A solid multiplayer shooter that ticks all those nostalgic boxes for fans of the original trilogy. The graphics and audio design are excellent throughout and the net code has performed without fault. However, the lack of a proper offline mode and small number of multiplayer maps is frustrating given the opportunistic Season Pass content on the horizon.

The live action cutscenes make Need for Speed painful to witness and the bland events and dull tracks mean you'll soon tire of hanging out in Ventura Bay. It's a shame, as the graphics are fantastic and the customisation options are top quality. If EA continue with the Need for Speed brand, they need to focus more on what's under the hood.

Tales of Zestiria is passable in most departments, but it makes no real effort to excel at anything. The combat and visuals aren't aging well and the story and characters are clichéd, even for a JRPG. There's some fun to be found fusing equipment, but overall the series needs to up its game.

As a whole series, Life is Strange has been an intriguing and emotional experience. The rewind mechanic is an intelligent inclusion to the interactive drama genre and gives the impression of having significant control over the narrative. That said, there's certainly an argument that player choices have all been leading to a singular binary decision which somewhat softens the finale's emotional punch.

WRC 5 patronises gamers with hollow victories amidst a game full of painted-on features. It's a shame, as the track design is suitably stuffed with tight corners surrounded by car-shredding traps. Car handling is up to the task, if a little lacking in speed and excitement. You're better waiting for 2016's rally games.

This is one of the best Lego games in years and the toy-to-life interactions are fantastically handled via inventive uses for the docking station and the three characters. Not being able to tick off all the usual in-game collectibles without paying a fortune for extra characters is a poorly judged slap in the face for fans of the series though.

Surviving in a real post-apocalyptic wasteland would be a miserable existence. Mad Max nails that feeling of just wanting to crawl under a rock wait for the end. It's a miserably dull grind, occasionally made bearable by the vehicular carnage once you've suffered through the first half.

Puzzles and their bizarre solutions are just the right amount of complicated and satisfying to beat. While not bringing anything new to the genre, Broken Sword 5 is a fun point and click adventure -for both long-time fans and newcomers- with a compelling and mysterious religious conspiracy plot.

The repetitive missions grate all too soon and the bloated levelling makes little difference. The random chunks of story lack consistency and will only be understood by hardcore fans of the show, who deserve a better narrative than this. But when played in short bursts or with people online, there's an easy-going yet empowering flow to the action that makes it hard to put down.

This could have been much better if it had made a few more modern day concessions like random loot drops and a proper XP system. Still, if you're a retro gamer who fancies a change to Diablo III, it's undeniably fun for an evening session while you catch up with friends or even with randomers online.

A true lack of visual improvements makes the Vita-to-PS4 transition ultimately appear underwhelming, but those desperate for more adventures with Kirito no doubt enjoy running around the colourful world of Aincrad – so long as they employ patience while getting to grips with the combat system.

There is only so far you can take a game titled Godzilla. After the fun of smashing up buildings and flinging helicopters soon wears off, you begin to find yourself with a mediocre title that becomes repetitive at best.

The controls and the way they unpredictably unleash the wrong moves at the worst possible time really disrupt Tembo's platforming gameplay. Pair this with a no-mercy difficulty and you have a frustrating mess that could have been so much more.

Tamriel Unlimited is neither a great Elder Scrolls game nor an MMORPG for the ages, but it's something else entirely. An addictive if often awkward compromise with an astonishing amount of quality subscription-free content.

There's a great arcade flight sim in here somewhere. Vector Thrust offers a huge number of unlockable planes, thrilling dogfights and a bevy of modes, but its abysmal campaign and wildly inconsistent quality should have been caught in Early Access.

Mega Coin Squad is a fast-paced coin collecting platformer with fun gameplay and visually pleasing retro style. Though its single-player gets repetitive fast, gamers looking for a fun and chaotic experience with friends will love the multiplayer.

Operation Abyss buries a great dungeon crawler beneath obtuse mechanics and an atrocious interface. Thankfully the story and the sensational dungeon design makes it well worth excavating.

Lego Jurassic World has clearly been rushed through to release alongside the new movie, and as such is riddled with bugs and glitches -more so than any other licensed Lego game. There are plenty of grin-inducing moments for fans of these incredible movies though and as such Lego Jurassic World is still worth a look if you love the films enough to forgive the defects in its DNA.

Once the balancing had been fixed it could be a great team-based shooter, but its monetisation and unlock system will no doubt rub a lot of players to wrong way. That said, it’s free and a fairly small download, so it’s certainly worth a look, but time is running out to get things right with new competitors almost ready to steal the spotlight.

Supercharged Robot Vulkaiser is a deliciously cheesy homage to mecha anime and an exhilarating bullet hell shooter with a fun transformation system. It's not ASTRO PORT's finest work by any means, but innovation plays second fiddle to pure satisfaction.

We're thrilled that Lord Of Magna: Maiden Heaven made its way West. It's a delightful distraction with great combat and characters that makes up for a few flaws with its earnest sense of fun.

Sadly, House Of Wolves presents horrible value at £19.99 or as part of a season pass that costs as much as a retail game. Once again Destiny sells the illusion of meaningful content for a Queen's ransom.

