EA Sports FC 25 takes a useful step forward in simulating real football, with a new tactics system and smarter AI, but the improvements aren’t quite as effective as they could be.

A successful reboot for a franchise that still has a lot to give in terms of uniting gamers, and non-gamers, around its uncomplicated but endearing charms.

A highly successful return for the long dormant sci-fi simulation series, and what it lacks in accessibility it makes up for in terms of satisfyingly tactical action.

The most powerful game creation tool ever released for a console, but it’s less accessible than it could be and the endless microtransactions leave a predictably sour taste.

An admirably imaginative approach to downloadable content that has a better story than the main game, but not quite enough variety in action and missions.

A technically sound conversion of the old Dreamcast fighter, but two of its most important features are absent - leaving little more than an empty shell.

What could have been the best Battlefield of the modern era fears like a mere shell of a game, with missing features, too little content, and far too many bugs.

An inspired XCOM clone, whose spy movie atmosphere inspires an emphasis on stealth rather than action – which is a good job given the somewhat flawed combat.

It’s still not as good as Sniper Elite 4, but years of patches and DLC have improved it to the point where this is a viable alternative for Switch owners.

It doesn't address any of the series' shortcomings but this is still the most versatile solider sim around.

A reliable entry full of variety and worthwhile content, that simultaneously leaves an aroma of staleness that is beginning to taint the whole Call Of Duty franchise.

A surprising, old school looter propped up by a contained sci-fi campaign, ferocious combat, and a modding system that encourages endless creativity.

Considering the one complaint about Titanfall was the lack of content this new DLC makes no effort to fill the gaps in the original package, although at least two of the maps are very good.

The series may no longer be the graphical tour de force it once was, but all three Crysis games remain highly playable, your nanosuit’s suite of powers adding a distinct twist to the shooter action.

A considerably less daring second episode, when compared to the first, that highlights the problems of episodic content more than it does the qualities of Life Is Strange 2.

There are some clever ideas at work here, particularly the hero's primary weapon, but a lack of gameplay refinement and bland storytelling fail to make the most of it.

An inspired mix of first person shooter, role-playing game, and survival horror that offers up one of the most compelling, and interactive, open world environments this generation.

The component games are better than the first time round but less well suited to the mini-game format, resulting in two unsatisfying halves of what could have been the perfect retro compilation.

An uninspired retread of Resident Evil Village’s best moments, which squanders the opportunity to experiment or provide a hint about the franchise’s future.

The best Amnesia game since The Dark Descent and a welcome spiritual successor to Alien Isolation, that makes darkness more terrifying than any video game before it.

A competent Metroidvania with some attractive visuals and fun gimmicks, but they can’t hide the fact that the game underneath is far less inspired than it first seems.

A loving tribute to isometric adventures of the Spectrum era, that does just enough to ensure new fans can enjoy it as well.

Some of the best emulation work ever undertaken, it’s just a pity it’s been wasted on such a miserable collection of decidedly non-classic games.

A successful resurrection of the iconic retro franchise, that wallows in justifiable nostalgia but still tries to keep at least one foot in the present.

A fascinating retro shooter that proves a perfect match for the world of Warhammer 40,000 but whose almost complete lack of nuance and variety eventually wears you down.

Despite a fantastic soundtrack and interesting characters, the game’s lack of player choice and clunky writing fails to live up to the gravitas of the series.

A tepid sequel to Kirby And The Power Paintbrush, that even with its short running time barely manages to stretch it’s small collection of ideas across a whole game.

The PSP's most cheerful game returns with an interesting, if very difficult, new take on the original.

Despite some of the same minds behind Dishonored being involved, this top-down immersive doesn’t live up to its soaring ambitions and often struggles to entertain.

Puzzle & Dragons is one of the better free-to-play mobile games, but while removing microtransactions may make it more fair it also makes it less interesting.

A ruthlessly hard parkour shooter, with impressive visuals, frantic firefights, and a truly punishing difficultly level.

The weakest Lego game so far suffers from both a lack of variety and a movie license that fails to build on previous successes.

A competent Left 4 Dead clone that seems to have gained little from the association with John Carpenter, but it is a sensibly priced diversion for those that want a new co-op shooter to play with friends.

Two classic games made to look notably worse than they did over five years ago, which is one villainous masterplan even Batman can’t foil.

