The game's music is perfectly set for the different situations you find yourself in. It's suitably dramatic in the big fight scenes and similarly soft when you get to a more emotional part. Whilst not at the forefront of your attention, the music is always there and sometimes you won't even notice it until it goes silent. Your heart might be in your mouth as you hack a computer or lockpick a door with enemies nearby, and the music will do a great job to reflect exactly how you are feeling.

Doom: The Dark Ages might be a prequel, but it feels like an evolution for the franchise. Packed into a tightly crafted campaign that ramps up the stakes at every turn, it's without a doubt the most bloodthirsty and satisfying Doom to date. With fresh additions like the Shield Saw, Atlan, and Cyberdragon, there is a ton of variety to keep you engaged and hooked to the very end. Another fantastic win for Xbox and Bethesda.

The detailed missions, versatile powers, and atmospheric storytelling will keep you coming back for multiple playthroughs if only to learn more about the world, play with the powers, and find every last thing to either steal or kill/subdue. Simply put, Dishonored 2 is a must play for stealth fans and an easy recommendation for most gamers.

Housing a story that is both offensive, yet hilarious, ludicrous, yet serious is a rare achievement but this game accomplishes it. The overhauled combat also keeps strategy a key part of gameplay so tactical thinking is always rewarded.

We are, after all, talking about a game that catapulted the battle royale genre from total obscurity into a genre that’s astronomically more popular than any other. A game doesn’t succeed in that without merit, and PUBG has it by offering a level of storytelling and gameplay intensity that is absolutely unmatched. PUBG is admittedly a game that’s poorly designed in many ways and sometimes even non-functional. It’s also admittedly one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had in my entire life.

Senua is fierce and imperfect in a way that will have you rooting for her like few characters ever garner. Her journey is pretty much unceasingly filthy, violent, tragic and horrific, yet it's not a story of suffering, but rather one of perseverance. Senua is a remarkable character who instills all of her energies into the player in such a way that will never be forgotten.

Deathtrap is a masterpiece in the tower defense genre to which many developers should look for years to come. It requires strategy and skill in equal measure in ways that few tower defense games can demand.

Beautiful, vast, creative, varied, and exciting, Forza Horizon 5 is an incredible game that will have you hooning around Mexico for months. There's an amazing sense of variety to everything about this game, and the smart Accolades system should have many achievement hunters hooked as they explore the full extent of what this remarkable racer has to offer. Fantastic handling, interesting events, and a wonderful history-spanning selection of cars makes for an amazing experience — arguably the best game in the series to date, and inarguably the best game in the series to DOOT. See you in Mexico, amigos...

The Turing Test delivers not just a worthwhile game but an amazing story that will sit with you long after the credits.

It's a smart, stylish, and daring genre mash-up that blurs the line between indie and big budget games. It's one of the most tightly designed games I've ever played in my life and that comes through in every possible way, from UI and art direction to combat and level design. It's without any excess parts, and so its design feels constantly well-reasoned and well-executed and expects you to play it just the same. Across the board, Void Bastards is unforgettable.

There's no shortage of great action roguelikes on Xbox, but the arrival of Hades sets a new benchmark for the genre, and sets it high. Artistically gorgeous, narratively captivating, and always a delight to play, Hades goes above and beyond what you'd expect from a game like this, resulting in a unique experience that you'll likely still find yourself diving back into long after the completion is wrapped up. Supergiant has an incredible track record, but with Hades, the studio takes its throne alongside the gods of the indie scene. Cheers, mates.

Red Dead Redemption 2's vast, detailed and stunningly beautiful open world sits as the perfect backdrop for its compelling and well-paced story filled with epic set pieces. With deeper gameplay mechanics, a larger cast of diverse and interesting characters to meet, and a wealth of content from side objectives to mini-games, RDR2 is a shining example of what makes Rockstar's games so special. It might have been a long eight-year wait for a follow-up to Red Dead Redemption, but it's been well worth it as the game may go down as the greatest of this generation. Few games have ever had as much hype around them as this one, and yet few have ever met and even exceeded their expectations in the way Red Dead Redemption 2 has.

By this stage, it should come as no surprise that Playground Games finds a way to raise the bar for each release in the Horizon series, and they've once again found another gear in Forza Horizon 4 that leaves its competitors trailing in the dust. The roster of cars is bigger than ever, the setting of Britain is stunningly recreated down to the finest detail, the shared online world is a resounding success, and the addition of seasons adds something completely new and unique to the series both in terms of the gameplay and the aesthetics of the world. I don't know how they do it, but Playground Games has once again set the standard for other racing games to strive for.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a shining example of how to do a remake properly, and sits in stark contrast to the last woeful effort to revisit these classics, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD. Vicarious Visions demonstrates a wonderful understanding of what needs updating and what should be held sacred, even to the point that the team has bitten the bullet and let the lesser stages (yes, of course we mean you, Downhill Jam) stay bad just so the classics can stay superb without laying a finger on any of the layouts.

