Valve has created a more robust version of its predecessor by offering a ton of new content while not losing sight of everything that made Left 4 Dead a sure-fire hit last year. The zombie apocalypse has never looked more appealing.

Titanfall 2 shines when it is, as Alavi says, doing things that other shooters do not. Whether it is in the surprising invention of its campaign, or the busy ebb and flow of its multiplayer modes, this is a shooter that should not be overlooked.

It is one of the most fascinating games you’ll play this year, or any other, a high-profile game that still dares to go against the grain despite its ever growing popularity.

It is, if there was any doubt, a thoroughly barmy escapade. There is the sense of the game’s designers being told to go nuts in a relatively constricted space and see what sticks. Mario has always been a conduit for madcap invention but it has rarely been this scattergun. Not the plumber at his most focussed, perhaps, but arguably at his most fun. It is a welcome and fitting part of a marvelously manic package.

No video game released this Christmas runs contrary to prevailing fashion as hard or fast as Dark Souls. And no video game is quite so exciting or exhilarating.

Despite the grim set-up, The Ballad Of Gay Tony is an altogether more upbeat affair than The Lost And Damned. The location is far more glamorous as most of the DLC's action forsakes Liberty City's dour ghettos and docile suburbs for the glitzy island of Algonquin (or Manhattan to you).

Is it a Fortnite killer? Probably not. But as battle royales continue to be de rigeur, the challenge is to offer fascinating twists on the template. In that objective, it is looking like mission complete. [First-Look review]

It's a startlingly relevant piece of work, marred by the most benign and unnecessary of flaws. But in this age of scripted rollercoasters and linear bug hunts, the thinking man's freedom of Deus Ex provides a fabulous example of interactive entertainment, if not quite the revolution the title promises.

What Harmonix have crafted here is a quite exceptional piece of work, raising the bar for single band releases to almost unreachable heights. It’s a gorgeous, reverential and respectful celebration of The Beatles. It is an event that transcends video games, it’s The Beatles finally stepping into the digital world.

Tonally it is all over the place, never seeming quite sure what type of game it wants to be and audience it wants to court. At times it as sweet, warm and sharply enjoyable as any family film. May and Cody’s jibes at each other swerve from affectionate to cutting in a believable and often touching way as they pick at the rifts in their relationship. You may even start to root for them, until the game swerves into a task involving the excruciatingly drawn-out murder of a toy elephant to make their daughter cry.

One of the most important games I've ever played.

Extraordinarily good.

Battlefield 1 is a fantastic game. If you want a shooter that replicates the epic scale of two armies at war, or one that prioritises tactical thought over twitchy trigger fingers, this is the FPS for you.

On the surface, Horizon seems like a jumble of influences but, just like the murderous machina wandering its lands, the game is far more than its component parts, delivering a gripping story, satisfying combat, and the most gorgeous video game environments I’ve ever seen. Horizon confidently carves out an identity of its own in an overpopulated genre.

The Last of Us is irrefutably one of the best games of the PS3 era but it's beginning to feel of its time – and beneath its gorgeous next-gen glow-up, Part 1 is still, essentially, the same game. Which wouldn't be a problem at all were it not for that troublesome next-gen asking price.

There is so much more I want to say about What Remains of Edith Finch. So many thoughts I have about every single character, every single lovingly crafted room in the dusty, abandoned halls of the Finch house. Every single feeling it evoked in me that I didn’t expect to feel, and every thought I have about being made to feel these things so strongly after such a long time.

Immortality certainly gives you that leeway for your own interpretation and enough compelling mystery that its puzzle can get under your skin and spill out of the game itself. There are already some fascinating readings of the game out there and much of the fun will come in discussion and dissection. I still don’t think I have a perfect handle on what it all means, despite reaching the game’s ‘conclusion’, but I have some ideas. What I do know is that this is a brilliantly clever, disturbing and singular piece of work.

Modern Warfare 3 is a shining example of refinement and improvement. It's familiar, sure, but here familiarity doesn't breed contempt, just respect and reward for those who've dedicated so much time to the series. And for new players, it's the perfect starting point, more accommodating and encompassing than ever...A game which is undoubtedly going to be played for a long, long time to come, and deservedly so.

However you choose to approach Dishonored, it's a game that asks you to think, plan, be smart. It's a wonderfully empowering game because of this, as you lurk in the shadows knowing the powers you possess and the options you have. It's elegantly designed to make the most of those tools, but isn't afraid of changing the rules in order to keep its (admittedly quite predictable) story bubbling along.

