Guardian's Reviews
In a year that has given us not one but three Mario-themed RPGs, I was ready to be underwhelmed by Brothership. Yet thanks to captivating combat, varied platforming and well-judged difficulty, Brothership not only lives up to my childhood nostalgia for this series, but improves upon it. It is an inviting serving of sun-soaked delight at the beginning of a gloomy November.
There is lots to do in this huge and beautiful fantasy world, but inconsistent writing and muted combat dull its blade
This bundle of 50 new games from the creator of Spelunky offers an electrifying range of retro genres rebooted, from point-and-click horror to Pong
This remake of the 2001 hit is frustratingly slow, long and filled with one-dimensional characters
Bethesda's gigantic space RPG's first major expansion only highlights the game's fundamental limitations
This voyeuristic life simulator depicts Arthur’s lonely life in his unassuming flat as he gets dragged into danger – but you’ll get the biggest thrills just from washing his dishes
It's great to finally get to play as Zelda, but working out how to take an active part without being able to fight is rather hard work
Meta spin on arts-and-crafty games has you helping an eccentric trio able to access the world outside their story to battle the evil Humgrump
PC; Strange Scaffold Deep in the woods, hardbitten spec ops soldiers are having a proper falling out in this gleeful piece of pulp brilliance
Fun-packed and brimming with personality, this full-length Astro Bot outing pays tribute to PlayStation history while pushing the console's capabilities
On the verge of World of Warcraft's 20th anniversary, Blizzard appears to have pulled off a tentative return to form for this historic game
Prior to this release, few would have heard of Chinese developer Game Science, but the studio has produced a totally original epic
A genuinely likable new lead and intense attention to the mythology of the Star Wars films made this a nostalgic thrill
Guide a mismatched team including a Navy Seer and a necro-medic through this smart, funny, and resolutely empathetic espionage thriller
In this brilliantly surreal, slapstick cartoon puzzler set in a fictitious northern town, you (a junior salesman) help an array of weird characters with odd jobs
It definitely exhausted my brain from time to time – now and then I was just shifting stuff around in circles because I couldn’t figure out how to make three blocks land on three separate switches at the same time, as the conveyor belt logic of the puzzles temporarily eluded me. But more often I felt locked in, darting around the levels and arranging them almost on instinct, feeling as if I was playing Tetris. Having reached the end of Jenna’s adventure, I am definitely done with block puzzles for a while – but rarely do you play a game that explores one good idea as thoroughly as this.
In this free-to-play gacha game, Earth is invaded and survivors living in a neo-city balance dystopian alien battles with cute, fluffy moments such as helping locals find love and taking photos of local cats
A shimmering subterranean world reveals itself bit by bit to you, an amorphous blob, in this enchanting, intricate game
Possess ladybirds and rollercoasters in Moonloop Games' quirky, inventive take on the afterlife
You may feel a touch of deja vu as you mow down rivals with your M16 – but although it's unoriginal, this free six-person shooter is slick and enjoyable.