Far Cry 3 remains the series’ peak, but Far Cry 4 is a lovely-looking, accomplished offering that suffers from lacklustre writing and an odd lack of purpose.

Shadow Gambit is a fiendishly fun stealth strategy game that does precisely what it says on the tin. With stunning voice acting, atmospheric maps, and no shortage of ways to solve the sandbox puzzles in each one, you'll be so bewitched by the world and its charming cast of characters that the muddy plot can almost be forgiven.

Ignoring the Wi-Fi Connection stuff, there’s still so much to see and do it’s hard to imagine gamers not absolutely devouring all the hidden details and ultra-rare items just to say “I did it.”

Once you understand enemy attack patterns and the game’s slightly slower than you’d expect timing, the level of challenge decreases dramatically. This, combined with the fact that Elika literally won’t let you die, could make things feel too easy and auto-piloted for some die-hard hardcore players.

Death Stranding: Director's Cut is like going for a hike through the most haunting beautiful woodland you could possibly imagine, only for a guy in a cinema-quality Jason Voorhees costume to leap out at you unexpectedly from behind some trees and try to shove you into the mud. Naturally, the surprise creates some tension the first time around. Maybe the second time it happens too. But eventually that tension transitions into annoyance. That annoyance quickly into embarrassment for everyone involved. That dichotomy between Death Stranding's two halves has only been further exposed by the Director's Cut. Exploring its wondrous world is an experience quite unlike any other, but it is so routinely shattered by stilted combat and pantomime villains that you'll routinely wonder whether it's worth the effort.

One of the best adventure games on console, with a fantastic blend of action and exploration. The Definitive Edition really is definitive, but isn't worth a repeat buy for those who've already experienced Lara's story.

Not the transformative experience offered by this year's PES, but still unmatched in the genre for atmosphere, licenses, and finer details.

InFamous shows huge potential, but it’s ultimately held back from greatness by too-sticky controls and its surprisingly bland ruin of a city. It’s still fun, but there’s a lot of room for improvement in the strongly hinted-at sequel.

Marvel Snap is a wonderfully intuitive card game that is simple to play, easy to learn, and satisfying to master. Games may take just six minutes to play, but there's a depth of strategy and breadth of variance here that is truly awesome.

For quick-to-play, compelling arcade action - complete with a two-player head to head mode - it's hard to imagine a better package. Don't miss this one.

Worth buying for its superb rally sim alone. But the returning racing modes are bland, frustrating and unsatisfying.

Massively-multiplayer online games are always a work-in-progress, so it's not surprising that Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch wasn't flawless. What matters is that it's an extremely satisfying experience that sets the stage for a bright future, so long as BioWare continues to support the game for the coming years with constant updates.

[An] incredibly fresh and successful take on skating controls, as well as a wide-open city with six-player online options (we liked the Deathraces and the Spot Battles). Skate is logical, authentic, and blissfully organic. Robots need not apply.

Mario + Rabbids gives you the action and strategy of XCOM in a way that does justice both to Mario and to the Rabbid’s kooky style. Ubi’s big E3 surprise is an unmissable Switch game.

A sequel with smarts and style, Crash Bandicoot 4 proves there's still life in the old Bandicoot yet. It's about time indeed.

There's a lot to do - and by "do", we mean, "explode" - and that's exactly what the Ratchet & Clank games are all about.

Bomberman’s always been about party-style multiplayer, anyway. And as such, Bomberman Live delivers where it counts.

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is the RPG adventure that's like shooting sunshine right into your veins. So clear your calendar, because Level-5 is about fill it with monsters, magic, and city management.

If you're one of the unlucky saps who have yet to be caught in Peggle's addictive grasp, the affordable, content-packed Peggle Dual Shot may be the best gateway to this enduringly enjoyable franchise.

Demon Tides invites me to a sunny vibes open world filled with platforming islands to master, and allows me to build my own kit of platforming vibes to break them apart. At times, a bit more structure would be appreciated, especially when it comes to progression, but otherwise the looseness is all part of the charm for this super slick jumper. Demon Tides has easily become a high watermark in my 3D platformer pantheon.

An astounding technical achievement. It's one of the best-looking games ever, and it knows how to bring the spectacle. Its single-player provides a playground for the joyous nanosuit powers, although some buggy AI and generic aliens keep the campaign from soaring as high as it could have. The multiplayer, meanwhile, is a fantastic buffet of playstyles that rewards the creative player.

Rare Replay is an incredibly high-value retro compilation, which adds to its impressive (but sadly not exhaustive) line-up of classics with new ways to play and interesting bonus content.

While not particularly revolutionary, there's a lot to like about Anno 117. If you get your teeth into the game's complexity, you'll find yourself investing a lot of time into spreading Roman ways across your islands and growing your settlements from tiny villages to grand cities.

OlliOlli World expands the series' formula with great success, effortlessly generating competition with a relentless sense of forward momentum.

By turning your every death into the start of a personal vendetta, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor makes you that much more invested in its open-world. The savage combat and satisfying stealth are just the means to exacting your ultimate revenge.

A terminally cute game, so while almost guaranteed to suck the kiddies in, it's a tough sell for the trigger-happy Halo crowd. It's also fairly short if your goal is getting every pinata in the game to become a resident in your garden.

True to its central idea, Ball x Pit is a great blend of Breakout-style combat and frantic, Vampire Survivors-esque progression. At its height, it's a flow state-inducing assault on the senses that makes great work of its Evolution mechanic to craft deeply stylish builds, but it eventually grinds to a halt thanks to a bloated progression system.

If you skipped Sun and Moon last year, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are must-buys. Sci-fi storytelling, plenty of new content and adorable critters all included, but feels too soon a release to make the most of the innovation.