It’s just very easy and bite-sized in the grand scheme of it all. None of the cool ideas are ever fully fleshed out and it tends to feel one-note after a while. I get it if you’re a crazed brick collector, as that’s what these games are designed around, but as a gaming experience outside of co-op, I found it, as Vader would say: “all too easy”.

Getting the grapple-hook is nice and shifting the action to modern urban environments is cool, but it's all a little jarring. That said, the retro-inspired first-person shooting is by far the strongest aspect of Nightmare Reaper, and the mix of levels, secrets, loot, and rogue-lite elements is something that works together to deliver immediate, addicting, and engaging action.

It's just a shame that it didn't have some more time behind it, as it seems that the pressures of a 10-year game anniversary were more important than finessing certain areas. My treasured memories haven't been completely destroyed, but the technical woes make this Halo remake more for the fans than anyone else.

I haven't enjoyed the game this much in years. They have managed to do what 12 months ago I wouldn't have thought was possible, they've put the fun back into World of Warcraft.

The Walking Dead's first episode, 'A New Day', succeeds where some of their past adventures have failed not by fixing the issues that often hold their games back, but by placing a greater importance on the presentation and character work that the team handles best.

The Wolf Among Us is off to a great start – if it can replicate The Walking Dead’s emotional nuance and stakes going forward, it could turn into something special.

Levels are still challenging but there’s a general lack of surprise to the flow that is a little disappointing, in that it kind of feels that the underlying gameplay of The Division and the sorts of levels and missions you can expect to find have reached ‘peak variety’. But when that variety essentially blends the original game’s setting and enemy factions with that of The Division 2’s vibrant Washington DC - Warlords of New York presents more than enough reasons to re-visit the Big Apple.

An experience filled with interesting characters, great writing, and genuine love for the source material and themes.

Two days after finishing it, I'm still having Prey dreams. I'm still thinking about the ending, still wondering about the places I went, the things I did. I'm itching to talk about the things that occurred within it and similarly knowing I can't because nobody I know has yet finished it. It took me 24 and a half hours. I loved every minute of it. I woke up early to play it and went to bed late because I didn't want to stop.

SSX from EA Sports is back, edging slightly closer to a realistic feel of where snowboarding is and may be heading, while still maintaining the huge and impossible we've come to love from previous SSX releases.

We’ve been handed a mildly updated version of a little puzzle-platformer in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. And despite its bubbly and cutesy presentation, the tail end of the game is a challenging and thoughtful experience where lateral thinking and classic Nintendo game-design coalesce to really offer up a rewarding experience.

Interacting with this bright and soulful world is a deeply involving experience, and you'll find yourself continually finding excuses to play for just a few more minutes.

There may not be much actual “game” in Broken Age Act 1, but as a window into two interesting and charming adventures it easily fulfills the Kickstarter promise.

It's got a few clever ideas, unique mechanics, and the execution is mostly on point. Throw in some weapons grade VHS-era nostalgia with a decent array of spot-the-classic clones, and you've got a cartridge worth slotting into your Control Deck. With a few more dust dislodging blows though, we could have had a must-buy.

Even with the screen tearing and sporadic glitches, unimpressive graphics, generic and forgettable antagonist and over-powered abilities, I have to admit, I couldn’t get enough of Saints Row IV, once it hit stride.

Despite the fact we’re finally getting Mortal Kombat here in Australia next month, you couldn’t go much better than Injustice: Gods Among Us for your fighting game fix. It feels like a classic NetherRealm game with all the mechanics and balance they’re known for when they bring their A-Game, and it has Batman duking it out with Superman. Honestly, what’s not to love here?

Battlefield 4 is visually amazing, with plenty of pretty that is often simultaneously aesthetic and practical, while the DICE sound wizards continue to forge a second-to-none soundscape that complements the eye candy. If you’re a Battlefield fan, this purchase is a given, but even the smaller, faster-paced modes give Call of Duty a run for its money on its FPS formula.

If The Walking Dead keeps producing episodes this strong, though, I’ll happily keep playing it for years to come.

Although Summerset closely reflects the style and formula of previous expansions, this timeless quality extends to ESO’s particular brand of online role-playing. Where the spectacular scenery and sumptuous fashion of Summerset combines with prolific and narrative heavy quests to create an outstanding adventure, and a worthy inclusion in anyone’s Tamriel wardrobe.

