A campaign focused on spectacle benefits from next-gen heft (the PS4 game is comfortably the best looking console version) but hardly innovates, while the multiplayer game remains as fast-paced, responsive and downright noisy as ever. Yet if Call of Duty is, as some have suggested, the gaming equivalent of junk food, Infinity Ward has prepared it to gourmet standard.

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.

Small cavils aside, though, Ni No Kuni is a heartfelt ode to the kind of gaming experience that's in danger of vanishing altogether from the landscape. It would take a hard heart indeed not to get lost in some part of this ravishing exercise in escapism.

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.

Once hits its stride, Saints Row IV is a pleasure to try and keep up with. Its relentless insanity will occasionally tire, but its in these moments you can appreciate the smarter elements. Despite everything, this is a more mature game than its predecessors.

If you are put off by some of Nintendo’s more saccharine output, it certainly isn’t the game for you, but kids of all ages looking for a breezy, wholesome distraction will find a lot to like.

Strike Suit Zero isn't a game for the faint-hearted. Strike Suit Zero is tough. Really tough. And while it's this challenge that makes it such a compelling space shooter, it's the very same thing that will drive away players in hordes.

Ghostwire Tokyo is rarely a scary game, Tango stopping short of full horror, but it still has the ability to unsettle. It may be an acquired taste and far from flawless, but its distinctive approach and commitment to its ethos has plenty of spirit.

You will recognise the beats, but Chloe and Nadine make their own fresh and thrilling impact on the familiar. You could not imagine a more fitting finale.

Playing Viking detective was not something I expected to do during Valhalla, but it is a game that --while following much of its traditional template-- is capable of surprise.

Underneath the blood and guts is a self-assured, generous and thoroughly modern fighting game.

Perhaps doesn't feel quite as fresh as its predecessor in certain ways, but in others it kicks everything up a notch. It's certainly a better game, just for those of us who played the last game to death, there's not quite as much here to wow us. But the campaign is by far the best of the three, and even with the reused Activities and slightly familiar feel, Saints Row remains one of gaming's best, most enjoyable and most ludicrous playgrounds. It's not big, it's not clever, but it sure is a huge amount of fun.

This is a compelling experience, the inspired outgrowth of a new complexity in the environmental design of videogames.

A fragmented kaleidoscope of elements that finally form a rich, if imperfect, vision once everything is aligned. Some may find the apparent simplification disagreeable, but it's more a concentration of focus that allows BioWare to tell the more personal story of Hawke, and add polish to the world they have built around him. And noone builds a world like BioWare.

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.

The plot can be a little vague at times, and the opening hour is fairly meandering, but Conarium is an otherwise exciting, creepy jaunt through the realm of unspeakable evil.

Its unusual, offbeat approach to the tropes of both its genres gives the blend that extra dash of flavour it needs, but the base ingredients are just as tasty and fulfilling. And then there’s those guns, those wonderful, wonderful guns.

Rare have been clear about their goal of wanting players to create their own stories within Sea of Thieves, and it is safe to say they’ve succeeded. Let’s hope they can keep the ship on course.

It’s not cheap, but there is a huge amount of value here for families.

A sterling upgrade that has taken the fine work of its predecessors, and ran with it.

It may not have the established brands that its rivals can lean on, but SuperChargers is good enough not to need them.

What Birds of Steel does right, it does far better than any similar game on consoles. If Second World War flying is your thing, you'll find a dizzying amount of content here for the money.

Like its central character it's a violent, ferocious beast which more than makes up for its lack of perfection by being brutally entertaining.

F1 2016 is the game Codemasters has almost been making for years; complex, feature-full and still packed with the adoration for the sport that the studio has demonstrated since it got its hands on the license back in 2010. For anyone that’s a fan of racing, this is without the doubt the most unmissable recreation of it you can buy. For anyone that likes going fast, this will probably convince you, too.

Assassin’s Creed II rarely gets the blood-pumping as much as some of the more visceral games of this year manage, instead opting for an air of odd serenity. Rather than bludgeoning you with a frontal assault on the senses, the beauty and elegance of the setting and gameplay washes over you, holding your attention completely.

Players who are prepared to forego closure for intrigue are in for a treat.

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.

An interesting, slow-burning adventure game well worth your time.