It’s still the leading football game in town, but EA has made only minor changes in FIFA 23, such as set piece tweaks and a new way of shooting. If you didn’t enjoy 22, chances are you won’t be too impressed with this one either.

Eidos Montreal applies its signature gameplay touches to Tomb Raider, making for the series's most satisfying balance of combat, exploration, and puzzle solving. Unfortunately these mechanical successes are let down by a journey that fails to deliver a compelling study of Lara's personal shadows.

A compact, confident, bite-sized roguelite with a bit too much emphasis on the ‘lite’.

Robocop: Rogue City captures the essence of the ’80s classic with over-the-top gunplay and a surprisingly engaging storyline influenced by player choice. It’s ambitious in parts, but repetition in its side missions and some jankiness hold it back.

The new features simulate an essential aspect of humanity and do help Humankind feel more complete, but seldom have the impact you’d hope for from the 4X game’s first major expansion.

Life is Strange 2's first episode goes in a bold new direction that points the series towards current political issues as much as it does human drama. It's promising but a little slow to get going after a thrilling opening scene.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a sublime semi-open world that champions quality over quantity, but unrefined combat puts a damper on A44's original gunpowder fantasy.

Improves on its predecessor in clever ways and still boasts the most gorgeous dinosaurs ever made in a game. But dealing with disastrous events beyond your control still isn't any fun, even if it's thematic for the Jurassic Park IP.

A charming comic book aesthetic and a tight, satisfying gameplay loop make Wild Bastards a worthwhile FPS roguelike, provided you can bear its gratingly chatty cast and often underwhelming upgrades.

A haunting journey through a woodland with a real sense of place, but its breadth of mechanics silts up the pacing.

Rivals puts a spin on its predecessor’s formula, but doesn’t really improve on it. For the yet to be initiated, the original is simply bolder, represents a more unique take on the 4X genre, and is thus the one to pick up. The ability to choose how to take on the Sorcerer King, directly or indirectly, is still a welcome addition though. Indeed, I wish it could be added to the original game as a mode or optional victory path. With that not happening, the standalone is the only way to get that extra choice and experience the apocalyptic war from a different perspective.

While the starring wayward sons of A World Betrayed offer flavourful and dynamic new campaigns, neither quite manages to leave the shadow of the dramatically different playstyles in the Mandate of Heaven DLC.

It's hard to ignore the need for a little extra TLC to smooth out the edges, but the fundamentals of an arresting tactics-and-strategy game about building a criminal empire are in place.

Its core combat is probably better than XCOM's. If only it did a little more with it, Gears Tactics would be one of the greats.

Visceral have created a perfectly good functioning Battlefield game in Hardline. It shoots as good as the best of them, the car-chases are fun, and the small tweaks made to the core formula are very welcome. But a little refinement does not mask that this is a very similar game to what we bought in 2013; despite the strong efforts to make a variety of new game modes, you can’t shake the feeling of playing classic Battlefield.

Simple and beautiful to look at, Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is a pleasant distraction but lacks the depth in its combat and economy to stay interesting for very long.

If you enjoyed Sekiro's parry-heavy combat and Nioh’s mission-based structure, The First Berserker Khazan will likely work for you. Even with few new ideas of its own and often unexciting levels, its build variety and brutal boss fights more than make this soulslike worth the effort.

At number 5, we’re still seeing iteration rather than revolution. Everything that’s great about Tropico 5 is built on the same foundation that all the previous games have built on. That’s a solid foundation, of course, but it’s become a bit too familiar.

An unholy union of anime, Dark Souls, and My Chemical Romance, Code Vein is as much about style as substance. If that sounds good to you, then you're in for a treat, even if it lacks some of the polish of the genre's best.

After quite a bit of meandering, Life is Strange offers revelations, along with dialogue that isn’t trying to ape how a teenager might sound. Or maybe the awkwardness is just drowned out by Chloe and Max’s sincerity. And, in the tradition of all good TV pilots - it owes as much to TV and cinema as it does to other games - there’s a cliffhanger that’s going to force me to come back.

Thronebreaker struggles as a card game but excels as a Witcher game due to its rich narrative and excellent, if simple, worldbuilding.

Star Hammer’s combat systems are truly exceptional, but they’re trapped in a bland, forgettable campaign.

Wonderfully captures the atmosphere and combat of Souls games, but without enough tools to experiment with and an AI that’s easy to abuse, Mortal Shell lacks meat on its bones.

For better and for worse, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a faithful reimagining of Hideaki Itsuno’s flawed yet ambitious action-RPG. Those who rise to the challenge of meeting it on its own terms are suitably rewarded, but a deluge of trash mobs, restrictive fast travel, and endemic hardware issues will be a dealbreaker for many.

