Insomniac's Spider-Man is as loveable as ever, even if the surrounding game can't quite live up to him.
A tough yet rewarding turn-based tactics game with a supernatural twist on the western theme.
Crossfire: Legion is a perfectly adequate RTS capable of generating some spectacular player-driven action, but it's so keen to be the next Starcraft that it skips right past much of what made Starcraft great in the first place.
Through its invasion mechanic, Sniper Elite 5 achieves the ultimate goal of any sniping game, to capture the tension and drama of Jude Law and Ed Harris squaring off in Enemy at the Gates. If, like me, you watched that film when you were too young to do so, and thought "I wish there was a game that let me do that", rather than the more balanced "wow, war is terrible," then Sniper Elite 5 is that game, just without the Russian setting or Rachel Weisz. Couple that with eight superbly flexible sandboxes and the most imaginative interactive representation of the second world war in at least a decade, and you've got yourself one of the most entertaining games of the year.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong offers an impressively flexible story, but that can't save it from its mediocre writing and scattershot game design.
Galactic Civilizations 4 is a vast and dependable grand space strategy. But there's little here that radical, and expect to meet it halfway.
Excellent combat and a stunning sense of scale help steer Lost Ark through its more tired MMO conventions.
It may not be a radical change, but it's still one of the best management experiences around.
CoD's multiplayer is as dependable as ever, but Vanguard's campaign and Zombies mode fail to capitalise on what could be interesting ideas.
Despite a messy start, this spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead becomes more challenging and characterful the longer you spend with it
Slight repetition can't diminish the incredible atmoshpere of Farm 51's post-apocalyptic survival game.
Blending classic stealth mechanics with puzzle-y sniping, Contracts 2 gets the job done.
Necromunda is a sight to behold, but it's undermined by wonky shooting, superfluous mechanics, and bugs.
Solasta's storytelling may not be up to much, but its tactical combat and accessible approach to D&D rules make it worth considering for CRPG fans.
Below Zero is a mostly brilliant sequel to the best survival game of all time.
Trials of Fire's list of features may read like a videogame word salad, but the resulting combination makes for a fine RPG feast.
A superbly stylish and surprisingly challenging management game, Evil Genius 2 is let down only by its tendency to bloviate.
Classically styled and rich in detail, Nebuchadnezzar's city-building fun is hindered by micromanagement and trading issues.
A compelling story and speedy stealth make up for Disjunction's less even moments.
As a prohibition-era mob boss, you're at war with rival gangs as well as the police in this ambitious, if uneven, gangster sim