Prepare to break free of Dharma Tower in a blaze of sword swings, exhilarating last-gasp dashes and the glory of hundreds of deaths. The new motorcycle mechanics are bombastic (if a little janky) and One More Level continues to amaze with stellar level design, visual spectacle and a booming soundtrack. Ghostrunner 2 is a worthy sequel, even if the story falls flat and you end up smashing three controllers on your way to mastering it.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 brings together five stellar video games from a beloved series. While a lack of further improvements and minor bugs get in the way, newcomers and die-hard MGS fans alike can find a trove of incredible content in this bundle. Kojima’s masterpieces have been respected, honoured and have demonstrated their quality through the ages, a meme passed down worthy of the title of Big Boss.

In reality, Crymachina is a far cry from what it could have been. An overly constrained mission structure of bland corridors, flashy combat that never reaches above button smashing, and a nauseating cliché story that rarely does more than constant exposition, hold back this action RPG from any kind of recommendation.

An absolute belter of a sequel that improves on the original in every way without ever feeling overstuffed. Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged is a stunning racer that builds upon the groundwork of the first with aplomb, adding new mechanics that make each race feel breathless and relentlessly exciting.

Station to Station is a beautiful voxel experience wrapped up in simple to pick up, difficult to master puzzler that’ll keep your engine chugging along until the end. It’s a short but special game that deserves an audience, the endearment of its central mechanic is well worth the ticket price.

Phantom Liberty is a terrific reminder that the world of Cyberpunk is one well worth jumping into if you’ve waited until now to do so. For longterm fans, whilst Dogtown isn’t as hugely exciting and fun to explore as Night City, the new sidequests and characters add to an already engaging list of reasons to jump back in to the dangeous, ridiculous world of Cyberpunk.

If it’s not the brilliant pixel art style or the paranoid protagonist that goes through one hell of a night, it’s the well-executed amalgamation of mechanics that feeds into a horror puzzler that’ll keep you enthralled for a night. Vlad Circus: Descend Into Madness is a modest title that I just wish I had more of, as the qualities of a great game are all there but the brisk trip to insanity holds itself back.

Lords of the Fallen could have been another accessible cookie-cutter souls-like. But with the addition of Umbral, the world of the dead layered upon the living, it breathes new invention into exploration, increasing tension, and unique combat, managing to cement itself as essential in an increasingly crowded and quality genre.

Full Void perfectly encapsulates the classic 2D platformers for better or worse. Whilst the general gameplay is clunky, the puzzle-solving is simple yet fresh and keeps you engaged throughout its short runtime. The pixel art style brings an incredible atmosphere to this sci-fi dystopia, even if the story doesn’t reflect that overall, but there are some unique qualities in its presentation that make it special.

Bilkins’ Folly is a charming yet deceptively challenging puzzle adventure that would fulfil most players’ pirate fantasies. The wonderful array of mechanics and the pitch-perfect comedy that harkens back to ’90s adventure games is a cosy time. It’s not without some minor flaws, but it’s an admirable exploration of being a different yet entertaining game.

Knight vs Giant: The Broken Excalibur is a fun action rogue-like that wears the armour of Hades proudly. Unfortunately, that armour is weighed down thanks to tedious progression and upgrades systems, a less interesting story and some minor gameplay issues. Despite the problems, there is a visual flourish and the odd run that comes together into something altogether enjoyable, in spite of the flaws.

NBA 2K24 is another installment in the annals of sports game history. In the moments that it works, it works well. But it’s not welcoming for newcomers, and the insipid practice of MTX is about as subtle as a ball to the face.

Fictiorama Games have blended a wonderfully unique cocktail of pulp-horror aesthetics and charming yet brutal depictions of violent myths and legends. The strategy gameplay can become a little one-note and there are some teething issues even Dracula may cower at, but spreading the tale of Tall Man or inciting a conspiracy of UFOs never failed to entertain my sadistic mind.

Capcom once again listening to fans, Separate Ways is a perfect accoutrement to the well-handled Resident Evil 4 remake. It’s linear, sure, but it hits all the right beats to make players want to go back to Leon’s presidential daughter rescue mission. Albeit from a higher perspective.

