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What looks like a bright and breezy game turns out to be an incredibly stiff challenge that can occasionally be hugely rewarding. More often than not, however, The Escapists is about as pleasurable as a swift kick in the bollocks.
Fast, silly, disposable fun that excels at couch competition but falls short of our expectations for online play, #IDARB is nevertheless a brilliant laugh. Get a few mates 'round and fire it up for guaranteed giggles.
Dying Light is a cavalcade of zombie ultra-violence that's hard to put down. The parkour can be a little sketchy at times, and it's not without its flaws, but whether you're playing alone or with a squad of Kyle Crane clones, you simply can't fail to have fun amid Harran City's zombie apocalypse. If this is how the world ends, count me in.
Life is Strange Episode 1: Chrysalis is an engaging and enjoyable first instalment in what promises to be a compelling adventure series. If subsequent episodes can live up to what Dontnod has started, we're in for a treat.
Saints Row IV: Re-elected may score low in terms of its visual overhaul, but the game's ability to amuse and thrill is undiminished. This is a riotous experience that prioritises fun over everything else and thanks to the generosity of Volition it's bigger than ever, with five extra hours of gameplay in the form of previously-released DLC and the brand new Gat Out of Hell expansion. Not played Saints Row in a while? Give this one a bash.
Resident Evil still holds up after 13 years as a masterclass in survival horror, this HD remaster making it utterly essential once more.
Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell is the Big Mac of games. You know what you're getting, it's a bit cheap, you enjoy eating it, you don't have to chew and an hour later you've forgotten all about it. Utterly unchallenging and lacking in fresh ideas, Gat Out of Hell is still capable of making you smile.
A bold and smart Xbox One indie platformer, Kalimba takes a simple and clever idea, transforming it into something that's equal parts tough and rewarding. Totem-ally worth a look.
If you'd have asked me after hour five what The Crew was, I would have said a solid 50% score. Hour ten? 60%. Thankfully though, the home straight is what saves The Crew from being just another average racer and with its incredibly game world, it's worth dipping your toe in. Just don't expect it to get decent for a long time, but when it does, it's almost worth the wait.
Huge fun with friends and enjoyable on your own, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is a strong follow-up to Guardian of Light. It might retread a lot of old ground from its predecessor, but it also offers enough twists and interesting puzzles to keep you playing for a good few hours, making it well worth excavating and dusting off.
Lucid has succeeded in bringing Geometry Wars back with an almighty bang. A more than worthy successor to Bizarre Creations' originals, Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions makes the formula work in 3D, while providing the same kind of engaging gameplay that made the previous games so addictive. Finger pain and scorched eyeballs might be side-effects, but screw it. It hurts so good.
Never Alone isn't without its merits. Telling an interesting story of a dying culture, it's a hugely flawed game that manages to conjure warmth in the icy cold.
Not nearly the new-gen reinvention we were hoping for, WWE 2K15 continues to plod along, delivering the same old well-worn gameplay with only a few minor improvements. It looks wholly authentic and is the best-looking game in the franchise to date, but with less content and few meaningful changes, WWE 2K15 needs to get back in the gym.
Far Cry 4 is Far Cry 3 dialled up to eleven, with more animals, activities, missions and abilities. And while throwing more stuff at the player isn't the perfect recipe for success, I was happy to play a richer, larger version of one of my favourite games in recent years.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is the game that Dragon Age II should have been. Set in one of the most diverse and awe-inspiring game worlds in quite some time, Inquisition will have you searching every nook and cranny, spreading your influence as far as you can get it. Let down by a few bugs and some questionable design choices, it's still one of the year's best RPGs. Easily.
Over one year on and Grand Theft Auto V is still a stunning, unmatched achievement. An open-world that's still utterly absorbing, characters that you'll still want to spend time with and enough new stuff to drag you back for more, all conspire to make GTA V on new-gen entirely indispensable. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.
LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham sweeps away any doubts we might have had about TT Games' well-established template growing tiresome. It might start a little slow, yet the game is nothing but an absolute pleasure to play throughout. Pow!
A triumphant return for PES this year, after spending many years rotting away in the lower leagues. While PES 2015 might not match EA and FIFA's spending power in terms of licenses and what not, where it matters, on the pitch, this ageing superstar is getting a recall to the first eleven.
Assassin's Creed Unity makes me sad. Boasting moments of excellence, it falls way short of being the new-gen Assassin's Creed game that I wanted. Regrettably, it's no French Revolution. It's still fun, but screw it. Off with its head!
One of the best Call of Duty games in a while, Advanced Warfare is a triumphant effort from Sledgehammer Games, whose storytelling nous and risk-taking in introducing the Exo pays off in spades. It's not the jaw-dropping reinvention that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was back in 2007, but Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the shot in the arm the series needed.