By turns brilliant and infuriating, this falls just short of being a score-chasing classic. [Aug 2016, p.80]

Flashy and frantic brawler hamstrung only by its devotion to online co-op. [Aug 2016, p.79]

A promising follow-up to C&P let down by its insistence on badly designed set-pieces. [Aug 2016, p.78]

A hugely satisfying end to the best RPG in recent memory. Is it wrong we want even more? [Aug 2016, p.76]

Crap combat aside, this great open-world game finally builds on Mirror's Edge's potential. [Aug 2016, p.73]

Fun shooter with a strong voice, even if that voice could do with shutting up sometimes. [July 2016, p.87]

A sharp heroine and supporting cast, blunted by time constraints and uneven pacing. [July 2016, p.86]

A varied but over-engineered shooter that's a little bit of everything and a whole lot of nothin'. [July 2016, p.84]

The real horror is that a great story's been swallowed by a need to scare instead of intrigue. [July 2016, p.83]

Will have you glued to your screen...waiting for it to do something. Spare yourself the pain. [July 2016, p.82]

Fun, if often frustrating, but far from the revolution we were hoping for. [July 2016, p.80]

Superhot is an effortlessly cool, highly original take on the fist-person shooter genre. [July 2016, p.79]

Not a revolutionary sequel, but that hardly matters with skating this superb. [July 2016, p.78]

A tremendous return for an all-time great. Doom feels so fresh by being so old-school. [July 2016, p.75]

One of the worst titles on Xbox One, and another savage disappointment for rugby fans. [June 2016, p.87]

Tries to address fans' wishes, but wobbles under the weight of its hollow generosity. [June 2016, p.86]

Given time and space we finally appreciate RE6 for the dumb actioner it is. Nice port, too. [June 2016, p.84]

No amount of lovely art can prevent this statfest from causing chronic yawns. [June 2016, p.83]

More tedious the longer you play. [June 2016, p.82]

Killer Instinct has grown into a real contender. An essential part of any Xbox library. [June 2016, p.80]

FromSoftware have improved and refined an action-RPG series without parallel. Essential. [June 2016, p.77]

A kracking kollection of new kontent for a fine fighting game. Kommendable! [May 2016, p.88]

And still...the undisputed heavyweight champion of MMA games. [May 2016, p.86]

Fresh paint for this XBLA favourite is sufficient excuse to enjoy it all over again. [May 2016, p.85]

Not quite trials, but this challenging arcade racer has something for just about everyone. [May 2016, p.84]

A generous, rewarding shooter with some of the best multiplayer gunplay on Xbox. [May 2016, p.80]

Dreary and glitchy, a reminder that Hitman 2: Silent Assassin isn't as good as you recall. [May 2016, p.78]

A beautifully executed stealth game. [May 2016, p.76]

Time powers are a fun step forward, but pacing issues keep the story firmly in the past. [May 2016, p.73]

Without question the best rally sim ever made. Reality without the whiplash.

About half a good map pack, Awakening offers little innovation from what's already available. [Apr 2016, p.93]

How does it manage to be over too soon and still find time to recycle levels? It has to be witchcraft. [Apr 2016, p.92]

There's fun to be had, but the idea feels too lightweight to sustain a whole game. [Apr 2016, p.91]

Shooting is so bland that firing a gun carries all the excitement of filing a tax return. [Apr 2016, p.91]

When a game functions better as a tache-cleaning sim, you know you're in trouble. [Apr 2016, p.91]

Both glitches and interface niggles conspire to leave our timbers feeling thoroughly unshivered. [Apr 2016, p.91]

It's pretty ropey, and there's little satisfaction to be had from getting through one door only to find more of the same in the next area. [Apr 2016, p.90]

Not a great value package, really. [Apr 2016, p.90]

The fiddly controls, narrow field of view and slow pace make this game much more frustrating than it needs to be, but it's built on solid foundations. [Apr 2016, p.90]

It's arguably more fun to build than to play. [Apr 2016, p.90]

