With improved dialogue and pacing - and a handful of bold design choices - this is the strongest episode so far, with a finale you'll be desperate to discuss with friends. Bring on Episode 4.

It’s by no means a flawless victory, but The Witcher 3 is a remarkable, if uneven, adventure that we’ll be dipping into for months to come.

Although it has a fresh approach to platforming, Schrödinger’s Cat is let down by a rollercoaster difficulty curve, randomly-generated repetition, and an unsettled tone.

Plays to Sunset Overdrive's obvious strengths while offering a few neat surprises along the way. [June 2015, p.91]

It worked as a free demo, but now it costs real money, it'll leave you feeling Fleeced & Furious. [June 2015, p.91]

Lore fiends will find it lacking. [June 2015, p.90]

A decent, if inessential, upgrade. [June 2015, p.86]

An exceptionally pleasant surprise. Assembled with a lot of care, a little flair and plenty of conviction. There's little you won't have seen before, but it's an invigorating romp all the same.

Simmers quietly but enjoyably, before boiling over in a tense final act. [June 2015, p.80]

Its good intentions are sadly blighted by unacceptable performance issues. [June 2015, p.78]

Nero is a flawed but admirable project, a clear labour of love, and absolutely an experience worth having. One in the win column for self-publishers everywhere.

A real shame. It's a good concept for a game, let down by poor gameplay and a story that isn't interesting or told well enough to seek out.

A ponderous, plodding shooter with levels that drag on for aeons, that champions boring conservatism over death-defying aerobics. One of the least exciting shoot-'em-ups I've ever played.

When it works, Project CARS is unbelievably good. But overly-aggressive AI, odd collision physics, imperfect pad controls and several bugs mean it's just shy of greatness.

Any Temple Run player will be familiar with the basic premise, and Infinity Runner does little to shake things up – instead delivering trial-and-error gameplay, dodgy production values and repeated.

If you want to waste your money on a broken game that barely inspired a smile from us, buy Goat Simulator. Presumably, if Coffee Stain Studios tried making Hilarity Simulator it'd be set in a morgue.

You'll love beating the beast in this satisfying, sasquatch-smashing expansion. [May 2015, p.97]

A risky focus on stealth pays off in this uncompromising and brutally tense side story. [May 2015, p.97]

Fighting still feels good, but the ring's power corrupts everything that made Shadow of Mordor special. [May 2015, p.96]

It has far too many rough edges. [May 2015, p.93]

The slow pace is a welcome formula change. [May 2015, p.91]

It's an undeniable blast in co-op. [May 2015, p.90]

Fairly rubbish. [May 2015, p.80]

Far from being the ultimate edition of the game, we end up with another case of nominative determinism. State of Decay, sadly, is a mess. It’s a mess with good intentions, perhaps, but the result is the equivalent of a wooden barricade infested with dry rot – it seems like it should hold up just fine, but ends up crumbling under the slightest pressure.

From hiding in crowds to hush-hush neck stabs, the Assassin’s Creed formula fits so snugly that China feels like the series' starting point - but at four hours it might prove too short for some.

Half precision-shooter, half-acid trip, We Are Doomed is like two ends of different cars shunted together by an unscrupulous dealer. Sadly, it’s likely to fall apart around you when the going gets tough.

A very generous, but slightly broken MMORPG that can't quite stand on the shoulders of the PC-based giants. It does, however, prove that the genre's systems can translate onto consoles intact.

If you've had your fill of Killer Instinct and are looking for another rad fighter on the Xbox One, look no further. Great characters, solid online play and loads of content make this a bit of a kracker.

A smart puzzle-platformer contorted into a shape that doesn't really fit. When it remembers itself, this is another devilishly good sneak-'em-up, featuring a great bunch of gadgets, challenges and jokes.

It's certainly a riot of a shooter that encourages you to get out there and blast away rather than cry behind cover, but it's lasting appeal is diminished by a lack of depth and some flimsy level design.

It's still not as compelling as the show or the books, but The Sword in the Darkness at last has us intrigued for what future episodes will bring.