The story has impact on both a base level and philosophically, and will no doubt leave you with questions to consider for days after you finish if you enjoy that kind of thing. I wish I could have more games like NieR: Automata, but I'll probably be waiting a while — it's only so often a game this excellent comes around.

The expansive roster of cars are all beautifully designed right down to the smallest detail. The setting is stunning with very few walls and boundaries to inhibit your freedom, and now you can experience all of the fun in four-player co-op with the added bonus of being able to customise almost every aspect of each race to your choosing. Quite simply put, Forza Horizon 3 is the pinnacle of open-world racers available on the Xbox One.

The frustration of dying for the thousandth time finds its counterweight in the gorgeously fluid ballet of a perfect run. With a wonderfully evocative soundtrack and a whole host of creative ideas and plenty of additional challenges beyond the main campaign, Celeste manages to cram in a whole lot of goodness without ever missing a step. Fans of tricky platformers will find much to love in the game's design, but it's also a perfect starting point for anyone new to the genre — perhaps even those actively averse to it. In short, it's a bit of a masterpiece.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is the franchise's best entry since The Last Crusade. Machine Games' "adventure-action" game is one of the most alluring experiences on Xbox and delivers one of the best games of the year. Despite a few small faults, it's an adventure that could entice an introvert to leave the house. To me, that warrants a perfect score for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle!

Inside is a game that has to be experienced first-hand to be understood and I’d urge everyone to play it. At three to four hours it is on the short side, but thanks to the thought provoking and surprising story, tight gameplay and exceptional sound and visual design, Inside will leave a long lasting impression that will more than make it worth its price tag.

Forza Horizon 6 is the series at its best, combining meaningful progression with the franchise's strongest open world yet. Japan is stunning and filled with interesting things, and it's an absolute joy to explore. The Wristband system makes progression feel rewarding again, and the approachable arcade racing remains as satisfying and compelling as ever. Playground Games has delivered its best Forza Horizon experience to date.

Should you play Atomfall? Absolutely, yes! It's a gorgeous romp across the British countryside that's easy to pick up and extremely difficult to put down. Filled with richly detailed environments, simplified systems that will appeal to players new to the survival genre, and accessible combat, Atomfall is a superb adventure that proves survival games don't all need to be complex and brutal experiences.

Hogwarts Legacy is a magical experience that is bound to go down well with fans of the Wizarding World. Hogwarts and its surrounding areas are crafted in meticulous detail and give players a chance to truly explore some of the most wonderful aspects of the Harry Potter novels. Both open-world and Potter fans should feel right at home here, but anyone that dislikes having to clear a map of all landmarks is going to be in for a tough ride. Hogwarts Legacy is a fantastic addition to both the franchise and the RPG genre, and an adventure you won't soon forget.

"Resident Evil 4 is brilliant" is a statement that rings as true today as it did almost 20 years ago, with Capcom turning in yet another fantastic remake that revives and, to a degree, reinvents a classic for a new generation. Fans familiar with the original will likely appreciate a lot of the tweaks and improvements (even if they may lament a few of the changes, based on personal preference), while newcomers get to experience a stunning modern version of an all-time classic. What are you waiting for? It's game time!

The result of all this is that I’m pretty much obsessed with Avowed. After overinflated maps, exploration without reward, and other frustrations encountered in the last few years, Avowed feels like a dream to play. It fully embraces the fantasy elements for a wonderfully old-school RPG, and I can’t wait to keep playing.

OlliOlli World takes the tight, rewarding gameplay of its simple predecessors, dresses it up in a beautifully colourful and quirky new art style, and layers on a bunch of new systems that make it even more satisfying to master. It's a masterclass in how to make score attack games that can have players attack the same spot for hours at a time in search of those vital few points that would give them the lead over a rival, with dozens of awesome hand-crafted levels and countless procedural ones on which to chase those big numbers. The manual dexterity required coupled with the breakneck pace of the game can be a little scary at first, but once muscle memory starts to kick in and you find yourself going for timely tweaks and greedy grabs without even knowing you're doing it, you will have finally transcended and achieved Gnarvana. Now, just one more run...

Ninja Theory has created an outstanding sequel with Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. An unforgettable narrative adventure that is brought to life through impeccable sound design, gorgeous visuals, and a story that will stick with you long after the final credits roll. Hellblade 2 is one of the best Xbox games out there and is absolutely worth your time if you enjoyed the original.

Fans of the studio, and especially fans of the character, can rightfully get excited for the season ahead. Under the cowl, and just as often not, Episode One: Realm of Shadows is a worthy introduction to comics' greatest hero.

Achievement-wise, this game is clearly going to take some time, and that can only be a good thing considering that Starfield seems to have delivered what it promised: an almost endless adventure we’ll still be discovering new details about years down the line.