Wicked and mean-spirited it may be, but you'd have to dig deep to find a more generous DLC offering than this. [Dec 2015, p.91]

Trespasser has a little more sentiment than substance, but it's still a good last outing for your Inquisitor. [Dec 2015, p.91]

This slight offering started life as a mobile game, and it shows. [Dec 2015, p.87]

The training wheels rarely come off. [Dec 2015, p.87]

It contains great ideas, like the obstacle courses, that we would have liked to seen fleshed out. [Dec 2015, p.87]

With cheap presentation, bland art and pratfalls so lacking in impact that it's not even fun to fail, Pumped BMX+ is a bare-bones port that struggles to earn its place on the big screen. [Dec 2015, p.86]

Only ever as hard as you are daft. [Dec 2015, p.86]

Telltale's reinvention of Minecraft captures the game's cosy vibe, but fails to get the blood pumping with its action and puzzling mechanics. [Dec 2015, p.85]

Incremental changes in all the right places on the court, coupled with a comprehensive dynasty mode, make this the sports game to beat for the foreseeable future. [Dec 2015, p.82]

There are brief hints at what might have been, but otherwise this is a walking dud. [Dec 2015, p.81]

This is imaginative and witty stuff. [Dec 2015, p.78]

A propulsively paced romp with a surfeit of ideas, SuperChargers reinvigorates a series that appeared to be on the wane. [Dec 2015, p.77]

Stick with it and there's a lot to love here. [Dec 2015, p.77]

Takes the core of what the series has always excelled at and confidently drags it on to Xbox One. [Dec 2015, p.74]

A welcome apology for last year. [Dec 2015, p.73]

Always troubled but brilliant, now simply brilliant, Destiny has undergone an extraordinary change. It still demands your time, but the reward is one of Xbox's most well-rounded games. [Dec 2015, p.67]

Not quite the evolutionary leap we’d hoped for, but this beautiful and bombastic adventure remains one of the most purely entertaining things you can put in your Xbox One this Christmas.

Simple and proud, 10tons' retro shooter offers large-scale murderisation for you and some friends - just don’t expect much of a looker when the bloodlust wears off.

Much more than the sum of its parts, Life is Strange is equally absorbing forcing us into impossible choices or capturing the joy of the mundane. It's not perfect, but you won't forget it in a hurry.

The slavish devotion to co-op can cause Halo 5 as much grief as reward, but when it works with rather than against its teamwork mechanics the result is an epic, high-octane shooter. [Christmas 2015, p.55]

A funny, thrilling, quietly subversive take on the well-worn Telltale formula - this feels like a genuine step forward for the genre but, more importantly, it’s good fun, almost constantly.

Syndicate can't quite escape the series' lingering problems, but it gets by on the breezy charm of its leads, ably assisted by a sprightly score and winning script.

Guns spit out bullets with little heft and explosions feel like gentle farts in the wind rather than loud, powerful releases of energy.

Proof that big thinking PC-based RPGs can totally work on pads, and how not to implement the weighty interfaces that come alongside them - but trudge through this and there's much to love.

A game so middle-of-the-road it ends up as roadkill. The ideas in here are solid, but simply refuse to go anywhere over its three-hour duration.

Track editors looking for new tools might want to buy, but otherwise try the community courses. [Nov 2015, p.89]

Another flawed piece of DLC for Inquisition, but one with redeeming features for the right fans. [Nov 2015, p.88]

For every one success, there are four other times when the game gets it wrong through fault of your own, and you end up drowning in toxic guff. Which, coincidentally, is exactly what this game is. [Nov 2015, p.87]

Facile puzzles. [Nov 2015, p.87]

It's still a fair bit of fun. [Nov 2015, p.87]

It's comfy like a pair of old slippers; before you combine them with bagels to make roller-skates, of course. [Nov 2015, p.87]

It's a decent tribute to an overrated series, and the ports are accurate - to a fault. [Nov 2015, p.87]

Smart alterations to the throwing and catching game shake up the Madden formula enough to pass the taste test, without necessarily adding any new ingredients. [Nov 2015, p.84]