The verbose characters and clue interactions provide several hours of likeable humour per case. This is the perfect game for sitting in your favourite chair with a hot drink and a soft chuckle just hovering, perhaps even spilling into a quiet giggle.

It’s the best Call of Duty since Modern Warfare and may in fact be better, but saying that isn’t because it’s changed the series’ formula the way that game did, rather that it’s refined it.

The product offered here is good, but not quite as brilliant as it could have been.

Being stalked by a seemingly invincible solitary foe whose cunning is unlike anything experienced before is absolutely satisfying.

Unravel Two is a fun physics-based side-scrolling platformer. And the addition of the blue Yarny, as well as co-op through him, or her, is enjoyable, but the team barely capitalises on having to use both for pushing through the environment and when they do, it’s usually elementary. In fact, outside of the game’s Challenge puzzles, which I’ll get to in a minute, Unravel Two is a far less challenging experience overall, especially in comparison to the first game.

As with the main game, Brigmore Witches is designed to be replayed, and is most impressive for its ability to generate exciting little moments and stories that stick in the player’s head. This isn’t Dishonored at its best though, and ultimately feels a little constrained by its nature as a downloadable extra chapter. It’s certainly very enjoyable, but bring on Dishonored 2, I say.

Guitar Hero Live has just taken itself too seriously, and that concept is at pure odds with what the franchise used to be about. Don’t get me wrong, there is fun here, there’s multiplayer, hero powers and a decent list of songs, but the idea that these might eventually have you forking over more cash should make you trepidatious at least.

There’s just so much to discover and learn for yourself. I didn't want to spoil the experience, because for me it was incredible. Gritty and majestic, all at once.

With this new structure Ardennes Assault represents the best single-player experience seen in a Company of Heroes title to date.

A House Divided is a weaker entry than we’re used to, but that maybe shouldn’t be cause for alarm. The table setting seems to be all in place now for the feast still to come, and even at its most meandering The Walking Dead is still capable of telling an intriguing, frightening story about humanity’s worst impulses.

Sunset Overdrive may not be the deepest experience, but it’s a game that shows evidence of immaculate craft.

At its core though, RAGE is a triumph for id Software. The game's strengths far outweigh its shortcomings and for shooter fans looking for a challenging, visceral experience that isn't akin to shooting fish in a barrel, you're going to find it here.

Ultimately this is a solid, although quick, flight down memory lane. If you're new, then welcome to the world of Lylat Wars 64 (Sorry, Star Fox 64), and if you're an Arwing veteran, it's time to relive the experience again. Definitely well worth the purchase.

Co-op bugs, weird camera angles, and sub-par engine sounds aside, I love this game. The huge variety of things to do with the 40-odd vehicles in the stunningly beautiful open world sandbox makes the game a joyful and (mostly) relaxing experience. And as the aural feedback is virtually non-existent anyway, lowering or even muting the volume entirely while loading up your favorite Spotify playlist is perhaps the best way to enjoy it. So sit back, crack a brewski, revel in the marvelous scenery, and haul a few loads. Just don't forget to pack your spare undies - you're gonna need 'em.

There’s plenty here to love, but you will need patience and you will need resolve, because the orcs and their player-defined society is a thing of, as I said earlier, unnatural beauty, it’s just a shame the rest of the game suffers in their expanded development wake.

As first impressions go, Civilization Beyond Earth makes a staggeringly poor one. After a few games -- after you get your head around the affinities and the tech web and the dos and donts of living on an alien planet -- it becomes a gorgeous and engaging, if not revolutionary, 4X game.

It's a wonderfully old-school RPG, something fans of a bygone era can use to scratch that nostalgic itch and new gamers can use to acquaint themselves with how things once were.

From the animation to the visual effects, this is the best-looking Anno game to date. Something of a no-brainer when it comes to advances in technology. But with the expanded focus on trade, production, naval combat, and colonisation it’s also one of the most engaging entries to date – again, once understood. A city builder well worth visiting.

All things considered Madden 13 does bring a new level of excitement to gameplay through its much improved animation trees. It still plays very much the same however, with many rough edges around the career modes.

Where the story engages, the characters feel believable, and the monsters look and act and behave as diverse as the world itself. When it all comes together, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin feels as epic and engaging as any other entry in the long-running series, albeit in turn-based RPG form.

