Provided you come to Call of Duty with multiplayer in mind, I think you’ll be very pleased with what Black Ops III has to offer this year.

Overall, this was already a great game and now you can play it on the go. I would recommend to give the game a shot, and if you enjoy it, pick up the starter pack. If this is a sign of future mobile games, then sign me up.

The biggest and most important thing to discuss is the combat. Fallout 3’s combat was lackluster and not without its share of headaches. I’m happy to report that the combat has been refined and even inspired by games like Destiny. You still have the ability to change between FPS and Third Person view on the fly. I prefer the FPS mode and you can tell Bethesda really poured their heart into making it right.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a blast to play. This sequel blends together combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving better than its predecessor, balancing all of these elements and stretching them out in a way that makes the pacing feel spot on.

If you’re on the market for a dramatic and original episodic series with unique gameplay mechanics and an intriguing story to tell, then consider checking out Life is Strange. I definitely need to reiterate how impressed I am with Dontnod Entertainment's first foray into the episodic adventure genre, and we're definitely excited to see where they'll be taking us next.

To enjoy Space Hulk, though, you have to be willing to sit through all kinds of wait times. That's pretty much non-negotiable. Personally, I think the waiting nearly — but doesn't totally — negate all the good things the game does, but your own experiences will be dictated largely by your level of patience.

Not to diminish how much fun the original Goat Simulator was, but I can't say I've gone back to it in the several months since it came out, for the simple reason there wasn't much reason to do so; I got the joke, I found it funny, I don't feel like there's much more to experience. Goat Simulator: Mmore Goatz Edition brilliantly solves that problem, and delivers a surprisingly fun game in the process.

Frictional Games are an ambitious bunch who hopefully continue to learn lessons about storytelling and when to leave behind the crutch of a past success. Their strong suit may have been in horror at some point, but sometimes moving forward means leaving something behind. In the case of SOMA, they've traversed far into the future without leaving the past where it lies.

For $29.99, it’s a good value for someone new to franchise and only veterans who aren’t expecting a “Definitive” Edition.

While Animal Crossing is branching out from simply being a town that players can feel at home in, Happy Home Designer is antithetic in design and scope. It's unlike this series to come up short of ideas, and yet they've somehow managed to run a single one into the ground with Happy Home Designer.

Need for Speed is pretty disappointing. There [are] elements of the presentation that work, and it’s clear they were trying to evoke the feel and look of NFS Underground. But the actual execution is lacking, with performance issues, lackluster events, an empty map with useless sub-events, and a forced online mode that certainly doesn’t feel necessary and lacks almost all of the bells and whistles found in other online enabled racing games.

It's not often that a game will embrace its own ludicrousness and just be totally and completely ridiculous, but One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 does just that. These results are proof that it's not a bad approach for a game to take.

It's a price to pay for sticking to their guns, but honestly, if games like Destiny can get away with subjecting players to hard limits without taking a beating, I don't see why Nintendo isn't allowed the same permission for what's ultimately a rewarding experience. Nintendo deserves, if anything, some recognition for what Tri Force Heroes accomplishes when requirements are met.

As the headline suggests, only pick this up if you are a hardcore fan and know what you are getting with Soldier’s Soul.

I mean that on two levels, as it's a solid action platformer, but it also has a lot of untapped potential that players may be disappointed to discover by the time they're through.

All in all, I think Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is exactly what the series needed, which is a step back in right direction after the dismal release of Unity.

So far so good for Minecraft: Story Mode, even if I’m just slightly underwhelmed by the story elements.

I'm less hesitant, however, to say this: unless you played the first Book of Unwritten Tales, you'll probably want to avoid The Book of Unwritten Tales 2, since it's not designed with series — or even adventure game — novices in mind.

It’s a well-crafted Halo experience with enough new bells and whistles to turn around even the most jaded Halo fan, and feels exactly like what you’d want a next-gen Halo game to be. There’s a hefty amount of content to explore here across the campaign and multiplayer modes, with a large map variety at launch and an enjoyable story to uncover. And it all looks and sounds absolutely gorgeous, with fantastic enemy and map designs on top of the excellent technical groundwork behind it all.

Bedlam has a unique concept with pretty good nostalgia and a decent story. It’s a shame to see it fall victim to consistent game crashes, framerate drops and other game breaking bugs.

The Guitar Hero franchise has resurrected itself.

