A wrong-headed sequel that doesn't really address most of its predecessors' problems. [Issue#272, p.48]

Slick controls, great writing, and a solar-system-wide mystery to unravel - what's not to love? [Issue#272, p.46]

A terrific plot, excellent characters, and fantastic worldbuilding elevate the game's unexciting puzzles. [Issue#272, p.44]

Taut, thrilling, and full of twisty new takes on a classic gaming formula, Phantom Doctrine is our new strategic addiction.

An addictive and punishing romp that rewards creative builds and cool heads under immense (and constant) pressure.

A deceptively realistic racing game that doesn't care if you want to ignore the details and just smash every car on the track.

A gorgeous game in looks, but repetitive and miserly in its gameplay. And that voice acting - UGH!

Fast, intense, adrenaline pumping stuff... but without that special something that makes it a true Wipeout successor,

Some marvelous mechanics don't add up to enough to detract from stilted writing, an overly grim aesthetic, and repetitive combat.

Not the greatest writing, but the game's many overlapping mechanics make for some great emergent storytelling. [Issue#271, p.54]

One of Telltale's best seasons, and a Batman tale that finds something new to do with the Joker. [Issue#271, p.50]

There is a great game under all the bugs, but for now my experience of the game makes it hard to recommend.

The game is really quite brutal, but individual runs quite short. It’s a perfect palate-cleaner game – quick to load, easy to switch to from other applications, and over pretty fast. Unless you’re good at it, which, you know… I’m pretty much not. But it’s also just wonderfully silly fun. Bright, chaotic in the all the best ways, and always surprising.

Well, pardner, I'd suggest you ride far, far away. Buy an Xbox and wait for Red Dead Redemption 2 if you have-ter.

A promising sequel that, despite its improvements on the original, still retains as many bugs as it does zombies.

The Forest frequently flirts with perfection. A fantastic and engrossing survival-horror experience from start to finish.

With enough tweaks to make the game feel fresh, and enough of the same formula to keep the game comfortable, this is a great Total War entry.

Though repetitive with stacks of downtime, Frostpunk has a strangely addictive gameplay loop (more so, I imagine, if you emotionally connect with your people).

Cute and relatable, and very enjoyable in small, perfectly formed chunks. Much like each new Sword of Ditto!

Revenant Kingdom is one of those games that suffers for being a sequel to something that was a bit special. It's a good oddball JRPG. But Wrath of the White Witch had great storytelling, compelling characters, and epic boss fights. Revenant Kingdom just feels... smaller.

An almost too accurate reimagination of Age of Empires, in both the best and worst possible ways.

A near-enlightening shooter experience held back by big-disclaimer co-op and dark-grey microtransactions.

An ambitious game that manages to pack in a beautiful open world, complex survival challenges, and lots of teeth. [Issue#270, p.59]

A retro game that delivers more wonderful gameplay than nostalgia. [Issue#270, p.58]

Rise & Fall doesn't reinvent Civ VI but it does expand its repertoire in meaningful ways. [Issue#270, p.56]

First and foremost a game, the anthropology lessons are happy to sit in the background. [Issue#270, p.55]

An excellent fighting game, even if you're not a fan of Dragon Ball. [Issue#270, p.54]

A wonderful, strange, sad trek through the myth of America. [Issue#270, p.52]

An unflinchingly hardcore RPG that trades promises of "realism" for just another fantasy. [Issue#270, p.49]

The core gameplay loop is great, but it's too easy to plumb the shallow depths in a few hours. Sea of Thieves needs more meaningful content.

A great game held back by poor balance decisions and a layer of petty bugs.

A smart, satisfying puzzler wrapped in an equally smart, satisfying narrative layer. [Issue#269, p.64]

A minimalist experience that confuses collectibles for substance. [Issue#269, p.63]

Sold twin-stick fundamentals executed to reasonably successful effort. [Issue#269, p.62]

Lazy, broken, ugly and dispiriting. [Issue#269, p.60]

Some great puzzles and interesting situations can't entirely make up for Black Mirror's shortcomings. [Issue#269, p.59]

Nioh successfully reinvents Souls with deeper combat and skill trees. [Issue#269, p.58]

Like Leicester winning the Premiere League, FM18 Touch knocks over its more fancied rival. [Issue#269, p.56]

The lack of focus can be frustrating, but the world is so interesting that it'll draw you back in. [Issue#269, p.55]

A well designed competitive brawler that separates itself from the crowd. Battlerite is as rewarding as it is addictive. [Issue#269, p.54]

There's fun to be had, but for every step towards the Light Side, there's a foot stuck firmly in the Dark Side of bad design decisions. [Issue#269, p.52]

Familiarity breeds contempt. [Issue#269, p.49]

A compelling narrative experience, structured like a classic science fiction short story in which you can drive a sentient vacuum cleaner around.

