Diluvion has an interesting art style but the repetitive gameplay, along with sometimes irritating navigation, checkpoints and controls, may put some players off.

The new money lives up to the Blood Money in this darkly comic, icy cool stealth/brain-teaser/drop-a-toilet-on-a-target's-head-'em-up. It's a hit, man.

While Resident Evil 7 has its issues, it’s actually better than I’d hoped. It’s tense and thrilling, varied, well-paced, and seems to be the revitalising shot in the arm the series needed. It’s far from the scariest of games I’ve played (it creeped me out, but I played it at night, for crying out loud) but it’s still a bloody good time.

Too many of the old adventure game stumbling blocks (inconsistent progression, unclear or obfuscating clues, unmarked dead ends) prevent this homage to Murakami’s short stories ever hitting the stride its aesthetics deserve.

Out on the plains and forest floors, the Wood Elf forces emphasise mobility, micro-management (which can just mean lots of using the pause button in single player), and, to perhaps a lesser extent than expected, archery prowess. They represent another smart translation from tabletop to Total War, and add further tactical challenges to Creative Assembly’s ever-evolving game through their expanded economy and unique campaign goal.

Fun, jolly, and with tongue planted firmly in cheek for most of the game: Watch Dogs 2 isn't a must-have, but it's still a rather good time.

As with Pacific before it, Order of Battle: Blitzkrieg is a refreshingly accessible hex-based war game. Maintaining supply lines, strategic use of terrain, and deft deployment of combined arms are once again the mechanics to master here.

Planet Coaster has been great to play. It’s been too long since there was a decent theme park sim and I think Frontier has nailed it. The only criticism I have is that it’s quite hard to fail at making a working park, even in hard mode, and hardcore sim fans may find the finance management a little lacking. That doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of creating park though, and difficulty is almost secondary here. Once you’ve played it for a while you just want to be creative.

Dishonored 2 is a fantastic game. It may, in fact, be the best game you really shouldn’t risk buying right now, because right now it’s a technical mess. Yes, I hope a patch comes out soon which fixes a lot of these issues – but yes, I’m also worried that a lot of this is baked into the new Void Engine, and if that’s the case… well, this might be something to look into in a year or two. I’ll keep you updated, but for now, a definite “buyer beware” on an otherwise phenomenal game.

Judicial administrator for the Court of an all-powerful Imperial Overlord is one hell of a premise and driving force for an RPG. Tyranny pulls it off, thanks to Obsidian’s reliable attention to world design and a dedication to ambitious, branching choices.

Titanfall 2 offers the complete package: a solid, inventive single-player campaign that manages to avoid being yet another cover shooter with respawning enemies, combined with a frenetic and unique multiplayer mode.

Can’t fault the professionalism in pumping out one of these every year; but though Football Manager 2017 is up to standard and makes some iterative tweaks of note, it’s getting harder to ignore certain systemic issues which remain unaddressed.

Brilliant, infuriating, beautiful, frustrating, fantastic, and hateful. Battlefield 1 is a great game, but perhaps not one for the more casual solo player.

Ashes of Ariandel is a well-designed, 4-5 hour jaunt through another painted realm, with a structured PvP annex that to some may be worth the admission price alone. But it’s missing the superlative spark of previous Souls DLCs.

Shadow Warrior 2’s excellent combat mechanics cleave through its weak story and over-abundance of iffy loot. The result is a title that’s incredibly satisfying to play, almost in spite of the surrounding flaws.

Mafia 3 occasionally shows off the fantastic game it could've been, but most of the time, it just leaves you with an impression of - and a longing for - the game that it isn't.

A really solid top-down racer that not only looks great but comes with a great variety of modes and challenges.

It’s a more physical FIFA this year, with greater emphasis on build-up passing and positional movement than one-on-one dribbling. Aspects of these changes can irritate, but the major disappointment with FIFA 17 is its failure to engage with any of the series’ lingering legacy problems, even on a new engine.

Lichtspeer is really, really good. If you’re not afraid of a challenge and aren’t put off by an absurd sense of humour, you should gird your loins, grab your speer, and get ready to take on the ancient future.

Light and simple isn't a bad thing, but Rogue Wizards is too light and too simple, and a tad too slow for its scaled-down design to feel deliciously more-ish. While it's not bad, it didn't leave any real lasting impression barring a mental sigh at what could've been.

