There's so much to explore, to experience, that I think it's essential playing — despite the slightly disappointing stealth.

It combines the simple elegance, bountiful content and colourful enjoyment of so many indie works with the production values and design genius of the generation’s best Triple-A titles into a game that feels fresh and contemporary, but also mindful of what has come, and worked, before.

It isn’t without performance hiccups, especially the deeper you go. But the breadth of content here and the open-world nature both in terms of playspace and just pure choice in how you go about it is something rarely seen in games.

Aside from these niggling flaws, the game is bloody amazing, and easily the best instalment in the Monster Hunter series to date. I've got over 80 hours on my save file already, but I feel like I'm still scratching the surface.

You won’t play a game like it this year, or even from the past few years lest you dabble in the narrative adventure field, and even then Obsidian’s new opus is pretty distinct. Its writing is among the best I’ve experienced for this style of game, while the cadence of its unfurling mystery is such that the game draws you into its world ever so slightly, you’ll barely realise how deep you are into it before it snags you in its binding. Just go into it with an open mind and the desire to sink yourself into a good book, then let the game do the talking for you and strap yourself in for one of the year’s most unique offerings, and one of its best.

Best platformer I've played, experienced and ogled at in a long while.

The refined combat, improved AI, and other elements overshadow any detriments and lingering bugs. The Division 2 is not only a refined follow-up, it’s the arguably the best ‘looter shooter’ this generation has seen.

Trials Evolution is one of the most complete packages on the Xbox Live Arcade. Were it a full retail release, I'd still have no qualms recommending it. As a cheap downloadable release, it's an incredible reminder of just how good we have it as modern gamers.

Getting online and into the game though, rewards players with one of the most engaging single-player and co-op experiences in the business, so if you have patience and can look past Blizzard's biggest oversight, you're in for one of the year's best games.

With other games offering multiple story paths and upgradeable characters Deus Ex no longer stands alone in its field, and it's not perfect by any means. But, with the mix of different choices, multiple paths and wholly addictive game play mechanics it's hard to put down.

It’s not for the faint of heart, and takes the post-apocalyptic formula to new brutality heights, but you’ll have dreaded fun while plotting your course both through the game, and for revenge. After all, it’s a dish best served cold, and more often than not you’ll be shivering outside in the rain-drenched black of night, bruised, bloodied and battered. Staring at the last two rounds in your weapon, wishing you had a fuse for your near-completed molotov while hearing the echo-location clicks of the poor bastards swaying in the corner, the pandemic turned into living purple 1-Down mushrooms.

Handheld gaming doesn’t get much better than this.

An epic experience that haunts you between play sessions, enticing you to come back for more. It may not hit the lofty heights of Skyrim, but it comes bloody close and, unlike its most obvious comparison, boasts consistently fantastic characters, a memorable and compelling storyline, and breathtaking visual fidelity out of the box.

It screams replayability and I just can't wait to get back to it.

Borderlands 2 is a FPS/RPG fusion the rest of the videogame development world should stand up and pay attention to, because Gearbox has backed a real winner in this IP. A must-buy.

Breath of the Wild can’t be compared to the likes of The Witcher 3 or Skyrim because it’s not trying to be those games -- it’s a Nintendo game -- and series -- all grown up. It has a lot to offer and will keep you engaged for lengthy periods of time. If you’re playing on Switch as you absolutely should be, then you can also Zelda wherever you go. It’s arguably not the best Zelda game, but damn, it might be the most polished, and the most ambitious.

Ruiner is momentum. The art drives the story, the story drives the setting, the setting drives the music, and the music drives the combat. Which in and of itself, needs none of the above. There are other very cool elements to be found from the versatile progression system to the way in which the boss battles evolve and really put your skills to the sent. And there are stretches where the momentum lags and cues are repeated. But with the sound turned up, the lights drawn, and your eyes firmly watching each enemy movement and background detail come to life there’s nothing better. Ruiner gets it. And I love it.

What Watch Dogs 2 has done for the newly-minted Ubisoft IP, and for the hacking culture they so enthusiastically embrace, is prove above and beyond that the concept and foundation are sound. They’ve injected more fun and diversity this time around, and they’ve done so with a city backdrop that is truly alive, and is utterly inviting.

I’ve avoided as many spoilers as possible and barely scratched the surface of what’s in store for those willing to reward the hard-working developers of Hogwarts Legacy. The game-world is HUGE, and not nearly as checklisty as many other games of this nature. And certainly doesn’t suffer so-called bloat. Rather it’s rich and rewarding and inviting to a fault.

With various difficulties to tackle and work through, secrets items to find that affect loot quality while offering additional challenge, in addition to the large and mostly accommodating community - Warhammer: Vermintide II is a must for fans of co-op. Or, anyone still holding out for Left 4 Dead 3.

And that’s what GT7 reminds you of throughout your journey -- that this series has always held car and automobile culture as its anchor point, and in return has become a part of that culture itself. To some, there may be aspects of GT7 that feel static or sterile, but Polyphony Digital isn’t the fun uncle, it’s always been the serious one. And in Gran Turismo 7, what we get is a serious dose of incredible, be it from an historical and cultured perspective, or in learning how to just drive.

Its nuances are deep, the layered gameplay is incredibly satisfying and there really is nothing quite like it out there. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got another 350 or so hours to knock out.

Whether playing by yourself or against others, Trials Evolution is an addictive blast that should not be missed.

It has a sneaky depth to it, a crafty addiction about it, where you'll start out just playing a game a day and then suddenly you're browsing the forums on your phone during the intervention your wife is holding because your addiction to Heroes of the Storm has affected her in the following ways...

Skylanders will be an influential series in years to come and successfully combines real world collectables with a fantastic platformer to deliver a rich and engaging experience.

With a far more approachable career mode (as well as the title modes and awesome title defense mode which plays out like it sounds), robust and deep combat system, great atmosphere, sexy graphics bolstered by entertaining and spot-on commentary by Rogan and Goldberg, UFC Undisputed 3 is easily the best iteration of the series.

It’s a rarity when a title delivers engrossing, compelling, varied and highly replayable gameplay in both its single and multiplayer elements. Splinter Cell: Blacklist is such a manner of beast and other than a few graphical inconsistencies it remains one of the most solid all-around combat experiences I’ve snuck around behind and embedded my knife into.

This is what Diablo III should have been at launch, a beautifully constructed, tightly honed experience designed to capture players and not let them go until it's 2am and they have work in the morning. With couch co-op, randomised dungeons, randomised enemies and a loot system worth actually using Diablo III: RoS: UEE on PS4 is the best way to play Diablo III.