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.

It is densely layered in a brilliant way and will keep you pushing through, without pulling you away from the large amount of activities this playspace offers.

Lessons were learnt and learnt well. The looming Darkness has not consumed Bungie at this point in time. Quite the contrary. Destiny 2 is the glorious self-rez fans have been praying for. Stop orbiting it and dive in, today.

There's so much depth and scope to Monster Hunter World that some aspects I've only lightly touched on, or haven't even mentioned; the Canteen and its bizarre cat-chef, the Special Arena, Investigations and Bounties, the Hub's numerous activities. NPCs and provisioners, the marvelous Palico gadgets and so on. After 60+ hours and having just recently finished the bulk of the main story and hitting High Rank, there's still so much more I've yet to see. For the sake of getting this review out before Christmas 2142 all you need to know is that Monster Hunter World is an amazing, complex, and beautifully realised evolution of the franchise. It's been made extremely accessible to new hunters, whilst also being an enjoyable and thoroughly rewarding game for existing fans.

Thanks to Wadjet Eye’s now decade-long commitment to creating narrative driven point-and-click adventures that look and sound like products from a bygone era, it has seemingly done the impossible with Unavowed. Created a modern-day pixel-art driven, point-and-click classic. An adventure to savour, and one to revisit in the years to come.

Yes, it’s another Call of Duty, but it’s a Call of Duty by a rock-solid team who care about quality and stamping themselves as a premier Triple-A developer in a very crowded space. Another great Holiday release to add to your (likely) growing pile.

Darksiders Genesis is a fantastic new direction for the series, and while I love the third-person 3D entries, I’d be fine with the Genesis blueprint running the show moving forwards. This is one of my favourite games I’ve played this year. Put it on your Festivus wishlist, if you haven’t picked it up yet.

Phantom Covert Ops isn’t a simple VR experiment, proof-of-concept, or a short VR title that’s over before you realise it’s a cool theme park ride - it’s a full, feature-packed game. And a damn good one at that. The missions are varied, the pacing is spot-on and it has all the cinematic tension and thrills of a Mission: Impossible film.

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.

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.

Link’s Awakening remade and rebuilt for the Nintendo Switch is downright delightful. A memorable return to the stunning Koholint Island, and for newcomers to experience a journey they’ll savour for years to come. The Switch just got its second must-play Zelda.

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.

At its core, Darkest Dungeon is a turn-based RPG, governed by a brutal RNG/dice roll system where everything has a cost, one such example is Occultist class which can heal but also has a chance to cause the healed character to bleed, so much of the game falls under this Risk Vs Reward system.

Trials Rising is infinitely better than Trials Fusion and feels like the proper sequel to Evolution. You’re going to get exactly what you expect from Rising, if you’re a Trials fan: crazy course design, a sense of RedLynx just trolling you, some reward, mostly despair but now with added loot boxes for you to open and basically be disappointed with, or not even remotely caring of, their contents. What matters here is that Trials Rising is a game with longevity and challenge.

Full of memorable moments, fast-paced action, moody set pieces and surprising narrative twists and turns - Dusk may look like a long-lost gem from 1998, when it’s actually one of 2018’s best.

It's a sure sign of a solid platformer when deceptively simple core mechanics and basic controls result in hours of gameplay without feeling stale or repetitious. N++ achieves this splendidly. The triumph and accomplishment as you solve just ‘one more level’ of deadly physics and diabolical design is sublime and a heady swirl of emotion. Reinforcing the obsessive gameplay are instant restarts after death and virtually instantaneous level loading. Like a true platformer.

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.

If you have a spare 100 hours or so, you could do a lot worse than this. If you don’t, its ever-long pacing means it’s not at all hard to pick and play in increments. Absolutely recommended.

Its accessibility over previous entries may be its biggest strength as for those who’ve always been curious about StarCraft multiplayer but may have felt too intimidated to give it a try will find that learning has never been easier, and is still a hell of a lot of fun, even if you’re not in it to climb ladders and make a name for yourself.

The beauty of F1 2021 is that it makes you want to learn about that, it makes racing on a track more rewarding on Lap 3 than it was on Lap 2. More fun the second time versus that first-run. It’s not perfect, seeing racers celebrate is always weird (they always do the exact same ‘Champagne Robot Dance’) and certain locations have that clinical sim-look that lacks warmth. With a little bit of extra personality and detail found in the seemingly incidental, then the F1 series has potential to be even better. As it stands, Codemasters has delivered a gem -- a fast and exhilarating racer for casual racing fans and F1 aficionados alike.

The RPG side of the game is handled very well, and its challenge is really very good in the larger modern gaming landscape. Combat still needs tweaking from a design perspective, but is more than passable while the checklisty mission system does need a major overhaul, but when stacked against the game-world created here, and how much content it’s filled with, it can be forgiven.

Going in with as little knowledge of the mechanics and choices and scenario structure is the best way to experience Frostpunk. One of the most intense, beautiful, and emotionally resonant games that features arranging housing and streets ever made.

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.

The most fun new feature has to go to the new Skill Games, these fun little games will have you trying to master skills such as free kicks and dribbling via a series of mini games like kicking the ball into a bucket.

I'm rather enamoured by the unique flavour of online combat presented by Chivalry. It's fresh and fun, and like the very best games is easy to get into yet incredibly hard to master. I've honestly not had this much competitive online joy since Battlefield 3, and to think a $25 indie title can provide a level of enjoyment up there with a $100 million game like Battlefield is testimony to the skill of the developer.

Tomb Raider reaffirms the importance and value of having strong, realistic female protagonists in games, while also successfully transposing much of what people loved about the original titles into an adventure that feels superbly modern. It’s a better Uncharted game than Uncharted 3 was.

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.

Whether you’re in it for the story, the world, the resources, the crafting or all of the above, Subnautica: Below Zero is a rich vein of fun and engagement you won’t want to escape from anytime soon.