Age of Empires IV isn’t something strictly for fans, there’s no accrued history you need to know before jumping in. It does however feel like a natural extension of Age of Empires II’s brilliance -- and for that does feel like the return of something great. What you’ve got here is a modern progression of the age-old, well, Age of Empires formula with all of the style and depth you could hope for. As a foundation for more campaigns, more maps, and more of everything to come it’s exciting. The documentary approach to the four campaigns on offer is not only a winner, but a confident step forward for the series. Historical warfare with an eye toward the educational. Age of Empires IV is not only one of the very best slices of real-time strategy gaming, period, it’s a candidate for best game of 2021.

If you’re a Battlefield fan who didn’t like the times when DICE has played it safe in the past, Battlefield V is for you. I’m one of those people, and I cannot wait to jump into epic play sessions of what could quickly become my favourite Battlefield game, more so now that the community won’t be divided with future content.

Even though My Friend Pedro falters when it strays the furthest from the action-movie ideal of its premise most of the time you’re still a stone-cold killer with a suite of guns and a knack for shooting at bad dudes whilst upside down spinning in mid-air.

Black Ops III might not be the absolute best Call of Duty experience ever, but it's certainly the biggest, and probably the most fun. It's the new gold standard for Treyarch too, the game that best shows off their strengths (and works around their weaknesses) as a studio. It's a weird, confident, fresh take on the Call of Duty formula, one that truly excels in online multiplayer but also manages to provide a campaign that's well worth playing through.

It’s not that it plays like a game from a different time, the overall design and flow is both time-worn and engaging -- it’s just that in certain areas it begins to feel a little disconnected. Secrets and treasure mostly come in the form of cute little hats for your Rot and the blue-crystal currency to buy more hats. So, the incentive to explore isn’t really there from a thematic or discovery context. We wish there was more finding spirits and restoring the village stuff as opposed to chests bursting open with a currency you never feel like you actually need.

To say that an experience was ‘surprisingly good’ or ‘surprisingly fun’ has a somewhat negative connotation. In that there’s the assumption that heading in expectations were set to ‘low’. To call Gears Tactics surprising is not that at all, it’s all about coming to terms with the realisation that at its core, Gears of War combat is tactical, deep, and full of its own style and flavour. And that all of that, when given enough time to develop and flesh out and expand upon, makes up the perfect list of ingredients to create a great turn-based tactics game.

There’s value here for the matriculant willing to put in the effort, but you’ve really gotta want it. And even as a Fire Emblem diehard I found it a bit of a slog. Repetitive and more often than not caked in superfluous activity, Three Hopes is a mash of ideas drawn out beyond its measure, and if you take into account the option to play through each House’s own campaign, the target audience thins to a specific tine, and you might be confronted with an intimidating wall, looming convolutedly large.

There's a lot more to Old World than the glib description of "Civ meets Crusader Kings" can convey. Yet it succeeds because it feels like a genuine meeting between the two, a deeply considered merger that applies the strengths of both games to cover their weaknesses. It doesn't feel like you're playing Civ, but with some Crusader Kings characters butting in every now and again with some silly tale or grievance. It feels like you're playing Civ, but with some Crusader Kings characters who grow alongside you, whose relationships to you and each other actually matter, and who prove that the great stories of empires aren't about production rates per turn--they're about the people who lived through them. And their pet monkeys.

While the inclusion of paratroopers and para-dropped items—that can be deployed anywhere on the map—are the most obvious new feature via specific US Commanders, there’s also a balanced emphasis on regular infantry and armour, too.

Still, as far as challenge goes on the battlefield, Engage is right up there, and the game’s titular hook isn’t a be all, end all part of proceedings, serving as a functioning tool for combo experimentation as well as another source for that all-important nostalgia. All of which grabbed me far more than any other features of the game. And it’s something I happily engaged in for the roughly 45 hours or so I played and slaved and rewound. And as has become customary for this series, it comes highly recommended for die hard fans, while newcomers, in particular here, will get a lot from the game’s heady tie-in to Fire Emblems past. A great way to kick off Switch gaming in 2023.

On PS4 Watch Dogs is gorgeous. Whether it’s a gusty, sunny Chicago day or a rainy night, the game never ceases to amaze. Its draw-distance is second-to-none and the engine always feels like it’s two steps ahead of what you’re doing.

It is the perfect open world fix in the lead up to GTA V and full credit to United Front Games and Square Enix London for crafting this entertaining, engrossing and deeply impressive title.

