoke traditional RTS games – which is not entirely a bad thing given the recent dearth of them – especially when it comes to the campaign, but elements like base construction and Blitz mode make it stand out enough that it doesn't feel like you're just going through the motions for the hundredth time.
Like Cities: Skylines, Planet Coaster gives new life to the management genre, and even if the launch version does little to improve what I've played during the beta, this would still be essential for anyone who dreams of packing in their old job and running a theme park.
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, within the first couple of hours, contains the phrase "Cannon-fucking your boat to sodden splinters." Pirates might not make everything better – you wouldn't invite them to a booze-free wedding – but they've done wonders in Obsidian's RPG sequel.
Cities: Skylines was kept fresh thanks to its army of modders, but After Dark tweaks every single element of the game so that, once you start rooting around the budget panel and customising districts, it starts to feel new again. And it will probably feel new all over again once the modders get their hands on the expansion.
Everything is stripped away, leaving two coaches to duke it out over a weird looking ball. It's how robots would design a sport if, you know, they actually liked sport. Just the bare essentials, all purity and rawness with simple rules, simple tools and a clear objective. It's a game that, at a glance, you know how to play. And you should probably go and do that.
I'm not going to beat around the bush here: Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is the greatest RTS I have played since I first started flirting with StarCraft II.
The fetch quests and backtracking grate, but A Knight to Remember is still a fairly strong start to King's Quest. Even though it's a self-contained story that leaves few loose threads, I'm keen to return and see Graham grow into the famous Knight he's meant to be. So much has changed in 21 years, but it's good to be back in Daventry.
At the moment, you're getting a fair amount for less than £10: two campaign worlds right away, each with 12 challenges, almost 260 Steam Workshop challenges and the ability to make your own. And it all works, which makes a nice change. If you have a burning desire to build lots of silly bridges or help tiny vehicles make some crazy leaps of faith, Poly Bridge can scratch that itch already.
Telltale's trip back to its comedy roots is a triumph. Rhys and Fiona are a duo I want to spend more time with. Baker and Bailey do a phenomenal job of bringing them to life, with spot-on comic timing and just enough humanity so they don't simply feel like vehicles for jokes. Pandora is a world I'm enamoured with once more, and being able to explore it without grinding or shooting a thousand addle-brained enemies over and over again is a very welcome change.