We’ve learnt never to assume a game’s final quality from even the most positive preview, but we were thoroughly impressed by First Light, which proved to be considerably better than we were expecting. The thought of future Bond films being owned by Amazon is very disquieting, no matter the talent involved, but no matter how all that turns out it’s very clear that Bond’s video game career couldn’t be in better hands. [Hands-On Impressions]

A colourful and creative first person adventure, whose From-style asynchronous multiplayer, branching plot, and faltering stealth sequences are hamstrung by a very low budget.

It’s not hard to take issue with Champions but for better or worse it’s clearly not finished yet and… it’s free. If you’re a veteran Pokémon fan then the only real benefit you’re getting here is easy access to a constant stream of online matches, since the matchmaking is actually pretty good. Otherwise, this seems to be aimed at a slightly awkward mix of hardcore esports fans and people brand new to the franchise, who want to know how the battles work (and to be fair, the tutorials are pretty good and the interface fairly straightforward)...Champions fulfils that remit reasonably well but it’s a hard game to get excited about and probably something you’re better off just making a mental note of, so you can come back later when it’s working properly and is more content complete. [Review in Progress]

Slay The Spire is not a game that sounds very exciting to describe and that’s certainly true of its sequel as well. But once you get a feel for how it works it’s enjoyably addictive in the way only the very best video games are. The early access version isn’t cheap, but the original game can currently be downloaded for just £4.99 on Steam, so if you’re not convinced you can get a good idea for whether you’ll like the sequel from that. [Early Access Review]

Even without the controversies surrounding it, Yakuza Kiwami 3 is a huge disappointment, with no useful changes and a worthless new expansion.

A sorely underdeveloped, crafting-orientated survival horror game, whose neat comic book art style isn’t enough to compensate for sub-par combat and storytelling.

An outdated and uninteresting Soulslike that takes an already flawed original and makes it even less compelling, with unengaging storytelling, bland visuals, and repetitive action.

An amateurish mess masquerading as a homage to Dino Crisis, which might be defensible as a well-meaning fan project, if it wasn’t for the outrageously unreasonable price tag.

A mediocre homage to Contra and a terrible adaption of Terminator 2, which has nothing interesting to say about the concept of adapting movies into 2D video games.

It’s effectively a State Of Survival clone that uses Resident Evil themes and settings. So it’s a base builder at heart, except your base is Raccoon City – not that it makes much difference since you’ll be raiding rival Raccoon Cities in dull multi-hour engagements and paying real cash to unlock legendary heroes like Leon S. Kennedy. There are zombie-orientated exploration segments, and lane-based tactical battles, but the meat of the game is gacha and pay-to-win base building of the type that’s by now wearyingly familiar to mobile gamers.

The most baffling Nintendo release of recent years, with a quasi-remake of one of the GameCube’s worst games, that seems specifically designed to irritate and confuse would-be players.

A co-op orientated platformer, with cute robots and a deliberately awkward control set-up, that purposefully makes its tough challenge as infuriating as possible.

Insanely repetitive, horribly shallow, and pointlessly easy – this is the absolute least interesting thing to do with Zelda on the Switch 2 and bad even by the low standards of the Dynasty Warrior franchise.

Compared to other extraction shooters, Arc Raiders is very accessible and welcoming, but compared to Fortnite or Call Of Duty, this asks a lot more of players than many will be willing to give. Some will become frustrated at the complex maps and aggressive enemies (there’s a lot more PvE than there is PvP, in the average match), while others will appreciate that this is genuinely something different from the norm, which is what most people claim to want...There’s no way of knowing whether Arc Raiders will be popular on consoles or whether its popularity will last, even if it is, but the initial signs are very positive. This isn’t something you just throw on of the evening, while playing on autopilot, but if you’re looking for something more than that, then Arc Raiders delivers. [Review in Progress]

EA clearly know what they’re doing here and there’s little obvious to complain about right now. It’s always impossible to predict the future success of an online game, no matter how good or bad it might be, but at the moment Redsec seems to be doing everything right and it’s very hard to imagine it not being a massive, and well deserved, hit. [Review in Progress]

An extremely insubstantial Star Wars pod racing themed VR and mixed reality experience, that is technically competent but whose greatest value is in demonstrating the limitations of AR as a concept.

It’s atrocious, failing both as a tactical combat game and a whodunnit, instead settling for charging you to win more frequently via its paid battle pass.

A well-meaning Zero Escape expy that’s too simple for puzzle fiends and too shallow for anyone looking for a nuanced examination of dealing with one’s trauma.

In its current early access state, Skate is a contradiction. It tows the line between giving just enough of what we asked for by bringing the Flick-It system to modern platforms, while also being something of a storefront on wheels. It has the mechanics to last forever, being an outright hoot with friends, but the infrastructure could vanish overnight. 15 years on, EA has delivered a game that captures the joy of skating, but whether it can capture the heart of skateboarding remains very much in question. [Early Access Review]

After the career high of Silent Hill 2, Bloober Team return to their usual routine, with a Frankenstein’s monster of other people’s ideas – all of which are expressed better elsewhere.

A lovely looking origami-themed 3D platformer that’s let down by dull combat and pedestrian puzzle design, and then positively ruined by its use of fixed camera angles.

A cosy hobbit-themed life simulator that can look pretty but is almost entirely made up of thinly veiled multi-part fetch quests and drab, under-developed minigames.

A quirky and offbeat open world biking RPG that works nicely until races get more taxing, at which point its mechanical limitations make it frustrating to play

Mixing Pac-Man with Metroid seems like an enjoyably strange idea at first, until you realise just how bland and unimaginative the end result is.

One of the worst video games of the modern era, that clearly isn’t finished – but just as clearly wouldn’t be worth even a moment of your time if it was.

A bizarre attempt to celebrate the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 in the most boringest way possible, with a limp collection of unentertaining minigames made even duller by suffocatingly clinical presentation.

Players who’ve been around the free-to-play block will immediately recognise Kingshot as a reskin of Whiteout Survival, which itself is identical in gameplay terms to Top War: Survival, Age Of Empires, and a host of other games cynically designed to exploit unwary players financially. Do yourself a favour and give it a wide berth.

In terms of gameplay, it has little in common with the 37-year-old original but the fact that this is a generic and unremarkable copy of other, better games unfortunately makes this a very authentic sequel.