Elden Ring is an action-RPG with an open world that's not only incredibly rich, but encouraging too. This game will be the talk of the Blighttown for years to come.
Excellent Diablo-like combat struggles to make up for a grind levelling process baked into a cookie-cutter MMORPG template.
A tactical FPS that borrows from Rainbow Six Siege's best bits and turns them into a moreish, alien-busting time. It may not blow you away, but it's perfect for challenging co-op jaunts with pals.
An action RPG that has you shapeshifting through a colourful world. Despite that colour, and some really fun moments, repetitive dungeon-crawls mean you're not so much saving the world as clearing it.
An action-adventure that sees you topple big monsters with your rollerblades. It's stylish and oh-so-smooth when it gets in the flow, but is hampered by repetition.
An FPS package that has its fun moments, but one that's blighted by performance issues. Portal holds great potential and may be the only mode that stands the true test of time.
An unremarkable FPS story set in World War 2. Has moments of spectacle and is largely quite fun, but feels like you're a gun on-rails, hardly a war hero.
A heroic action adventure that's simple, but full of surprises and little details. Unmissable for Marvel fans, but also a solid buy if you're just after a good time.
A gigantic open-world FPS that has you running between map markers to fell a dictatorship. It's undeniably fun, if a bit overwhelming.
A fun physics platformer with clever levels, a bit of puzzling, and a terrifying man wearing a farmer's cap.
A basic port of a cult classic action adventure that's still as visually stunning as ever, but also retains repetitive combat that makes exploration a real chore at times.
A hacking action adventure that makes exploring code a platformy, puzzly treat. It could be clearer at times and combat's only fine, but this is a world you'll want to install regardless.
An adventure with cool combat and a wonderful, wacky world. Doesn't shake things up as much as you might expect, but it's still a fun journey nonetheless.
Chronos: Before The Ashes feels like a cash in, with nobody bothering to ask “does this really need to be ported over?”. Without VR it loses the magic of being in your living room knocking shit on the floor, and exposes the game as a very lukewarm soulslike.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the guns feel great and the maps are equally well designed, but I need more, Treyarch. I can’t even customise my Operator, and there’s like, hardly any to choose from really. It didn’t take me long to unlock practically every weapon and see every map, and I can’t envision myself sticking around for too much longer if the game doesn’t get updated pronto. And I think this is the heart of the issue. It’s like Cold War has stalled on the way to a patch it scheduled in advance to save time, and we’re now just awkward passengers growing more impatient as we wait for it to lurch forwards.
This really isn’t a game you should miss out on.
Ultimately, Mortal Shell will make you want to headbutt your monitor out of sheer frustration. The puzzling nature of the map, the repetitive placement of enemies, the lack of options all coalesce into a big arm that holds the game back from being really good, to just good.