As has been the case for a while, the really interesting new stuff doesn't pop up until the endgame, which makes the journey to the credits very enjoyable, but also somewhat perfunctory.

With a combat and customisation system that was on par with the narrative, Tyranny would be one of the greats. As it stands though Tyranny is a narrative triumph, and thanks to the freedom it provides reinforces the notion that the RPG genre can be one of the best places to find rich multi-layered and rewarding story experiences. And few games handle player choice as well as Tyranny.

Overall production values are great with all dialogue having accompanying voice acting and when talking to NPCs you’re often presented with several dialogue choices - many of which expand the world’s lore and current events. With several quality of life and mechanic upgrades from SpellForce 3, Soul Harvest is an enjoyable experience that scratches both the RPG and RTS itch. A blend that still feels unique to this series, and one that continues to impress all these years later.

This is a moving postcard to the 70s and 80s as far as influence goes -- as if David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Genesis found each other on a moving platform designed by Terry Gilliam rapidly coasting through the far reaches of space, powered entirely by solar sails and positive thought, and decided to jam.

If you're a dedicated fan and want more of the series, you'll have fun despite being disappointed at the lack of exposition. As for the casual players, there are unfortunately very few reasons to check this out.

Dredge is a low-poly, low-fi experience that punches so far above its weight it feels like eldritch magic at times is behind it all. The game’s painted representations of its many characters is charming to a fault, and some of the best we’ve ever seen, while its score throughout, as well as the overall audio design, is perfection. It is a joy to move through, and its discovery and exploration elements are a cut above. It just suffers some gameplay balance issues and perhaps dries up in the activities department a tad too early. Otherwise this is an incredible debut for Black Salt Games and we can’t wait to see what the studio does next.

As with any good tactical game, the system takes a few turns to get the hang of, with new strategic moves being learnt even after your umpteenth battle.

The pacing has been strong so far, and if the second half of the season starts to set in motion a potential end to the conflict – or at least make the success of the Forrester clan look like a realistic possible outcome – this could end up being one of Telltale’s very best seasons.

Combat in Yakuza is deep and with RPG-like progression and various fighting styles on offer things improve as the game goes on. It’s a shame then that the more difficult encounters feel a little silly when you need to keep eating and drinking to restore health and slowly chip away at a boss figure’s health bar. For newcomers, and well, anyone really, playing on easy comes recommended. For a game that is about story first, and getting to explore Japan second, having to deal with fighting that can often devolve into frustrating bouts of dodging and toying with the limited mechanics isn’t worth it. And a frustration-free Yakuza Kiwami experience means more time spent at one of the many hostess bars.

While we bitched and moaned about the angles attempted (and often failed) in Far Cry 3, Blood Dragon very skillfully promises very little and delivers quite a lot. It’s more than Far Cry 3 reskinned, and the effort gone into the soundtrack, voice-acting, scripting and all that unfortunate research the team probably had to do to get their references just right, is top-notch.

The forgettable story is forgiven when the package of fast, furious and fun driving is brought back to save the series from obscurity. Reflections, you are given a pass for Driv3r, this one's a keeper.

When Sony released the PSVR with the PlayStation Worlds teaser experience, every gamer worth their salt gravitated to the London Heist mini-game. Blood & Truth takes that short yet fantastic proof of concept and fleshes it right out into a showcase that's well worth a buy for any PSVR adopter. While I don't think this dethrones Resident Evil VII as the king of PSVR experiences, Blood & Truth is very much like one of my loved ones when I have the headset on – within striking distance.

Metro: Last Light is a fine shooter, an exciting, fun ride, but it’s not necessarily the Metro game we wanted. We miss 2033’s punishing difficulty and its willingness to experiment, to make you suffer, to pull you down into the mud its characters spent every day in. But for many, Last Light’s changes will simply make the experience less intimidating and more enjoyable, and it’s hard to begrudge the game too hard when it’s still delivering such a fine experience.

At just $20-odd dollars on consoles and Steam, and with so much replayability with friends, it’s hard to go past this charming little indie title. It’s as simple as they come in terms of what you need to do, but actually doing it is an entirely other thing and you’ll find yourself wanting to wave your cleaver at your teammates in pure, ecstatic frustration, such is the sum of its basic ingredients.

