An atmospheric and evocative action role-player whose rough edges and lacklustre combat are balanced by compelling world-building, beautiful environments, and a far reaching sense of consequence.

Not quite premiere league but Nintendo’s unexpected foray into football management dares to do things differently, and in some cases better, than its rivals.

Nintendo hobble their excellent old GameCube sports game with dreadful new motion controls.

At last, Mama gets out of the kitchen and... into a perversely unenjoyable shopping simulator.

Lego does real-time strategy and makes it look easy - rather too easy as far as the difficultly goes.

The scares are still there but in gameplay terms the experience is far too… slender to justify the repetition and frustration of this sequel.

The old Advance Wars clone gets a remake, but somehow avoids getting a proper 21st-century makeover.

An always welcome celebration of one of the 16-bit era’s most innovative and cinematic arcade adventures, even if its gameplay irritations are even more obvious in today’s world.

Not one of the best map packs Call Of Duty has ever seen, and yet for some reason one of the most expensive. Being Michael Myers is fun though.

The move into 3D has produced some staggeringly pretty visuals, but when it comes to the controls and running time this usually enjoyable action puzzler suffers badly as a result.

It's still not the game that will make giant robot sims mainstream, but it does have some innovative ideas in terms of both combat and online play.

It looks and sounds the part but this anime tie-in should've worried about more than just presentation.

Roguelike fans will appreciate the persistence needed to get anywhere but this is a mediocre example of the genre and not nearly as much fun as it could’ve been.

The most shamefully obvious clone of recent years, but although this copies most of Lemmings’ tricks it falls short in terms of both personality and addictiveness.

Technical problems and a lack of difficulty balancing spoil what would’ve been a neat slice of DLC, with some surprisingly good storytelling.

The script might be highly distasteful but the rest of the game is a surprisingly enjoyable variant on the Harvest Moon workaholic simulator.

Less a reboot of a forgotten NES game and more a sub-par clone of Dead Cells, where the gorgeous visuals cannot hide the mediocre gameplay.

The greatest puzzle with the DS's latest blockbuster, is why it's proven such an instant hit.

It's an obvious clone of 'Splosion Man, but it's also a pretty good one - and in the world of gaming that's all that's ever really mattered.

There are some clever ideas here, but like a good chestburster they haven't been given time to gestate.

An interesting attempt at an isometric Dark Souls, but it lacks the depth and attention to detail of the real thing.

The production values seem to justify the high price but this is an annoyingly awkward mix of third person action and Tower Defence, which never really gels.

For a Dynasty Warriors game this is fairly innovative, but only if you have three friends to play with.

A dramatic, emotive and affecting interactive drama that shows Dontnod are still the masters of branching narrative and serious-minded storytelling.

The VR immersion is great and the setting certainly has potential, but with no depth or challenge to the gameplay this trumped-up tech demo lacks teeth.

There’s a fair number of new features and missions here but none justify the price, and the experience will pass from your memory almost as soon as it’s over.

An awful campaign and a lack of innovation drag down the most content-stuffed Call Of Duty game to date, with an eye largely locked to past glories.

All the component pieces are here, but given the severe control limitations the subtitle here should have been 'lite' not 'refrain'.

Disappointing sequel that manages to undo the relative successes of the original and dishonour the film.

A walking simulator set in a colourful, rather than spooky, mansion with rewarding puzzles, a cheerful atmosphere, and a locomotion system from the seventh circle of Hell.

There are still problems with artificial intelligence and level design, but despite its age this is still one of the best sniper games around.

It’s gently whimsical and considerably less mechanically complex than either Pokémon Go or Wizards Unite and while it does offer some encouragement to go out and get some fresh air, it’s almost more pedometer than game, and is all but pointless on a tablet.

A fun and accessible introduction to the world of Catan but technical failings and a lack of options mean it’s not quite the adaptation it could’ve been.

The racing and visuals are good, but the scarcity of modes and options means this is another year where the official F1 tie-in barely makes the starting grid.

A mechanically solid and fun Super Smash Bros. clone which doesn’t have the style, personality or affection for its characters to reach the heights of its inspiration.