Sometimes repetitive, sometimes eye-rolling, and sometimes just plain busted, Saints Row 2022 is far from perfect, but that doesn't stop it from being a chaotic good time.

Firaxis combats the inherent bloat of the 4X genre with partial success. All of the big new ideas in Civilization 7 work well and it's tighter and more engaging than any of its predecessors. Nevertheless, your sense of connection still begins to wane by the midgame.

Two Point Campus certainly makes the passing grade thanks to its unrelenting sense of humour and occasionally brilliant level concepts, but too much repetitive busywork keeps it from getting top marks.

Total War fans after a bold twist on the High Elf or Greenskin campaigns will find this less creative than other Lord packs, but Warhammer fans excited to recreate this storied grudge match will find it no less essential.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is an exceptional sandbox. There’s nothing in the entire medium that feels quite as unique as being able to sprint, duck, and dive towards the horizon, making the most of the many varied paths on offer in this superbly sculpted playground. But when the game tries to be more than that, it begins to fall apart. Catalyst is certainly a step forward for Mirror’s Edge, but not the leap that it could be. If this is the return of Faith on a regular basis though, DICE have created the foundations for a very strong sequel indeed.

While missions can be frustrating and the new diplomacy system is nothing to write home about, Stronghold: Warlords should satisfy devoted fans with its new, gorgeously realised setting.

While its predecessor's floaty, unsatisfying combat remains, and its enemy variety is lacking, Revenge of the Savage Planet's freedom of movement and exploration make this short-but-sweet, eccentric Metroidvania well worth a go.

Obsidian’s RPG fulfills its potential, but only in fits and starts. Sure, its worst moments are only ever as bad as workmanlike RPG-making, but they make the stretches between some instances of genuine greatness a little more disappointing.

Fast-paced, frenetic, and full of fur, Gori: Cuddly Carnage is one of the best hack-and-slash games around. Its highly-saturated, no-nonsense approach to fun is a fantastic execution for the genre.

The building tension and well-written characters make this small town mystery captivating, but it bites off more than it can chew in its rushed depiction of a man struggling with his mental health.

Civ VI is undoubtedly a better game with the addition of Rise and Fall - especially when you are struggling to hold everything together through a Dark Age. However, I do not think this expansion brings it to a place where all of its core ideas have really gelled yet.

Shadows of Doubt is an intricate simulation of a grim corporate world that handles player freedom on a level you rarely see. The fascination wears thin as you delve deeper into the seedy underworld, but the initial intrigue alone is worth the price of entry.

Solasta’s tactical battles shine brightly, even in the shadow of a drab and by-the-numbers fantasy story.

Though the natives still feel underdeveloped and the colonies don’t really become interesting until they attempt to gain independence, Conquest of Paradise is still a welcome addition to Europa Universalis IV. It adds more than it takes away.

Gripping supernatural subterfuge meets perfunctory mechanics. Worth it to explore the World of Darkness, though.

Intricate, intuitive, and ambitious, Cities Skylines 2 successfully integrates all the major improvements that players might have wanted. Something personal is lost in its larger scale, while performance problems spoil the beauty, but this could one day become the superior city building game.

While at first glance Lies of P is ‘Bloodborne at home,’ Round8 Studio’s clockwork adventure writes its own unique story, filled to bursting with expansive Steampunk-style environments and defined by impressive, well-balanced combat. In some cases, though, it gets a little too clever for its own good, tying itself up in the strings that it fights so hard to break free from.

With flavourful combat mechanics for each faction and a cast of bombastic characters, Storm Ground is a worthy introduction to the Age of Sigmar setting that's marred by some rough edges.

Guardians of the Galaxy mostly nails the quirky tone and characters that Marvel fans will be hoping for. Otherwise strong presentation is marred by a few too many visual glitches, but if you can tolerate these and some repetitive combat, it's worth a look.

Richly realised systems and empowering abilities create a tremendously fun sandbox to dig into, but another toothless story ensures these flashes of brilliance never cohere, leaving Legion feeling less than the sum of its parts.

A bombastic but simplified RTS with great set-pieces and interesting new ideas in Blitz mode, but a lack of depth that'll shorten its longevity with PC players.

Though not the most iconic rivalry, The Twisted and the Twilight offers the Wood Elves a crucial new lease of life, alongside some fun legendary heroes.

Your kingdom’s future can sometimes feel too predetermined, despite the hundreds of decisions you’ll have made along the way, but the relationship between your king and his family is really what counts.

A pretty decent start to Iron Harvest's RTS journey. Lacking some much needed additional content and the campaign could be better, but there's a solid foundation here.

Forza Motorsport is an adequate racing game, one that delivers on the track but doesn’t come with enough bells and whistles to be considered a true great in the genre. There are better options in almost all racing sub-genres on PC, but when you’re in the cockpit, the driving itself is ferocious and raw, with plenty to enjoy.