It’s a small step for Nintendo where its competitors have made deliberate and purposeful strides, but a step forward nonetheless. It might be too late to completely turn around the Wii U’s fortunes, but when Nintendo are releasing games as good as this, it may just have a chance.

Super Mario Maker’s chaotic smorgasbord is part of its appeal. Wild, unbridled and even inspiring, Super Mario Maker achieves the envious feat of making both Play and Creation a joy. And all it had to do was remove the barrier between the two.

Perhaps the main obstacle facing BioShock 2 is that it lacks one of its predecessor's biggest trump cards: the shock of the new.

The action is superb, the story is one of gaming’s best, the atmosphere and tone are easy to get lost in, and the soundtrack is a marvel, with the end game credits song being one of the best in existence. It’s been a ridiculously packed year for quality games, and with certain bigger open world games out there right now it might be easy to skip NieR: Automata, but you owe it to yourself to play this. An incredible sequel to one of gaming’s strangest, most flawed masterpieces.

It’s taken the long-ignored strengths of Interactive Fiction and Twine and applied them in the right way on the right platform to give the player an experience that feels wholly unique, and more importantly, wholly their own. Yes, you might share the odd story with another player, but not your whole trip. There are just too many variables, too many individual stories, for any one trip to be the same, and when you’re talking about a narrative-led experience, that’s a mighty fine accomplishment.

The smart trade-off between rollicking action and exploration makes for a cohesive, confident and satisfying adventure. Where Lara Croft goes from here will be fascinating, but rarely has a game's title been so apt.

This blazingly intelligent and thoughtful addition makes me absolutely certain they could do it again if they tried.

With Motion Plus control proving a roaring success, Tiger Woods 10 is comfortably the most realistic golf sim out there. At times, it feels like this is precisely what the Motion Plus peripheral was made for and is a stunning demonstration of its potential. And for many sporting types, this will finally be the game that they bought a Wii for in the first place.

Veteran developers Insomniac have taken advantage of the PS5’s capabilities to create a sumptuous spread, combining rich, Hollywood-grade CG environments and character models with liberal screenfuls of retina-scorching special effects. Playing the opening tutorial level feels like stepping into an animated movie – a sensation rarely dissipates over the dozen-or-so hours of Rift Apart’s amiable campaign.

The game's technical presentation is fantastic; aside from the aforementioned excellent voice-work, the soundtrack and music are top-notch and the visuals are varied, detailed and well rendered.

Every choice, every death and every shot feels like it counts in XCOM 2 and it is this feeling of real consequence that makes for a truly remarkable strategy game - one that goes beyond its clever design decisions and the odd technical hiccup to create a tangible sense purpose and real emotion to your squad’s story. As an experience that puts you in control, lets you relish victories, forces you to truly mourn mistakes, and allows you to grow as a tactician against insurmountable odds, XCOM 2 is near faultless.

A grim, gorgeous milieu of societal depth and cunning design. That its mechanics slot so naturally into its environment, giving players the freedom and choice to explore, influence and infiltrate means that Dishonored 2 represents the very best gaming has to offer.

The example of difficult second album syndrome that most readily came to mind while I wandered these wastelands is the Stone Roses, who spent almost five years trying to outdo their era-defining, genre-defying debut only to emerge with a bloated classic rock retread that effectively ended the band’s career. That’s not to say Horizon Forbidden West is gaming’s ‘Second Coming’ – but it’s not the second coming of gaming either.

It’s a coming of age story, essentially, with the saccharine beginnings of a jolly jaunt giving way to harsher challenges along the way.

For all of its complexities under the hood, Deathloop is Arkane’s most accessible game yet and elicits constant satisfaction. The action is a pleasure, while its main drive has you constantly picking up pieces of an unknown puzzle that are pieced together in separate chunks, before the frisson of excitement when the full picture starts to form. What’s extraordinary is how Arkane make it seem so easy. Blockbuster game-making at its smartest and most essential.

The payoff is something else. A euphoric rush of relief and heart-pounding glee, accompanied by the flourish of the forest returning to life, the colour filling the trees and the irresistible pull to carry on, even though you know more of those lethal bloody rocks lie in your way. The Siren call of the Xbox One’s best game to date.

