What we have here is a refined and extremely confident product from a studio that has found its feet in the FPS world.

Galactic Civilizations 3 is a constantly rewarding experience, a colossal box of toys with which you can create some truly memorable stories.

In a month full of high-quality adventure games from some of the most respected names in the genre, relatively unknown newcomer Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet could be my favourite of the lot. It’s incredibly funny and charming, with a lovely kid’s cartoon feel to it.

While there is a limit to how much replayability Culture Shock offers, with a nine buck price tag it's several hours of bang for your buck. I figure a movie costs more than that, particularly with popcorn, and no one keeps me from bringing my own candy to the computer.

Age of Empires 4 does a lot well, building from the roots of the AoE franchise. Fans of the original games will find the improved graphics to be welcome and the gameplay to maintain the same fast-paced feel. History buffs will also find themselves delighted by the historical campaigns and the changing art style of the buildings as they progress through the ages. The only real downsides are the ease with which you can lose your rhythm, and the almost mandatory use of hotkeys in multiplayer due to bad pathfinding and unit AI.

Great fun, if not exactly the step forward we were hoping for. New players will have a fantastic time gunning for best times and whizzing through the air, while old Trackmania legends will either take to the new challenge, or wonder why it's just the very same experience all over again.

Rage is flawed from the get-go, and by the time it finds its legs, its all too little, too late.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is an excellent sequel and the funniest game this year, but it’s simply not as good as The Stick Of Truth. Even ignoring how unique the first game was at the time, the storyline was more epic, the locations more varied, the jokes jaw-dislocatingly good in that game. This one is great, always funny and usually pretty disturbing in that South Park way, but the superhero storyline kind of peaks with Professor Chaos and that’s not even halfway through the game. Fortunately at least the combat is far better and never less than entertaining, and fights can get really inventive and very tactical. If The Stick Of Truth was an all-time classic episode of South Park, The Fractured But Whole is merely a very good one. Still, this is the one with Tweek x Craig, which is always excellent news. Hopefully Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Ubisoft will get it right again in 2020 with South Park: This Time They’re Playing Star Wars.

If you liked Shadowrun Returns but felt the main storyline was missing something, you'll find that Dragonfall improves on the original in almost every way.

Aware of its past yet looking towards the future, Company of Heroes 3 offers something for everyone. The dynamic map of Italy is a great experience, although it's slightly marred by passive AI, abilities that don't always work, small UI issues, and a gameplay loop that doesn't encourage the use of all available tools...Apart from the two campaigns, Company of Heroes 3 presents more options than ever before with its four factions, including the Deutsches Afrikakorps, which is an outstanding addition to the roster. Although it still relies on past strategies, the modifications to tactical battles and the addition of new units demonstrate that almost two decades after its inception, the formula that helped Relic Entertainment become a household name in the strategy genre still holds up.

Thanks to its tough-but-fair challenge, Playtonic has made a very rewarding game. There are moments where I had the realization I was having full-on fun, smiling all the way, and that never happens. Its writing might be obnoxious at times and the overworld can be superfluous, but its foundation is so well constructed that it doesn’t distract from the game proper. It might take awhile for it to click. But when it does, you’re gonna have an enthralling time. Hell, I’m going to go play more of it now that I finished this review.

The scene of crossing a battlefield, with hundreds of lifeless bodies piled over each other, only to see a swarm of rats bursting out of a horse’s bloated corpse is just one of multiple sights that A Plague Tale: Innocence inevitably etches into your mind. Although its stealth and puzzle mechanics aren’t exactly fresh, having what’s, quite possibly, the most powerful representation of the Black Death in the medium, even if stylized, is reason enough to see Amicia and Hugo’s journey to its end.

Looking forward we wouldn't mind seeing some kind of abilities worked back into the game, whether off-map or unit based (Engineers, for example, don't really do anything engineering). Regardless of the future though, this game is worth getting now, pure and simple.

