Escape Plan's style and intelligent use of Vita's inputs come together to make it one of the more compelling titles in the system's launch line-up.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered is a welcome trip down memory lane. It may have ditched the revolutionary multiplayer offering and Spec Ops mode, but what has been brought into the modern era manages to stand on its own two feet. It still suffers from design choices of old, but this is an intense, enjoyable single player campaign that's more than worth your time.

Portal Knights brings some interesting new wrinkles to the crafting genre that has become so popular recently. The increased focus on combat works well, particularly with the boss battles and having a clearly defined end goal is a great way of keeping you invested. Unfortunately, some of the other additions like the poorly thought out stats system and the reliance on random drops for creating crucial portals keeps the game from ever fully achieving knighthood.

NHL 22 surprises by making its debut on a new console without removing any of its modes, but those who played NHL 21 may find this version a little too familiar. X-Factors on paper should be a game-changer but are mostly underwhelming. The switch to Frostbite does massively improve the fidelity of the rink – even if character models still look downright demonic – but should that really be the biggest change to the game? The ultimate question is: can the price increase be justified on the PS5? And given how little really has changed from last year to this year, the answer has to be a “no”.

The Hong Kong Massacre's inspiration is clear, but unfortunately, it doesn't have the gameplay, the personality, or the energy to stand alongside it. The slow-mo shooting can be fun, but with tough enemies and a janky dodge manoeuvre, you'll more often than not be frustrated by death after death. With a little more polish, it could've been an entertaining romp, but as it stands, redeeming qualities are few and far between.

Relicta tries to strike a balance between narrative and gameplay, but that balance ends up hurting the final experience by making the game a slog to go through and puzzles becoming infuriatingly complex in the second half. The story and excellent voice acting are a nice differentiator and the level of detail in the environments is impressive, but Relicta is a game that is hard to stick with in its second half if you don't have a guide.

EVE: Valkyrie is one of the better PlayStation VR experiences out there at the moment – a true Top Gun. Packing slick design and stunning visuals, as well as thrilling gameplay. For fans of multiplayer space dogfighting, this is the (un)real deal. Virtual hats off to CCP on creating a fantastic space combat experience.

Daytona USA is a game makes you feel young again, and you really can't put a price on that.

Time Recoil packs a lot of fun into a relatively short experience, but the lack of effort invested into the plot, visuals, and audio holds it back from sitting at the top of the genre.

Volume is a bit of a mixed bag. Underutilised voice performances and some really nasty technical issues stand in the way of the title getting top marks. However, it's difficult for us to deny that the actual minute-to-minute gameplay is damn fun.

While RiMS Racing has an enjoyable core racing mode, the addition of motorcycle maintenance and plenty of technical issues on PS5 prove a dealbreaker. If you’re looking for a realistic racing game that is still enjoyable, look elsewhere.

No More Heroes III is a pleasant sendoff for Travis Touchdown – especially so now that it’s no longer stuck on hardware that couldn’t keep up with it. The lack of performance problems make it so much easier to enjoy its wide variety of combat encounters, eclectic minigames, and zany story sequences. It comes at the cost of its other flaws becoming more pronounced, but it’s still a brash and daring passion project from a Grasshopper Manufacture that continues to do whatever it desires.

Zombi has transitioned to the PS4 rather well: the fear-inducing aspects of the second screen are re-created well enough to achieve similar scares, the loading times are greatly improved, and – three years later – it's still a unique survival title that never compromises its horror for action.

A few hours in, you'll likely find yourself scratching your head as seemingly impossible puzzles best you. This can naturally be frustrating, especially as you move so slowly, but you'll feel like a genius once everything clicks. Many stages have optional bonus challenges once you solve them, earning you collectable scrolls complete with philosophical mumbo-jumbo. The main story is more interesting, told wordlessly through a series of dioramas, but it's the puzzles themselves that will keep you playing. It's not exactly original, but The Sojourn is a solid puzzler with well designed levels and some nice ideas.

The Invincible has a wondrous story to tell and dazzling graphics to match, but it's held back from greatness by gameplay that struggles to ever break away from the genre structure of old. Mostly walking and talking, it never feels anything more than serviceable. Still, there's an interesting narrative to experience, and with your own decisions changing events, The Invincible should still be played by sci-fi fanatics.