Fans will love how Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 captures the look and carnage of Naruto's anime battling, but it's too restrictive and repetitive to convince as a standalone fighting game. [Apr 2016, p.89]

Find turn-based strategy too intimidating but puzzle games too lightweight? This inspired hybrid bridges the gap perfectly, mashing up two stale genres and finding something fresh. [Apr 2016, p.88]

The basics are just a little too basic to make the delightful presentation anything other than a distraction. [Apr 2016, p.85]

An energetic, skillful action-platformer that rewards experimentation and practice...but frustrating scenarios encourage neither. The core of a great game is here, but hidden. [Apr 2016, p.83]

Just great action, a love of superhero cinema, and not one overpriced level pack in sight. [Apr 2016, p.82]

Under-featured and poorly conceived, this won't appeal to fans of the Warriors games, while Arslan fans [Arsheads?] are better off rewatching the original anime series. [Apr 2016, p.79]

Simple ideas knit into a beautiful platformer, if one that's too reliant on a few tricks to earn it essential status. We expect even greater things from Coldwood in the future. [Apr 2016, p.78]

It's easy to accredit the success of Telltale's original Walking Dead to the strength of the fiction it's working with, but this flat opening salvo lacks the same nuances. [Apr 2016, p.77]

Smart, spooky and psychedelic, this thrusts you into its story, whirls you about and leaves you dizzy. You'll hate and enjoy your stay in equal measures - in the best possible way. [Apr 2016, p.76]

Clearly designed for the world of mobile devices, Cubot is the kind of thing you've probably downloaded for pennies, many times, and played for half an hour before getting hopelessly stuck and abandoning it. [March 2016, p.87]

Nice idea, but Toy Soldiers does almost all this does, bugger and better. [March 2016, p.87]

Probably better suited to a smartphone but mildly diverting for an hour or two. [March 2016, p.87]

For a more exciting game, try playing Scrabble. Alone. [March 2016, p.87]

A tough cookie. As a twitch game, it suffers from poor feedback and imprecision, but its snappy pace keeps you hooked. [March 2016, p.86]

Challenge mode is a real fan-pleaser and the fastest rally stages are fun and pretty. But it feels clumsy at low-speed, has some severe technical issues and rallycross events are poor. [March 2016, p.85]

It still has charm and invention - but in shorter supply than the preceding episode. It's also stymied by a claustrophobic, repetitive environment that leans on to-and-fro busywork. [March 2016, p.84]

Looks great, sounds utterly terrifying and proves the old formula can still scare. But partner-swapping remains tedious and unintuitive. Why do a remake if you just leave the greatest flaws unfixed? [March 2016, p.81]

Light on action and adrenaline but filled with atmosphere, this isn't your typical Xbox game - and all the more powerful for it. A luxury purchase, but an experience to savour. [March 2016, p.77]

Offering neither the thrilling gymnastic momentum of Prince of Persia, nor the flexible sneaking of its superstar sibling, ACC: India finds itself spinning off into a cul-de-sac. [March 2016, p.76]

Lacking a map-editor, co-op, and charismatic central villain, Primal sacrifices its forebears' 'big event' status, but this back-to-basics approach makes for an all-natural off-the-reservation romp.

Rocket League transcends its chaotic mishmash of sports, racing and fighting to create an elegant and endlessly competitive game for the ages.

Under the cheery looks is a surprisingly gripping shooter; one that, second time round, offers a healthier spread of modes and an addictive breadcrumb trail of hero progression.

