Assassin's Creed Odyssey puts the franchise back on the map as a critical darling. There's no malaka here whatsoever as it just "Greeks" of goodness. The story and characters are engaging and there are tons of activities to do. Greek culture and locations are a wonder to behold. Barring a few caveats, this has been a stellar offering for the franchise.

Cyberpunk 2077 has some glaring flaws and missed opportunities. Its open-world sandbox suffers from poor NPC and police AI, and it lacks customization and transmogrification features to help your character stand out. Still, the pros outweigh the cons owing to a brilliant narrative, memorable missions, strong supporting cast of characters, well-integrated combat and hacking mechanics, and jaw-dropping visuals.

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

The latest iteration of Formula One racing games, the pinnacle of motorsport. 8. Overall, F1 2021 still provides an unrivaled and amazing racing experience thanks to its MyTeam and Career modes, as well as a multitude of options to help fine-tune your racing style. Unfortunately, it's marred by a disappointing and disjointed Braking Point flagship story. Moreover, the improvements and changes to existing modes aren't as impactful as I had hoped. As such, if F1 2021 isn't as compelling if you extensively played last year's offering.

With hardly any flaws or shortcomings, Risk of Rain 2 more than delivers. Its pulse-pounding, off-the-wall, challenging action, combined with countless secrets and unlockables, are sure to entertain and excite you. Play in short bursts or an hour until you scream, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" -- you're bound to enjoy every minute of it.

Inscryption's twists and turns are hit-or-miss, but the game's oddities are worth experiencing for yourself.

Anyone fond of multi-player centric games that require teamwork and likes to fill a specific role will almost certainly find something to enjoy in Deep Rock Galactic. It's a great way to spend time with friends and has a lot of content depending on how much you mind doing the same things over and over again. Anyone who strongly dislikes repetition will probably get sick of it after a while, though.

There are a few misgivings related to Wasteland 3's technical aspects, mechanics, and overall challenge. However, its cast of characters (both old and new), the switch to a traditional turn-based combat system, and branching paths filled with decisions and dire consequences make for a superb journey with the Desert Rangers.

Though Starfield is an ambitious sci-fi adventure that's incredibly fun, beautifully nostalgic, and will age like fine wine, there are several fundamental decisions that Bethesda sticks to that makes Starfield feel like it's stuck in 2011... for better and worse. Ultimately though, Starfield is yet another Bethesda classic.

Deftly written, smart, and consistently clever, The Forgotten City makes for a rousing, spirited adventure that is well worth taking part in. I wish it were longer, but that doesn't do much to knock what has been accomplished here.

Hunt down Huntdown as fast as you can, because this game is just concentrated action movie goodness delivered straight into your veins.

Control is a marvel both story-wise and technologically, with its extensive use of ray tracing technology. Although the gameplay has a few quirks, it's easily one of the best action games to release this year.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess manages to pull two genres together in a way that captures the best of both worlds, and wraps them up in beautiful traditional artstyles with a soundtrack to match.

It's rare to find a game that does this much right so often. With a huge amount of content, an entertaining story, and interesting, varied gameplay, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is really an unmissable title for anyone with even a passing interest in games about building.

The first season 3 out of 10 ends too abruptly and introduces far more questions than it answers, but it is a welcome weekly dose of humor.

This tremendously excellent Death's Door is a well-polished action/adventure hybrid that is worth your attention.

Amid Evil is simultaneously breathtaking and exhilarating in a way that most of its ilk could never hope to be. It's truly an epic adventure filled with impressive sights and dangerous foes.

A noticeable improvement over last year's installment. Football Manager 2021 addresses many of my personal peeves with the series whilst keeping the core design philosophy of the franchise intact. However, it is lacking a little in the way of new game-changing features and the few added haven't been implemented too well.

Total War: Three Kingdoms captures the spirit and essence of the time period. It's filled to the brim with unique and thematic detail, with aesthetic beauty that's a wonder to behold.

While Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown's story doesn't match the immersion of the gameplay, it does its best to hold everything together during its second half. However, with solid but challenging combat and platforming, it seems like the Prince is using his strengths to deliver what may be the franchise's most compelling adventure yet. It's not perfect, but it's far from subpar.

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.

Atelier Ryza 2 has great crafting and combat. But that's because it mostly copies and pastes them from the last game. There's still some new stuff to see and the game is enjoyable regardless, but don't expect them to reinvent the wheel. Mostly, expect the same wheel.

Horizon Zero Dawn is gorgeous and innately playable, even if the open-world gameplay it presents will feel overly familiar to most. The port has some issues that will almost certainly get stamped out in short order and the gameplay has its fair share of frustrations, but anyone looking to stalk some robots will find plenty to like.

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.

Judgment is another high-quality release in the Yakuza franchise, complete with a ton of compelling side content, a great story, and enthralling drone races -- all wrapped up in a very nice PC port.

343 Industries has managed to bring Halo: The Master Chief Collection to a stellar close with the release of Halo 4. Despite the campaign's storyline being a bit of a mess, the developer still managed to deliver an outstanding singleplayer experience that's worth a replay. Mix in esports-level multiplayer, and you have a recipe for an outstanding last stand.

Survious has done it again. They have managed to create a unique VR experience that is highly engaging, looks great in the Vive, and is incredibly exhilarating to play. The movement system is brilliantly executed offering a unique VR gaming experience that also doubles as solid workout. Be warned though because your arms will ache if you play long enough. Sprint Vector is a must-have game for any VR gaming enthusiast.

It's a puzzle game, it's an action game, it's a rogue-lite, and it does all three of those very well. It might not be bursting with content, but this is an extremely unique, captivating experience that's sure to have players eager for just one more go.