It’s the Cronenbergian cyberpunk game I never knew I wanted, and it’s shot right into my top ten of the year so far. [RPS Recommended]

LawBreakers is more than good enough to foster a large community. Its zero gravity segments offer something that no other FPS can, and everywhere else it’s a solid, polished shooter. If you like the sound of it then I’d jump in now and build up some experience. That way, when ranked play launches, you’re ready to blast off.

If you’ve never Nidhogged before, this might be the best place to start since you’ll almost certainly be able to find a non-laggy game much more quickly, but it’s missing some of the original’s elegance, and not just in the visual department.

Agents Of Mayhem is huge, and so incredibly ambitious, but more often than not, it misses the mark. The lack of combat feedback is a tragedy, and one that is ruinous, but for me it’s the disappointment of the writing that feels like the biggest letdown.

Hellblade is brave for tackling psychosis so directly, and braver still for pouring so much of its efforts into its narrative. It’s unlike anything else I’ve played this year, and for that reason it deserves a slice of your time.

WoL is most easily described as a comedy game, and though it is indeed a prime-cut ribtickler, that can be a backhanded compliment – as if jokes are all it has. WoL does something far more accomplished, far more rare, which is to be joyful. [RPS Recommended]

This is a huge, deeply developed, beautifully crafted RPG, novel in all the right ways, and it’s not even finished.

The result is a game that despite such lovely art, really splendid voice acting from the two leads, and an amazing score, just doesn’t hold together. It’s annoying more than it’s funny, it’s frustrating more than it’s clever, and it’s just so damned incohesive.

The result is something that feels like the game I wish The Walking Dead could have been – a free-form, free-roaming tale of brutal survival, but with a story to experience too. The two conflict as you play, knowing that the game has deliberately supplied you with what you need to follow its threads, but then also let you wander off into the wilderness at your own discretion. And it handles this well, letting you hunt and forage to scrape by when stepping off the path. With a better, more involving path, this could have been really something. As it is, it’s the glorious The Long Dark with a reason for surviving, and that definitely proves enough.

As with Fullbright’s previous game, Gone Home, Tacoma won’t be for everyone, but it’s a masterclass in environmental and gradual storytelling. It weaves an intriguing story against the backdrop of a believable near-future culture. I think its linearity combined with my extensive exploration means I won’t replay it unless I suddenly think of a question I want answered or until I’ve forgotten a sufficient amount that it feels like a new discovery. But that’s not a criticism. I got everything I wanted from that playthrough and I loved it. [RPS Recommended]

It may be slight, but it’s delightful.

If you’re jonesing for a new game in the field, then this isn’t a disaster by any means. If you put up with its clumsiness, there’s a tough-as-nails isometric twin-stick action-me-do (that’s the one!) here to play. Just one that doesn’t really stand out from the crowd.

It’s this framework for what feels like should have been a much better, more entertaining game, and yet the ghost of that potential game leaks through in the charming way it presents the Whodos, and the always welcome environment of a creepy old mansion for setting puzzles. It’s too brief, ridiculously easy, and woefully insincere, which certainly renders any recommendable features moot. But I really did like the Whodos.

The balance is all off, and its slog of a campaign and the attempts at streamlining make this a disappointing extraterrestrial outing.

I can’t talk about The End Is Nigh without comparing it to Super Meat Boy because in so many ways it feels like a conscious alternative to some of the defining properties of that rapid, colourful, classic game. But measured on its own qualities, The End Is Nigh is a good game, but not a memorable one.

Goodness me, Kingsway is clever. It’s clever in so, so many ways. It’s clever in its absolutely spectacular presentation, but it’s far too clever to let that just be a gimmick – its peculiar appearance as a mid-90s Windows desktop could so easily have been a cute idea that hid an ordinary roguelite RPG, but instead it so very brilliantly influences how you play, and indeed the foibles of such an interface become crucial to how you experience it. It’s also really bloody tough.

For a first commercial game by a developer who was 16 when he launched it into Early Access, and has constantly honed it ever since, Unturned is an extraordinary achievement. I guess what I’m wondering now is what, armed with all this experience and skill, Nelson Sexton will do next.

I’ve had such a splendid time just mellowing and wallowing in Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles, not needing to care why it has such a terrible name, not being rushed along, or nagged to do anything. [RPS Recommended]

Maybe Serial Killer is a great idea with appealing style, saddled with iffy design and insufficient flexibility. Walks the walk, but the talk’s another matter. For some, that’s going to be forgivable because of its conceptual novelty and stylistic verve (which includes unlocking wackier or film-inspired character outfits and maps). Me, though – I want to scrub all evidence of Serial Cleaner from my PC before its lovely look tempts me into having a tedious time all over again.

The greedy part of me would appreciate a few more modes or units – the few faces do make it feel slightly small after a while – and, sure, I’d love to see what a four-player contest looks like. But by staying small it stays elegant, and that’s what makes Antihero such a pleasure.

For me it felt far too derivative of Inside (it was of course in development before Inside’s release, but looked awfully different), which was itself derivative of Limbo, and without the precision of either. Utterly beautiful when it remembers to be, but more irritating than fun in execution.

The Necromancer has turned out to be a fantastically gruesome expression of all Diablo III best qualities. With nice skills and good looks, it’s an enormous pleasure to tour all Sanctuary’s old haunts with a new special someone. [RPS Recommended]

Housemarque and Eugene Jarvis have created something very special, and I suspect, enduring. [RPS Recommended]

Get Even is a true original, of the kind we all too rarely see made with this degree of gloss, and I found it deeply interesting for all its stumbles.

The characters all strongly stick with me after finishing, and I think that’s probably more important than anything else.

I’m conflicted. Conceptually, The Crimson Court is very much my cup of blood, but the execution, particularly when it comes to the first mission and the curse, sometimes feels off. That said, Red Hook has clearly been taking feedback seriously, and changes have already been made to make things a little less punishing.

If you want noise, combat, speed and the occasional hurried decision, developers Rockfish have you covered.

It’s not the most polished shooter but it does shine in all the right places, and it builds on the huge potential of Red Orchestra, which I loved. There are very few games that can match the feeling you get when you watch an artillery strike destroy a treeline and push up with your squad mates under the cover of smoke and deafening explosions.