It's rare for a game to make me swing back and forth a full 5 points on the score, but Virginia managed exactly that, and that's probably a sign of exactly how divisive this short piece of interactive story-telling is going to be. Let's settle around the middle.

An improvement on the first episode, but still marred by technical issues and. A move in the right direction, but it's still too early to tell if this is more The Killing Joke or Batman & Robin.

Pac-Man never really changes his ways, but Championship Edition 2 proves that a three-and-a-half decade old videogame star can still pull a crowd. This is a smart set of takes on what may genuinely be a timeless mechanical formula.

Attack on Titan takes a decent stab at the nape of the series' neck, but repetitiveness, a lack of difficulty, and a high price mean it misses the mark a little too much. Still: if all you want to do is be Mikasa, swing around, and chop down Titans, you'll probably rather enjoy it while complaining. I did.

A beautiful return to form for 47 after his Moroccan adventure failed to impress too much. Bangkok offers a tight, focused level with plenty to do, which differentiates it from the missions of the last few months - and it's really well-designed to boot.

Mankind Divided trades some global breadth for localised depth, setting the majority of its free-approach missions in Prague. The narrative feels closer to home too, thrusting Jensen in with the oppressed augmented masses. It’s a strong sequel, reinforcing the mechanics of player agency and unique world design Deus Ex is famous for, but unresolved plot points do disappoint.

Even ignoring the many technical issues, this isn't a particularly inspiring start to Telltale's newest series. There's plenty of time for it to improve, but I'd hold off and see how the next few episodes go before taking the plunge on the series.

The Beastmen represent another successful transition from tabletop to Total War: Warhammer faction. Their horde mechanics are a refinement over Chaos, while both strategic and battlefield options reflect their inclinations towards ruthless ambushes.

Inside’s fraught four hours of oppressive pursuit, smart environmental manipulation, and unsettling imagery exhibit a consistency and obsessive attention to detail that few other games can boast.

An uneven slab of Mars adventuring, The Technomancer carefully straddles the line between never really being good while never falling into being bad.

It demands dedication (unless you’re a series vet) and neither AI nor UI are exactly flawless, but once you’re entrenched Hearts of Iron IV reveals itself as a capable and absorbing alt-history WW2 generator.

Blizzard has created a solid team FPS but right now it's light on content.

The match-up of Warhammer and Total War is as harmonious as hoped, adding tremendous faction diversity and fantasy flavour to the familiar series mechanics. It’s technically sound too, but several old flaws (like AI blind spots in sieges) remain. An invigorating addition to the series, nonetheless.

Hearts of Stone is an essential pickup if you’re playing The Witcher 3.

A solid, speedy, brutal, and surprisingly lengthy campaign combine with an intriguing map-making facility to make Doom a pretty easy recommendation. The multiplayer may not grab you, but there's plenty of content here without it.

All the galactic flavour and themes of a 4X space title, married to the mechanics of Paradox's recent grand strategy offerings. Stellaris has a space opera tale of gene manipulation, Federation politics, or colonial slavery for everyone.

For all the problems I've outlined, I haven't enjoyed an AGS adventure this much in quite some time. The end might not satisfy, but the journey is a hell of a ride.

This Italian job is another dynamic, and darkly comic, Hitman mission.

Those who covet unique 4X factions and absorbing, atmospheric exploration should probably head elsewhere, but if you’re looking for logistical military exercises and satisfying galactic planning then Polaris Sector has you well covered.

The Banner Saga 2 reaps all the benefits and foibles of strict continuity. It maintains the outstanding presentation and decision-based narrative highs of the first entry, but minor changes to mechanics are unlikely to sway opinion on the unique, but slightly peculiar, combat system.

It's a classic that's been lovingly brought back to life by Rebellion.

While “one of the most inventive typing games out there” is a summary in danger of being mistaken for faint praise, Epistory’s wonderful, paper-craft design and smart, word-based battle system combine to make it exactly that.

With Souls titles now a pseudo-genre of their own, there’s an inevitable familiarity to the rewarding challenges, deft storytelling, and intricate, shortcut-laden level design of Dark Souls 3. But familiarity alone should not detract from this third title’s fine implementation of ideas and mechanics. The enigma may be waning, but there’s still nothing quite like a Souls game.

Quirky, funny, demanding, and requiring an awful lot of skill: Enter the Gungeon is one of the best action-roguelites in years.

