OlliOlli World takes the tight, rewarding gameplay of its simple predecessors, dresses it up in a beautifully colourful and quirky new art style, and layers on a bunch of new systems that make it even more satisfying to master. It's a masterclass in how to make score attack games that can have players attack the same spot for hours at a time in search of those vital few points that would give them the lead over a rival, with dozens of awesome hand-crafted levels and countless procedural ones on which to chase those big numbers.
Elden Ring is very much 'just' From doing what From does best, this time performing its greatest hits on the biggest stage to date. And what a wonderful thing that is to witness.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands expands on Borderlands 2's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC in some interesting and meaningful ways, but feels like it struggles to stretch out what was a fantastic gimmick for a shorter expansion to fill a full-length campaign without falling back on repeating its material. Gunplay is typically great and the numbers-go-up power fantasy as gratifying as ever, but even though it's notably less aggressive than Borderlands 3 in its attempts to make you laugh, there are still plenty of limp pop culture references and cringeworthy 'topical' gags that are likely to grate on even fans of the series' brash humour.
There's a strong case to be made for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga being the best Lego game to date, with a massive variety of gameplay styles, oodles of additional content, and that perfectly pitched playfulness that evens out the highs and lows of the Star Wars main series into a uniformly entertaining experience. The whistle-stop nature of the translation from silver screen to video game means that die-hard fans could find that some of their favourite scenes don't make the cut, but it's generally a rock-solid playable summary of all nine movies, all wrapped up in that typical Lego charm.
Saints Row doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, but it doesn't need to — it's a solid open-world adventure with loads going on, and one that is really only a good helping of polish away from sitting among the genre's better games.
Gotham Knights' situation as a game aptly reflects the struggle of its protagonists — the new team has big boots to fill now Bats is gone, and while they can't quite live up to his legacy, they still manage to make an impression by doing things their own way. Combat is decent once it opens up, and traversal and the overarching gameplay loop are both great, but it's a shame that Gotham Knights' performance leaves a lot to be desired.
The slow pace and amount of reading required may put some people off, but I'd encourage you to try it all the same — it's a fascinating period piece that tells both history lesson and original narrative while reflecting on the importance of art and stories, and comfortably one of the best examples of its genre in recent years and best Game Pass games.
Monster Hunter Rise is a fantastic action game that will keep you busy for hundreds of hours, and the upgrades on Xbox compared to the Switch original are considerable.
If you're out for some janky, old-school action that doesn't take itself seriously in the least, there's a good chance you're in the minority that will very much enjoy Wanted: Dead. But at the same time, I imagine a lot of people would bounce off this somewhat scuffed throwback pretty hard.
It's a shame that rough dialogue lets the otherwise brilliant world down somewhat, and that the game doesn't always manage to feel like the full-on power fantasy it could with so many neat powers and gadgets on offer. But Atomic Heart remains mechanically solid and has enough impressive highlight moments to still be worth a play despite these and several other dubious design decisions. Good luck with the completion for the time being, though...
Wo Long has a wonderful rhythm and flow to it, and it always feels great to deftly deflect your way through a relentless barrage of blows, wearing down your enemy before breaking their resolve and landing that fatal blow. It's a bit of a shame that the achievements don't encourage you to engage with the Rising Dragon endgame mode as it's a hearty challenge, but hopefully, Wo Long's fantastic fundamentals and rewarding combat will be enough to get you to explore the post-game on its own merits... I know they are for me.
"Resident Evil 4 is brilliant" is a statement that rings as true today as it did almost 20 years ago, with Capcom turning in yet another fantastic remake that revives and, to a degree, reinvents a classic for a new generation.
There's definitely a decent time to be had with Redfall (especially in co-op) in spite of some baffling design decisions, but given Arkane's track record, it's hard not to be deflated by what Redfall could have been compared to what it actually is.