Thanks to its excellent controls and sheer depth, the combat system will ultimately be one of the reasons this game will keep drawing you back in even after you complete the single-player campaign.

The technical problems from last year's edition are gone, replaced by a game that purrs its way around the track like a well-oiled machine. F1 2016 is a terrific racing game that’s fun to play regardless of whether you enjoy tackling a full career mode or prefer a quick five-lap race around your favorite circuit.

There's no trouble in this paradise: The second Viva Pinata is just as captivating as the first, with enough tweaks and new additions to make this great for everyone.

While you'd probably be lost if you came in this late to the series, the fifth episode of Sam & Max is sharp and funny, more so than the previous installments.

For the average player, this expansion has a much longer tail than previous iterations of Destiny 2. The variety and flexibility of activities established in the base game still work to make grinding a good time, and Gambit adds a consistently entertaining mode to the roster. The endgame, while difficult to reach, is also where the most satisfaction can be found.

This tournament-specific soccer game doesn't offer as much content as FIFA 10, but it does improve upon that game in a number of areas.

NHL 19 succeeds mainly because of its best-in-class controls, authentic presentation, multitude of different ways to play, and its overall excellence in capturing the essence of hockey culture. The pond hockey mode is a fun new way to play with friends in beautiful outdoor environments, but it's the only brand-new feature, and that may disappoint veteran fans.

Leave it to Sonalysts to create a modern-day naval survey simulation that has the breadth and depth of the oceans where the combat it simulates takes place.

This compulsively fun sequel is a delight, though it's a familiar one.

A good sequel that will serve as an enjoyable entry point to serious racing; however, more experienced racing game players should stick to Shift's more realistic rivals.

A highly streamlined, highly accessible online RPG. Yet the world of Dereth seems bare.

The gameplay still might be a little too fast-paced for some, but Shut Your Mouth tries to balance it with a more useful grappling, submission, and counter system.

It won't take you long to blow through King Kong, but its sometimes thrilling, often tense, and always entertaining adventure is absolutely worth checking out.

A good return to the roots of the series. It doesn't do anything new or different, but it has a great blend of action and adventure that will always keep you moving and interested.

It's easy enough so that anyone can play it but challenging enough to stump even the most intellectual of players.

Trenched is a humorous tower defense game that incorporates fast-paced action and a rewarding loot system to great effect.

The range of enemy types continues to keep combat encounters challenging, the equipment I earn and pick up continues to feel different, valuable, and asks me to consider new ways of play. The ravaged environments continue to intrigue, and sometimes they're so stunning I find myself needing to take screenshots before I move on.

The tale of Tokyo and Osaka, Kiryu and Sayama's partnership, and Kiryu and Goda's rivalry remains one of the Yakuza's best stories, and Kiwami 2's minor missteps don't affect the heart of that experience.

Even without player-created content, the Xbox 360 version of this online shooter holds its own, providing plenty of slick, thrilling sci-fi action.

The purity of N++ is still its greatest appeal, a stripped-down representation of the skills that many gamers have come to know as innate, given free reign in some of the best level design ideas in the industry.

Gemini Rue is an intriguing adventure game with an excellent story that outshines its basic puzzle-solving.

More than just a classic action game, Sonic CD is an exemplary port of a retro game to a modern platform.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 doesn't necessarily tell a new tale, but it doesn't have to; for all of its clichés and expected twists, there's a charm to the game's unwillingness to let up as it drives you and your friends forward at a rapid clip towards its bittersweet end.

Dyad is an entertaining collection of clever gameplay mechanics made more exciting by a trippy presentation.

Most importantly, though, is knowing that PES 2015 is not inferior to FIFA 15. That in itself represents a huge step forward for a series that, for a time, looked as though it had no chance whatsoever of getting back to digital football's elite table.

Antichamber bends the rules of space and time with challenging puzzles and a fantastic sense of atmosphere.

The PlayStation 2 and Xbox version of NCAA Football 08 didn't get many new features this year, but it's still a great game if you don't own NCAA 07.

Sonic's new racing adventure speeds past its predecessor and delivers a kart racer that can keep up with the best in the genre.