A fun mix of influences and career paths, but the game doesn’t make being a mercenary or magician entertaining enough – let alone a tailor or woodcutter.

A hugely disappointing side venture from the creators of Pokémon, which barely seems to understand the rhythm action genre let alone try and evolve it.

There’s plenty of potential here, to make a Monster Hunter clone Western gamers can really get behind, but all its best ideas are sacrificed to endless grinding and repetition.

Some of the finest simulated driving you can find on PC and console, but with a single-player career mode that’s not as fully fleshed out as you’d expect for the money.

It’s the same old EDF in terms of graphics, gameplay, and the swarm of (mostly intentional) bugs but online co-op and a mountain of content means it still holds a special charm.

A Disney-infused Metroidvania Jr., with a gradually increasing challenge that’s ideal for children and, in its latter stages, offers enough inventiveness for grown-up players as well.

Kirby’s games never seem fair on the enemies but this tiresome and poorly balanced co-op platformer offers little chance of fun for them or you.

For a film tie-in it's not bad, but this is not the ultimate Wolverine sim it could've been.

Activision somehow finds a way to dumb down what was already an absurdly shallow action role-player.

A great sequel that refines and improves the original prison break format with more variety, better graphics, and some fun multiplayer.

The line-up of characters is the stuff of fanboy dreams, but the gameplay is enough to send you to sleep – if not give you nightmares.

A fantastically bold idea that Double Fine exploit to its fullest, in one of the most original puzzle adventures of the year – and the most educational.

Zelda does definitely work as a co-op multiplayer game, assuming you can find suitably competent allies, in this fun and charming spin-off.

An inspired mix of Groundhog Day and Choose Your Own Adventure style decision making, combined with a half-broken action role-player of considerably lesser interest.

A cheap-looking and unambitious remake of a generic Pokémon entry that seemed bereft of new ideas in 2006, let alone now.

The storytelling is as well up to Telltale’s usual standards, but waiting three months for such a short and relatively uneventful episode is unavoidably anticlimactic.

A deeply disappointing sequel that devolves from a perfectly judged mix of rhythm action and platforming to an unfairly difficult slog that’s not nearly as clever as it thinks it is.

A clever management sim that pays homage to both the arcades of the 1990s and the exquisite drudgery of teenage jobs.

A tribute to the timelessness of some of Nintendo’s earliest classics and while the whole package is rather thin it’s impressive how entertaining it still manages to be.

A pleasingly straightforward co-op shooter, whose lack of complications will be seen as either a blessing or a curse depending on your requirements as a gamer.

A more family friendly attempt to mimic the likes of Limbo and Inside but while the graphics are impressive the gameplay feels stolid and poorly paced.

A disappointingly backwards-looking expansion that rather than signal a new era for Destiny and Bungie is just more of the same empty teases and recycled content.

It’s stacked full of options, including a story mode, the chance to play both games individually, and the all-important crossover mode. This mixes the rules from both games and since they’re similar enough it works pretty well, as your screen becomes filled with tetriminos and… whatever Puyos are supposed to be.

A very successful attempt to address real world news events in a video game that always feels realistic but never manipulative.

An enjoyable twist on the usual city building formula, that simulates the dangers of planetary colonisation impressively well – although it could have done with a slightly lighter touch.

Poor pacing and the worst celebrity voiceovers of the year mar what could have been the definitive Lego game, but in the end is just another fun but shallow co-op game amongst many.

One of the best Lego games of the entire series, with a dizzying array of bizarre characters and some genuinely compelling gameplay for younger players.

Grand Slam Tennis was a false start after all, as Sega demonstrates the full potential of Wii MotionPlus.

When one of the main new features of a game is its ability to play itself, it’s a hint that a franchise is beginning to run out of steam – especially given Disgaea 6’s limp script and 3D graphics.

Getting such an odd idea to work is worth praise alone, but Hybrid feels more like a hypothetical experiment than a genuinely useful innovation.

A surprisingly lean and mean sequel which amplifies the bloody thrills of the original through its impressive presentation and flexible mechanics.

A near perfect update to what remains a game with far more style than substance, nice new graphics or not.

A successful start to the first episodic Resident Evil, with some genuinely inventive co-op features and the most effective scares the series has seen in years.

The dream of flight becomes reality with PlayStation VR. But the fantasy is a shallow and repetitive one, that you wake up from all too quickly.

