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.

It’s the best-looking game across all three platforms (yes, even over The Witcher 3), but more importantly it just delivers in every aspect you could hope for. It’s challenging and engaging, expansive and enticing. Its game-world is wholly realised and gorgeous to look at, but above all else, it tells such an incredible story in so many new and unique ways, it’s impossible to ignore.

In how they’ve drawn out their impressive narrative stacked against compelling, open-world gameplay Spider-Man is now an absolute benchmark.

Those who don't like the vehicular action in Battlefield should probably go and play Call of Duty instead of even considering Armored Kill, but for the rest of us this expansion pack is as good as Battlefield 3 gets. But please, if you do end up buying the pack, for the love of all things holy, when you get in a vehicle, wait for your fricking team mates before you put your pedal to the metal...

For just over $30, you get a good four to five hours of gameplay if you take your time, more if you want to collect 100% of each area’s hidden elements. Most of that time is spent with a smile on your face and the realisation that the Vita is severely underutilised.

The best way to sum up Reaper of Souls is to unfortunately badmouth the original release, as this is the definitive version of Diablo III, which makes the version we all played two years ago seem like a work-in-progress. Everything has been changed for the better, and when you factor in all the new content and the fantastic new Crusader class, you have what is arguably the best entry in the series.

And as the door closes on the full Death’s Door experience, I’m not at all shy to say this is one of the best games I’ve not only played this year, but in the past number of years. It is stylish and polished to a fault, paced to utter perfection and just oozes confidence from the upstart two-person team at Acid Nerve. I sincerely hope this is a franchise in waiting, because if it’s not, I’m coming for you, Devolver Digital.

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.

As a remake, it solidifies the source material as timeless and iconic in ways that still feel relevant. Especially now, when it's wrapped up in one of the most visually stunning and immersive science fiction releases we’ve seen.

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

Return to Monkey Island is the real deal, and like that quote above it’s hilarious. But, if you’re a fan of Monkey Island and the classic adventures from LucasArts there’s an extra dose of joy to be found. A joy that comes from a game and sequel that is born from the past and not one beholden to it.

The real test of whether or not Tales of Arise is for you will be in your desired level of investment, because the requirement for here, is nothing shy of massive. But what you get is a charming game built from tentpole JRPG, anime and manga tropes, glammed up the wazoo, and pegged down with a solid fighting and combat system, stunning animations, a unique art-style and maybe the best presentation in the series yet. I for one loved my time with the game, even at its cringiest, because the payoff for growth in power and the game’s pure characterisation is worth watching the handful of Alphen skits being a big dumb idiot.

The odds are never in your favour, but that's the whole point. In Spelunky, suffering is addictive.

Diablo III adds just enough to the console experience to separate it from its older PC sibling without stripping away the core action RPG base.

Pikmin 3 is quintessential, classic Nintendo, the Nintendo we know and love, the one that makes us buy every console regardless of our doubts and hang-ups. It’s not the killer app the system is begging for, but if you have shelled out for Nintendo’s new console it’s the best exclusive currently available.

Ultimately, it once again comes down to the experience of playing your first campaign. The excitement, strategy, conflict, uncertainty, and fantasy spectacle. The first dragon you take into battle. Crossing a vast body of water to formally introduce yourself to the strange Lizardmen that live in equally strange forests. Total War Warhammer II is a milestone release, for the simple reason that the campaign is both one the most intricately detailed and most open we’ve seen so far in a Total War game. Proving that a sequel can take a very different perspective, showcase a new part of the world, and be all the better for it.

The best part of the experience is just how much you feel connected to the story and becoming Spider-Man. Even when you factor in open-world design which is a mostly by-the-numbers checklist of things to collect and discover, the world-building and presentation are next-level.

Warlords of Draenor will remind you just why World of Warcraft is still on top after 10 years of service, even with its architectural problems that the Garrison feature holds.

It’s very much the spiritual successor it purports to be -- with forward thinking design and elements that flow in a way that reminds you of the timeless nature of the fluid, stylish combat of old. The lack of co-op is something you feel, but in terms of cinematic spectacle this is the Master Chief carrying the flag once more for Xbox. Albeit in that new-school form of being able to jump in and, well, play anywhere.

With arguably more gameplay content than the original, expanded diplomatic and battle strategies, and moving the series forward to the industrial age, developer Creative Assembly have released another stellar entry into this long-running series.

The art is something the videogaming landscape has never seen before and is, arguably, worth the price of admission alone. But we come for the art, and stay for the challenge. And boy, does Cuphead have challenge in spades. If you’re used to modern gaming, this is going to take you to absolute breaking point and might even push you away, but if you grew up on the more arcade-centric 8 and 16-bit games of the past, and love the challenges those games served up, then Cuphead is absolutely for you. Art and design combine, but with the sole purpose of crushing you -- what’s not to love?

In no way treated as an intro sequence, the expanded Metroidvania style second half of the game inadvertently overshadows those opening hours of brilliant platforming and action. But even so, The Messenger features an understanding of design, from the 8-bit to the 16-bit to the modern era, that make it more than a throwback.

NBA 2K14 is a truly next-gen experience -- it looks and plays amazingly, it offers a better connection to the real world of basketball than ever before and the way they've added in relationship management elements to both the MyCareer and MyGM modes makes the game feel significantly better.

In the end, as a foundation of what’s to come, Diablo IV is the opening salvo in what could end up being one of the most incredible action RPGs ever created.

The level of Warhammer-specific detail that has been translated into Total War mechanics is remarkable, ranging from the way in which different types of units compact each other to the way it’s incredibly risky and costly to venture too far into Vampire or Chaos territory.

Titanfall is a very good shooter, and I'm always a fan of any game that lets players use movement to separate themselves from the herd. Nevertheless, I feel like Respawn is simply setting the foundation here -- what they really want is for us to prepare for Titanfall 2.

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.

Tribes: Ascend is the most pure representation of the Tribes experience since Tribes 2 perfected it back in 2001. Almost every single part of the experience has been tweaked and improved, classes reborn and expanded, maps detailed and sprawling. You can ski like a master within minutes, but perfecting your routes, jumps and jetpack tactics are still the aim of the game.