The world building is excellent, the game building is deeply flawed. [Issue#268, p.72]

Time is a harsh mistress, and the 11 year sleep has not been kind to Rogue Trooper. [Issue#268, p.71]

You'll laugh, you'll die, you'll hurl yourself back into this satanic enterprise again and again. [Issue#268, p.70]

Stealth-action reinvented as easy-to-digest open world RPG-action. [Issue#268, p.68]

A brilliant, detailed racing game that stays true to the series lineage, for better and for worse. [Issue#268, p.64]

At times entertaining, but for the most part Shadow of War is an exercise in frustration and exploitation. [Issue#268, p.62]

A definite step above the original but still not without its problems. [Issue#268, p.60]

Full of funny moments and some great new mechanics but doesn't quite feel like it lives up to its own potential. [Issue#268, p.56]

There is a lot of very satisfying shooting to be found in Destiny 2. [Issue#268, p.54]

There are a few technical problems with Wolfenstein II, and occasionally the story gets a little too grim, but it's still a pure joy to play. [Issue#268, p.51]

Despite a few issues with pacing, Hand of Fate 2 crafts an atmosphere based on its predecessor, but also full of surprises. You will want to spend hours playing games within games within this game, even as the Dealer taunts you for your missteps.

The skeleton of Auto Age is solid, but there just isn't enough meat on the bones. [Issue#267, p.75]

A gorgeous action-adventure that transports you to a magical world. [Issue#267, p.74]

Not without some significant problems, Ruiner is still a satisfyingly difficult slice of twin stick grimdorkness. [Issue#267, p.73]

If the first episode of Before the Storm is anything to go by, Deck Nine has constructed a deep, heartfelt adventure. [Issue#267, p.72]

There may not be much in the way of story, but Death of the Outsider is a fine farewell to Dunwall. [Issue#267, p.71]

A surreal musical adventure that ultimately fails to capture the spirit and essence of the specific style of house music it clearly loves. [Issue#267, p.70]

A great fighting game with horrible presentation, a crappy story mode, limited roster, expensive DLC, and forgettable music. [Issue#267, p.68]

An amazing looking game that will punish you. And you'll like it. [Issue#267, p.65]

A little short but an excellent example of virtually realised physics. [Issue#267, p.62]

There's a career mode and you can massage the tyres yourself. Or do this. [Issue#267, p.60]

Specialises in trick shots before mastering the fundamentals. Deeply flawed, but hard to ignore. [Issue#267, p.58]

While it may look something like Minecraft, Rogue Islands is definitely its own, very enjoyable beast. [Issue#267, p.56]

A fantastic return to form that will only get better with the inevitable post-release content-drops. But even out of the box, this is Total War at its best. [Issue#267, p.54]

Old-school charm with modern mechanics makes for one of the best RPG experiences in ages.

A fun old-school beat ‘em up with a few modern twists.

Though not without problems, Songbringer is a charming, challenging and addictive old fashioned ARPG. [Issue#266, p.64]

Flawed but satisfying combination of epic turn-based tactical gameplay and incredible fidelity to the source material. [Issue#266, p.62]

Before it resorts to some rather cliched horror tropes, Observer is a gritty, oppressive cyberpunk nightmare. [Issue#266, p.60]

A harrowing, relentlessly grim tale let down by workmanlike combat and puzzles. [Issue#266, p.58]

The world of Adol keeps you at arm's length, but the intricate and clever fighting will pull you right in. [Issue#266, p.56]

A bold, ambitious step forward for the - hnngh - "walking simulator." [Issue#266, p.54]

Unfinished and unpolished, like a poor facsimile of what came before rather than a new game. [Issue#266, p.51]

Solid gameplay helps you stick around for more soccer jokes. [Issue#265, p.64]

Beautiful but flawed, Sundered is too frustrating early on to be fully satisfying. [Issue#265, p.62]

A slick and stylish stealth-action game that could do with some greater depth. [Issue#265, p.60]

Tactical city-sim for the sub-menu-phobic. [Issue#265, p.58]

A chilled action-RPG that ditches combat for crafting and exploration. [Issue#265, p.56]

Too uneven to be great but there are few games that have done powerful destructive magic better. [Issue#265, p.54]

A beautiful, melancholy, emotional sports RPG visual novel thing. [Issue#265, p.51]

A brief, gentle puzzle adventure tinged with melancholy. [Issue#264, p.71]

Innovative tactical RPG that rates higher on iOS coz it's cheaper. [Issue#264, p.70]

A highly detailed look at a period of history that still manages to fascinate gamers after all these years. [Issue#264, p.69]

Drifting Lands is a genuinely fun shooter/RPG hybrid brought down by a forgettable story and repetitive structure. [Issue#264, p.68]

Writhing out of its niche, slithering, roiling tentacles endlessly grasping for the larger audience it most definitely deserves. [Issue#264, p.64]

The story is great but the surfeit of ideas means that none are fleshed out particularly well. [Issue#264, p.63]

A tense and demanding procedurally-generated story-telling device. [Issue#264, p.62]

The online game is excellent, but the lack of some beloved features is very irksome. [Issue#264, p.59]

With some serious control patching, Impact Winter will be great. As it stands, it's almost unplayable. [Issue#263, p.73]

A fresh take on an age old formula, beautifully crafted for its VR approach, but the labour required detracts a bit from the fun. [Issue#263, p.72]

Thanks to the addition of magic, Mirage breathes new life into the competitive melee arena. [Issue#263, p.71]

Inner Chains looks good, but beneath the veneer is a mess of bad mechanics and disappointing design. [Issue#263, p.69]

Not Platinum Games greatest title, but still an absolute blast. [Issue#263, p.68]

Definitely worth the price of admission. Runic Rampage is simple, moreish dungeon bashing. [Issue#263, p.64]

Sleek and competent and detailed and not really very exciting. [Issue#263, p.62]