One of Destiny 2’s best expansions thus far, providing an assured roadmap for the series to move into. It is just more Destiny though.

The best WWE game for years, which may seem like faint praise but WWE 2K16 works as both a sports sim and a quality fighter in its own right.

One of the oldest and most influential video games of all-time remains surprisingly entertaining thanks to this loving and option-filled remake.

Maps are varied, although all use the classic battle royale technique of gradually forcing you nearer to the centre, and while Squad Busters can feel simplistic, Supercell games are designed to be played for years, and we did find ourselves regularly going back for more of its cluttered, power-up fuelled mayhem.

A spruced up, lightly streamlined refresh of the classic Ukrainian shooter-meets-survival horror series that retains every bit of its uncompromisingly bleak character and individuality.

One of the best SimCity clones on consoles, whose streamlined gameplay is accessible if not necessarily very original.

Once you get past They Are Billions’ multiple barriers to entry, and start to dig into its complexities for yourself, you’ll discover a fabulously complex and challenging game that’s not afraid to test you. For the right sort of masochist, it’ll be the start of dozens of hours of joyous yet cautious experimentation.

Shallow, stupid, and very repetitive but as long as you play with friends there’s a goofy charm to what is, for better or worse, the best Marvel team-up game in a long while.

More a re-release than an enhancement, but still a fascinating reminder of how engaging a good role-player can be even without modern graphics.

Surprisingly dark, despite its protagonists’ youth and manga cuteness, the narrative branching in all sorts of semi-lethal directions as you test the game’s capacity for characters to lie, manipulate, and double cross their junior school chums.

The Layton legacy works perfectly well on mobile, with an endearing new lead and what by all rights should be regarded as a great value-for-money download.

An impressively daring horror experience that pushes the boundaries of what most people would expect from a video game, in terms of subject matter and imagery.

As blatant a clone as you’ve ever seen, but while the PC version was a novel take on Left 4 Dead, the severe price hike on consoles ruins the fun.

An even better Dark Souls clone than Lords Of The Fallen, but there are too few unique ideas and the difficulty often undermines the rest of the gameplay.

A welcome return for one of gaming’s greatest puzzle franchises, and while it’s not quite the best in the series it certainly has the most content.

A gothic masterpiece of weird fiction and roguelike exploration, that gives you the freedom to do whatever you want in one of gaming’s weirdest fictional worlds.

Nothing less or more than what was promised. Still the best football game around but its problems feel more glaring a year later.

An interesting attempt to make a 3D Harvest Moon, that combines some of the best elements of Minecraft, but it lacks any real identity or new ideas of its own.

Overwatch is still an excellent title, even this far from launch, but the Switch version is notably inferior in terms of online performance.

Colourful and brutal, funny and horrifying, Far Cry 6 is the distilled essence of its franchise, as well as a richer and more coherent experience than recent outings.

One of the strangest remakes of all time, given the amount of effort and care that’s been put into such obscure adventure games that, in all honesty, don’t deserve the attention.

An excellent reboot of an unfairly forgotten fighter, but the way it’s being sold does it no favours and severally restricts the fun to be had online.

A bad idea poorly realised, with some below par 3D platforming married to mismatched graphics and a vague and unsatisfying morality system.

Battlefield 3 does a good impression of Call Of Duty, but this isn't an expansion that plays to the series' strengths or offers much value for money.

Trying to simulate a sport as complex as rugby on a shoestring budget is a thankless task but in multiplayer mode at least this does a better job than any of its rivals.

It’s no Sonic Mania, but this is still one of the better attempts to create a modern day 2D Sonic The Hedgehog, with impressive visuals but boring boss battles.

If it wasn’t for the change in graphics this would get an unequivocal recommendation and even with that issue, we can’t imagine anyone that already enjoys Mario Kart 8 not thinking this isn’t worth getting as well.

There’s a lot to do, with quests and hunts coming thick and fast, as it once again strongly incentivises you to get fresh air – since it doesn’t work either indoors or in a moving car. While early days, indicators are that this could have the longevity recent Niantic games have lacked.

A meticulous and polished remaster of the classic sci-fi survival horror, which retains the original’s atmosphere and complexity while adding new mod cons, most of which enhance the experience.

An impressively ambitious, and consistently enjoyable, VR action game that embraces all aspects of the Iron Man character and is only let down by technical limitations.