In a year crowded with incredible titles, Ruiner manages to be a standout anyways. The red neon-plastered world presented by Reikon Games is beautiful, brutal, and terrifying. With some impressive art direction, great music, and a wealth of immensely satisfying combat systems, Ruiner offers essential top-down gameplay, and comes highly recommended.

Samurai Warriors 4: Empires is another solid spin-off, but veteran fans may feel a little let down by some of its streamlined gameplay. However, its dynamic nature is usually enough to make up for its lack of depth.

Dawn of Ragnarok does enough to satisfy by the time that the credits roll, but if you're burnt out on Assassin's Creed Valhalla, there isn't much here that'll reignite your interest. The mythological angle is well played, the fantastical setting is cool, and Odin makes for an intriguing lead, but after a year of DLC and updates, Valhalla's gameplay loop is wearing a bit thin.

While it lacks the endearing appeal of some of its older siblings, The LEGO Movie Videogame is still a strong cinematic tie-in that serves as a perfect accompaniment to the big screen blockbuster – even if you should ensure that you visit the theatre first.

Chambara is a smart, stylish, and truly entertaining game to play locally with friends and family. There's a timeless class to games of this ilk which offer experiences that you simply cannot get elsewhere. As long as you can provide a steady stream of willing players to engage with, Chambara returns the favour with a limited but excellent selection of arenas to engage with them in.

Doki-Doki Universe is a unique and quirky timewaster that unfortunately runs out of steam due to a lack of challenge and variety in its gameplay. While the colourful characters and brilliant art style keep it off the scrap heap, those craving a more involved experience would be better off summoning a different title to add to their collection.

Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin delivers a passable tale that manages to capture the quirky aesthetic and humour of the original game. But its high price point, pedestrian puzzles, and failure to do much of interest with VR makes it something of a letdown overall.

Mass Effect deserves better than Andromeda. The series has stumbled into a new generation, weighed down by tedious open world tropes and a catalogue of performance issues on the PS4. That said, it's not quite the disaster that some would have you believe. There really is a good Mass Effect game here, complete with endearing characters and great combat, but it's buried beneath a mountain of unnecessary clutter. In time, patches may sort many of its problems out, but until then, we can only recommend Andromeda to the BioWare faithful.

Heaven’s Vault will satisfy budding archaeologists and linguistic fanatics in fits and starts, but the overall experience that brings those mechanics together leaves a lot to be desired. Alongside technical frustrations and tedious movement between locations, this is hardly a game we can recommend with any sort of confidence.

Little Nightmares III is a nightmare worth having, even if you’ve dreamt it all before. Supermassive Games holds a mirror to the franchise, reflecting the series’ charming horror, clever puzzles, and grotesque universe. But it plays it safe, adding little in the way of originality. Online co-op is the biggest change, but solo play remains the preferred experience. Overall, Little Nightmares III is unsettling enough to make your skin crawl — just not enough to wake you up.

More of an interactive experience, flOw won’t float everyone’s boat, but if you can overlook its shortcomings and immerse yourself in its world, then you’ll be able to see why this indie hit rose to the surface when so many others sank without a trace.

As long as you can put up with some repetitive enemy design and the story not being all that, then Flintlock is worth a punt. It all comes together for a consistently good experience that never tries to break the bank to become something more. It does nothing insultingly bad; neither does it set a new benchmark for anything specific. Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a good video game — nothing more, nothing less.

Its main gameplay is simplistic but becomes totally engrossing, and the technical achievement is impressive. The atmosphere created by the graphics and sound is second to none, and there's an amazing sense of place. Some may struggle to find the fun with the lack of direction, and there are some technical issues that need addressing, but if you're able to create your own fun with the tools that you're given, you'll be playing this for a long time.

It doesn’t hurt that the game is designed with a confidence and flair we don’t often see in VR. Absolutely everything down to the menus has a level of swagger that makes for a stunning experience. Cel-shading works well in certain settings, and VR is absolutely one of them: it allows Fracked’s environments to have exponentially more detail and complexity than a similar game without cel-shading, adding much more life to the title's alpine mining facility.

PSVR2 helps makes the game look incredible, but things feel a bit let down by the PSVR 2 Sense Controllers. Attaching hands can be awkward as the round base on the controllers tends to get in the way, and controlling detached hands is less than precise in regards to turning and moving in a specific direction.