I was surprised by Planetfall, lest of all because I was never a big fan of Age of Wonders – not because it was bad, but because it never grabbed me. This entry was different, however, with the focus on 4X expansion and the draw of close-range squad engagements with ranged weapons, bombardments, and customisable heroes was enough to get me invested, and was put together well enough to ignore most of the flaws in the squad combat system. They are still noticeable and frustrating enough to force me to take a break every once in a while (even when constantly winning battles), but if you are looking for an engaging, sci-fi 4X with more character and presence than the abstract grand-strategy Stellaris, Age of Wonders: Planetfall is the game for you.

With so many studios trying to hit the coveted MMO market, one thing is clear if you want to succeed - your game has to be unique. You can make up for tonnes of mistakes if you can just carve out a market for it. Although it has its own issues of identity - with a Diablo-like fighting system and enough extra activities to feel full - Lost Ark is a game that I'm looking forward to seeing grow.

It’s a decent expansion, but the weak colonial nation AI brings it down – they are supposed to be able to start wars and stuff on their own, but I haven’t witnessed that much autonomy so far.

It’s a comforting reminder that video games can still hark back to their traditional roots and produce an enjoyable experience without any overblown live-action trailer or day one DLC. This is a delight to play.

That's the story of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3: This is actually the game that the original should've been. If you've not played MVC3 or traded it in and want another fix, this is absolutely the best route to go. If you bought the original, how much do you love MVC? If you want more, go get it – the newcomers are great fun.

Even though playing the Phoenix Wright Trilogy in 2019 reminds you how times have changed for the better, it is still a worthwhile compilation. Fifteen years after Phoenix Wright was brought to the West, its charm and strong narrative are still as resonant as it was in 2004. If you still have the original trilogy somewhere, you don’t need to rebuy this unless you’re a fanatic. But if you’re someone who never played a game in the series and want to know what the fuss is about? This is well worth your time. It’s silly and some design choices can force the game to a crawl, but it’s very easy to persevere to see what happens next.

While issues of army balance will inevitably rear their head down the line, it's a smart concept that gets off to a good start with The Western Front Armies. If you're yet to try out Company of Heroes, which is one of the best multiplayer RTS experiences currently available, this is a great opportunity to do so. Just bear in mind that aside from skirmishes you won't get any singleplayer options.

Some areas still need more fleshing out, and there's some things that haven't been touched on at all here that could do with some work, but Civilization V is certainly better with Gods & Kings, and there is plenty of new content here to justify the cost.

Like Master Chief himself, Infinite lets its combat do the talking while looking towards a bright future. After that initial showing, we couldn’t ask for more.

While many of the main gameplay mechanics remain like the original, many smaller changes have been made to improve the overall gameplay experience. The UI is wonderful and the varied faction mechanics allow for a good amount of replay ability. There are plenty of joyous empire building moments to be had in Endless Space 2 and it also contains a good level of strategic depth especially in multiplayer.

Yes, it feels like we’ve been here before, partly because we have. But when it’s executed with such finesse, is that such a bad thing?

It’s far from an essential purchase, but hardcore Crusader Kings 2 fans will probably want to pick this up for the custom kingdoms alone. For everyone else I’d advise giving it a miss unless you’re very interested in the period setting.

Another fantastic game from Obsidian, the formula they have created from Pillars has served up another brilliant RPG for people to sink their teeth into for hours of Tyrannical enjoyment.

Exciting, clever and ultimately addictive.

Building on its predecessor’s mixture of RTS and RPG elements, SpellForce 3: Soul Harvest provides an engaging recipe that we don’t often get nowadays. A stand-alone expansion in the traditional sense, exploring its 20-hour long story campaign means uncovering a plot with significant consequences alongside a handful of charismatic companions. Whether delving into ancient ruins as a party of four or leading armies on the frontlines, Soul Harvest’s unique blend of RTS and RPG is one worth experiencing.