In the end New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is a welcome addition to the Nintendo Switch library, a fun and entertaining platformer with charm and every now and then – that classic Nintendo feel. But due to the success of the platform, it also finds itself competing with many stellar indie platformers in a way that Super Mario Odyssey never did.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was excellent, and although Call of Duty: Modern Warfare doesn’t quite reach those same heights, it’s still a very enjoyable game. Its biggest downfall is the broken state of Special Ops in its current iteration, and the move back to kill streaks in multiplayer is a strange change of direction. The return of a campaign is welcomed for players like me who look forward to playing them every year. It’s brilliantly executed and is by far the one of the best in a very long time. Overall Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is another terrific multiplayer experience with a fresh take on the campaign that is greatly satisfying.

A mixed bag of mythological tricks. The single-player wasn’t as strong as I’d hoped it would be with an anger neutered Kratos a little bland. It was all just a little bit off. The revamped combat wasn’t anywhere as smooth as I’d have liked and the difficulty spikes felt incredibly cheap, even for a franchise veteran such as myself. On the flipside, graphically it was astounding, the boss battles were epic and the multiplayer is something I’ll definitely go back to for sh.ts and giggles.

When it comes to what Telltale does best – forcing you to make difficult choices – A Game of Thrones is already excelling. The ending of the episode is a real knockout, but also a reminder that the real value of your choices is what you feel in the moment you make them.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Expeditions: Rome. The tactical combat held my attention throughout. It has some weaknesses elsewhere, for sure. But like an effective party, they work to offer support. Tinkering away in your camp, or shuffling pawns across the strategic map might not get the pulse racing, but it provides an opportune moment to catch your breath, to rest and recuperate before pulling on your armour and once again striding onto the battlefield where you belong.

Ultimately, it's hard to get into these games the way we did when its predecessors hit a year and a half ago, but that doesn't mean that we're not going to keep going until we've exhausted ourselves again.

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate throws story out the window and trades it for a huge amount of monsters and content. In a way it feels like a send off, of the old Monster Hunter before we get a true version built for the Switch - from the ground up.

These missions don’t quite reach the same heights as the main campaign’s best moments, and we miss Corvo’s abilities more than we appreciate Daud’s (the constant companionship of that creepy heart Corvo carried around meant more to us than we realised), but there’s more effort, imagination and fun across these levels than plenty of big releases manage across their entire lengths.

These gripes really do pale in comparison to the overall achievement of a sequel that is absolutely well worth the wait. Even now, I can’t wait to finish this review and sink some more hours into the multiplayer which, coming from an avid admirer of the original games, is testament to how well Relic Entertainment has made a game for the fans, but also presented a whole lot more.

If you're a fan of online shooters on PC, then Natural Selection 2 not only comes highly recommended, but essential, and should sit right alongside other classic entries into the genre.

One hell of a wild ride. The vehicular combat is refreshing, it looks a treat, and handles like a dream. Whether you’re a looking to leave your mark as a maverick speed demon with a legion of fans or skirting the thin blue line desperate to shut entitled street trash down, each campaign is a blast to work your way through, even if the plot surrounding them isn’t.

Developer Relic also seems to be having a lot more fun with the loot this time around, as players can even equip some of their heroes with rare items that sound ridiculous but in practise turn out to be quite awesome. Like a machine gun that has a chance to call in an artillery strike.

The Red Strings Club offers up a great cyberpunk narrative. One where the mechanics-driven activities like mixing drinks and building genetic augmentations only serve to add doubt and flesh out a memorable cast of characters. Coupled with a great soundtrack that doesn’t lean on any one style, wonderful locations, and a few surprising twists, it offers an impressive future-tale. One that isn’t afraid to delve into the idea of friendship, humanity, and what technological breakthroughs can bring us as a species.

Pokémon Conquest is the best Pokémon spin-off I've played since the heady days of Pokémon Snap and Pinball, and it's deeper than either of those games by a wide margin.

Fury Unleashed is a fantastic distraction title that may have released in the right real-world window while we all struggle with the staying at home setup of 2020. It’s also an easy game to just pick up and play with mechanics easy enough to master, but packed with a layer of challenge that is subtle and rewarding. Especially on the Hard difficulty level. Rogues aren’t usually my bag, and I’ve never been a massive fan of procedurally-generated worlds, but the “Lite” side of those things in Fury Unleashed make it a gem of a game to sink your teeth into.