Blades of Fire is a well-made and lengthy action adventure romp that will test your combat skills, provided you can see it through. Taking inspiration from some of gaming's greatest hits, it never quite manages to reach those lofty heights itself, let down by a generic setting and lacklustre art direction. Still, it offers some interesting concepts, with combat and crafting mechanics that remain satisfying throughout.

Simply put, Gauntlet: Slayer Edition is a great lark about with buddies, and Arrowhead almost hit the bullseye with this one, if only the visuals and music were a bit more interesting.

The lack of a tutorial, a stunted story mode, and the inclusion of a poorly judged free-to-play component drains some of the colour from the experience, but as soon as you land that special heart attack, you'll quickly forget all about its shortcomings.

Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 1: Order of the Stone is a lacklustre start to Telltale's latest series.

The game features wild European-influenced locales, mixing cabaret with traces of expressionism in a way that makes the illogic of the world logical. Plus, thanks largely to the rise of 4K TVs — and especially HDR — the game looks better than it ever has. The staccato outbursts of colour when you illuminate the dark or enter select regions help to sell the oppressive nature of the environment. The title was from an era where drab colour schemes and chromatic aberration were the all rage, so there’s not as much use of colour to see with fresh eyes as we would have hoped.

Sports games are pretty predictable. From one year to the next, you’ll see one or two sweeping changes and then a number of smaller tweaks, but beyond that, you’ll by and large be playing the same title. By that logic, it’s actually impressive how much EA Vancouver has managed to change this year given how quick its turnaround is from game to game. Less impressive is the implementation of said changes. Selecting your pass targets is a wholly welcome inclusion and a rousing success. The majority of the other changes, particularly the new checking system, leave much to be desired. Why do so many things feel like they took steps backward? Isn’t this kind of problem usually reserved for the dawn of a new generation? What happened?

While it's not as unique or charming as its predecessor That's You, Knowledge Is Power is a solid, fun quiz game for when you've got friends or family around. While it's a little light on actual quizzing, the Power Plays allow for plenty of game-changing moments and inject some tension into the game as everyone scrambles to wipe virtual goo off of their phones and answer first. With another solid game added to its lineup and many more coming over the next few months, Sony's PlayLink service won't be going away anytime soon.

The DioField Chronicle is a decent strategy RPG. Its characters certainly won't live long in the memory, and it can be a an unnecessary grind, but it's well crafted and fairly engaging on the battlefield.

Devil's Daughter focuses more on story, with a larger plot taking over from the case work in satisfying ways. Some extended sequences of button mashing can become tiresome and the moral choice system doesn't add anything substantial, but the overall experience is great fun.

It’s brief, chaotic, and hard as nails, but this is a glorious throwback that every fan of 90s shooters should pick up. Brutal and loud, BUTCHER makes for a suitable companion to last year's excellent DOOM reboot.

The game is a looker too, with gorgeous green and blue tones brightening areas beyond the beaming sun. And while the adventure is over in just a few hours, a fair few different areas keep the brain engaged as the visuals mix things up. Our only real criticism would be the scene transitions, which cause the game to freeze in place for a second. It happens often enough to ruin the immersion somewhat. That aside, Hoa is a lovely little game that pretty much anyone of any age can enjoy. It's not trying to do something new, but rather whisk you off on a short, beautiful adventure full of positivity.

There's a generous amount of content, which at 20 hours is four times the completion size of the original. Since this retro remake is a game of three thirds, it'd be a disservice if followers of the original lost faith from initial impressions of the unsightly side-scrolling action, and an overly gabby god game. Yet, fans won't be on cloud nine if a lack of support towards Actraiser Renaissance discourages Square Enix from being devoted to ActRaiser as a promising series.

At over two hours, Batman: The Enemy Within – Episode 1: The Enigma is meaty instalment which picks up as strongly as the previous season left off. As a self-contained story, the Riddler’s unique brand of psychotic behaviour makes for a satisfying arc – but it’s the bigger picture involving Bruce and the deranged John Doe that promises plenty for the remainder of this series, and we’re excited to see where it goes.

Sheltered is a complex strategy and resource management game which gets a lot of things right. Its presentation creates a palpable atmosphere, while its many relatively simple systems interlock in ways that are both thematically appropriate and mechanically interesting. Unfortunately, those same clever systems sometimes rely too heavily on luck, which – when combined with the title's abysmal controls – often make the entire experience more frustrating than its worth.