It’s still not a patch on the better Mario Party games but its still one of the few video games where literally everyone can join in and have some sort of fun – from non-gamers to the ultra hardcore.

It might be a 'proper' game this time, but this lacklustre Spore spin-off hasn't got anything like the same sense of fun or ambition.

A minor effort from Suda51 and Digital Reality, but with some clever presentation and a peculiar atmosphere that enhances some fairly ordinary action.

A stylishly presented, adult-themed adventure that explores the night life of Paris in thought-provoking but agreeably quirky detail.

The sequel to Ferrari Challenge may be a good simulation, but it's not really much of a game.

Its explosive thunder has already been stolen (twice) leaving this unfortunately-timed platformer to arrive late for its own party.

The mix of tactical spaceship building and roguelike action is intriguing, but Genesis Alpha One suffers from a split personality and a limited development budget.

A competent and unexciting update to a competent and unexciting puzzler, which is not nearly praise enough to forgive the optimistically high price.

A 90s style JRPG with dungeon exploration, random monster encounters, and a penchant for crafting, whose rough and ready production values undermine its comforting milieu.

A mawkish attempt to glorify the 80s that features some gorgeous visuals and music but offers no real insight into the era’s culture or games.

About as new as a fossilised dinosaur egg and just about as fast and exciting, this is a depressingly poor degradation of a once great original.

A fun action platformer with plenty of charm and some great visuals, that’s only let down by an uneven difficulty level that seems unsure exactly how hard it wants to be.

It’s not the most accessible game around, but this quirky bird-borne aerial combat game is definitely one of the most imaginative games in the Xbox Series X/S launch line-up.

An occasionally inspired attempt to reinvent the Valkyrie Profile series, but a weak narrative and a dispiritingly empty game world drain the enjoyment from what could’ve been a fun action role-player.

It feels more like a long lost SNES game than a modern action role-player but that’s clearly the point in this charming, if insubstantial, prelude to Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.

It’s an improvement on the last game but as a franchise Just Cause is still squandering the majority of its potential with its banal mission design and dull storytelling.

A peculiar multimedia bundle that features a near worthless HD update, a paid-for demo and a terrible CGI movie. Fighting game fans can do a lot better.

A distressingly old school movie tie-in which instead of making imaginative use of the movie's setting creates only a bland copy of the Lego games.

The last of the Fallout 3 expansions is also one of the worst in this bafflingly dull abduction yarn.

A solid reworking of a brutal but characterful retro platform game, which offers a fascinating insight into the earliest days of the genre.

The game’s love for Ghosts ‘N Goblins is obvious but its refusal to cater for anyone but hardcore fans results in a frustrating and tedious slog – especially in story mode.

The mega evolutions and real-time battles continue to impress, but this expensive DLC is far too repetitive to be considered an essential purchase.

The visuals may make even Knack look like a system seller, but there’s a quiet pleasure to Super Motherload’s simple but addictive gameplay.

Dynasty Warriors finally gets the overhaul it’s long been waiting for… and while it addresses a few old problems it creates just as many new ones.

A successful halfway house between a Command & Conquer style button-masher and a thoroughbred strategy game, with tense, fast-paced, but pleasingly tactical battles.

On paper it's a cynical cash grab while everyone waits for Revelations, but despite the price this is a fun and addictive score attack shooter.

Despite the many obvious flaws there’s a mesmerising quality to the game’s artificial worlds, as the gameplay itself creates a surprisingly palatable form of edutainment.

A disappointingly drab Tron tie-in that wastes some interesting ideas on dull and repetitive combat and an unequally unengaging story.

A highly original, dark gothic thriller whose lack of compromises will restrict its audience but are hard not to admire.

It's all a shame because the central idea of a constantly transforming dungeon is a good one. The actual game that's been constructed around it though is nowhere near good enough.

A very good update of the venerable arcade game and only a few niggles away from being a great game in its own right.

Not so much a sequel to Dungeon Keeper 2 as an unofficial remake, and while a little magic has been lost along the way this is still a charmingly unique strategy game.