This second, short, episode in Telltale’s latest Walking Dead series continues to be a fairly engaging study of Michonne’s character, but struggles to generate much attachment to the other players in its familiar tale of capture-and-pursuit.

Not a good reason for seasoned explorers to head back to the Commonwealth, but it adds a fair bit for anyone who's still got an active game going. Pricey for what it is, though.

It’s still the same compulsive, time-attack Trackmania, but some of the beautifully chaotic edges (particularly regarding custom online multiplayer) that made it a cult hit on PC have been dulled.

Decent third-person shooting mechanics, geared strongly toward co-op; but unless your brain is tickled by colour-tiered items the rote repetition will eventually drive you from Manhattan. The Division’s speculative catastrophe fiction never sits convincingly with its pure, stat-based loot grind.

Like the stereotypical school heartthrob, Need for Speed is vapid but beautiful and strangely exciting. It's a surprisingly enjoyable arcade racer, but one that's more for casual downtime than for a serious commitment.

Destination one in Agent 47's now-episodic global travelogue shows IO Interactive know how to get Hitman back in fashion. A strong, stylish opening to the new game.

A perfectly enjoyable adventure through a dystopian wasteland, though one that misses a lot of opportunities and leaves a lot of tantalising threads dangling. Tasty, but not quite satisfying.

Environmentally diverse, and largely consistent in the quality of its conundrums, Soul Axiom is an imperfect but distinct first-person puzzler.

A decent game, but nothing more. Far Cry Primal tries to differentiate itself from past Far Cry games with mixed success, managing some clever new tricks, but losing a lot of what made Far Cry feel special in the process.

A concise central mechanic, framed by a clever, form-twisting premise and outstanding design in art and sound. Other games wish they could be this cool.

Cleverly designed and rather lovely to look at, though a little slight, and not something that'll keep you occupied for long stints.

A well-written character in desperate need of a plot more compelling than this laboured retread of the captured-by-authoritarian-jerks Walking Dead staple.

Winter can be miserable, but Snowfall is a worthwhile addition to the finest city builder available.

The White March Part 2 brings this multi-part expansion to a satisfying, and typically well-constructed, conclusion; solidifying Pillars of Eternity as one of the best CRPG titles of recent years.

XCOM 2 successfully straddles the line between being familiar and being new. A few design choices will divide people, and there are bugs and issues that will need patching or modding, but for the most part it's a sterling return to the gruelling decision-making of its predecessor.

Arslan aims to pepper a re-telling of its anime source material with familiar Warriors-style battles, and that, for better or worse, is what it does. But this release lacks some of the absurd character flair, goofy thrash-rock soundtrack, and (dare I say) depth of the mainstream series.

A solid, lengthy, entertaining romp across both tombs and not-tombs, with a quality PC port. If you want more Tomb Raider 2013, this offers improvements on most of that game's mechanics and is unlikely to disappoint.

Deserts of Kharak is a worthy addition to the Homeworld series, but as a unit-focused RTS it can feel a little flat and predictable until about three quarters of the way through the thirteen missions. It’s really not until late in the game that the missions become more challenging and interesting.

The Deadly Tower of Monsters is not the tightest 3D hack-and-blast arcade homage you’ll ever play, but it is the only one to feature puppies dressed as deadly hoovers, amazing stop-motion dinosaurs, and set design to rival Forbidden Planet.

This Indian Chronicle holds few surprises for those who played China, meaning frustration and contentment in roughly equal measure. Plus some half-decent artistic flair.

A fantastic new addition to the Dirt franchise. Less approachable for new players but clearly the best outing from Codemasters in years.

Musou-slashing meets light tower defense and the effortlessly heartwarming world of Dragon Quest; with all the vivid art direction, retro audio, and somewhat repetitive questing that implies.

Just Cause 3 pretty much raises explosions and physics-based destruction to the level of an art form, and a few annoyances with gunplay and repetition don't do much to detract from that.

It'll do nothing to shake the series' reputation for check-box collectibles and all-too-familiar mission types, but Assassin's Creed: Syndicate plays to the structural strengths of a terrific Victorian London setting, enjoyable characters, and a few smart, iterative design changes.

A decent enough turn-based tactical game with a genuinely excellent atmosphere, let down by limited tactical options, poor mechanic explanations, and a number of issues that make it seem as though the lofty ambitions outstripped either time, money, or ability.