Lords of the Fallen is an exciting kind of Sous-like. Whereas many others aim to perfect the formula, Lords of the Fallen’s goal is to innovate. It certainly has its own array of problems, like lacking audio, repetitive enemy types, and combat that could be tightened up a little. However, when the game sinks its claws into you with its thrilling dual world mechanic, you won’t be able to get enough of it.

Sonic Frontiers feels like a statement from Sonic Team after years of being treated like a joke. By no means is it perfect, but this is exactly the injection of life the franchise needed after the misstep of Forces, and it's the freshest Sonic has felt since Adventure first hit the shelves. While it is wrought with minor issues, the overall package of Sonic Frontiers mostly hits the mark, with its satisfying gameplay, a storyline that will please long-time fans, and an absolutely phenomenal soundtrack. It immediately places itself among the best Sonic games ever made.

It isn't offering much you haven't seen before in the genre, but Monster Jam Showdown is a really solid racer and by far the best the series has been in a long time.

Add to this the various bugs we encountered during play, and Lost Ember becomes a fairly hard sell. We got stuck on geometry a couple of times, and had to reset the game more than once. At one point, some animals failed to spawn, which meant we couldn't progress without reloading the checkpoint. These rough edges don't help a game that's already a little threadbare. Unless you're curious about the narrative, we'd beware of the dog in this case.

The only issue we had with Yurukill was that it never felt like it went far enough. It's a compelling tale and it moves at a brisk pace, but it lacks the malicious edge of a Danganronpa or the brain-breaking narrative of a Zero Escape. By the time it's all said and done, we'd enjoyed our time with it, but we were a mite disappointed that it didn't push us harder.

LEGO Horizon Adventures has left us feeling somewhat torn. On the one hand, this is a charming, kid-friendly take on Sony's popular series that successfully translates the story, characters, and combat into the LEGO realm — and with real visual polish to boot. On the other, once the novelty wears off, level design feels vacant and repetitive, almost never engaging you with the sort of platforming or puzzle solving you might expect. There's absolutely fun to be had here, especially the combat, but some fundamental design decisions let the side down.

While some of the gameplay ingredients don't necessarily work that well together – with the combat in particular leaving a bitter aftertaste – you'll at least be able to cleanse your palate with another draft of its fun base building and resource management, and that'll keep you coming back for more servings.

While it fulfils its promise of delivering a much needed edge to the saturated zombie horror scene, Deadlight: Director's Cut is sadly hampered by its clunky combat system and recycled puzzles.

But the soundtrack is excellent and perfectly complements your lonely swimming, the atmosphere is thick, and the occasionally wondrous moments are suitably awesome, in the literal sense. While you spend most of your time swimming alone in the grim dark of the sea, the moments where you find a sunken wreck or a friendly octopus act as a kind of catharsis, and always feel special.

Complemented by a beautiful watercolour and cel-shaded art style, and cloaked in an aura of innocence, this is an enjoyable adventure, but it's let down by some occassionally mundane gameplay, frame rate issues, and voice dub faults.

Sundered is a Metroidvania that's left us with mixed feelings. The gorgeous environments and enemy design help to make the title a visual treat. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t really offer enough downtime to actually enjoy that element. It instead serves up near-constant enemy encounters and frustrating hordes of enemies that end up irritating rather than exhilarating. While the game controls very well, and the upgrade tree is incredibly impressive, its light procedural elements still end up being the most unique feature.

In many ways, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is suppressed by Ubisoft Sofia's own outrageous ambitions. The plot meanders between ingenious and incomprehensible, sadly settling on the latter for great chunks of the single-player campaign. The gameplay is recognisable and confidently recreated, and there are moments when Aveline's pocketable adventure threatens to outdo its console counterparts – but the experience is mired by a communicative murkiness that's not entirely unlike its depiction of the Louisiana bayou's bogs.

Expansions are rare when it comes to fighting games, but Road to Boruto manages to add a reasonable chunk of content to a brawler that's already stuffed with things to do. Most of what's on offer is nothing new, but if you've been looking for an excuse to leap back into CyberConnect 2's super polished title, then this additional adventure is as good a reason as any.

The PlayStation 4 version of Resident Evil: Revelations is the definitive version, but that doesn’t carry as much weight as it would have a few years ago. We do think the campaign is still worth a playthrough, but with clunky controls, a graphical presentation that’s showing its age, and an inferior raid mode, it’s hard to recommend a voyage on this ship to anyone but newcomers.