The Onimusha 2 remaster does exactly what it says on the tin. Sharp visuals breathe new life and color into a cult classic that merits a life beyond the PS2. However, Capcom’s dedication to the original experience means that decades-old problems remain unaddressed, and its capitulation to analog movement undercuts the authenticity it sets out to achieve.

Changes on the battlefield don't make for a Total War experience to match historical and Warhammer entrants, but there's still a deeply involving strategic layer in Three Kingdoms that sits well with its licence.

With excellent maps, slick and expressive movement, and the superb new Overload mode, Black Ops 7’s core multiplayer experience is brilliant. Zombies fans have plenty to sink their teeth into, even if a lot of its modes return from past games. BO7’s campaign, however, is its biggest disappointment, and its Endgame experiment mostly falls flat.

Some creaky design concepts that don't hold up well and a slipshod PC port hold Nier Replicant back from greatness on PC.

Built on the foundations of several fantastic games, and those qualities remain – but you already own them. F1 22 simply doesn’t offer enough for a full-price purchase.

A handsome, thoughtful blend of shooting and stealth that delights with its choice-driven play. Though it can feel painfully rushed at times, which is a shame.

The System Shock remake is the best way to play the PC classic, making it an enjoyable first-person experience for the modern age. However, it still clings to some somewhat outdated mechanics that will frustrate newcomers.

The problems inherent to stealth games hold back Commandos Origins, but it's still a high-stakes, high-intensity RTS where even the smallest action can feel meaningful. Meticulous, difficult, and demanding, it will test your patience as much as your tactical insight, but when you finally get it right, Commandos Origins is rewarding.

Immortals Fenyx Rising's open-world is a constant delight to explore, even if it struggles to balance history and humour.

Beautiful scenery, strong characters, and inventive mechanics give Crucible a solid foundation - one undermined by poor communication between players and from Relentless Studios.

With a campaign that takes a swing, the return of secret-packed, round-based Zombies, and multiplayer that makes some genuine improvements over years gone by, Black Ops 6 is a solid package that will please longtime fans and entice more than a few newcomers.

A lumbering historical murder mystery with little regard for tension or pacing, but one that packs in such dense detail you can’t help but respect it. Pentiment immerses you in 1500s Bavaria and that’s the main event.

Superbly written characters, the dark allure of its world, and an engrossing main story make up for Weird West’s wonky action.

Starfield is a true behemoth of an RPG, and in many ways it’s the logical endpoint of Bethesda Game Studios’ well-worn formula. However, its massive scope pushes this formula to the absolute limit and the cracks begin to show, from feature creep to the stop-start nature of its exploration. Dedicated Bethesda fans are sure to get their fill, but this interstellar adventure never leaves the atmosphere.

That’s the thing about Beyond Earth: I feel like for every considered, clever addition to Civ’s formula, there’s always a near miss. War is fun, but the AI is not. Aliens are novel, but humans are dreary. I enjoyed playing it, I’m still playing, but it just hasn’t gripped me like previous games. I want it to be better, more interesting, than it is.

I think criticising it for being ugly and short is to miss the point. This is a no holds barred novelty amusement. It is stupid and dumb and very, very fun.

The Lamplighters League attempts to deviate from tradition, promoting creativity over power, but ultimately falls short. However, its simplicity puts it into the more approachable realms of turn-based tactical games and is a great choice for anyone looking to try the genre for the first time.

Competent and challenging but not especially deep, this Cold War tactical romp also tends to get a bit dry and repetitive at times.

Democracy 3 demands a particular mindset to appreciate, where one’s eye is not constantly fixed on winning elections, but it’s a grand political adventure for those willing to experience a story told by numbers and polls. There’s also a surprising, understated beauty about how everything is seamlessly tied together, with every decision echoing throughout the elegant spiderweb.

If you’ve been away from the F1 series for a year or longer, or just want the definitive F1 game from this hardware generation, F1 2013 is an easy pick. It is the best this series has ever been in all the ways that count, and historical cars and tracks are a wonderful bonus.

With some strong new ideas and often solid core design, Lords of the Fallen is an enjoyably grimdark soulslike. That said, Hexworks’ debut release borrows a lot from Dark Souls, and while this makes for a good baseline, it could do more to escape the shadow of better games.

Frustrating technical issues hold Darktide back from being the definitive Warhammer 40,000 experience on PC.

Both its greatest strength and biggest weakness, the precision that Broken Arrow demands often chokes its more abstract qualities. It's a stark spectacle with nasty, legitimately cynical overtones, but its unwillingness to compromise aesthetically and tonally almost makes it mechanically inflexible, to the point that the player often doesn't feel included in the strategy making whatsoever.

