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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.
Payday 2: Crimewave Edition has been given a spit shine and a sprinkling of new features, but unfortunately the nuance ends there. If you already own the original on PS3 or Xbox 360 there's not an abundance to write home about. If you don't, Crimewave Edition is still worth your time, but it's far from the perfect score.
While Splatoon isn't quite the revelation some were hoping for, it's stupidly fun. The only concern is longevity, with the brief single-player and only two main modes to play online. Whether it retains an audience will depend on the success of post-release support from Nintendo. For now it's a colourful distraction from the grey and brown battlefields of more traditional shooters.
Magicka 2 is fun in the right circumstances - i.e. when you've a friend or three in tow - but even then it's a case of an all-too-familiar experience to the first game. That's not in itself a bad thing, as the Magicka formula is a solid one, but it is disappointing - there's hardly any progress from the first game. For a sequel that took four years to hit, that's just not good enough.
Fighting monsters, gathering information and carrying out side quests can be a slow process, but then The Witcher 3 isn't a game you'll want to rush. Not only do you care about the characters and want to see how their stories end, but you want to scour every inch of The Witcher 3's glorious game world. It's a world you want to get lost in, a world where fast travel is an afterthought and a world you want to keep exploring in case there's something you've missed.
It's a unique take on the war-based theme, and will evoke your inner voyeur, dazzling in its moments of exposition as well as its suggestive junctures.
Of course, the benefit with Adventures is that you know exactly what cards you'll unlock, so it's still a good investment if you know the cards are right for you. But even if we think the spoils aren't quite as good as last time, 'Blackrock Mountain' is an Adventure that in many ways hits harder than 'Curse of Naxxramas' did. If it's more surprising, rule-breaking encounters that you're after, then look no further.
It's an interesting and, importantly, fun game with enough going for it to keep you coming back, trying out new and different things and generally helping out in one of the most violently dodgy election campaigns ever seen.