Starlink: Battle for Atlas can’t decide whether to take its toys-to-life concept seriously, or drop it completely. It has a good, if somewhat repetitive, open world experience to offer, but it’s held back by mistakes that aren’t entirely its own fault.

Despite its imperfections, an array of handy gameplay mechanics coupled with a colourful cast of characters provides just enough intrigue to justify the thirty-or-so hours that you'll spend level grinding your way through this adventure.

Senran Kagura Peach Beach Splash can be a romp in more ways than one. It’s a decent third-person shooter with fast-paced, vertical gameplay, and there are some quirks here and there that make it stand out in its market. However, its single-player content can get noticeably repetitive and one-note amid a lot of the fluff that you’ll unlock. If there’s one thing the game owns with style and confidence, it’s the overall presentation. We’re pretty sure it’s the most important part anyways.

In Too Deep is a stepping stone to introduce Michonne that detrimentally plays it safe. There

Code Vein is a stylish JRPG with an interesting combat system that just falls short in a few areas. Its inspirations are clearly worn on its sleeve, but it brings enough to the table to stand out on its own. This title has promise, and we think the developer could iron it out into a worthy franchise if it’s given the chance to make future instalments.

There's still some fun to be had in a spare 30 minute session alone, and it excels when played with friends – but on the whole it fails to provide enough depth and variation to keep the average player Obliteracing after the initial taster.

Yet, even without save states, progression in Cotton Reboot! is accessible to shmup newcomers due to approachable difficulty options, and once you've beaten the 35-minute main game, there's replay value in unlocking new characters, and practicing techniques in two or five minute Time Attack modes to strive for online rankings.

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 is a solid handheld Warriors title that's let down by a couple of questionable design choices, namely the tedious bonds system, and the initially overwhelming battle objectives.

With four games as a showcase of the exploratory level design of early 1990s European-style run-and-gun titles, Turrican Flashback's ex-Factor 5 games had an undeniable x-factor, and the first two Amiga Turrican releases are noteworthy as some of the best 16-bit computer games. Alongside the console bedazzlement of Super Turrican and Mega Turrican, there's plenty of platforming fun to be found, and the 2D visuals are well presented through varied display options. Yet, the gameplay becomes repetitive when bouncing between four titles, and Turrican Flashback feels incomplete as a collection representing the scope of the series. Still, retro gamers might not dwell on the modest number of games included, as soon as they hear Chris Huelsbeck's sublime soundtracks booming once again.

Despite its flaws, New Little King's Story is far from a bad game – but it certainly could have done with more polish before its coronation. If you can overlook its problems this is still a fun, often addictive, real-time strategy game that doesn't take itself too seriously and is pretty unique in the marketplace, but every issue is a gentle nudge that reminds you that this could have been a far more royal affair.

By and large, Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes succeeds in adapting the series for headsets, though it’s disheartening that it repeats mistakes from past titles. But, if you already like Little Nightmares, you’ll absolutely enjoy the two hours you spend with this.

PlayStation Move has struggled to find defining software that justifies its existence, but Sorcery represents the most ambitious attempt yet. Its seamless integration of natural motion controls makes it the best example of Move's potential to date, and while the campaign lacks replay value, it's still worth experiencing if you want to put Sony's underutilised wand to use.

With just 10 weapons and three maps, it feels a little barebones at launch, although this will undoubtedly be supported over time. What's here is a great start, and well worth checking out for some simple multiplayer mishaps.

Watch Dogs Legion is a better game these days, and Bloodline manages to build a stronger narrative out of its various mechanics and gameplay systems. It’s more of the same under the surface, but playable characters Aiden and Wrench bring new enjoyment to the core campaign and evolving online modes, while simultaneously padding out the series’ overall lore with their own storyline.

Colorado may not be as impressive or vibrant as Sapienza or Bangkok, but it brings its own new take to the game. With a newfound focus on stealth, sniping, and uniforms, this latest mission does well to bring back memories of the sneakier Hitman of old, but some frustrations and annoyances due to the difficulty are present.

While some may be disappointed with the lack of new features or gameplay additions in this string of DLC, the effortlessly fun swinging and fighting, along with an interesting narrative, makes it worthwhile for those who are happy to play more of Marvel's Spider-Man. The Heist continues the City That Never Sleeps story well, further developing characters we're familiar with as well as introducing us to a nasty new bad guy in Hammerhead. It's not the longest or most original DLC out there, but those looking for an excuse to keep playing will definitely be satisfied.