Glorious art is a feast for the eyes, but if you've ever played a platformer, you won't be able to shake the feeling you've seen this all before. [Nov 2015, p.80]

Not quite the best family Star Wars game out there, but this is a fun action-platformer and the most substantial Infinity yet. [Nov 2015, p.79]

Loses [10 points] for being essentially the same game as on last-gen, but this is nonetheless a unique adventure that tugs on the heartstrings as much as the analogue sticks. [Nov 2015, p.78]

If you can stomach a few setbacks, this is funny, intriguing, caustic and rewarding. [Nov 2015, p.75]

A joyous diversion while it lasts. [Nov 2015, p.74]

Bloody, beautiful and still brilliant almost a decade later. [Nov 2015, p.67]

One of gaming's greatest series bails horribly, loses its high score and sinks to a depressing new low. Truly awful.

This is simply a slightly better version of its source material, which means it's a difficult, complex, illness-themed strategy game with a lot to thrash out. So, still pretty great.

An arcade-style 2D platformer that is as fun as it is frustrating – boasts a quirky premise, a pleasingly chaotic style of gameplay, and an array of imaginative death-traps.

For all its limiting devotion to the board game that inspired it, Blood Bowl 2 is far more of a touchdown than a fumble.

Let's put it in football terms: PES = modern, continental manager. FIFA = Mike Bassett. Like Liverpool, FIFA has talent, but it could be a long road back to contention.

Knock off a point if you're planning on playing solo, but get a few friends together and you'll be in for one hell of a Knight. Sorry.

This year’s PES has improved its game in all the right areas of the pitch, resulting in a pulsating, best-in-class football sim – although there’s room for improvement presentation-wise.

What's here is good, but doesn't justify the price when you're not even getting an hour of gameplay. [Oct 2015, p.91]

Nothing to write home about, but the maps are solid and the Zombies episode is the best yet. [Oct 2015, p.90]

A beautiful, innovative bit of stuff that just needed to push a little harder to truly open our eyes. [Oct 2015, p.87]

Two above-average games receive a sadly below-average port. [Oct 2015, p.86]

On the surface this might look like just another pixellated roguelike, but enter the nightmarish rabbit hole and you'll find a mastery of the genre that is relentlessly addictive. [Oct 2015, p.84]

All Dontnod needs to do now is stick the landing. [Oct 2015, p.83]

The strongest episode of this patchy series to date. [Oct 2015, p.82]

A substantial chunk of adventure with plenty of variety in its gameplay...feels like a properly modern reimagining of the influential '80s series. [Oct 2015, p.80]

A Rare collection without GoldenEye is like the Louvre without the Mona Lisa, true, but it gives us room to appreciate the Raphaels, Michelangelos and, er, just pick this up, okay? [Oct 2015, p.77]

The premise could have been taken further. [Oct 2015, p.75]

This is more disappointing than a pearl-less oyster. [Oct 2015, p.74]

Long-term fans might feel sad that Kojima doesn't go out in a hail of meta-bullets, but his restraint lets those magnificent ideas breathe, resulting in one of the finest stealth games ever made. [Oct 2015, p.89]

What this post-apocalyptic drive lacks in originality, it makes up for in execution and the ability to shoot harpoons into people. What a lovely game.

All that aside, Forza Motorsport 6 offers the best racing experience you can get on Xbox One, bar none.

A well-made and exceptionally pretty poker game, but we're not entirely convinced Pure Hold'em's show-stopping looks justify the price of entry alone.

A short but sweet adventure title with a likeable deep-sea protagonist. Similar to an animated family movie, it possesses buckets of humour and spades of heart.

It may not be as sprawling as The Phantom Pain, but this is one of Xbox 360's greatest sneakathons and plays as well as it ever did. If you didn't buy it before, reach for your wallet immediately.

A promising concept is steamrollered in a game that doesn't really work as a platformer and breaks down entirely as a racer. We'd rather be kicked in the shins for eight hours than play this again.

