Infinite Minigolf is a simple, engaging little title that will keep you entertained for hours on end. While it mightn’t provide the endless experience its title claims to provide, its price point should be enough to forgive it.

Described by its developers as a title in the “brainpunk” genre, I've come to think of Scarlet Nexus as a mixture of the likes of Bayonetta, Code Vein and Persona, at some times deliciously chaotic and at others frustratingly so.

It took an entire generation, but I am delighted to see Career mode finally have its moment in the spotlight in FIFA 21. The changes to Career are all for the better, even if some still feel rudimentary, and it breathes new life into a staple that has felt somewhat ignored. The rest of the package comes across as both the culmination of a generation and a cross-gen game.

Infinite Warfare is a strong return for Infinity Ward on the campaign front, and a lacklustre event in multiplayer. Zombies in Spaceland is the themepark experience you never knew you always wanted, with the right crowd. Together, it’s a fun but safe three pillar entry in the Call of Duty series; then there’s the fourth pillar, for a price. Modern Warfare holds up extremely well for a nearly decade old game. Its campaign is still fantastic, and its masterful, yet dated, multiplayer is a blast; it’s clunky and at times deeply frustrating, but it’s pure Call of Duty.

While XCOM Chimera Squad may look a bit funny at times -- and the game itself tends to crash every 45 minutes or so -- it's hard to fault it as an RTS available for less than $15 AUD.

There’s just something about Avowed that makes it feel very much like a product built for a subscription service. Not in a live-service game kind of way, but in a Netflix Original Movie kind of way.

In the end, Resident Evil 3 is own nemesis, a remake that's enjoyable but seems a little shallow when compared to the innovations the RE3 that came before it brought to the table.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is weird, expansive and tricky. I just know die-hard fans are going to love that combination, but I’m not sure about anyone else. While its party games are pretty good, there are other compilations out there with a better assortment… and online play, and the capacity more than 4 players. Countering all my complaints, Banana Mania is competitively priced, so might warrant a look if you’re familiar with how the franchise plays. How’s that for a backhanded endorsement?

An incredible mix of exploration, story, and setting, South of Midnight certainly resonated with me. While its individual parts mightn’t be groundbreaking, the way in which Compulsion Games has combined them certainly is. This is definitely one worth checking out.

It’s a good game with equal parts brilliance and head-scratching stupidity, though definitely fun to muck around in.

Simply put, this is $10 USD well spent.

Once again, Relic has done a great job at bringing Warhammer 40,000 to the digital world.

And love Baby Steps I did. There are few ways this game could better achieve its aims; in what it is trying to be Baby Steps approaches perfection. Whether what it is trying to be is for you, well that depends on if you feel that a rapturous level of self satisfaction is worth braving a storm of intense frustration and inconsolable rage. For those with the resolve (or stubbornness, or self loathing, or masochism), you won’t find a better test of all of them than Baby Steps. If you have the resilience of a damp tissue and capacity for frustration of a tired toddler, keep on walking by.

This is a title available as part of Xbox and PC Game Pass subscriptions, so stop reading what I’m saying about it and jump on in if you’re a horror movie or asymettrical horror game fan. The best part is, Achievements stack on both platforms — obtain a heap playing on the Xbox version, and they’ll basically auto-pop when you jump into a match on PC. Cross-play is certainly available, though I’m not sure if cross-progression is limited to Game Pass or not. That said, there’s a strong core here and I hope the issues currently experienced are sorted soon.

As Dusk Falls is the non-game narrative adventure for your non-gaming family and housemates. It’s the most engaged I’ve ever seen my lapsed casual gamer partner in a videogame and that’s because it has the familiar story pacing of a six-part TV series and almost no gameplay, which means minimal barrier to entry.

If you enjoyed what Control had to offer then you should be fairly satisfied with this first expansion. The Foundation doesn’t really do a whole lot new, and it doesn’t seem to learn from its mistakes, especially considering it has one of the worst checkpoints for a boss encounter yet. But if you want to get even more lost in this enthralling world that Remedy has created, then it will be hard not to pass this one up. Just stay clear of all the cats.

Once jumping into arcade mode, I realised I should really have focused on its ladders because they have more of an actual story — or at least, an ending — and showcase the brutality that Invincible is known for. There, and in its other modes, you’ll see heads explode thanks to some truly graphic overkills, or entire bodies atomised in others...It’s here, though, that you’ll begin to notice the repetition — it’s either one or the other, heads or entire bodies. That same feeling of sameishness reverberates through VS‘ roster, which features 18 characters but only three or four real archetypes. It’s admittedly difficult to build a bunch of diverse styles around so many Viltrumites.

Mario Tennis Fever is also a letdown as one of the first Switch 2 exclusives. There’s little that feels truly current-gen, and some of the visuals are surprisingly basic and rough.

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is a strong start for the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 generation. It doesn’t have the same invigorating revival as last year’s Modern Warfare, but that would be an impossible expectation. Cold War delivers a very different campaign that’s more spy thriller than epic warfare, and it’s the first Call of Duty game to thrive in its quieter moments for more than a single mission. Multiplayer is still the highlight of the package, with a satisfying old meets new combat loop and a strong selection of modes. Now we’re just waiting for a few more maps. Come on, it’s been half a week already!

While I did enjoy my time with Tales of Kenzera Zau, it does truly feel like the game was a victim of timing. Had Prince of Persia The Lost Crown not released a few months ago (or the games had released in the opposite order) things would definitely be different. There are a few missteps here that by comparison put this title at a disadvantage, and you hate to see it.

Viking Age is certainly worth a try if you can access it for free through Valhalla. At at a $15 USD price point, though, I’d be hard-pressed to recommend the standalone version to anyone but those interested in Viking history. If you are in that camp and play games, I’d wager you likely own Valhalla already… so win win, eh?

If you are vehemently opposed to narrative experiences with very light gameplay elements, Wayward Strand may not be something you will gravitate towards. For fans of the genre, it would be hard not to recommend. I – who usually prefer the third-person, open world flavours of the month – found myself thoroughly entertained by its charming cast of characters and its uniquely compelling storytelling style.

Mario vs Donkey Kong... is an absolutely fantastic little puzzler.

I was posed the question before I began – “could WRC dethrone DiRT this year?” WRC 8 certainly boasts engaging, fun and challenging gameplay. The vehicles handle with a sense of realism, they sound fantastic and the variety in locations and stages is second-to-none. Sure there’s still some work to go from a graphical perspective, but it’s not something that would impact replayability if you’re a rally/racing fan. So is the answer to the question a ‘yes’? Not entirely.

What’s on offer in Dead Island 2 isn’t broken or flagrantly bad... but it is tired, antiquated and bland.

Clustertruck has a lot to offer both her quick bursts of play or longer investments.

Battlefield 1 is a brilliant fast-paced military shooter that I spent a lot of time playing, especially over the recent Christmas holidays. The additional content in “They Shall Not Pass” is fun to play, but it does leave you a bit sour when you look deeper into it and see so many assets which have been reused. On top of that this content also splits the community, and pressuring players to purchase the DLC or be left behind. There are much better ways to handle delivering extra content to players, unfortunately this isn’t one of them.

Despite some of the technical issues and difficulty scaling, The Surge 2 is a fun game that should satisfy those looking for a souls-like experience. The combat is rewarding, and the directional blocking system is definitely something I would love to see implemented into other action games. The Surge 2 shouldn’t be seen as a Dark Souls clone; instead, it’s a great game standing on its own feet that has done some exciting things to expand the genre.