The Witcher 2 is a tough game, no doubt. Dare I say it, too tough. The Witcher 2's finest draw is in its tale, rather than its action, so it seems a misstep to give players a regular kicking even on the easiest setting.

It’s terrific stuff, though it may prove a little strenuous for newcomers at times. Metroid has always been one of Nintendo’s more ‘hardcore’ pursuits and Dread looks to make a virtue of this in a challenging and often esoteric adventure. But whether you are new or a Metroid old-hand, there is no doubting the craft here. A welcome return for one of gaming’s most stylish heroes.

It’s stylish. It’s cool. It’s supremely fun, fluid and rewarding. Dante’s back and he’s brought some friends. And with combat flair that makes up the finest pure-action game we have seen in a long time, we hope they stick around.

To me, it feels more like an existential horror story, a deliberate blurring of the lines between the creator and the consumer, in order to tell a really good story.

For such a complex and in depth game to feel so intuitive is impressive, but for such a game to remain fun, exciting and unpredictable after forty, sixty, one-hundred hours of play? That’s joyous.

Fifa 11's improvements evolve rather than a revolutionise the franchise's already impressive strengths and overall it doesn't feel like a massive step forward for the series. However, with its depth of customisation, superb gameplay, awesome visuals and fantastic online and career modes, Fifa 11 is about the most complete package fan of football video games could want.

D-Pad Studio has crafted a sublime, pitch-perfect adventure. Smart, gripping, joyful and expansive, Owlboy sets the bar sky-high for future 2D platformers.

It took the best part of two decades to find room for innovation in so elegant a formula, but Hot Pursuit does it – bending it as far as it would go without breaking what made it great in the first place.

Hundreds of hours in and I was still getting excited at new aspects and discoveries within the game, finding constantly fresh and rewarding things to do and see. It’s a slick, fantastic hack and slash with a strong sense of charm and sincerity, accessible yet tough to master, and if there’s any justice, it’ll go down in history as an all-time classic.

Every time you open your 3DS to play New Leaf, you know you’re almost certain to experience something new or surprising. And how many games can you say that about?

The farming and village life fantasy has never really been fulfilled in this way before, and the Switch makes it possible. It's a testament to how a game can use a platform to round everything together, becoming as accessible and fun as it could ever be.

Rather than re-inventing the series in their image, 343 has treated Halo 4 with kid gloves, settling for familiarity and mimicry of what has gone before. A reassurance to long-term fans, rather than a battle cry that one of gaming's biggest blockbusters is there for the re-crafting.

There is much to love about FM2010. It is not a giant leap forward, but it does not suffer any for that. Veterans of the FM series will still love it, while newcomers will pick it up and never want to put it down.

Year Walk is a small but perfectly formed piece of digital entertainment that shows there’s much more to iOS than endless runners and free-to-play timewasters. A game this distinctive, this different, this thrillingly new is the best possible demonstration of the format’s versatility; indeed, of the narrative power of the interactive medium.

Every choice, every death and every shot feels like it counts in XCOM 2 and it is this feeling of real consequence that makes for a truly remarkable strategy game - one that goes beyond its clever design decisions and the odd technical hiccup to create a tangible sense purpose and real emotion to your squad’s story. As an experience that puts you in control, lets you relish victories, forces you to truly mourn mistakes, and allows you to grow as a tactician against insurmountable odds, XCOM 2 is near faultless.

There is a saunter and character to its roster, to its stages that fizz and crumble under the weight of battle, it is kinetic and fun and easy to get into. And it might just be your new favourite fighting game... even if you have never played one before.

The Witness is a game that will genuinely have you punching the air or laughing out loud, just from correctly drawing a line on a grid. If that isn’t the mark of a truly special game, I don’t know what is.

This brilliant rogue-like is much more than a 2D Dark Souls.

Remaking a touchstone of the medium in this fashion is like creating a big-budget, 10-part Netflix drama series out of the title sequence from Grange Hill. Franchise fans will tune in to see an outsized sausage on a fork only to be confounded by the three episodes dedicated to the netball teacher’s character arc. Curious newcomers tempted by the production values and peerless reputation could find the soporific pacing and weirdly dated references to outsized sausages leaves them wondering what all the fuss was about. And everyone else might just shrug and watch The Witcher instead.

It is, however, a considerable improvement on the existing template, to the point where it's hard to see how the series can avoid a fairly notable change in approach. This could – and perhaps should – be the swansong to the Pokémon formula we're accustomed to, but if it is then it'll go out at the very peak of its existence: teetering on the edge of feeling too familiar, sustaining an incredible feat of balance, but nonetheless still standing tall at the very top of its game.