As far as finales go, I think Tales from the Borderlands gets things right. All the major threads are wrapped up nicely, and while there’s room for a sequel involving this cast, it doesn’t feel absolutely necessary either.

There's nothing so terrible about it that you'll regret ever having picked it up — there are no Jesus Bynum moments, in other words — but it's doubtful you'll have much fun playing it either.

Zen Studios continues to knock out new properties while keeping up the high level of quality that we all expect from their tables. With the exception of my annoyances with the Archer table, playing some of my favorite shows in pinball form was great fun.

The same goes for Heroes of Loot as a whole: it's very simple, but it works incredibly well. Bring on more twin-stick dungeon crawlers!

FIFA 16 might take second place to PES 2016 this season, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great game. EA Sports usually sticks with the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” but with the soccer genre they have some serious competition.

It's an ambitious port, but with an end result that doesn't pay off.

The problem with that, of course, is that Amnesia: Memories isn't aiming to be a CYOA mystery, it's trying to be a dating simulator. And call me an old-fashioned romantic, but I'd expect one of those to include people who might be worth dating, not just guys who can't stop calling you stupid. Without those, the whole concept never quite clicks — though if you play your cards right, you may at least get to do some fun gumshoeing before it all ends.

Traditionally tabletop games are getting more and more attention on screens, and Blood Bowl is one that benefits from the evolution.

What it all boils down to now, as far as I'm concerned, is performance — how efficiently does the game allow me to dispatch those untold number of Warriors? And on that score, Samurai Warriors 4-II simply delivers.

Platinum never ceases to amaze me, and thankfully Transformers: Devastation continues to prove why Platinum Games is the best action genre developer in the business today.

I think Dragon Quest Heroes is far enough removed from the standard musou experience that even if you’re not a Dynasty Warrior fan of some sort, you can still get a whole lot of enjoyment out of this title. More so if you’re a Dragon Quest fan to begin with, but barring that, I still think Dragon Quest Heroes is worth checking out.

Not one level that I reached in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 felt memorable or made me want to play more. It’s truly a sad day in video game history when a series like this can just become a shadow of its former self.

Forty dollars to access the base content may be steep depending on what players expect to get out of The Taken King. If it's hundreds of hours across all activities, then it's a bargain; if it's just the campaign and some casual competitive play, notsomuch.

I'm glad I had a chance to check out PES 2016 as it would have flown completely under my radar during this busy video game time of the year. I can say I will no longer be an exclusive FIFA player and already have recommended some friends to check out Pro Evolution Soccer

This is one game that may even sway you if you aren’t a fan of fighting games, as it’s a great way to introduce anyone into the genre. It’s accessibility and very reasonable budget price makes owning this one a no brainer. It’s a lot of fun and highly recommended.

Are cool ragdolling and easy-to-use controls enough to set Pumped BMX + apart from all those other clones? Not really, no. But the whole thing is still well-made enough that even if it's no substitute for the real thing, it can at least do in a pinch if you need a little more Trials in your life, and don't feel like waiting any longer for the next one.

If you're a fan of the LEGO and of TT Games' line of LEGO videogames, then LEGO Dimensions is a solid purchase even for those who have never touched a Toys to Life style game.

Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance is a good addition to the series and the story and secrets that Killia has will keep players coming back to see what he is hiding.

If you have never experienced an Uncharted game before, you owe it to yourself to pick up this collection as soon as possible, as you are missing out on an incredible journey. This is a fine example of how to re-release a great collection of games for a shiny new console. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection definitely belongs on every PS4 owner’s shelf.

The track list is lackluster and I could’ve gone for some more content in the box, but outside of these concerns, Rock Band 4 is a good return to the rhythmic music genre. I recommend it for anyone with an existing library of songs and people just looking to rock out.

Overall, I really think NBA 2K16 is worth picking up this year. There’s so much to do, and the gameplay is really top-notch. It’s not perfect necessarily, but it’s remarkably close.

Mad Max runs well, has a lot of content and the vehicular combat is fun, but the overall story missions get repetitive fast and it’s easy to lose the drive to play through to completion. I would recommend Mad Max as a rental or wait for a price drop.

If you're anything like me, you'll feel a little rotten for hating on it, but dull is dull — and Beyond Eyes is nothing if not very, very dull indeed.

When this game clicks — and make no mistake, it clicks pretty often — it's a thing of beauty to behold.

It won't make anyone forget what came before it, but if you've been craving more Pixeljunk Shooter-like action for the last few years, Nova-111 should at least give you a bit of a fix.