In terms of the resolution and textures, it's certainly a lot crisper. Design intricacies can now been seen smattering aspects of the world which could not be made out in the infamously grimy original. The subtle texture of your falconer armour, for example, can be appreciated in all its stitched up glory, while the rivets of a buckler, should you be working on your parry hand, look like actual rivets, rather than indistinct smears of non-detail.

The oddest thing about Oddworld is that nobody's managed to do this kind of game better. An accomplished update of a grotesquely sophisticated platformer that'll turn the stomach of any carnivore.

This is how re-releases should be done – Ninja Theory has put a lot of love into emphasising what was great about DmC, and fixing all the niggles that could realistically be fixed. Thoroughly recommended.

A lot more than a Battlefield 4 reskin with balaclavas and batons, but not quite the true-blue breakout hit it could have been.

A no-frills port of an already underweight horror package. There's much other developers can learn from Slender's terror tactics, but we suspect they've got the message by now. Give the tall lad a miss.

A strong compilation. [Apr 2015, p.88]

Pleasingly chaotic. [Apr 2015, p.85]

Brilliantly simple. [Apr 2015, p.84]

Fun, in a mindless sort of way, but lacks the big set-pieces and the frenetic action that made lightgun games so compelling. At around three hours long, you'd get better value sticking that gun hand up your nostril.[Apr 2015, p.83]

Pneuma is let down by its waffling and insistence on shoving questions about the nature of reality down your throat. [Apr 2015, p.83]

Manages to impress. [Apr 2015, p.82]

You can create your own general from scratch. [Apr 2015, p.79]

Slower and duller than Episode 1. [Apr 2015, p.79]

The content additions are minor and the visual upgrades are difficult to spot. [Apr 2015, p.78]

Evolve is a a Kraken [sorry] game when it all comes together. But most matches won't have the perfect setup - and it's not always worth sitting through them to get to the good ones. [Apr 2015, p.73]

Like its heroes, Revelations 2 is a mix of elements weak and strong. But what a team they make when they're mixed together.

Type-0 is a modern Final Fantasy, with all the good and bad that entails. However, it's also a pretty good JRPG, on a system where they're not exactly bursting at the seams.

Ori and the Blind Forest is a beautiful picture book... that slams shut on your fingers. Get over the initial shock, and this challenging, thoughtful puzzle platformer is an adventure to cherish.

As precisely made as it ever was on handheld, with both the perks and drawbacks of being blown up for the big screen, OlliOlli becomes one of the purest - and best - skill challenge games on Xbox One.

More bogus than Bogart, White Night fuses the disparate worlds of cultured noir and trashy supernatural. The result? An inconsistent – if visually striking – trudge. A true hammy horror.

It does get repetitive, but when it hitting its stride, Shiftlings is worth letting rip with.

A confused step for a game that's already suffering from a minor identity crisis. Disappointing. [March 2015, p.87]

An interesting twist, executed poorly. [March 2015, p.86]

Easily the worst sports game we've played. [March 2015, p.83]

Too much murder, not enough '80s hair. [March 2015, p.83]

Convoluted levels can lead to tiring exploration. [March 2015, p.82]

Flying is fun, but flimsy presentation clips its wings. [March 2015, p.78]

If you've got the Xbox 360 version, there's little reason for you to trade up. [March 2015, p.77]

Its sledgehammer subtlety is balanced by a genuinely good heart. [March 2015, p.76]

Still downright scarier than most of its successors and an unforgettable journey. [March 2015, p.74]

Though not entirely soul-destroying, Dying Light will leave you feeling like you've just eaten a box of budget chocolates - unsatisfied, underwhelmed and unsure if it was worth the money. [March 2015, p.72]

In between Screamride’s occasionally dull take on ’coasters and its indecision over acceptable amounts of hurt, there’s a decent game - but it’s the destruction that wins it.

A brilliantly unique indie escape-'em-up that combines stealth, strategy, and simulation to great effect, but you'll need saint-like patience to get the most out of it.