Even as a solitary pursuit, Dragon Quest IX is an absorbing and accessible voyage through a world founded on traditional JRPG philosophy, but executed with craft and style that is wholly universal.

But here is X & Y, finally dragging me in with added accessibility and a visual flourish. If Pokemon’s greatest pleasure is the joy of discovery, then I’ve finally discovered it. And hooray for that.

From the backgrounds to the animations to the bold colours, Cuphead is a love letter both to classic cartoons and platform-shooters, fine tuned and tweaked so it plays like a dream. It also manages to take a certain much-maligned gaming trope and turn it into something wonderful.

You’ll feel every punch, grimace at every brutal knock-down and celebrate every win as if it were your last. It’s a heart-thumping, nerve-jangling gaming experience and, as a sports game, is agonisingly close to perfection. A little more finesse in its Legacy Mode could have made it an all-time classic.

There are so many beautiful touches to the game, and it’s so different to what’s come before, that it will keep blowing you away, surprising you, and delighting you. It’s clear how much the team behind Sun and Moon care about their players and their experiences, and it really makes a difference.

Flawed as it is, Heavy Rain is a game that anyone with even the vaguest interest in its intentions should experience for themselves. While it’s not quite the revolution for storytelling in video games, its accomplishments should prove it a worthy vanguard. And its ambition should be rewarded.

There’s no doubting the quality on offer here, then, but if you already own the PS4 versions then you might struggle to justify the outlay for the upgrades on offer – particularly when the original iteration of A Thief’s End is also available to PS5 owners with an online subscription for free as part of the PlayStation Plus Collection. One gets the sense it’s the kind of buying decision consumers will need to get used to making over the course of the coming console generation.

I can’t help admiring its purity and focus. Gran Turismo 7 seemingly has one mission: to espouse and share its love of cars and their place in wider culture. Its curated catalogue, pretty history books and gleaming showrooms are presented with dutiful care and attention. So much so that it is easy to find yourself lost in the history of the Volkswagen or Aston Martin before you know it. And once you get those cars out on the track? That’s the best part of all.

It delivers content by the bucket load and looks and sounds incredible.

There's plenty of depth here to challenge even the most experienced tower defence player but Fieldrunners 2 also has a learning curve that beginners will be able to follow. It's a must-have for your iPhone.

Without doubt, my favourite iPhone game of 2010, and the best use of touchscreen controls I have ever played with.

There is just a slight sense of scrappiness to an otherwise gorgeously crafted world. Which has historically come with the territory in Assassin’s Creed, to be frank, so to see one of this scope wobble here and there is not necessarily a surprise...At its best, though, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is the finest the series has ever been, building on the role-playing roots laid down by Origins. An occasionally scruffy triumph of historical world-building, play and, perhaps most importantly, Grecian character.

Knight, for all its foibles and frustrations, consistently gives you that injection of adrenaline.

It's cowboys and zombies; what could go wrong? Answer; very little, and while Mr Bleszinski's tweet contains a kernel of truth that the undead can be a "go-to" for lazy developers, the quality of Undead Nightmare puts it out of the firing range of such criticism.

Insomniac’s take on Spider-Man has its caveats, with its raft of distractions following a little too closely to what has gone before. But its dedication to and understanding of its leading man make for a thrilling and satisfying slice of comic-book entertainment. Because, ultimately, Spider-Man, I like the way you move.

The odd balancing issue does threaten to undermine Mario’s first foray into co-op multiplayer and there is the nagging feeling that, perhaps, Nintendo were not entirely sure of its own focus. But these are quibbles oft forgotten when in the throes of NSMB Wii’s joyful, beguiling character.

There are so many beautiful touches to the game, and it’s so different to what’s come before, that it will keep blowing you away, surprising you, and delighting you. It’s clear how much the team behind Sun and Moon care about their players and their experiences, and it really makes a difference.

DJ Hero is an exciting and brilliantly realised package, and while it may not offer the fantastic co-op experience of some of its contemporaries, its slick gameplay and fantastic presentation make it a must-have title in an overcrowded genre.

Despite the volume of content and the sharp precision and attention to detail levelled at everything from visuals to audio, Forza 6 can oftentimes feel like the standard bearer of a bygone age. On the one hand it's a mechanical wonder, but on the other it's firmly rooted in ideologies and design tropes of the past.

