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It's a stylish game with fun platforming, smooth combat and mostly good stealthy bits - and a definite improvement on its underwhelming predecessor.
This tight, finely tuned experience might not be treading the same ground as classic Rainbow Six - and the lack of any substantial singe-player is unfortunate - but taken on its own merits, it's easily one of the best shooters of the year, and the best online experience we've had in quite some time.
From its intense firefights to its wanton destruction and carmageddon, Just Cause 3 has all the hallmarks of a classic action movie - it's just a shame the end result is more Van Damme in quality than vintage Schwarzenegger or Stallone.
Like a rookie player with bags of potential, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash has that raw ability, but it lacks the finesse to be a champion.
Sure, it could do with a campaign and sometimes it's a bit too shallow for its own good, but Battlefront is also one of the most authentic Star Wars experiences you can have outside of kissing your sister - "for luck" - and scrapping with your dad.
The PS4 may be way ahead of the Xbox One in terms of sales, but in Rise of the Tomb Raider, Microsoft finally has something to brag about. As a timed Xbox exclusive, PlayStation owners will be able to get their hands on the Tomb Raider sequel eventually. But the bad news is they'll have to wait a whole year, until December 2016. Over to you, Nathan Drake - you really do have a mountain to climb.
There's a megaton of killer content to discover in post-apocalyptic Boston, and once you've set foot there, you'll never want to leave. This one will leaving you glowing for a half-life measured in centuries.
Halo 5: Guardians features an underwhelming, confusing and surprisingly banal campaign that's not actively bad, but equally not quite good enough to warrant a purchase on its own. Fortunately, Master Chief's adventure doesn't end here, and whether you team with friends and ramp the difficulty up, or get stuck into some 12 on 12 Warzone action, the extensive multiplayer offerings ensure Halo 5: Guardians isn't a total washout.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate is an acrobatic lunge in the right direction for the series. It's a more stable offering than Unity ever was with engaging protagonists, a monster of a city to get lost in, and some shrewd tweaks to the time-tested formula. Contract killing and taking leaps of faith off famous landmarks hasn't been this rewarding since the days of the great Ezio Auditore da Firenze.
When it comes down to it, it's the communication and that sense of shared success that makes Triforce Heroes such a joyous and satisfying release.
From the moment you pick up that new guitar and play your first chord, Guitar Hero Live is exciting and innovative, and feels like a natural evolution of a genre we've been missing for all these years.
Minecraft: Story Mode is off to a good start, and despite a story-less canvas and only in-game references to draw from, developer Telltale has crafted something promising.
If anything justifies the toys-to-life tag, it's LEGO Dimensions, which thanks to its fresh take on the toy portal, brilliantly varied licences and sets that actually need building, has reinvigorated what is still a relatively new genre. Disney and Skylanders may just have to raise their techy-toy game.
Whether you're an ardent fan who has logged into Destiny every week since launch, or someone who set down the controller the moment the credits rolled at launch last September, everything has been tweaked and changed for the better for everyone. And if you've yet to sample Destiny's brand of compulsive sci-fi shooting, with a year's worth of modes, missions and updates also behind it, there's no better time to jump in.
Burn the keyboards and smash those 102-button guitars, because Rock Band 4 has axed all the fiddly bits - and plays like a dream once more.
This glorious compilation is the definitive way to experience the trilogy, whether you're a returning fan after a recap ahead of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End or a newcomer looking to pop your Uncharted cherry. Either way, you're in for a treat.
The Pro Evolution Soccer series has been steadily improving over the past few years, and with PES 2016 it seems the dev team has finally cracked that winning football formula, despite some rough edges.
Chock-full of content and fresh ideas, Skylanders SuperChargers revitalises the toy-to-life series by seamlessly integrating racing into the mix and cranking up the variety.
"The simple and intuitive gameplay will especially appeal to younger gamers, as will the creativity, but the key disappointment is the limited scope. Happy Home Designer captures some of the Animal Crossing magic, but not enough to make it an essential entry in the series.""Although there are a fun mix of characters and the writing is what you'd expect from an Animal Crossing game, Happy Home Designer requires entirely too much work and not enough satisfaction for even the most dedicated fans of the franchise. If you're starving for some of the series' classic gameplay, you won't find it here.""If the two concepts are ever combined my loved ones will probably never see me again as I turn myself into a shut in, but for now this is a fantastic way to tide yourself over until that glorious day comes.""However, the lack of any real challenge is a fatal flaw, and while it's possible to create a stunning variety of different rooms and buildings, the gameplay does become repetitive quite quickly.""There's no shortage of actual designing to do, and the series' charm prevents it from becoming just a series of soulless tasks. Plus, you won't have to worry about being in debt with a raccoon this time around.""It's strangely addicting, and designing homes for some of the more offbeat villagers like the mad scientists, wrestling fanatics, and criminal masterminds is really fun. I just wish they had built in some kind of grading rhetoric for how well your designs resonated with the clients."
EA's noble quest for authenticity certainly has its benefits, but there are times when the slower pace and more deliberate build-up play takes the shine off what is, after all, a video game representation of the beautiful game. It makes those wonder strikes and team goals all the more magical when you pull them off, but you're going to have to work a little harder to make these moments happen.