Whilst offering up very little from its clear influences, Park Beyond is a fun and visually thrilling theme park sim that offers a central mechanic which gives it quite the edge in the genre. It’s still hair-tearingly frustrating in places but has enough creativeness and inventiveness about it to hold the attention of long-term theme park simulator fans.

The Expanse: A TellTale Series tells a more mature and grounded story compared to other TellTale titles. The art direction and visuals lend itself to a more nuanced approach to give Camina Drummer a decent prequel to her TV show debut. Pacing is all over the place as the new and exciting gameplay elements are implemented in strange places, but the game does a great job of welcoming you into a vast world that could sink its hooks into you.

The foundations of the definitive way to play Payday are as crystal clear as the protective glass you’ll inevitably smash during a heist. The quality of life improvements and the more confidently designed levels are a welcome addition to the series, though it is slim pickings at launch. Give it time for the gold to melt and Payday 3 will be quite the payout.

A lack of the promised single-player story mode, middling graphics and relatively shallow combat systems threaten to consume Dune: Spice Wars in the maws of a Sandworm. Thankfully, it’s somewhat rescued by an authentic recreation of the Dune universe and the scope of available ways to play. It won’t be usurping the Imperial council, but the launch of Arrakis’ mining wars is a solid, if unspectacular one.

Whilst it is nice to at least try something different, Immortals of Aveum falls back on way too many cliches to make it stick. Terrible dialogue, formulaic shooting and linear progression are too overbearing in an otherwise colourful shooter.

Gunbrella is a cinematically fulfilling 2D action platformer whilst showcasing one of the best game mechanics of the year with its titular weapon. The shorter run time and less is more approach to the gameplay may not be for everyone, but the streamlined and frenetic run and gunning met with an intoxicating world is an astounding quality in any game.

MythForce doesn’t quite entice you to tune in to next week’s episode as the game has a lot of quality-of-life issues to contend with. There’s a big emphasis on co-op with it’s balancing of mechanics and cool team compositions, without the facilities to oblige – making it a slow and painful grind if you want to get anywhere on your own. It delivers on the aesthetic it goes for and the moment-to-moment gameplay is simply fun, but it’s not quite enough to make it out of a pilot episode.

Mortal Kombat 1 blazes onto current-gen hardware as hard as Liu Kang’s dragon kick. A fantastic campaign coupled with an engaging Invasions mode and a usual staple of rock-solid online modes offers a huge amount of content for fans. The roster is excellently balanced and while the Kameo system may not impress everyone, the back-to-basics fighting mechanics once again excel in this new dawn for the Mortal Kombat tournament.

Whilst the DNA of Party Animals is nothing new, there’s enough here to warrant giving it a go if you’re a fan of the genre. The visuals are great, the animals are cute as all hell and the levels are beautifully designed. Playing it with friends really brings the game to life, so don’t forget to bring some along.

Starfield lives up to the hype and more, bringing a fully realised universe to our TV screens with a captivating, intriguing story and worlds that are begging to be explored. Damn near every Bethesda trope you can imagine is present and correct here though, and it’s up to you if you can power through them to find the greatness within or if they’re just a bit too irritating to genuinely fall in love with the game completely. We’re in the latter, but boy is there plenty to enjoy here regardless.

Down and Out is the knockout for all the wrong reasons and you’ll be happy to stay down instead of persevere. Poor inconsistent controls coupled with terribly monotonous fighting and an asset-flip world just make for an overall poor experience that not even VR can save.

Boti: Byteland Overclocked is ironically the opposite of its own namesake in being overclocked. Full of game breaking bugs, freezes, clipping, the list goes on – you name it it’s in there. Whilst having some small enjoyable elements within the game, It’s difficult to get past its state at review.

Somerville is a short but sweet sci-fi apocalypse story with an attempt at telling a human story. Whilst the narrative does fall flat by feeling no connection to the characters, the action set pieces, puzzle mechanics and overall art direction are spectacular. If you can look past the inconsistent controls and lacklustre story, there’s a lot to enjoy about Somerville and it’s a quality debut from Jumpship.

[I] Doesn’t Exist will challenge and question you in ways few video games do. Supported by wonderful writing, deep thematic topics and addictive replayability, it shines through the darkness of this poor avatar’s world. Most importantly, I came away with a genuine feeling of reflection and introspection, something that loftier, grander games have frequently failed to do. An existential gem of 2023.