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Back 4 Blood features the hectic first-person combat and brilliant co-op camaraderie that made Left 4 Dead so popular. It’s no wonder that Turtle Rock wanted to emulate that success, and while there are a few compromises – the terrible bots if you can’t round up some mates, and the extreme jump in difficulty if you want to eke out some more playtime – this spiritual successor falls into the “worthy” category.
Boxing is one of the least served sports in video games – even Handball has an annual franchise – so any competent adaptation will get some attention. Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions isn’t a champion of the genre, but its lean, focused design makes it a strong contender.
A wealth of modes that accommodate a range of play preferences make this the best Mario golf game – and probably the best Mario sports game – in an age.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a fun but flawed new entry in Ubisoft’s iconic action franchise, with a bloated campaign that wears out its welcome and a ton of bugs for players remaining on current-generation platforms. Still, what’s here is actually some of the most confident Assassin’s Creed content to date, with thrilling story beats, refined exploration, and enjoyable side content.
Lost Ember wears its influences proudly but it doesn’t surpass them. Nonetheless, it’s a personal tale told with style on a large and frequently beautiful canvas. Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch version suffers from performance problems that are detrimental to the overall experience. If they can be fixed – and we’ll update this review if they are – you can happily add another half-point to our score.
Windbound almost feels like a mixing pot of some of this decade’s most visually striking and compelling games, and for the most part, the end result is surprisingly effective. It could do with more depth, but its focus on exploration and fantastic ship-building mechanics make for a pretty liberating survival experience.
There’s a lot about Resident Evil 3 to love. Its combat is meatier, its linearity makes for an interesting change of pace, and Nemesis is pure nightmare fuel in all the right ways. Yet, the game’s pace is simply too hasty for its brief runtime. In the end, it’s an enjoyable – but noticeably rushed – remake, that never quite matches the heights of its outstanding predecessor.
A disappointing third act and weak moral choices aside, Faith is the best episode since Life Is Strange 2's debut. It unravels Sean's character in interesting ways, has some expansive areas to visit and delves into the more mature aspects of the sequel's world to create some deeply poignant moments. With the finale right around the corner, the Diaz brothers' last chapter has all the ingredients to be a doozy.
My Friend Pedro is one of those activities – like skateboarding, or playing the guitar, or any form of dancing – that always looks that much cooler when someone else, someone more proficient is doing it. Don't let that discourage you, though. You'll still have a lot of fun playing a slick, stylish game built almost entirely out of those brilliant, cinematic, single-shot hallway fight sequences.
I can’t say I’ve ever played something quite like Pathologic 2. The systems are intricate, the choices have serious consequences and the story is perhaps the most mind-boggling I’ve ever experienced in a video game. At times, it’s too much, the unforgiving learning curve and hard to follow story making it wildly inaccessible. However, if you are patient and stick with it, Pathologic 2 opens up into a completely unique, surreal and harrowing experience that I can assure you won’t have played anywhere else.
Tropico 6 is a visually impressive, unbelievably charming and ruthlessly enjoyable role-playing city-sim. It lacks the depth of the genre’s more intricate modern hits, but its fun political systems, tongue-in-cheek moral choices, and challenging task management make it a worthwhile investment for genre aficionados.
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus is a rare exception to the iconic tabletop game’s line-up of video game offerings. The combat is engaging, the visuals are striking and, most importantly, it’s a blast to play. Its attempts to diversify itself from other examples of the genre don’t always land, but it’s a solid RTS that’s as deeply addictive as it is ruthlessly entertaining.
The Garden Between may not be a puzzle game that challenges you, but it is one that makes you think. It’s enchanting, creative, introspective and entertaining, and whilst it’s let down by its simplistic gameplay, it’s got enough nostalgic charm to stay afloat.
The Golf Club 2019 certainly isn't everybody's golf game, but if you're in the centre of the (admittedly small) Venn diagram of "prefers the intricacy of SKATE to the button-mashing of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" and "is really hardcore into golf" then you're in for a massive treat.
Fire Pro Wrestling World is a hardcore wrestling game made for hardcore wrestling fans. While it’s simply a tonne of fun, it also welcomes creativity and strategy, its rich gameplay making it a wrestling toy box that feels brimming with limitless potential. There’s a lack of variation and an intimidating learning curve, but it’s easy to look over these missteps when Fire Pro Wrestling World ticks so many boxes.
It's hard to ignore the unsavoury taste that comes along with The Crew 2's social media-based progression system. That being said, most people will accept that it's just a somewhat topical stand-in for an experience point system – and skip through all of the awful vlogger posturing and horrid presentation – to find at its heart a knockabout arcade racer with the capacity to make you smile.
If you remain a committed 3DS gamer – and there's every reason to be – I would suggest looking at some of Jupiter's cheaper Picross titles available via the Nintendo eShop. If not, Picross S continues the studio's good run of engaging puzzlers with a wealth of content and visual finesse that is underpinned by timeless gameplay. Keep 'em coming.
The core racing model is a fluid rush, and a thrill to control through an intriguing, if undercooked world. It’s to 34BigThings’ credit that they make known where their crosshairs are trained, but the bite is that much harsher when they miss their mark.
The Long Dark is by no means perfect, but what it lacks in finesse it makes up for in attention to detail. The survival is tough but addictive, coming with a vast array of supplies to find and stats to manage, while the challenge mode and story accommodate players with different levels of experience and ability. It’s got a lot of ground to cover in patches and updates, but there’s still a mighty fine game underneath its shortcomings.
Players who like hardboiled detective stories will likely find something of interest here as well, but most of all, for those familiar with the work of Suda51 – especially Killer7 and Flower, Sun, and Rain – The Silver Case will be an essential 'new' Suda51 trip.