A promising opening and some decent, world-appropriate characters are squandered in an overly-prescriptive narrative that ends on disappointing and inconclusive cliffhangers.

Solid. Dependable. This edition of Football Manager has set itself up not to concede, and to make occasional expressive forays into new territory. The scattering of innovations (hilarious character creator aside) are worthwhile, but some old, persistent quirks still rankle.

The fact that it's heavier on combat than stats is sure to annoy RPG classicists, but the fact that the combat is fantastic helps a lot. So, too, does the intriguing world, the excellent characters, the hidden secrets, and the difficult decisions.

I've made it pretty clear that it's hardly a flawless game, but that doesn't change the fact that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is something pretty bloody special and you should absolutely play it.

Porting issues aside, Batman: Arkham Knight is a decent enough game. It's not the spectacular swansong we hoped for from Rocksteady, but it's another solid - if predictable - slice of Arkham gameplay, with a couple of great sections along the way.

Eschewing complex 3D flight models for whiskey and galactic broadsides, Rebel Galaxy takes the traditional space trading model, dresses it in spurs, and sets it loose on a frontier that’s dynamic, dangerous and unashamedly fun.

A beautiful, heartbreaking, and surprisingly dark Telltale-esque adventure that betters pretty much every Telltale-esque adventure that's come before it and has enough twists to make it unique. Life is Strange has a few flaws, but that shouldn't dissuade you from hopping on this emotional rollercoaster. And it's okay: you're allowed to cry.

This new installment from Wargaming is a breath of fresh air. The gameplay may seem slow for newcomers, but in the end you will likely sink hours into this game without even realising it.

Flawed in a lot of ways and with some ideas that don't seem fully fleshed out, but a gorgeous and idly entertaining roguelike romp nonetheless.

Something of a return to form after 15, but sooner rather than later EA will need to stop re-arranging pieces of their existing code and actually develop a properly new and substantial FIFA engine.

Entertaining, surprising, mind-breaking: Undertale is a labour of love that inspires exactly that emotion.

An open, responsive football title with a lot of individual player freedom, but one that also has dodgy keepers, absent fouls, and the usual iffy online environment. The PC community may bring it up to scratch, but at release it’s an ugly port that does a disservice to the game within.

Flawed in many, many ways, but none of those ways impact a glorious, emergent, open-world experience.

A chaotic dust bowl of an open world, rendered and recorded with Avalanche's usual technical excellence on PC. Like Max's car some parts are a little ramshackle, but if you stick to causing bedlam there's plenty of fun to be had.

Eugen have taken the classic RTS formula and created a compelling and fun strategy game. Well worth your money.

The White March is an expansion of gorgeous new landscapes, new companions, and new challenges. It should push players out of their combat comfort zones, and is a fine excuse for some familiar PoE questing, but doesn’t yet feel essential.

Syndicate’s amoral corporate violence meets a more lenient version of Commandos’ ability-centric squad tactics, in this on-point cyberpunk sandbox.

A must-have samurai sandbox title for those who treasure player agency and reactive narrative above high-level production values. WotS 4’s absurdist videogame take on Yojimbo is surreal, funny and magnificent.

The penultimate episode of Telltale’s Game of Thrones may be A Nest of Vipers, but, though it’s consistently well-performed and presented throughout, this is looking like another series where the implied player agency lacks any real bite.

A sturdy conversion of a robust set of board game rules. The top-down, corridor-heavy setting is reminiscent of Space Hulk, but Legions of Steel places more emphasis on equal fire-fights between the competing factions.

Though it doesn't seem to do as much as it could with its 'critical' dialogue choices, Knee Deep's (literal) theatrical staging and quirky, pseudo-noir plot make it a compelling curiosity in the Telltale vein.

Ronin has little plot to speak of, but is focused like it’s own motorcycle helmeted avenger on a tight and tactical turn-ish-based combat mechanic. Looks a little like Gunpoint. Plays like Ronin.

A mid-season episode which keeps the narrative wheels turning, steps up the action in places, and (at last) gives the Ironrath Forresters some brief moments of triumph.

Swery does Telltale, by way of an obsessed, time-travelling detective and lots of references to Boston. D4 is as unique and strange as you’d hope; and (unlike Deadly Premonition,) a decent enough PC version.