With the advent of its final release, H1Z1 demonstrates a level of thoughtfulness in its design that reflects how closely its developers have listened to players. Whether it's enough to draw those crowds back to Daybreak and the progenitor of battle royale games is a different story, but H1Z1 deserves a lot of credit for the strides it's taken towards polishing an inherently rough and ready genre.
It's an extraordinary game. One that you'll feel faintly lost in at first, while its many systems permeate your grey matter. But all the while its story unfolds and reveals new wrinkles, the sense of place growing deeper.
Broad in shoulder, wide in scope, rough around the edges. Nevertheless, an enjoyably meaty survival game.
The scope is ultimately limited, but what a roaring spectacle of broken car bits Wreckfest manages.
In this road-trip fantasy, you can drag-race in Vegas, meander through Manhattan and divebomb off Mount Rushmore. So why isn't it more fun?
Following a series high last year, F1 2018's welcome additions don't add up to a meaningfully fresh experience.
Social commentary delivered with baseball bat subtlety, Not Tonight owes a huge debt to Papers, Please, but finds its own voice in the bit-parts of post-Brexit Britain.
NBA 2K19 is a masterclass in simulating the mechanics and culture of basketball, but it loves to needle you for money
Maintaining an almost impossible level of polish across its many modes, FIFA 19 might not eclipse PES 19 on the pitch, but it demonstrates its worth via The Journey.
The pros and cons shout over one another constantly, and I think that’s why I find it such a frustrating game to play
Thanks to this quite unusual combination of tonal sensitivity, hardcore shooting mechanics and maps full of interesting wrinkles and choke points, I’ve enjoyed Insurgency Sandstorm as much as any multiplayer game released this year.
Somehow in this most well-travelled of multiplayer FPS paths, Insurgency: Sandstorm feels fresh and innovative at every turn.
Uncomplicated but gratifying flying, in scenarios of increasing silliness and therefore likeability.
Simply the best rally sim around, building on its predecessor's already fine foundations.
As Imperator grows in scale from its Clausewitz cousins, so too it grows in depth and ultimately in unwieldiness. But there's a grand strategy with aeons of play in it for you.Phil Iwaniuk
Changes on the battlefield don't make for a Total War experience to match historical and Warhammer entrants, but there's still a deeply involving strategic layer in Three Kingdoms that sits well with its licence.Phil Iwaniuk
This top-down retro journey into the 1980s criminal underworld pairs car chases and con artistry
There's more than just an endurance racing licence to distinguish Assetto Corsa Competizione from its predecessor. It's more polished, more precise, and offers more scope for long-term single-player satisfaction.Phil Iwaniuk
Initially unwieldy but eventually engrossing, Age of Wonders' latest entry translates its Civ-meets-XCOM formula brilliantly to a new sci-fi setting. Even if the elements of that sci-fi are a bit rote.Phil Iwaniuk
A gripping descent into something between alternate history and fever dream, realised beautifully in audiovisual flair, and lacking just slightly in the combat itself.