In the end Tooth and Tail is a must for anyone that has enjoyed playing through any of Nintendo’s Advance Wars titles. Even though it doesn’t feature turn-based combat and instead opts for quick and simple build and attack mechanics. Where the two titles find common ground though is in the fantastical and comic setting they both apply to rather grim circumstances. Tooth and Tail may be a game with cute squirrels and mini-gun wielding badgers, but underneath that lies a great story about fighting for freedom. With equally impressive and inventive strategy too.

Around Every Corner isn't simply the best episode of The Walking Dead yet – it's the single most significant game I've played so far this year, and perhaps the most emotionally devastating gameplay experience I've ever had.

The action is tremendously addictive and will keep you coming back for more. The most pleasant surprise was the mature plot and gruesome execution both literally and figuratively. It deals with the nature of war, the heavy toll it inflicts and those callous opportunists who see it as a business and humans as merely a commodity.

The only problem is that there's really very little reason to upgrade from F1 2011 other than the inclusion of new teams, cars and two new tracks. If Codemasters had resolved the numerous bugs and gameplay issues that have been present since day one of the reboot it'd be a different story, but if they can't do it by now, chances are they never will.

Diablo II: Resurrected presents the very best version of an all-timer, and benefits from all of the patches and updates it received from Blizzard in the early part of this century. Stuff that helped fine tune an already great game, turning it into something that stands the test of time.

Its humour may be slightly weak and unlocks spread far and wide, but LEGO City Undercover is a thoroughly enjoyable and refreshingly innocent open-world game.

Still, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is one hell of a game. It leads the way for action RPGs bringing with it a whole new level of awesomeness to combat without sacrificing expansive plotlines or an incredibly immersive world.

Despite the neat ending afforded by the epilogue, here’s to hoping Sucker Punch will give Delsin a sequel that addresses some of the detractors of Second Son and builds on the awesome foundation it’s laid down for the future of the series.

In its current state The Division works best as a finite game, an experience where its longevity will rely almost completely on post-release support and content. But, if you find yourself spending minutes going through all your latest purple items after a few successful high-level Dark Zone extractions, then you’ll probably be excited to find out what that content will be.

For this fantasy lover, LEGO The Lord of the Rings ticks all the right boxes.

Life is Strange 2 features a story that packs real emotional weight, and one that surprisingly deals with real-world issues in a way that feels like a milestone achievement in interactive storytelling. But, by that same token it is indeed more of an interactive piece of cinema than traditional game. Here’s hoping that the next few episodes provide real tangible ways to interact with the world, from puzzles, to traversal, to even some form of action.

Sons of Winter is fine, but it never feels like a standout episode.

In terms of narrative it’s as dizzying, exhilarating, and divisive as the series has always been, arguably providing some of its most memorable sequences yet, and for fans it’s something that not only has to be experienced, but savoured.

A brooding yet charming affair that brings the collector in us along for a colourful ride through a kingdom gone foldingly mad. It has wonderful boss battles, visual charm and an annoying soundtrack. Working through the game’s binary puzzle system is still Nintendo-heavy in the aforementioned charm, but deploys little-to-no replayability, while the battle system is, at least, something new. But we wouldn’t write home Mamma Mario about it anytime soon. You’ll get hours of fun if you’re a Nintendophile, or at least a kick out of it for its writing, black humour and break from the mainstream norm, if you’re not.

The time-period, focused campaign, new migration aspects, fleshed out political intrigue, and consistently grand battles make this feel like a Total War game aimed squarely at fans of the series.

Judgment has the aura of an epic crime drama – one that feels even more interesting due to its Japanese setting. The location of Kamurocho, although mostly static is a joy to explore, and Takayuki Yagami is a wonderful protagonist that is easy to get behind. Lengthy and full of twists and turns, even though Judgment offers up the most basic of detective sequences there’s still plenty to love about the world depicted. Twisted Trio included.

A technical marvel and a truly next-gen experience. Drivatar technology needs to be implemented into every game as soon as possible, and people looking for a fantastic looking driving game need look no further. Still, thanks to a pointless need to streamline the experience Turn 10 has robbed the game of some of its heart. It seems that for all their focus on recreating how a person drives, they lost sight of why.

This may sound like Absolution is a bad game. It isn't – it's just a bad Hitman game. Features bleed from other games and the bizarre need to position Agent 47 as an action man with feelings and a rough moral code has diluted its identity. That said, there is deep replay value, both in the single-player and Contracts modes.