I really wanted to like Armello, but it just has too much going on to keep me focused and also keep me interested. I just wanted the king to die already, and I didn’t care much if I was the one doing the killing.

Game Arts has created a masterpiece for RPG fans with Grandia II. Even if the story is somewhat predictable, the gameplay and characters are just too much fun to pass up. If you are like me and are wondering what to do in this massive drought of good classic JRPGs this is a great game and shouldn’t be passed up!

Between the characters, weapons, and, the animal spirits, there is more than enough content and comedic action for everyone with a weird sense of humor.

If you missed Devil Survivor 2 the first time around, or even Record breaker on its release earlier this year, it's one of those RPGs that "there's never a bad time" to jump in.

Even with a full squad of undead at the current price point of $19.99 it's still a questionable purchase. If you want your Beat 'em up thirst quenched, I would stick to a classic like something from the Streets of Rage series or something more modern like Castle Crashers.

It's got some interesting concepts, but the execution is off. The overall design and nature of the PSP game feels cramped when ported to consoles and PC, and was generally distracting when in any part of the game that wasn't some version of combat.

All in all, I’m super impressed with Persona 4: Dancing All Night. It essentially hits every high mark when it comes to the rhythm genre, while at the same time delivering a great story with a cast of characters that I certainly love.

Unfortunately, no matter how good the core of the game may be, there's no getting around the fact that Curses 'N Chaos' execution leaves something to be desired. Its flaws aren't fatal by any means, and could probably be fixed with a patch or two…but until that actually happens, you're probably safe skipping this game.

The Wii U starter pack comes with two Skylanders and one land vehicle. With this alone you will be able to enjoy the full main story and also be able to race on and offline.

Sure, its art is pretty cool, but certainly not cool enough to make up for its annoying challenges.

The puzzles may be simple and sometimes repetitive, but if you enjoy solving puzzles, can appreciate the colorful canvas-like design, and have an open mind for classic point and click gaming with a bit of retro and modern elements, I would say check out Broken Sword 5.

While the concept sounds like fun, nothing works how you think and it ultimately turns into an unenjoyable experience. I really cannot recommend this one on any level.

Besides that one minor gripe, Super Mario Maker is one of the best titles the House of N has created in years.

After the first two games in the series, it was clear that Danganronpa was worth checking out if you had the slightest interest in visual novels or adventure games. By branching out to a whole new genre, developer Spike Chunsoft is showing that it's a franchise that's just worth checking out, period.

Overall I can't really recommend I am Bread. Like Bossa Studios' previous title, Surgeon Simulator, the frustration between controls and camera just overpowers the sense of humor it tries to have.

On the whole, I think it's worth it, since Subdmerged's world is absolutely gorgeous, and it's relaxing to just drift along on the current as dolphins and sting rays and whales swim by. If you want a deeper, meatier experience, though, you'd probably be better served looking elsewhere, because this game just doesn't have that.

Rather than trying to fit itself into a specific genre category, Shutshimi aims to make the existing genre fit around it. It's a bold statement to make, but it's one that the game's developers are able to pull off with aplomb.

If you must try it out, then seek it out on other portable devices and forget the 3DS port even exists.

I would say if you are a gigantic Hold'em fan and you need you poker itch scratched on the PS4 then consider Pure Hold'em. Otherwise I would pick up a cheaper card game compilation on PC/Mac or wait for a PlayStation Store sale. Either way only poker fans need inquire.

For less than $40, it’s kinda a no-brainer for gamers looking for a fun and creative, family-friendly adventure.

It’s not as polished as a Telltale game but the story is unique and I’m intrigued to see where it will go in episode 2.

The controls are spot on, and perfect for virtually any skill level to pick up and play. It’s also a technically sound experience, outside of some lengthy load times between tracks.

It won't wow you, and it won't disappoint you: it'll basically just kind of be there.

The only thing that would have made the figure sets even better, would have been the inclusion of Star Wars, Tron and other series vehicles.

The Quiet Collection costs less than $5, and for that price you get a couple of hours of worthwhile adventure gaming. It won't change your life, but it will help a few commutes and/or break times pass by a little more enjoyably.

The asking price, like most Square Enix titles on mobile platforms, is a little steep for what you get. But overall this is a pretty solid port, and the novelty of playing FF VII on a phone or tablet is enough to make me suggest picking this up.

Again, this is still a great game, but it’s a port that unfortunately feels largely unnecessary.