Combining with frantic combat and an utterly barmy sense of humour, the side-scrolling action of NOT A HERO can be just as unforgiving as it can be enjoyable. Providing you have the patience to overcome its challenging later levels, BunnyLord’s flawed yet commendable political campaign is certainly worth your vote.

In an attempt to prove the viability of the GamePad touchscreen as a primary input device, Nintendo accidentally created an inferior sequel to a decade-old DS puzzler. Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush squanders much of its potential and achingly beautiful visuals, functional but lacking in lasting fun.

Omega Quintet boasts a unique idol premise, enjoyable exploration, quirky characters and a sensational combat system. Sadly the unlikeable protagonist, disappointing visuals and other issues make the PS4's first exclusive JRPG more difficult to recommend than it ought to be.

While it sounds great on paper, the execution varies throughout and for every moment of triumph, there are many more instances of frustration and exasperation.

The Indie Mixtape is a success, giving five interesting yet overlooked games a new lease of life at a bargain price. Though the eclectic mix of genres may not be to your tastes, and you could cherry-pick the best games separately on itch.io, this brave compilation does a great job of showcasing hidden talent.

Titan Souls is a brutal and breathtakingly elegant boss battle bonanza, but it's difficult to find a satisfying rhythm thanks to a host of inconsiderate design decisions. What starts out as wholesomely frustrating can quickly become infuriating and even surprisingly repetitive.

Fans of old school shooters will enjoy Tower of Guns for its classic approach to firing from the hip and strafing through borderline bullet hell stages. The randomly generated rooms and enemies repeat themselves sooner than we'd like and the frame-rate goes to hell in the really busy rooms. There are some tasty guns to be found though and it's a lot of fun in small bursts.

Keebles is a deceptively difficult fusion of cutesy physics puzzling and vehicular engineering. Fun and wholesomely frustrating once you smash through the challenge curve, but plenty of potential goes untapped due to its roots as a Windows 8 app. Nevertheless, a robust and incredibly addictive first attempt, and a foundation that Burnt Fuse will hopefully build into a sensational franchise.

Against all the odds, it's the single player campaign that's proved to be Battlefield: Hardline's biggest selling point. Trying to play through as a 'good cop' by arresting baddies instead of filling them with lead is very rewarding. But the gunplay is as fun as ever if you want to play that way too.

Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters tells a great story well and sets a new graphical standard for visual novels. Sadly its attempts to provide more player choice and agency fall flat, both in terms of vague (often creepy!) character interactions and tedious turn-based combat.

In an effort to be bigger than the original, Hotline Miami 2 bloats the arcade gameplay of the original into an grinder that punishes risk-taking and frequently feels irritating or unfair, not satisfyingly tough.

If you don't care about playing last-gen material on new-gen platforms, give this a miss, do yourself a favour and pickup a copy of the original Saints Row IV for under a tenner.

Blackguards 2 delivers more brutal hex-based strategy and environmental puzzling while refining the original formula in several smart ways. The more open yet focused campaign, propped up by a fantastic central character who's as evil as you want her to be, makes for a satisfying if punishing experience.

A great remake of a terrible sequel that fails to take the series anywhere remotely interesting.

Zany humour finds wonder and wackiness in the mundane, while the recruitment system lets you build a versatile army that changes the way you explore and battle in a JRPG.

A fun, accessible and utterly bonkers 4v4 team sport that allows onlookers to get involved in crazy and unpredictable ways. It's a local multiplayer revelation, though long-term appeal and value is questionable especially once it returns to £11.99.

If you can get past the clunky storytelling and the repetitive missions, you might a diamond in the rough that really empowers you to revel in the design aspects of its zombie-infested sandbox.

Unmechanical Extended is just as short and sweet as the original; a gentle yet compelling use of four hours that's best enjoyed in a single sitting.

What could have been an underground smash as a budget download has been spread thin to justify a AAA price, leading to grave concerns about its glacial progression, value, longevity and DLC strategy. Though still utterly fantastic under optimal conditions, Evolve asks far too much for an inconsistently enjoyable experience.

Visually astounding throughout. Graphics fans will adore every grimy nook and cranny of the Victorian London setting. Sadly though, the game around it is crushingly average. The shooting sections are fun enough but far too few and far between, and much of the game is spent watching cutscenes or being forced to walk through one, so much so that it rarely feels like you're 'playing' the game at all.

A surprisingly competent strategy RPG with solid mechanics, great stylised visuals, plenty of content and well-observed videogame parody humour. Not to mention an extraordinary amount of risqué fanservice for those who love Hyperdimension Neptunia.

ScreamRide's three modes and robust design suite are briefly entertaining, but the fun doesn't last. Lacking soul and connective tissue, this minigame collection never quite gels or comes together into anything particularly memorable.

The lack of threat and its big yet pointless open world robs the game of challenge, likely leaving you broadly unsatisfied after just a handful of hours.

Its level design may be repetitious, especially on solo play, and it may not innovate on the genre or the Sniper Elite franchise, but if you’re looking for some competitive co-op fun that prioritises non-stop action over narrative, Zombie Army Trilogy hits the mark, and then some.