A Fisherman’s Tale is a typical puzzle-solving first-person VR experience that stands a cut above with a good-quality gimmick that doesn’t overstay its welcome. It barely stays long enough to finish saying hello, but it has the wit, charm, and novelty to make it worth the single sitting it’s asking for.

Ultimately, Teslagrad 2 is an agreeable successor with satisfying traversal and enjoyably challenging puzzles and boss fights. But with a short runtime and a lack of hints and guidance it fails to really improve upon its predecessor. If you enjoyed Teslagrad and are looking for more of the same, this sequel will suffice.

Fe is a decent puzzle platformer with some nice ideas, but it all rings a bit hollow in the end. The various songs are a fun way to interact with the world, but some are barely used at all, while you'll rely on others almost constantly. It can also be surprisingly difficult to control, with a camera that isn't always cooperative and platforming that isn't as tight as it needs to be, especially in an environment as vertical as this. The story, which strives to be poignant, fails to leave an impact, and while the world is a nice place to explore, there isn't a whole lot in it. Ultimately, it's a fine game, but it struggles to leave a lasting impression.

While recurring problems persist, MXGP 2020 is the new highpoint for Milestone’s licensed racing series. Hugely reduced load times and more immersive gameplay than ever before help push this year’s entry that extra little bit ahead, though it continues to be let down by its environments and lack of content. The addition of Race Director Mode — a transplant from the Monster Energy Supercross titles — at a later date will definitely help, but a more substantial update in 2021 would be even better.

There's lots of enjoyment to be had here, but it's also cruel reminder that the LEGO franchise needs something new to break out of its now conveyer-belt approach.

The game's story mode is short overall, but thankfully there's an Arcade and Challenge mode that offer great replayability. The challenge mode in particular is a highlight as it doles out mini-challenges for you to blast through, like tricky platforming or a pacifist run of a level. So, all in all, this is undoubtedly the best game the series has had in a long time, and one fans of the classic games won't want to miss out on.

If you've been itching for a good strategy RPG, it's hard to go wrong with Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs on PS4. While it's a little rough around the edges, there's a clear passion behind the game that's endearing, and this shines through thanks to the title's colourful cast of characters and dedication to lighthearted humour. Regalia doesn't reinvent the wheel and it probably won't come close to blowing you away, but it's a pleasantly entertaining RPG that just about anyone can enjoy.

Unfortunately, everything surrounding these boss fights feels a little half-baked. The light exploration we mentioned is basically a dozen small areas, with one or two for each boss. There are collectibles and secrets around, but the in-game rewards for finding these things doesn’t feel worth it. This is particularly problematic as many of the secrets need late-level unlocks to access, and the threshold to reach them requires massive amounts of grinding.

The script itself doesn't strike a good balance either, often transitioning from subjects such as a rumination on class inequality directly into a slapstick comedy sketch before interjecting a news bulletin about an impending natural disaster. It's, to put it mildly, a mess. And this happens over and over throughout the 4-5 hours required to complete the game. While pitch-black comedy can work, the writing in Mile 0 is awkward enough that it feels accidental rather than deliberately irreverent. What you're left with is a fun rhythm game surrounded by a plethora of questionable writing decisions.

Hungry Giraffe is like a Burger King Steakhouse Angus, then; not quite a gourmet burger prepared by a celebrity chef, but certainly better than a McDonald's filet-o-fish. It's chunky, agreeable and perfectly suited for on-the-go, but it's not quite good enough to make you want to savour every bite.

Tekken Revolution is more experimental than Combot, but solid execution on some admittedly controversial ideas ensure that this free-to-play fighter is worth a bash. Franchise fans will feel more frustrated than Devil Jin upon witnessing the watered down gameplay mechanics, but casual combatants may find themselves lured back into the wacky world of the King of Iron Fist Tournament on the back of the digital download’s inherent accessibility and free entry fee.

Niggling performance issues aside, it’s hard not to enjoy being the star of your very own fairy tale world – even if that fictional realm has a particularly odd approach to infant safety.

BlazeRush’s frantic racing is fun with friends, even if it can be a touch frustrating at times. A lack of track variety lets its wealth of gameplay options down, but if you’re in the market for some Micro Machines-esque action, this is a good choice.