I think, though, that this lack of seemingly impossible levels is what makes The Bridge fall a little short of being a truly great game.

Even though Steins;Gate has some interactive components that allow you to impact the story's outcome, it's important to know that it's possible to go for hours at a stretch here and never have the opportunity to do anything more than press X to advance the text.

Mega Man Legacy Collection is not the best compilation of classics released, but it’s definitely not the worst. Worth a download if you are a fan.

Most expect you to have honed your skills to perfection through years and years of playing other likeminded games; TorqueL expects nothing less than for you to relearn all your skills anew.

If you are opened minded to a non-traditional gaming experience and enjoy horror games and/or movies, I would highly recommend giving Until Dawn a try.

I’d definitely say the good outweighs the bad with Madden NFL 16 however, thanks in large part to the excellent addition of the Draft Champions mode, and the overall positive changes made to passing and receiving.

While the campaign side is largely unchanged outside of visual enhancements, the multiplayer side of things feels more robust than the original, provided you didn’t buy into all the DLC when it originally released.

Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Edition is a great PC port that will suit those looking for a casual platforming or puzzle experience, along with the hardcore speedrunners looking for a challenge.

It's a game that will only appeal to hardcore visual novel fans with a love of the absurd — and that, unfortunately, just isn't a grouping that includes me.

That J-Stars Victory Vs+ delivers its rampant destruction in a way that goes down so smoothly, even for newcomers to the genre/universe…well, that's more than enough to make it worth picking up, as far as I'm concerned.

The difficulty is there; the multiplayer is solid and does the series justice in many ways. I recommended it for the hack n slash, dungeon crawler fans. Lastly, if the four classes aren’t enough, for $4.99, you can purchase and unlock the Necromancer that summons ghosts and archers.

It's for extraordinarily dedicated Xblaze Code: Embryo fans only — and I don't think I could possibly emphasize that "only" enough, because if that phrase doesn't describe you, you'd be better off picking up literally any other game in existence.

Escape Plan Bravo feels like another solid entry in the series, with a few big moments connected together by a great script, snappy dialogue, and the same wit and humor that’s been on display since the beginning.

The interactivity and flow of the game make it so much more fun to play than you typical defense game that even non fans will find something to like here.

Provided you can get past the fan service, I think you’ll still really enjoy Dungeon Travelers 2 as an engaging, challenging take on the first-person dungeon crawling formula.

Had it been as balanced as its high points were, it'd be an easy recommendation, but as it is, it's great for a few hours a night to just wind down. Just don't expect to remember it when all's said and done.

Then again, as Actual Sunlight reminds players very early on, "This game is not a game: it's a portrait." To some extent, that feels like an easy out for the game, a way for it to suggest that its broader statement is more important than how that statement is conveyed, thereby rendering it immune to criticism. But at the same time…okay, sure, I'll buy that.

The Swindle is impossibly hard, to the point that only masochists need apply.

D4 plays quite well with a mouse, and is a much more accessible experience than its Kinect version, making this the most enjoyable way to play the adventure game. It also sucks for those expecting a PC port that will allow them to change essential settings, and in no way accommodates more than the Xbox One version would have offered.

All in all, I think Galak-Z was definitely worth the wait. It’s one of the most unique titles I’ve played on my PS4 this year, and certainly one of the most challenging.

It's important to realize that Everybody's Gone To The Rapture isn't exactly a game. Considering that its developers also made the equally non-game-like Dear Esther, this should come as no surprise. Rather, it's essential you think of it as a story that you just happen to be experiencing on your PS4. Otherwise, it will just seem like a walking simulator in a nicely-rendered English country village, and then you're just missing the point — and the beauty — of it all.

Still, when the game does such a fantastic job of creating a creepy atmosphere, complaining about the lack of people seems like it's missing the point. Like a great horror movie, everything in The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is there to leave you feeling unsettled and unsure of what's going on. Considering it nails that feeling and sustains it throughout, I'd say that counts as a pretty substantial success.

It's definitely a Westernized way of approaching the visual novel, but if you look at it just so, you can see how it might fit in that box.

Such gamers should absolutely adore Velocibox, since it wants nothing more than to kill you off again and again and again. If, however, you're the kind of person who wants to start off a game feeling like you have a ghost of a chance, then you're definitely not going to get that here.

Outside the large amount of space needed to install Rare Replay, the end result of this collection was remarkable and I hope other developers consider putting in the same care that Rare did.