The greatest compliment I can afford Black Flag, though, is that I wanted more at the end of my time with it. With such an expansive map to explore and so many alluring distractions on offer, this is the kind of game a player could easily lose scores of hours exploring.

A haunting experience, in a very good way. It's a damn shame the main campaign didn't live up to the potential of what was teased and the sporadic appearance of sloppy anti-Far Cry linear levels jarred with what the game achieves when at its emergent best. Faults aside, Far Cry 3 is an open-world shooter that's not to be missed, and a dish that's beautifully served on PC.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is ultimately a visual showcase for the PlayStation 5, a thrilling dimension-hopping adventure, and a next-gen experience that feels like it could only exist - in this form - right now. In an age where realistic visuals, that is real-world settings and characters with proportional features to our own, are often the barometer for fidelity, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart reminds us that a heightened animated or cartoon-like look can offer a greater sense of immersion and believability than just about anything else.

All in all this is a sequel that builds on the original in impressive ways, and a timely reminder of why the rogue-lite genre has taken off in the way that it has.

Torchlight II succeeds in being a truly viable alternative to Diablo III. The action is faster and thicker and rewards are set to a quickened treadmill pace, resulting in an experience that is immediately rewarding and increasingly addictive. Its seamless co-op (which includes player trading) openly gives Blizzard the middle finger as it allows players to decide whether to play a solo game offline or open it up for drop-ins.

Overall XCOM 2 hits that sweet spot between paying homage to the previous games, but acknowledging and improving on their flaws. It's a brilliant sequel and a masterful game in its own right, and a must buy for fans of the turn-based genre, or fans of games in general.

If you’ve ever played either game or the series before, you know what you’re in for, it’s just more. If you haven’t and this is your first time dropping in -- don’t be scared, the opposite transition awaits and gravity will take hold in that this series will launch you to new, fun and endearing heights.

As an action-adventure, an RPG, a narrative, and open-world sandbox, and a way to simply spend time exploring a breathtaking world – it falls short. Engaging at times, thrilling too, but also disjointed, clunky, and unfocused in ways we didn’t expect.

Saying Deathloop plays with the form isn’t mere hyperbole. In much the same way great films defy comparison, or push their respective artform forward, Deathloop does so for the first-person shooter. By pairing the idea of ‘where to go’ and ‘how to approach’ with that of a deep underlying mystery, Deathloop is as dense a puzzle to solve as it is a combat playground to conquer.

An unconventional and layered RPG with a steep learning curve that is not for the uninitiated or faint of heart. Baring a few faltering steps it is a well rounded and thought provoking tale offering far more than its linear progression should allow.

It’s this level of polish and accessibility that Blizzard have infused into Hearthstone that make it a great success, no matter how you feel about card games.

This is no Metroid Prime, and that’s a good thing. Rather, this is a reminder of what it means for a game to be of the Metroid half of a Metroidvania, and then some. That this IP exists in both the first-person genre-defining Metroid Prime series, and in its traditional 2D side-scrolling self is a testament to its flexibility and EMMI-like defiance of not being confined to a single shape...And in Metroid Dread, you’re not only getting arguably the best Metroid game to date, but maybe the best game of 2021.

The game’s various biomes are connected, which means your hunts are no longer bound by the old timey restraint known as ‘the loading screen’. This is a major improvement for the handheld side of the franchise, adding an open-world sheen and sense of realism to the biodiversity that is flora, fauna, and big bad monsters.

The campaign is worth checking out, Operations delivers clear forward thinking for Battlefield as a series in a way I think Rush never really did, and the maps are absolutely spectacular. Battlefield One is utterly brilliant.

Plus, it’s still one of the most intricately designed, fast-paced, and skill-centric multiplayer games ever created. One that can be enjoyed by players of all skill level.

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.

In the end, with Diablo III being a game that millions have played over the years one might think it strange to refer to this port as essential or exceptional. But, in playing Diablo in handheld mode one quickly realises that the core experience, the flow, the skill and item-based action-RPG combat, is some of the best the genre has ever seen. Also, it’s a style perfectly suited to the on-the-go nature of the Switch. So, being able to take Diablo III with you wherever you go for a quick rift or bounty or two or three – is well-worth it.

I am thoroughly enjoying this new expansion for World of Warcraft. From the new additions to the enemy tagging system, to the way the new zones dynamically adapt to the player's level, and the way that the dungeon instancing system can now select players anywhere from Level 98 to 110 to fill a group, makes this new expansion one of the most player friendly experiences in WoW yet.

An RPG of this scope could never really be perfect, but Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has got it where it counts – story. Not only in the linear progression of following a god to try and reason with a trail of wanton destruction, but in the open exploration and creating your own mark with Deadfire. There are very few lengthy, memorable, and expansive stories as what you can find here.

DOOM Eternal’s world is one that blends elements of traditional sci-fi with the sort of fantasy that resides, well, in the world of fantasy. Or, a cool-as-hell heavy metal album cover to suit the game’s heavy metal opera of fast drumming and chunky riffs, replete with choiristic guttural gregorian chants backing it all. There’s a vision and completeness on display that presents id Software as much more than tech pioneers. Eternal is as much a statement of renewed intent as it is a brilliant slice of first-person action from id. A studio that has taken the simplicity and peerless feel of DOOM 2016, Quake III Arena, and other past glories and expanded that into an experience that also captures the wonder of exploring new alien worlds and locations. To ‘Rip and Tear’ through.

It provides a compelling and mature story, great combat (eventually), all wrapped up in what is clearly one of the most visually impressive games to be released in a long time.

The game looks great and plays extremely intuitively, whether you stay with the buttons or go to the new right stick mechanics.

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.

The problem isn’t that it’s too linear, it’s just that the balance is off. The combat variety across the three main characters bleeds into the storytelling and the relationships depicted across the lengthy story and wonderfully insane cinematics. With skill progression and hidden challenge stages to discover there’s reason to go back and tackle higher difficulties or certain missions from a different perspective. But there are diminishing returns when trade-in surprising story-beats and character moments for lacklustre level design and not enough variety in the locations you do battle.

It’s a compelling experience unlike anything else out in the market, despite borrowing heavily from a couple of other big guns. Thoroughly recommend.

Halo 4 stands as a particularly polished piece of fan fiction that not only deserves to be released, it carves its own way in an established universe, carefully paying homage to the tropes of what has come before, while boldly establishing its own mythology and gameplay lore.

Minor quality-of-life missteps aside, Final Fantasy VII Remake is still an absolute gem, polished to a high sheen and worthy of slotting into any serious gamer's collection. Granted, if you've been keeping up with the Final Fantasy franchise recently, it won't feel like Square Enix has reinvented the gameplay wheel. However, it sure did reinvent the wheel of time. Without saying too much, what we have here is a divergent “defy destiny” tale that's sure to wrong-foot veterans.

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.