Jack and the deviant enemies theoretically add a new layer of challenge. Using Jack effectively requires careful coordination; on a good turn, it can clear the path for you to kill more enemies and build even more momentum. Likewise, the Deviant enemies can force you to shift priorities in combat, as they're not only powerful but also make all of your enemies more deadly. At the same time, all of the extra stuff--more moves to make, more enemies to fight--makes each level drag on longer than it needs to. At the start of a new game, you can choose between playing the Jacked campaign with these new features or a Classic campaign. Though I'm still working through the new campaign, I'd argue that the original is a tighter, more satisfying experience. That said, if you've finished the Gears Tactics story and want a new thrill, replaying the campaign with Jack and Deviant enemies is far more interesting than simply running randomly generated veteran missions.

Neverwinter Nights 2 isn't without some technical issues, but the engaging, dynamic story and proven Dungeons & Dragons framework make it a role-playing game that shouldn't be missed.

Regardless of what you might think of Powered Up's ubercute presentation, there's no denying the addictive challenge the game provides.

NBA 2K9's game is strong, but most of its new features won't be appreciated by the average Joe.

Darkstalkers Resurrection combines two fantastic games with an abundance of useful features to make one outstanding collection.

Creature in the Well manages to inject the geometry-focused experience of pinball into the frenzied gameplay loop of a dungeon crawler to craft a unique puzzle action game. On occasion, the game's hands-off approach to conveying information is a hindrance, but the well-structured dungeons and monstrous antagonist more than make up for it--producing an engaging hack-and-slash experience that allows for satisfying experimentation.

This expansion pack isn't as extraordinary as the original Dragon Age, but it's still immensely entertaining.

It won't take you long to blow through King Kong, but its sometimes thrilling, often tense, and always entertaining adventure is absolutely worth checking out.

Barbarian Invasion adds a lot of new features and improvements to Rome: Total War, and the result is a much more challenging and satisfying strategy game.

It's hard not to look at the current generation version of Madden as an aging veteran on its last legs, but that veteran still has a bit of game left in it.

Gradius V's particular brand of hard-boiled shooting mayhem is so intense that it can keep you breathlessly entertained for as long as your extra lives don't run out.

Raven improves upon the great work it did with the "X-Men Legends" games, creating a lengthy adventure that touches upon nearly every last corner of the Marvel Universe.

With a wealth of content to explore, tight controls, and great visuals, Top Spin 4 is a fantastic tennis simulation that caters to pros and novices alike.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 is a phenomenal game of skate, one that fans would flock to without hesitation if it weren't for some of the strange decisions regarding the game's Career mode and THPS 4 levels. Some of the changes feel needless, and overall, THPS 4 just doesn't fit as well into the same structure as the original three games. It's also disappointing that newcomers won't be able to experience the fourth game the way it was originally intended. Once the initial disappointment fades, however, you're left with a remake that still handles as well as these games ever have, and that's something that's worth playing no matter who you are.

Guitar Hero III ups the ante with increased difficulty and new modes, and though not everything it adds is fantastic, the excellent tracklist and stellar gameplay are sure to keep you hooked.

The on-field action is as exciting as ever, but off-the-field problems drag NCAA Football 12 down to the turf.

A remarkable action game that tells a compelling story from start to finish.

This is an impressively complete story. By the end of Resolve, I felt like all of the plot threads had been tied up; that questions that had lingered, some for almost 80 hours, had been answered. While Chronicles moves too slowly at times--especially during the Adventures half--the payoff at the end is worth the wait.

Sky is both different to everything thatgamecompany has made before but also a smart evolution of what makes its games special. It's simple to play while feeling incredible at the same time, making the act of flight exciting every time your feet leave the ground. It also features a fascinating spin on in-game purchases, locking its most alluring rewards behind the action of making friends and making a positive enough impression on them. That means you have to play a lot of Sky to eventually work towards what you want, which saps some life out of the gorgeous vignettes you're free to explore. But it's no less memorable for the ideas it presents or calming in the way it gives you the freedom to pursue them, making it another journey worth seeing through.

Stray's ultimate strength is how well its overall design embodies the unique perspective and capabilities of its protagonist, but it also doesn't rely on this to be the only distinguishing feature of the entire adventure. A lot of the enjoyment throughout Stray's runtime comes from how well each scenario is designed for the abilities of its feline hero, and how empowering it is to be able to navigate its gorgeous hubs and derelict cities with the additional agility on offer. Its puzzles are routinely satisfying to solve and all work in service of a charming story with a satisfying conclusion, with the pacing only knocked slightly off by some slightly less than stellar combat scenarios in the first half. Thankfully, they're not prevalent enough to detract from the otherwise captivating adventure that Stray is, and that it tells a tale that will likely linger with you after the game's credits have rolled.

