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If the non-vehicular segments were on par, we'd have had a classic on our hands. But sadly they aren't, and we don't. Mad Max is at its best when you're hurling through the desert with a pack of murderous bandits on your tail, but the on-foot portion of the game feels derivative and largely uninspired.
It's a game that understands everything about itself and how it works. It's the best stealth game ever made and feels like a game-changer for the medium as a whole - through its scope, the freedom it offers its players, and its deft structure. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is the apex of the series and a fitting way for Kojima et al to bow out: as one, as best, as Big Boss.
Forza Motorsport 6 is a terrific game. It misses a few minor beats, with yet another career mode that throws you straight in there, and good god the serious attitude of the game is sickening at best. But this is one of the best driving simulations out there: it's the game launch title Forza 5 really should have been. We're a bit spoiled for choice in great driving games this console generation, and Forza 6 screeches in and finds itself a place at the head of the table with consummate ease.
Which is what makes Metal Gear Solid so relevant today: its unwavering capacity to adapt and evolve. It's a game that understands everything about itself and how it works. It's the best stealth game ever made and feels like a game-changer for the medium as a whole - through its scope, the freedom it offers its players, and its deft structure.
The Force is most definitely strong with Disney Infinity 3.0, which feels like a much more complete experience, successfully marrying its two halves - Toy Box and Play Sets - into a cohesive and entertaining whole.
Super Mario Maker already has so much potential, but its true brilliance will only be apparent once it's out and it starts to create prodigies. Whether Super Mario Maker is a gateway to infinite Mario levels or an outlet for your creativity, you will still find unlimited value within. If Mario means anything to you, this is absolutely essential.
Devil's Third will probably gain a cult following because it's a game from Itagaki, but it's nowhere near the quality of some of his earlier work.
Despite the butterfly effect's premise, a ham-fisted story means you won't care about who might live and who might die. It's not enough to save the game from disappointment, and in the end, Until Dawn is its own self-inflicted nightmare.
At times, Volume may fly too close to its Metal Gear Solid roots - creator Mike Bithell has unashamedly noted 1998's stealth 'em up as a distinct source of inspiration - but what it lacks in immediate originality, aesthetically at least, it makes up for in innovative, engaging, and challenging level design. To brand this a clone would be more criminal than Gisborne's corporatocratic rule.
It can get frustrating at times, but it's meant to - and that's what makes it work.
The Swindle is a good game on the cusp of greatness, but falters from a structural identity crisis that is hard to ignore.
Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is far from a double-bogey catastrophe of a golfing game, and has all the fundamentals to challenge for honours. With a little extra love and lots of additional content, it could potentially go beyond par and soar like an eagle.
And that's what it feels like to play Godzilla - you're a man in a giant suit, blindly bumbling around a fake cardboard city, swinging your arms and trying not to pass out - not because you're exhausted, but because you're bored out of your mind.
F1 2015 lays the foundations for the future by getting it right on the race track where it matters most. Ultimately, however, it's still in need of some bodywork to bring it fully up to speed with feature-heavy past releases.
Final Fantasy XIV newcomers might have to jump through hoops to access the new content, but believe us when we say it's worth the effort.
This is the Batman game the fans deserve, and the one they need right now.
This year has blessed us with many massive, must-play releases. Her Story regally joins the list and is one that we're sure will be discussed for years to come.
There is the odd flourish of creativity, but it is hard not to feel like it's all been done before, and better. There's still plenty to enjoy, but it doesn't quite carve out its own identity. In short: it's finely crafted, if a bit woolly.
The game is worth its asking price for its sheer volume of content alone, and while not all of it is gold, you'll find as much bang-for-buck value here as in any other multiplayer online adventure on console, subscription-based or otherwise.
Just like the game part, LEGO Jurassic World's entire presentation - its cinematics, its atmosphere - is predictable. Good enough, but incredibly safe, and definitely a factory line production that inspires little other than blandly trundling through the game, chuckling a bit at some jokes and ignoring most of them.