A spirited attempt to reimagine the ancient 70s coin-op as a modern narrative-based game, but the necessarily simple gameplay is a poor match for the overblown storytelling.

An historically authentic military flight sim that rewards the hard work put into mastering its combat, although there was no need for it to be quite this inaccessible to non-propellerheads.

Capcom's latest attempt to please a hardcore audience tries, and fails, to be God Of War on the Wii.

It doesn't lack for ambition, but in terms of finesse, innovation and execution this remains a poor advert for HD style shooters on the Wii.

A typical Fallout download that buries a few interesting new ideas and locations beneath a patchwork of overfamiliar, and increasingly outdated, content.

A co-op Metroid seemed like a bad idea from the start, but while Federation Force has its moments they’re overshadowed by sloppy implementation and bland design.

A stunning work of imagination that turns the shallow spectacle of the original into a gorgeous-looking action game with real depth and replayability.

The Phantasy Star Online legacy still goes unfulfilled, as the portable version treads water.

Some strange design decisions create a racing sequel that’s arguably worse than the original, and only time will tell whether it recovers from its poor start.

An admirable effort to make a serious Sherlock Holmes game, but the low production values and needlessly obscure puzzles hinder the ambitious storytelling.

While its fun to see how absurd those distractions get that only makes it harder and harder to pretend you’re playing a real game, with consequences and genuine danger. Despite all that we’re curious to see what Violation will do for their first next gen-only sequel, but for now this second expansion is probably best left to burn.

As a graphical showcase there’s nothing better on PlayStation VR, but in terms of gameplay there are far more entertaining tech demos available – let alone proper games.

Gameloft's cloners have excelled themselves in replicating all the basics of Batman: Arkham City on a smartphone - albeit only at shallow, surface level.

More depressing is its constant desire to shake you down for cash, with microtransactional extras popping up for practically everything you need to progress. It’s an exhausting begging simulator, with a wafer-thin veneer of Harry Potter that in no way recaptures the initial allure of Pokémon GO.

Its incremental improvements will appease fans but it does little to entice new players, in what is still a very dry and demanding sim that’s devoid of character.

It’s fun to play and early progression is swift and reasonably satisfying. The problem is that it’s nowhere near as good as Clash Royale, with less identifiable units, a clunkier interface, and a slower pace of play.

A moderately entertaining on-rails action game that fails to learn anything from its predecessor Until Dawn: Rush Of Blood or indeed other, much older, lightgun games.

The spiritual sequel to Shadow Of Memories has the same time travelling intrigue but less gameplay.

With every low rent sequel it becomes that much harder to remember why Silent Hill was so successful in the first place, as the series continues its descent into franchise hell.

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

An excellent portable fighting game engine in desperate search of a fully-featured game to attach itself to, in what is a shamefully insubstantial release.

Not just an Olympics tie-in but a proper sports game, with the majority of events finding a good balance between realism and enjoyment.

A combat-heavy action RPG with fun fights and spectacular landscapes, that’s brought down by glitches, fiddly navigation, and an over-reliance on fetch quests.

A very run of the mill Metroidvania that does little of interest with the God Of War setting and stumbles in terms of the dull combat and unengaging plot.

The sequel to Puzzle Quest is cheap and far from cheerful, but it's still a mostly effective mix of genres.

A real misstep for Level-5, with tedious battles and an equally uninteresting plot and characters.

It’s very pretty but this patchwork of other game’s ideas never has enough of its own to keep you interested during the repetitive and overfamiliar open world action.

A welcome sequel to the original Tales From The Borderlands, that negotiates the franchise’s loud mouth humour to deliver a surprisingly nuanced and intelligent slice of interactive storytelling.

A remake of a rehash of a disappointing sequel… that only hints at what Earth Defense Force could be if the series would only show some forward momentum.

It has admirable intentions, but this misguided role-player proves a quiet life is rarely an entertaining one when it comes to video games.

An unbearably bland arena-based shooter that only manages to make the Quake-style action seem more old-fashioned and irrelevant than ever.