Escher meets Braid in a puzzle game that's weird but not weird enough. Its imaginative environments and beautiful soundtrack do mean it's worth taking a trip to this beguiling dreamworld.

By turns breathless, brilliant and fist-chewingly demanding, Velocity 2X might allow its tempo to drop too often, but it approaches excellence often enough to recommend - you might just fall in love.

If you're a survival horror fan, and miss a time in gaming when a zombie bite was the scariest thing in the world, then you'll find a lot to suffer through here. In a good way.

Plenty of expense spared, we think. [Sept 2015, p.111]

Your presence doesn't seem to matter. [Sept 2015, p.111]

A disappointing drop in quality. [Sept 2015, p.111]

Only the most patient and self-flagellating need apply. [Sept 2015, p.108]

By turns scrappy, hilarious, wearying and completely barmy. [Sept 2015, p.105]

The best version of a still great online co-op shooter. [Sept 2015, p.104]

At worst frustrating, usually just reminiscent of better, more innovative platformers. [Sept 2015, p.99]

One of the best indie titles since Limbo. [Sept 2015, p.98]

A commendably well crafted re-release that doesn't rest on its laurels. [Sept 2015, p.96]

Despite a few niggles you'd be hard pressed to be disappointed by this. With such a fun premise and carefully thought out design, it's more likely to sneak up and surprise you with how good it is.

Clever cloning leads to some of the most inventive puzzles we've seen in a long time. Master its mad logic, and you'll find an excellent puzzle platformer. A really pleasant surprise.

Fans might wonder why they should accept all these missing features for an inconsistent visual update. Newcomers will be impressed by the lack of loading screens and rewarding gameplay, but series veterans who’ve played PGA Tour 14 will never crave Xbox 360 backwards compatibility more.

Adds four decent new maps and the chance to see Bruce Campbell firing John Malkovich. [Aug 2015, p.97]

A fine idea, paradoxically lacking in execution. [Aug 2015, p.97]

A generous expansion in both content and spirit. [Aug 2015, p.96]

This is just a huge missed-steak. [Aug 2015, p.93]

Ride only really comes alive when you're the only person on the tarmac. [Aug 2015, p.93]

Often entertaining but occasionally a bit of a slog. [Aug 2015, p.90]

It's made more entertaining thanks to Portal soundbites. [Aug 2015, p.87]

An essential buy for any Xbox fight fan. [Aug 2015, p.82]

Too meandering and dull to work as a twitchy arcade game, Spectra is saved from the ignominy of an even lower score by its sparkling soundtrack. A treat for the ears, then, but little more.

The core experience is deep and 60fps racing is welcome, but with many staple features absent and little sense of true excitement, this isn't a great new-gen debut.

Caught in the right light and this glitters like a racing visor in the sun, but it’s very similar to last year’s game. Ultimately only worth it if you’ve spent years out - and haven’t picked up stablemate, Ride.

Vast, occasionally beautiful, and absolutely loaded down with things to do, but rarely as magical as the numbered Scrolls games. Survive the first few hours and it's a memorable adventure.

It’s the realisation of a vision Rocksteady has been working towards since 2009. Now that gaming tech has finally caught up, we’ve been given the swansong the Dark Knight deserves.

Another generous helping of horror. Occasionally frustrating, but more often tense, inventive and satisfying. [July 2015, p.84]

A gripping platformer that cajoles you into platforming amazing feats of dexterity. [July 2015, p.76]

Another intense Blazkowicz adventure - but a little over familiar. [July 2015, p.74]

With a bit of selective breeding Massive Chalice could be a marvel - as it stands, it’s a charmingly weird, if slightly too slim, take on the XCOM formula.

Fertile with good ideas, but most of them fail to bloom to their full potential thanks to a wonky money system that slows the pace of progression down to that of a clapped-out tractor.

In 60 minutes, this will change you from tentative, stodgy muppet to an all-round offensive terror. A terrifically balanced platformer that'll coax out the perfectionist speedrunner in us all.