Guilty Gear Xrd Sign lives up to the high-speed standards of its predecessors, but doesn't bring enough of its own to the table to exceed them.

‘Splosion Man’s many humorous moments and generally pleasant silliness counteracts stage design that doesn’t really offer enough visual variety through the game’s 50 levels.

Not only does it stack up to its handheld counterpart, the online multiplayer and upgraded audio/visuals help exceed it.

A game that has aged reasonably well. While there are a few hiccups here and there, the visual update is fantastic and the gameplay is still incredibly well paced and fun.

The game has a frankly obscene amount of content to discover, all of it measured and absorbing. Whether the more arcadey difficulty levels will be entertaining enough for casual racing fans is debatable.

As with Rez and Lumines before it, Sound Shapes hybridizes a genre to put the focus on music over complex gameplay, and creates something entirely distinct from what we typically perceive as a "game."

Gears 5 doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it changes enough to keep its signature style of cover-based shooting from feeling monotonous. Going into this review, I was convinced Gears of War needed to change drastically or risk obsolescence. But the Coalition has found a different way forward, using new mechanics to polish the old, making the whole game shine.

Fight Night Champion isn't going to reverse people's opinions of the shift in gameplay style that started with Round 4. It may help them warm up to things a little by providing more context and a story-driven backdrop, but it's still going to be a divisive decision.

Resident Evil 4 taught the industry so much, and in turn we expected RE5 to at least learn from what others have since added to those accomplishments. Instead, it jams the series full of gasoline-enriched testosterone, keeps outdated inventory and control ideas and refuses to admit the franchise is now more action-adventure than survival horror. Don’t let the negatives fool you though – it’s still one of the best balls-to-the-wall co-op excursions you can buy.

Taken together, the games make for a slick, compelling package that offers a much more attractive way to play two important chapters of the God of War series.

Few games attempt as much and succeed as completely.

There's hours upon infinite hours to be spent clearing blocks all over again - just like we did with the original Game Boy 15 years ago.

With its quick battles and focus and short conversations to tell the story, Devil Survivor works great for the DS. On top of that it is so refreshing to play an RPG on the system that isn’t steeped in fantasy and/or is a remake.

The game engine here is demonstrably better than Forza Motorsport 7's but, in terms of breadth of gameplay, presentation, general excitement, and enjoyment gleaned from racing the AI cars, the older, now-deleted Forza Motorsport 7 is clearly superior. More content including tracks and event series will be added over time, so it will certainly improve, but right now the career mode here is so sedate and one-note, it's hard to recommend Forza Motorsport's offline mode over any of its peers.

An absolutely killer tennis sim and one worthy of being considered one of the deepest and most rewarding seen thus far.

You should interpret this final score based on what you really want from a shooter. If you're a resolute campaign player who avoids multiplayer like a shark with a gun, BF3's single-player is simply not up to scratch in a year that has already given us Resistance 3 and Deus Ex. But if online is where it's at for you, Battlefield 3 is going to be one of your games of the year.

Blasphemous 2 leans heavily into its inspirations, and therefore doesn't reinvent the wheel – but with more to see, more to do, and, of course, more to slaughter, it improves on its forerunner's familiar formula across the board with devastating results.

Though the difficulty spikes steadily once you get through the early portion of the game, frequent checkpoints save you from having to replay lengthy stretches of challenging turf.

The first part of Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is a wonderfully sincere portrait of teenage girlhood. Don’t Nod has returned to, and evolved, a tried and true formula, and the result is a supernatural teen coming-of-age story that’ll spirit your heart away.

Gears of War 4 is a focused, confident exercise in how to relaunch a franchise. As effective as a direct sequel as it is a soft-reboot, it’s a game crafted of thought, wisdom, and objective calculation blended with a real passion for finding the fun. It may err slightly on the safe side in its campaign, but it does so understandably, in order to strip the series back to what matters, and re-evolve it with a carefully considered outlook.

Certainly not a bad Halo game, but one that succeeds despite its innovations, not because of them. With multiplayer the high point, Halo 5 is worthwhile, if not always truly convincing.

The heart and soul of NBA 2K7 lies in the NBA buildings across the country and the hands of the best players in the world. This year, there's no finer hoops experience to be had on the 360.

With a sprawling world to conquer and gory combat but also the chance to use that iconic hidden blade, Assassin's Creed Valhalla brings a triumphant balance to the series.

Motion controls add a breath of fresh air to a familiar game, with astounding results. A must-have for anyone with a Switch and a love of open world games.

All of the elements that have made the series great are here - the sense of humor, the slick sense of style and the ridiculously over-the-top action - and the game is at once instantly accessible and surprisingly deep, thanks to a more-elaborate-than-it-lets-on combo system.

The Metallica integration goes deeper than the music itself – the band members all appear in the game, although career mode finds you playing not as anyone IN Metallica, but as the band opening for them while on tour.

And with no monthly fees, Guild Wars Factions serves as an excellent introduction to those unfamiliar with the MMORPG genre or Guild Wars series.

Despite some frustrating moments and difficulty spikes, it’s a terrific game for PlayStation Network gamers looking for something both familiar and different.