Through well designed puzzles, intense escape room scenarios, and a kineticism absent in video games on standard screens, I Expect You to Die knows exactly how to leverage the magic of VR, and proves it almost every step of the way.

Etrian Odyssey Untold 2 has some flaws, certainly--the additions to the formula make it more accessible but don't ultimately enhance the game. On the other hand, it looks great, it retains the traditional Etrian Odyssey experience in Classic mode, and you still feel empowered after defeating a challenging FOE with only a sliver of health to your name.

There's a lot to love in Requiem, even if frustration is an all-too-common bedfellow when it comes to gameplay. There are better stealth games out there, but its unique setting, poignant storytelling, and rat-infested dread make 14th-century France worth returning to.

Disgaea DS is a delightfully evil strategy RPG with enough depth (and prinnies) to entertain you for ages.

With a lengthy, engaging story, great production values, and loads of interesting gameplay touches, this is an action adventure game that's worth the challenge.

It's not quite as unlimited as its subtitle might suggest, and it's got a pervasively aimless feel, but Test Drive Unlimited still succeeds by creating a fun, leisurely world to drive in.

This fast and exciting racer continually finds a way to keep you circling around for another lap.

Mask of the Betrayer offers up a deeper, darker, and ultimately more satisfying role-playing experience than Neverwinter Nights 2.

The actual racing hasn't changed too much, but the ever-present police make this game a whole lot more interesting.

Rebellion is the best way yet to experience the strategic joys of the Sins of a Solar Empire franchise.

The best part about this sequel is still the RPG-like hero development that so distinguished Warlords Battlecry from other real-time strategy games.

Easily the best strategy game out on the PS2 at this time, not to mention one of the more inventive to ever grace a console.

It also features some subtle but important improvements to the original gameplay that make Ghost Recon a more polished and enjoyable game as a whole.

Does a great job of improving on its predecessor's shortcomings and offering deeper, more-balanced gameplay.

More of the same, though with marginally better packaging and the addition of online play.

It's not hugely innovative, and it has its share of faults, but its particular blend of features nevertheless gives it a fresh, fun feel.

An online game that is surprisingly deep but extremely easy to get into, making it an excellent game regardless of whether you've played other multiplayer shooters before.

Younger or more casual players may find the game way too hard and may be better off with something less difficult. However, fans of the series or experienced gamers should not hesitate to pick this one up.

After years of solitude, the world's most addictive management game goes multiplayer with great results.

Raven improves upon the great work it did with the X-Men Legends games, creating a lengthy adventure that touches nearly every last corner of the Marvel Universe.

With A House Divided, season two of The Walking Dead is up and shambling. While the first episode was too perfunctory in how it set the stage and got everything into motion, you can now see both the story and the characters taking shape and evolving. This slow-burn approach should continue to pay dividends as the saga matures in future episodes.

An uproariously fun and enjoyable post-Apocalyptic adventure that is a little too familiar at times.

As Metro broadens its horizons, it loses some of the series' focus. But Exodus makes up for it with thrilling encounters and a crew you'll want to follow to the ends of the earth.

What doesn't work is the fact that the disparate parts of puzzles and message board threads don't really have anything to do with each other.

Nostalgia is something that's often talked about when it comes to WoW Classic, not modern WoW. Nevertheless, nostalgia was what kept coming to mind while playing Midnight. Whether it was hearing old war tales from classic Warcraft characters in the Arcantina or revisiting familiar places and faces in Eversong Woods, Midnight honors the past while not being beholden to it, making for a memorable trip down memory lane. Despite its nostalgic underpinnings, Midnight never feels stuck in the past. Just like with the 20-year-later revamp of Eversong and Silvermoon City, Blizzard isn't simply updating WoW--it's continuing to move it forward, one change at a time.

Exploration, combat, and puzzle-solving come together beautifully in this rewarding, replayable arcade adventure.

The Outer Worlds is consistently compelling throughout, and it's a superb example of how to promote traditional RPG sensibilities in a sharp, modern experience.

With just a bit more variety to its tracks and a slightly better career mode, it definitely could have been better, but it has great graphics, solid sound, and the sort of easy learning curve that makes it a driving game that anyone can excel at.

Capcom's superdeformed puzzle game benefits greatly from the inclusion of online play.

