A potent blend of tactics and RPG possessed with raucous momentum, Sons of Valhalla is excellent. Then it's not for a bit. Then it's excellent again.
Every single change Pharaoh makes to Troy is for the better, and some changes are so good that it's going to be difficult to play any Total War without them going forward. But the fundamental issues of Total War - mainly enemy battle AI - are far too entrenched to fix in a few years, and the bronze age setting doesn't allow for enough unit variation to make up for them.
This hack-and-slasher clings to its Soulsborne heritage too tightly, but does creative things that no other Soulslike until now has managed to pull off
This realtime 4X makes great use of Dune's furniture in crafting a compulsive, busy, and well-made strategy game, and its new campaign is a great addition. But the soul of Dune remains elusive, leaving its desert planet feeling barren in the wrong ways.
Expanding on the basic role playing structure with seemingly limitless reactivity and options, this game is so varied you'd swear it was sentient
Aliens: Dark Descent is an authentically atmospheric campaign borrowing from both turn-based tactics and survival horror, stymied by a seemingly deep paranoia you might mistake it for one of those strategy games for nerds. It's not. It's not for nerds. It's for cool Aliens fans. You can use a controller. It's not for nerds.
Behind the screams and stunningly-costumed demons, this is escapist junk food for gamers – which may be exactly what you're after
A derivative, uninteresting and fundamentally broken stealth action adventure that fails to capture anything interesting about Tolkien's fiction
This grungy medieval low fantasy tactical RPG isn't just a sandbox, but a quick-sandbox, capable of sucking you right in with emergent stories and moments equally thrilling and silly. The trade off here is it can lack a bit of momentum, but if you stay curious, you'll end up well rewarded by its layered and considered world and systems.
This first-person shooter from Rick and Morty's co-creator pairs a barrage of nihilistic jokes with flimsy gameplay
Two final girl sprints forward and one terrified limp back, The Devil in Me is the strongest Dark Pictures to date, but still feels like Supermassive are yet to find the right balance between fun and frights, camp and terror, and interactivity and storytelling.
Signalis is like playing a classic survival horror on your PS1, but you accidentally spilled a bucket of raw meat in the disc tray. Also, your PS1 is possessed by a malevolent cosmic entity that you're madly in love with.
An evocative work of art but the things the game evokes are so unpleasant players might need to ration the lengths of their sessions
A compact, complex 4X with attentiveness to the source material. But an inconsistent midgame and lack of narrative decision making hold it back from maximum spiciness.
The main story soon falls into repetition, and its side content is bloated with busywork, but exploring and fighting your way through Tango’s eerie, detailed rendition of Shibuya is where Ghostwire: Tokyo shines.
Creative Assembly/SegaThis sprawling medieval fantasy brings together romantic and classical strategy game design with spectacular results
With its special combos and metres, this frenetic and summery Air Hockey-style game has more in common with Street Fighter than with other sports games
An admirably odd and confident golf mini-game/ARPG hybrid, brought down by a tedious structure.
Our compulsion for profit is smartly skewered by this simple game set in a trading-market where the currency is body parts
A sandbox tactical/RPG hybrid with gritty, low fantasy charm, Wartales is systemically ambitious, but sturdy and clever enough to hold its own.