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.

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.

Mafia: The Old Country looks backward, both in its setting and design ethos. Combining gorgeous visuals, strong character work, and scrappy action set pieces, the outcome is a confident, understated crime game that does exactly what it's supposed to.

Ubisoft’s open-world shooter digs into what makes the series great. Some of those experiments bear fruit, others bring frustration.

Stalker 2 is a punishing survival FPS that can be extremely rewarding for those who take the time to get comfortable in its playground. A few technical issues aside, there's not much else out there like this.

Gears of War's simple shooting and world design are as strong now as they were in 2007, but Reloaded's more technologically advanced visuals sap away the earlier versions’ grimy cartoon charm.

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.

Oxenfree 2 casts off adolescence in a bid to explore the trials and tribulations of adulthood, featuring authentic dialogue that packs an emotional punch.

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.

Gleefully swift, ingeniously puzzling, and kind to your senses through delightful art and a terrific soundtrack, Shooter is received with open arms on the PC. All we need now is its 2011-released sequel to really satisfy that post-game hunger.

The culmination of over two decades of refinement, resulting in fluid, accessible, and balanced combat mechanics. While the game’s lurid focus on flesh will divide opinion, it remains one of the most polished and fully-featured fighting games in recent years.

Strike Vector deserves more. It deserves a selection of inspired game modes. It deserves a collection of well-balanced, strategic weapon unlocks. It deserves a flight school that’s more than picture boxes and poor spelling.

Warlock II might take place in a silly universe where narrators like to impersonate Sean Connery and kingdoms are ruled by regal rats or chatting skeletons, but Ino-Co has taken its construction very seriously. It’s exactly what a sequel should be, keeping the spirit of the original but improving every aspect.

An accessible, lightweight competitive shooter. Though it's a little thin in its current state, this is a solid start for what will hopefully become a lively and dynamic game as its season pass gets underway.

Beyond Light is undoubtedly in the upper tier of Destiny expansions, but its arrival has disrupted the game in ways that pose big challenges for Bungie in the months ahead.

My Time at Portia is a gorgeous game with solid crafting mechanics and a mysterious post-apocalyptic tale, but its intriguing story is buried beneath slow pacing and flimsy characters.

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 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.

The luster wears off as the game wears on; and boy does it wear in those latter stages as the level design peters out and the global Pagie population diminishes. For several hours, Yooka-Laylee gave me the kind of thrills that I’d long been looking to rediscover, but that initial warm blast of nostalgia quickly fades, revealing this to be a mirage of the 3D platforming golden years, rather than their long-desired comeback.

As a whole package, Call of Duty: WWII has a little something for everyone to enjoy, but that has been the story of this series for a long time. No, this homecoming is far, far better than the sum of its parts, a true return to form in practically every respect. It feels alien to be looking back on a new Call of Duty release as anything other than enjoyable yet unremarkable triple-A fare, but here we are. Call of Duty: WWII delivers on all fronts: compelling and heartfelt in its storytelling; imposing in its sense of scale and spectacle; and unremittingly addictive in its gunplay.

The Surge is a superb game on its own terms, compelling in every nook and cranny, lopped-off limb, and newfound shortcut. Underpinning it all is a surprisingly engaging, multifaceted narrative, and a set of combat mechanics that offer a little something for every type of player, but that punish all comers with equal aplomb.

Loadout is throwaway, silly entertainment. It gets you into a game, raises a smile, and spits you back out again. It’s scrappy, with a few rough edges in the level design and art. But it’s endearingly dumb, and I really think you should, at least, have a try.

When you first boot it up it feels surprisingly robust, and there’s never a sense that it was created on the cheap to cash in. The matchmaking can certainly make or break the experience from match to match, but when the going’s good Block N Load is a smile-generating shooter.

Atomfall is a diamond in the rough for survival RPG fans. While it doesn’t hit the emergent heights of its genre contemporaries, Rebellion’s beautifully crafted quarantine zone is a joy to explore, with enough pulp and mystery to propel the player through to the end. If you’re looking for a cozy throwback to classic science fiction, it’s hard to go wrong with this very British sandbox.

If you look at it as a reboot, a starting point for the series, there’s lots of promise in that future. The first Mass Effect had countless problems, far more than here, but that will always be remembered as a classic, despite leaving similar threads hanging. Ultimately, this is a story about laying the foundations of a civilization, and it feels like BioWare were doing the same for the future of the franchise. In that way, these RPG developers have become Pathfinders themselves.

An intriguing story of exploring new frontiers and an easy gateway into retro sci-fi literature, The Invincible is a powerful, engrossing cosmic drama that’s held back by a lack of variety and innovation, rough edges around its core mechanics, and a supporting cast that can’t quite match the energy of its stars.

Capes mostly overcomes its cliches, lack of customization, and limited scope thanks to its strategic gameplay that will test the mettle of even the most hardened of turn-based tactics veterans.

EA Sports FC 25 continues to hand in the same homework it's done for the past few years now, albeit with a new paragraph on Rush. It's a solid game that will likely enjoy plenty of additions throughout the year, but I'd like to see more ambition in the future.