Poorly conceived structures supporting too little new content mean this is, sadly, a great waste. [Feb 2015, p.86]

The problem is, we have real friends who'll accompany us to real pubs with real tables on which we can play real pool. So why do we need a slightly sterile virtual version? [Feb 2015, p.83]

It's just a bit pointless, really, when all anyone wants to do is play Tetris. [Feb 2015, p.83]

One to avoid, we think - though the creepy trailer, with a father and his two dead-eyed sons is worth watching. It's like something out of Twin Peaks. [Feb 2015, p.83]

Its gameplay isn't breaking any moulds, but the presentation makes it well worth recommending. [Feb 2015, p.83]

A beautiful, bleak puzzle game that any newcomer willing to look death in the eye should pick up. [Feb 2015, p.82]

This first episode falls a little short of expectations. [Feb 2015, p.80]

The best fitness game around. [Feb 2015, p.79]

A poor attempt at a kids' party game and one that's just as unfunny, repetitive and dull as the Rabbid 'stars' are. [Feb 2015, p.79]

There's little that pushes it beyond Guardian of Light, while the co-op is feeble and plagued with technical issues. [Feb 2015, p.78]

Feature bloat strips this of its purity, and in parts it's unwieldy and unsatisfying. But find a challenge that sparks your imagination, and you'll become surgically attached to the controller. [Feb 2015, p.75]

It's not an exact fit for Xbox, so we find our thumbs longing for the portability and accessibility of the mobile version. [Feb 2015, p.74]

Apologising for broken content with more broken content feels like a bit of a slap in the face, and Dead Kings' confusing, far-from-user-friendly new mechanics make this DLC a bit of a disappointing prospect.

A natural extension that caters for nerve-wracking thrills with lots to see and collect. A must-play.

Like sipping a mojito while resting your panda-skin boots on a pauper, there's something nasty yet refreshing here, as it pushes you to maintain control in marvelously illiberal ways. [Feb 2015 (US), p.72]

Paper armies are all the rage these days; this is just enraging. [Jan 2015, p.89]

Each world is packed with mysterious treasures and treacheries just waiting to be discovered, and learning how to use them to shape the world to your benefit is enormously satisfying. [Jan 2015, p.89]

A light, breezy and immediate racer that's perfect multiplayer party fodder. [Jan 2015, p.89]

Where Rocksmith 2014 triumphs is in teaching through engaging challenges rather than through rote learning. [Jan 2015, p.89]

We can't wholly recommend its gameplay, but as a vessel for an endangered culture, it's a worthy project. [Jan 2015, p.88]

Deliciously slow to unravel, full of character and gripping from start to finish. [Jan 2015, p.88]

Feels unfinished. [Jan 2015, p.84]

With wit and spot-on style, this is nearly one of Teltale's best, but prioritising action over dialogue means it falls just short of the story-led brilliance we're used to. [Jan 2015, p.83]

While its core modes are shallower than the competition, NBA Live 15 is breezy and fun to play on the court. [Jan 2015, p.82]

It ends up feeling more like a retrospective than a game in its own right. [Jan 2015, p.80]

Though it looks good and plays well, the use of DC heroes is lacking and the levels are too obscure at times. [Jan 2015, p.79]

This game oozes perfection in its simplicity. Its ideas are well-executed and spot-on, the dialogue is witty and clever, and though it's often tricky, you're always willing to hop in for another blast.

The tantalising world and systems are fine in their own right, but shoddy car handling saps any desire to play beyond a few minutes at a time. Dock a point if you don't have likeminded pals.

If this was a bargain-bin title we might be inclined to be slightly more forgiving, but as it is, this is 35 pounds for a game you've likely already played a far better version of. [Xmas 2014, p.87]

Alas, the dancing is as spotty and unrefined as ever. [Xmas 2014, p.87]

Trust us: after half an hour, you'll be as sick of it as CJ is of Cluckin' Bell. [Xmas 2014, p.87]

Divisive ending aside, whatever choices you make in life should lead to you playing this. [Xmas 2014, p.87]

It's lovely, it's sweet, it's funny, but it's only a few hours long, even if you're taking your time. [Xmas 2014, p.86]

One of the best sports franchises just got... exactly the same. [Xmas 2014, p.85]