Unfortunately, Heat Signature’s structure lets it down somewhat. It becomes a repetitive grind, broken up by the occasional amazing moment. The procedural generation makes it feel special, randomly creating an environment for these unique anecdotes, but it is a double-edged sword as there are a multitude of uneventful missions in-between. Still, it all feels worth it for those moments when there are a few seconds left on the clock and you are forced to take desperate action.

While the throwback graphics and simplistic combat won't appeal to many, the authentic and original story and endlessly fascinating world make Dread Delusion feel like a long-lost cult classic.

And here’s the rub: every addition, every sub-system, every mechanic is subservient to War. War is what Total War is really about. Everything else not directly related to conflict comes across as ancillary. Rome II is a game for warmongers, on both the campaign map and, obviously, on the battlefield. When peace is happening, nothing is happening. When war is happening, Rome comes alive.

Despite taking cues from other open world games, ones nobody could ever accuse of being fresh, Techland has molded these borrowed parts into something that is occasionally formidable. Dying Light never quite shakes off the spectre of these other games, but it doesn’t play it as safe, presenting a world that is infinitely more deadly and fraught with tension.

Three Kingdoms' first piece of DLC is largely more of the same, but that's no bad thing when the base experience is so good.

Lichdom: Battlemage’s magic system is second to none, and it carries the game. It does one thing exceptionally well, while the rest of the game languishes a bit.

The pace of id and Avalanche’s FPS is neutered by a dull open world and thin story but, in an unbridled whirlwind of gruesome gibs, you probably won’t care.

PvP still needs work, and the story is once again more style than substance. However, abundant content elsewhere - including new PvE challenges and a build system with actual depth - means Shadowkeep does what it needs to.

The classic RTS battles carry the third entry in this once-essential series, returning more or less untouched, but alongside a bloated and unfinished campaign mode that feels at odds with the core ideas of Company of Heroes.

Capcom's latest is still one of the better entries to the series, but isn't quite sure if it wants to be po-faced and terrifying or a campy, blockbuster shooter.

Earth Defense Force 6’s quality of life improvements make for the strongest gameplay in the series to date, but an annoying intro and the same glitches as usual leave it as a diamond in the rough.

What’s struck me most about my time with Vampyr is that it manages to turn you into a predator through its mechanics as much as it does with its storytelling. It does collapse under its own weight by the end, but the fact that it so effectively seduces you, almost trance-like, into roleplaying a villain makes it worth biting into.

Insurgency: Sandstorm is a solid shooter that offers the series’ best intense, tactical thrills, but can’t help but feel behind the times in both theme and looks.

Struggles to do justice to what should be its show-stopper moments, but breathes much-needed life into the Khajiit and their homeland.

Elite: Dangerous is a beautiful arcade experience, plugged into an empty galaxy, one so big and bold that it might trick you into thinking there’s more to see and do than there really is. You’ll probably love it anyway.

It remains a fascinating project: endlessly discussable in its ambition and its frustrating mix of brilliance and ineptitude, and as imitators like The Division and EA’s coming Anthem prove, it is going to define an era, like it or not.

Easy to master and a campaign full of action movie-worthy missions but the game is let down by frustrating checkpointing and simplistic combat.

As a Dead by Daylight fan, The Casting of Frank Stone had me squealing with joy at its easter eggs, hints, and lore. This combined with its mysterious plot and engaging dual-timeline structure kept me invested even through the most hands-off sequences. Still, I was left wanting more interactivity, and the game’s conclusion is likely to go over non-DBD players’ heads.

By the end, most of its sights and systems will be all too familiar. But between its uniquely provincial setting and dedication to undergrowth stealth, there’s more than enough novel in Sir that you’ll gladly be the rabbit in its lights at least one time through.

Koei does an unrivalled job representing the complex history and characters of the period, but the lack of variety in the experience combined with a steep price tag makes it hard to endorse without reservation.

Personally, I found it a chore, becoming so caught up in my frustration that it became difficult to enjoy the detailed pixel artwork, take in the soundtrack, or even find satisfaction in finally killing a boss. However, I think there are players who will love this game.

The mission design and story can grate at times, but this is a devilishly fun homage to Diablo 3 and Warhammer Fantasy you’ll want to get your friends in on.

I came for the promise of pigeon romance, but I stayed for the surreal world these fowl reside in.

Skald: Against the Black Priory captures the spirit of your favorite old-school RPGs while serving up deep side quests and memorable lore, but its combat and progression systems eventually run into trouble and its overarching narrative never quite takes off.

Outriders' fast-paced combat and imaginative sci-fi setting make it a journey worth taking. And for all its flaws, this could be the start of something very special for developer People Can Fly.

The elements are there to create something truly special, but right now Metal: Hellsinger feels more like a Doom Eternal mod than it does a standalone title.