Nobody Saves the World’s form switching and punchy, responsive combat carries the game where its other elements let it down. The star of the show is its surprisingly dynamic twist on aRPG mechanics that makes figuring out builds to counter the dangers of its dungeons rewarding enough to warrant spending 20+ hours killing monsters and helping its sometimes oddball NPCs.

We’re only a week into 2022, but I’m extremely happy to be starting my year off with a game as fun and well put together as Fights in Tight Spaces. Though it occasionally feels like a bit of a grind, the focused gameplay and pleasing visual style make this a great game for players to come back to over and over.

I definitely enjoyed heading back to the simpler gameplay of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends. But the main game is far too short for any long-term gaming. The lower difficulty setting certainly allows younger gamers to play with a degree of confidence. However, it will leave older gamers wanting something extra. The addition of the original game does increase the nostalgia, but the issues of poor controller responsiveness somewhat limit the enjoyment. If you have a young family and want to show them a comparison between games of yesteryear and today, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends is worth a look, but look elsewhere if you’re looking for a challenging platformer.

Terminator: Resistance Annihilation Line is a worthy addition to the base game if you enjoyed your time there but it doesn’t do enough to fix its many flaws. While the story is rewarding and atmosphere creepy, there’s something just a little cynical about the whole thing.

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.

As a celebration of all things Jurassic, Jurassic World Evolution 2 serves as a worthy successor to the original. As a park management game, it struggles to find a meaningful focal point. Given Frontier’s expertise in this exact department elsewhere, that’s more than a little disappointing. A light, messy sim that acts as a tribute to the prehistoric pandemonium of the Jurassic Park/World series.

Overall, a fantastic game that yields a relaxing experience and a gaming experience for all. The adventure is fun and awe-inducing. The graphics and music are coupled well together and marry each other to make for an amazing fantasy feel.

Battlefield 2042 should have been a massive, triumphant return for the series but, as much as it scratches that itch for both small and large scale combat, it brings some unnecessary changes to its core formula while missing the mark with some of its ambitious new features. With enough support, the great first-person shooter underneath might fully surface in a few months’ time, but properly enjoying it at launch requires jumping through several hoops.

The strength of Frogwares previous works is retained within more ambitious, freeform packaging. Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One can be abrasive, both in gameplay terms and in its depiction of an iconic character, but it offers such rich and rewarding depth to its detective drama that it’s much easier to accept.

The Origins Immersion Pack isn’t anything special. Whether it is worth it to you depends on if you’re interested in taking an African nation through the mission trees or want to play a fleshed-out Judaism. The free patch that goes along with it, however, should be welcomed by everyone, especially if it ends up doing what it says on the tin. From our limited testing, this seems to be the case, including a noticeable performance increase from 1.31.

Despite minimal flaws, Inscryption masters the experiment of blending a card game and horror into a bizarre mindtrip.

It’s no surprise that Forza Horizon puts itself right into the mix with 2021’s Game of the Year contenders. Playground Games has been getting it right for a decade now. This is the definitive experience in the series so far, one that excels both on PC and the Xbox Series X. Minimal issues, such as server connectivity, fail to spoil the party that is just crammed with happiness and adventure. A number of small improvements across the board elevates the racer to being best in class; a huge plus for Microsoft with Sony’s impressive-looking Gran Turismo 7 flashing its headlights not too far in the distance.

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.

Far Cry 6 finds the series at its most complacent and stale, showing little desire to push things forward and missing the mark when it comes to its story and villain. And yet, despite the tired recipe, there’s still an adequately enjoyable first-person shooter underneath that manages to offer the freedom expected of it and make popping the heads of countless dumb opponents feel satisfying. How much you’ll enjoy it really depends on where you’re approaching it from. As a new player, its world will keep you busy and show you a good chunk of what the series has to offer. If you’ve played previous entries in the series, you’re more likely to be left wishing there was more. Yara’s had its own revolution; perhaps it’s time for Far Cry to follow suit.

Deathloop turns both succeeding and failing into learning experiences and never makes you miss the lack of a quicksave option. It’s a mean feat that sets it apart from other games, and one of several reasons why it should be on the list of any immersive sim fans out there. It might not be Arkane’s best game and Blackreef may struggle clearly defining a personality for itself, but it’s certainly no stranger to great moments.