The most triumphant comeback you could hope for.

Prepare to go insane in the brain with one of the year's most imaginative interactive experiences.

A fine and fitting send-off for gaming’s slickest, most inventive thriller.

Nothing wrong with excelling at one thing. And when it comes to cathartic, gore-fuelled gunplay, there is none better.

An intelligent, charming and utterly addictive video game. But its crowning achievement is its unerring dedication to its own imagination. CiNG throw ideas at it from every angle and nearly every single one sticks. The result is a delightfully crafted adventure, that will pull you into its magnificent fantasy world and refuse to let go.

The football here is unpredictable and undefinable. Matches take on their own personality, depending on who is playing, both on the pitch and behind the controller. You are given enough control and room for expression that you don’t need to conform to best practice. Instead you need to play to your and your team’s strengths, negating the opponent’s and managing the tempo of a game.

It is, however, a considerable improvement on the existing template, to the point where it's hard to see how the series can avoid a fairly notable change in approach. This could – and perhaps should – be the swansong to the Pokémon formula we're accustomed to, but if it is then it'll go out at the very peak of its existence: teetering on the edge of feeling too familiar, sustaining an incredible feat of balance, but nonetheless still standing tall at the very top of its game.

It is a game that will make you happy whenever you think back to it, one where frustration is almost immediately replaced by a smile, and most importantly, it's a game that thrives on having fun.

Denser, deeper and more intricate than its predecessors, it’s a sequel that understands refinement isn’t simply a case of adding more, even if it’s arguably as generous and complete a package as we’ve seen from Nintendo in a while. Yes, it’s a game about multitasking, forward planning and time management, but it’s also a game where you command sentient carrots to headbutt a crawfish to death. Ah, the joy of simple pleasures.

Still, there is something to be said for focusing on what you are good at. And in both Halo Infinite’s campaign and its superb multiplayer...343 are proving masters of the art of battle.

If you’ve been waiting for Fallout 4, it will simultaneously meet your expectations and exceed them in others. Who would have thought a Fallout game would convince us of Bethesda’s storytelling and shooter credentials? In a year full of brilliant open-world games like The Witcher 3, it manages to stand apart from the crowd and deliver something that feels fresh, despite its familiar foundations.

The delivery may need a little work, but Gone Home’s story is one that’s well worth being a part of. It’s dense, rich, striking and moving; few games this year will leave quite such a mark, and despite a few missteps, it could well prove a watershed moment for interactive storytelling.

Players who simply wish to drink in the dreamy visuals and enjoy the cute characters will find Kirby's Epic Yarn a breezy and attractive way to while away six or so hours of their time.

This is a generous, technically excellent and genuinely fascinating omnibus.

You’ll feel every punch, grimace at every brutal knock-down and celebrate every win as if it were your last. It’s a heart-thumping, nerve-jangling gaming experience and, as a sports game, is agonisingly close to perfection. A little more finesse in its Legacy Mode could have made it an all-time classic.

Its mix of refined mechanics, updated graphics and all new cars results in a game that’s up there with the studio’s old-time greats. It’s proof that, very occasionally, they still make them like they used to.

If you have any interest at all in platformers, 2D shooters or both, Cuphead is an absolute must-play. It is the pinnacle of the genre, and deserves to go down in history as an all-time classic.

The sheer scope of possibility is a little daunting, so it’s really to the game’s benefit that it is just so instantly addictive.

Titanfall provides a thunderously good time; an accessible yet skilful, hulking yet ferociously nimble shot in the arm for a well-populated genre.

Tribes: Ascend is a worthy successor to its forebears, bringing the same inimitable, hectic play style married to graphics that will stretch even the most capable machine.

It only remains to be said that when it comes to adventure games of this type, the God Of War series towers above other offerings in its genre.

It’s an ardently old-school video game, big on simple, challenging fun and wonderfully overblown, colourful caricatures. A gorgeous, gleeful tribute to how video games used to be.

Heart of the Swarm sits halfway between an expansion and a sequel, yes, but also halfway between casual and competitive, singleplayer and multi, offering a huge amount and not really all that much at all. It’s bombastic and reserved, overwrought and beautifully finessed.

Its unruly attitude is its calling card, the manic beating heart that its exquisite combat is built around. And if this sounds like a good time, then Bayonetta 3 could well be the most fun you have with a video game all year.