It's still a classic Castlevania homage at heart, but it has an eccentricity that feels right at home alongside the giant kitty-cats of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. When a game seems to be having this much fun at its own expense, it's hard not to join in.

Throw in a better overall sense of presentation and an insanely deep track editor, and what you've got is a truly great sequel.

Like the old saying goes--the king is dead, long live the king. Even though A Knight to Remember is not the King’s Quest of yesterday, this first episode in a new franchise ensures that the heart of the original series will live on for the current generation of adventure gamers. Bring on the new exploits of King Graham.

The game's relative ease is offset by the sheer number of weird unlockable items, and the end result is a platform game that is, above all, great fun.

Though you won't find a paradise in your pocket, Viva Pinata makes animal romancing fun while you're on the road.

All of these elements come together to solidify Cult of the Lamb as a standout title in both the rogue-like and simulation genres, as well as a one-of-a-kind entry that exists in the middle of them. Whether you are exploring the dungeons or expanding your cult, the experience is enjoyable, challenging, and more than a bit demented. With how surprisingly dense each of these parts are, the fact that all the pieces come together as smoothly as they do is a triumph.

Children of Morta's fantastic art style and enjoyable storytelling take what would have been an otherwise fun roguelike dungeon-crawler and elevate it a great deal. Taking down enemies and eventually triumphing over bosses is enjoyable, but what kept bringing me back was the connection I felt to the Bergsons, and my sincere desire to help them push back against the Corruption. After all, it's a lot easier dealing with dungeons full of monsters when you have a family to come home to.

Skullgirls is a risque fighter that wraps sex appeal and smooth jazz skintight around a smartly crafted fighting system.

Imaginative puzzles and explosive boss fights are the most exciting elements of this sequel, but a new emphasis on shooting brings some frustration to the mix.

Taken all together, Mario 3D All-Stars is a worthwhile collection, featuring the best versions of Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy to appear on a Nintendo system. Although the individual games have been sparingly touched up and there's little in the way of ancillary material to pore over, the titles themselves hold up well and are a delight to revisit. Despite their age, the games are still rife with inventive ideas and surprises, which more than makes up for the collection's presentational shortcomings.

While some fighting games have simplified their mechanics to be easier for genre newcomers, the Tekken series remains unapologetically brutal.

It's a layered, complex system, and even now, 20 hours after I started it, there are upgrades I haven't found, techniques I haven't practiced, and possibilities I haven't considered. Galak-Z pummelled me, knocked me to the ground and kicked me when I was down. But when I finally got the upper hand, and beat the final season with only a sliver of health left, the victory was all the more rewarding.

It's a shame there is no single-player or online content in Sportsfriends to keep you occupied when home alone, but it's the kind of game that takes full advantage of being exclusively local, and it's worth having friends over for.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a more-than-worthy successor to the 2011 original. Its brutally gory action is as riveting as ever, but it's also more considered and tactile, making for a much more satisfying experience. There's not a lot going on outside of combat, and it's overly linear at times, but these flaws are easy to forget when you're charging headfirst into battle against an enemy numbering in the hundreds, furiously fighting against a stunning backdrop that brings the tabletop game to life in all its grimdark splendor. Space Marine 2 will deeply resonate with Warhammer 40,000 fans, yet it also has enough about it to thrill those who can't tell their Horus Heresy from their Macharian Crusade. The wait might've been long, but it was well worth it.

It's a shame that these intricacies were tempered by unnecessary simplification and unfocused storytelling. Nevertheless, Dragon Age II makes a strong impression, pulling you through with the promise of another fun quest, another character to meet, and another beast to slay.

It's a shame that these intricacies were tempered by unnecessary simplification and unfocused storytelling. Nevertheless, Dragon Age II makes a strong impression, pulling you through with the promise of another fun quest, another character to meet, and another beast to slay.

With the addition of enhanced graphics, as well as an all-new passing system, fans of soccer will find that this latest FIFA game is the most challenging, most realistic, and also the greatest yet.

Its substantial single-player campaign and new multiplayer maps and modes (when you can get into a game) are definitely worth it.

Offers no dramatic graphics overhaul or drastic redesign - just a new setting, new subject matter, and more of the same great Civil War strategy, which is nicely refined through a series of subtle enhancements.

Makes some significant strides over its predecessors, offering 32-player online play, drivable vehicles, much larger maps, and a worthwhile single-player campaign.

Call of Duty 3 isn't just another first-person shooter that takes place during World War II. It's a fantastic game with great online play and top-notch sound.