King’s Bounty II is a game where it takes forever to do anything. I averaged maybe 2-3 short battles for every hour of gameplay – perhaps 20 minutes of fun for 40 of drudgery. All this is doubly frustrating because somewhere under all this crap is a pretty solid strategy game. I just wish that King’s Bounty II would stop jerking me around and just let me play it!

It boasts some of the most imaginative levels out there, and they’re backed up by platforming and combat that feels very familiar yet also surprisingly fresh. Its story has a more personal note, yet fleshes out not just Raz and the characters around him, but the game’s universe as a whole. Simply put, Psychonauts 2 is a triumph in all the ways it needs to be, and this hopefully means that it won’t be the last we see of the series.

At the end of the day, Aliens: Fireteam Elite doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s a game that clearly knows what it wants to be. It’s not the most sophisticated co-op shooter out there and won’t exactly blow your mind with its uniqueness, but if you want to spend an evening shooting up Xenomorphs alongside friends, it has you covered.

Although not all of its features are as fleshed out as they could be, Humankind does hit several sweet spots, both in terms of combat and management, having enough going on to push you to click that next turn button. While it probably won’t be a “Civ killer” – not that it necessarily aims to be one –, it’s clearly a game that historical 4X strategy fans looking for a different spin on the subgenre’s formula should definitely consider trying out at some point.

If you love the atmosphere of Eastern European survival games but hate the jank, Chernobylite is for you. Its cycle of scavenging and questing is addicting, and its characters are fun to meet. But that also means it becomes too easy once you get a feel for the controls and mechanics. Add that with a story that isn’t scary, and you have a flawed game with an engaging core. It held my attention during its full runtime, and I can’t say that for a lot of games.

Crash Drive 3 might not have staying power thanks to its repetitive moments and lackluster quick chat, but it’s still a pretty fun game. It’s easy to get lost in an event or two and there’s plenty to unlock. It’s not complex, making it a good you’re looking for a game that loves the idea of cars rather than actually driving. It’s the best sort of juvenile, letting you just enjoy the concept of play. During the writing of this review, I’ve had moments when I just played more when I should’ve been finishing the damn article. It’s the sort of game that makes me wish I had a less demanding deadline. It’s unbridled fun, simple as that.

If you like your battles tactical this is a great game to sink your teeth into. The campaign escalates nicely and does a good job of selling the desperation of your mission. I’m not sure about re-playability but it does have a skirmish mode to play around in.

I have to say the change of pace from the more traditional province-heavy factions is very refreshing, and if you haven’t played Beastmen before, this DLC is a great place to start.

The narrative acts as a small, mostly harmless, reward in between lengthy bouts of grinding, largely pushing you from area to area. Barren locations and unappealing textures do kick things down a notch when exploring its world, but you’ll forget about them as soon as you enter combat and bask upon the detailed, epic monster models and their special attack animations. It’s not perfect, but underestimating Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin would be a disservice to fans and newbies alike, as it’s a fully-fledged turn-based RPG that also has a lot of the mainline entries’ DNA baked into it.

Valor & Victory is based on the original tabletop board game and for better or worse is meticulously designed for fans of that format. Those familiar with miniature wargaming are sure to find a game capable of scratching that same itch, but if you prefer your WW2 strategy more accessible, Panzer Corps 2 may be more up your aisle.

Heroes of the Inner Sphere is definitely worth picking up along with the main game for those jumping in for the first time, but players who have already spent hours with MechWarrior 5’s existing content may find the new additions to feel a bit been-there-done-that. The new career mode is my new preferred way to play, but the new structure, mechs, weapons, and mission type fail to significantly distance themselves from what’s already been present in the game.

Necromunda: Hired Gun checks all the boxes that should make a single-player first-person shooter tick, but its flawed execution and an ugly Warhammer 40K paint job give you few reasons to stick with it until the end. It’s functional and has a grappling hook that’s alright to use. But its tedious, unsatisfying combat, janky animations, and AI that’s prone to mess up all test your patience without offering any tangible reward. It misses out on making you feel like a bounty hunter – badass or otherwise – and all you’re left with, in case you do play through its campaign, is a sense that you could have spent that time playing something better.

Biomutant's strong presentation and beautiful world invite exploration, while its combat makes you feel like a badass magic-flinging, gunslinging, Kung-Fu warrior. Sadly, its tedious missions and weak story make it increasingly harder to stick with the game the more of it you play.