A huge, beautiful zone to play in, but it offers little new and the quests are merely decent. [Feb 2016, p.89]

A genuinely atmospheric and often disturbing yarn that Ripper and Creed fans shouldn't miss. [Feb 2016, p.88]

It's short but engaging, with some fiendish platforming segments, and introduces enough new concepts as you snake up the Solar System to keep you spinning on your axis. [Feb 2016, p.87]

[A] musty romp. [Feb 2016, p.87]

With a little bit more polish this could have been a home run, but as it is, it slides safely into first base. [Feb 2016, p.87]

It's no fun, and charmless to boot. [Feb 2016, p.87]

The cost is too high and the extras too slim to make this excellent. [Feb 2016, p.86]

One or two half-decent gags aside, Deadpool is a dreary, lumpen, vapid and altogether forgettable action game with an exasperatingly garrulous lead. [Feb 2016, p.85]

Hindered by generic looks, technical issues and a hit detection that could barely flail its way out of a paper bag. Perhaps there's a reason we've moved on from medieval times. [Feb 2016, p.84]

As a glimpse into the life of a dysfunctional family, Three Fourths Home is a success - but while its dialogue has the ring of truth, its narrative feels slight and incomplete. [Feb 2016, p.80]

A clever and compelling multiplayer offering that transplants the meticulous planning of classic Rainbow Six into a modern shooter - but concerns about its long-term prospects persist. [Feb 2016, p.75]

Innovation or execution? We'll take the latter so long as Techland are behind the wheel. A gloriously entertaining, blood-soaked country drive.

Without wishing to be Volga, this is a real kick in the Urals. Punitive old-school design meets needless contemporary complexities, with rehashed set-pieces Putin the final nail in the coffin.

This compelling exploration of war’s human cost is also a tense strategy game, with kids giving it real heart. Proof you can make an engrossing game, no matter how bleak the subject.

Oxenfree's easy to like, with its inspired dialogue system feeling like a step forward for this genre. It's the lack of challenge and compelling gameplay that leaves it a few steps behind.

It's taken a long time to get to us, but Stoic's engrossing strategy adventure is worth the wait, conjuring a rich, wintry atmosphere in a world as handsome as it is hopeless.

The new competitive focus and enhanced graphics engine are welcome, but it still feels underwhelming. [Jan 2016, p.88]

Overlord focuses too much on trying to be funny, not enough on being fun. [Jan 2016, p.85]

Better suited to playing on your phone waiting for a bus than buying an Xbox for. [Jan 2016, p.85]

Excellently calibrated. [Jan 2016, p.85]

Well worth smashing and grabbing. [Jan 2016, p.85]

Behind its veil of twee anime and flippant dialogue lurks fighting of considerable depth, and yet surprising accessibility. And acquired taste, but one to savour all the same. [Jan 2016, p.84]

Well-suited to a series so heavily reliant on talking yourself out of trouble. [Jan 2016, p.79]

Dull combat and a slow pace hold it back, but smart puzzle design, great characters and a charming realisation of the show's world make this a great pick for fans. [Jan 2016, p.78]

Challenging and often frustrating, Elite rewards perseverance with a sense of place and progress that few Xbox One games can rival. [Jan 2016, p.76]

As close as you'll get to getting your childhood back. Dig through the incredible production values and you'll find a serviceable shooter, but one with a potentially terminal lack of content. [Jan 2016, p.73]

More Fallout 3.9 than 4, but still absolutely essential. Skyrim 2 has a hard act to follow. [Jan 2016, p.67]

Arguably, Geralt's greatest quest yet. An excellent tale, confidently told and at a bargain price. Essential. [Christmas 2015, p.86]

Dying is more annoying than frightening. [Christmas 2015, p.83]

It's also very short. Laserlife tries tackling existentialism, but doesn't have the space to do it. [Christmas 2015, p.83]

Scratch beneath the surface and there's a deep game that gives out as much as you're willing to put in. [Christmas 2015, p.79]

Low-budget, yes, but there's a beating heart here behind the technical misery. [Christmas 2015, p.78]

A Bowie-esque reinvention. [Christmas 2015, p.75]

Iffy submission system aside, this is the smoothest and most authentic WWE game to date. [Christmas 2015, p.74]

A surprise gem, particularly in co-op. Be prepared to put in a bit of learning time, but it's well worth it so you can appreciate the unusual freedom at your fingertips. Also: you can talk to dogs. [Christmas 2015, p.69]

Disappointing. [Christmas 2015, p.66]