While it may lack a certain technical finesse, Hotline Miami manages to take players down a road not many games do. It's as much fun to play through the game as it is edifying to reflect on what we've done, and for that, it is quite powerful.

If you can steel yourself for a challenge and come to grips with an unwieldy checkpoint system, Ori and the Blind Forest will mesmerize you with its lush world and incredible artistry.

It feels like a Sims product while at the same time feels like something completely fresh and original. But if you don't like having goals or being too limited in your virtual sandbox, then who are you kidding? You're probably still playing The Sims 3. Stick with that and let the rest of us enjoy the breath of fresh air that The Sims Medieval brings.

Despite some opaque game mechanics and missing tutorials, turns out running a dinosaur park is brilliant fun and the best time sink you can play.

Building on the already solid (if a little claustrophobic) linear design of "Call of Duty 2," Call of Duty 3 introduces just enough new tidbits to keep even the most weary veterans in the fight.

By taking ideas from some of the best games of the last five years and combining that with a respect for the material that isn't so excessive as to alienate non-fans, War for Cybertron ends up being the best Transformers game yet.

And while Ghost of Sparta is still better than most other games (especially on the increasingly bone-dry PSP), it's a strangely by-the-numbers outing for one of gaming's most inventively brutal anti-heroes.

Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is a smart sequel in that it takes everything that worked from the stellar first and expands, but the novelty of the original – which was quietly transformative for anyone interested in the genre – is a difficult lightning to capture in a bottle twice. It works, and works well, but the success of Citizen Sleeper also set the bar impossibly high.

To put those complaints into perspective, it'll take you 40-plus hours to finish the story mode. Longer if you try to complete all of the optional badlands missions. That's 40-plus hours worth of awesome battles and addictive customizing.

Fans expecting something as expansive as San Andreas will be disappointed, but anyone looking for portable craziness at impossible speeds should pick this up.

With Forza 5, it chose to compromise in certain areas in an attempt to create something unique and fresh. It’s not entirely successful, as the sometimes-negligible improvements to the gameplay can’t quite make up for the sting of losing so many fan-favorite cars and tracks. But what is included is still terrific, and in some cases better than ever.

Jazzpunk is uniquely ridiculous and undeniably hilarious. It's not afraid of making you work to find all the funny, which turns even the tiniest throwaway joke into something special.

It's this severe push for gamers to be determined and persistent enough to explore every nook and cranny in Dead Rising that makes it either a splendid, geeky Pandora's Box full of unrelenting challenge and rewards or controller-smashingly difficult because of its hardcore mentality.

A solid installment for the series with a satisfying story and great multiplayer balance.

Civilization 7 is a revolutionary strategy game for newcomers and long-time fans alike. Though some tweaks around diplomacy and Ages fall short, a host of small reinventions – along with Firaxis' biggest gamble in tackling the tedium of long-running campaigns – pays off superbly.

If you like keeping a roomful of people shouting at the TV, it's not a bad investment at all.

One big, giant, fly in the umbrella drink is that as refreshing as these bright visuals are - especially at HDTV resolution (720p) - it's pretty clear that many of the graphics were ported directly from the Xbox version.

Definitely think about getting an Xbox 360 controller before you wade into this adventure.

At its core, Starlink: Battle for Atlas is a fantastic space exploration game, with solid flights, fights and enemies, but can be a complicated toys-to-life proposition to recommend, and understand.

A really nice change of pace from the slightly crusty arcade classics that have been hitting Live Arcade for the past month or so.

This is one of the biggest expansions that EVE has seen, with some far-reaching changes. However, we can’t help feeling that it was delivered now for the sake of bringing in some new content, when really it could have waited a few months for something more comprehensive.

As we expected, Tiger's polished and predictably good – more so than his real-life counterpart these days. It's not necessarily a must buy, but has plenty to keep you busy all summer long.

It's gorgeous, charming, and incredibly fun.

So while it doesn't break new ground, Scarface: The World Is Yours is one of the best sandbox crime games for the current generation consoles. It's a slick, well-executed and gritty title that'll keep you busy for over 20 hours.

The charm and clever logic puzzles are still here, and the cases deliver the same charge-back-from-the-edge-of-defeat rush that made the first game so cool.

Enjoyable in almost every department, WWE 2K23 serves up joy for wrestling fans young and old, dedicated or casual. There really is so much to love here.

Need for Speed Unbound is a great showcase for a new generation of hardware. Criterion has delivered a high quality, breathtakingly fast open-world street racer that is both technically superb and strangely familiar.

Yes, it’s a little tougher to learn the nuances than in years past, but the final verdict is in - and it’s a golden goal.