Infinifactory certainly has the building blocks of something great, as it's uber-satisfying piecing together your own production line and watching it all work as intended. Sadly, while there's real satisfaction to be gleaned from craftily concocting your own creative solutions, the cumbersome controls and occasionally unintelligible explanations mean that this game has ultimately failed to pass our rigorous quality assurance test.

Ironcast is a surprisingly strategic and complex game which will hold your interest for quite a while. There's enough randomisation for the title to feel fresh for a long time, and every battle is one of tension and risky moves, with each action really meaning something.

Episode 3: Fractured Mask doesn’t quite hit the same highs as its immediate predecessor, but the tangled web that Telltale’s cast in Batman: The Enemy Within is getting increasingly intriguing with each episode. This particular instalment may pump the brakes slightly in order to include necessary setup for the impending finale, but it feels meaningful, and the scenes with Selina and Bruce are particularly engaging.

This is a very straightforward port of Far Cry 3, a game loved and loathed in equal measure. The Classic Edition is a great way for newcomers to experience one of the best games in the series, despite some clunky controls. Many people will have made up their mind about Jason's journey years ago, but on its own merit, this is a competent re-release of a fun, if a little dated, open world shooter.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey has a huge gene pool of potential, but endless repetition and clunky controls need to be removed from its DNA. For die-hard survival and exploration fans there is a worthwhile experience here, but for everyone else this is a game that’s so repetitive it’ll drive you bananas.

For PS5, Monster Truck Championship’s improvements are technical, offering a 4K resolution upgrade and 60 frames-per-second gameplay. Unfortunately, there’s no DualSense support and previous PS4 owners don’t have a free upgrade. When backwards compatibility exists, we can’t recommend double dipping, but new players will find much to enjoy. This is the definitive edition, and if you enjoy monster truck racing, then this naturally comes recommended.

The writing is a bit of a letdown. The character interactions are solid, and seeing their interplay is a delight. There’s also an impressive level of detail paid to the minutiae of film-making that we rarely see. Unfortunately, this level of care doesn’t touch all corners of the experience. The character's connection to the primary narrative is tenuous. Outside of the very first mystery, the protagonist's motivations for remaining involved in these murders don’t feel warranted. This is especially problematic when it comes to Rintaro’s chapters, which comprise the brunt of the game’s 15 or so hours. The writing is able to somewhat successfully sidestep this problem, through sheer force of intrigue, but it’s not wholly successful. The lack of agency doesn’t help either, as there's almost nothing for the player to do other than sit and read. This makes the experience feel barren, even by visual novel standards. This passivity allows for it to be the kind of experience you can do other things while playing, though the lack of a dub may leave some people feeling left out.

While certainly an accomplished piece of storytelling, Martha Is Dead's gameplay is such blatant artifice that it does the narrative a disservice to partake in it. That sounds extremely damning, but there's a lot here to like: the languid pace and detailed nature of the photography sequences are a standout, the graphics are often impressive, and the sheer bloody chutzpah of the whole thing is appealing in a grand guignol sort of way. The game can be shocking in what it shows you, but it doesn't feel exploitative. Horror should be horrific, and Martha Is Dead is certainly that. Unfortunately, perhaps not always in the way it was intended to be.

Unfortunately, there are also a lot of bugs present in the game. Characters will glitch in and out of existence while you’re talking with them. Sometimes the whole screen will go black and your character will pop up in a different part of the map when fast travelling. It’s things like this that really stop Potion Permit from reaching its potential, and its charming visuals can only do so much to counter this.

The slight input lag and dark visuals are disappointing, but Pinball FX has so much content that pinball fans will struggle not to find the fun here. The biggest problem with this package is its messy monetisation: the developer can’t decide whether to lean on its subscription-style Pinball Pass or traditional DLC, and its hybrid approach is neither here nor there really. When you consider that no previously purchased content carries across, it’s hard to recommend reinvesting so heavily here – especially when, even with all the bells and whistles, the core nuts-and-bolts of playing many of these tables remains the same as in past games.

Throne and Liberty is an ongoing game, so the story could become more fleshed out, the mechanics you use to interact with the world could become more nuanced, and the technical issues could be fixed. But as it all stands now, it's just an okay way to dip your toe into a relatively console-friendly MMORPG that doesn't demand endless amounts of your time for you to enjoy — although there are better games to play with your precious hours. If you're looking for something deeper than that, though, you won't find it here.