Aiming for the stars worked admirably for Obsidian Entertainment with this fantastic sci-fi RPG. There are elements of Obsidian's earlier work, especially Fallout: New Vegas which will delight longtime fans. Yet The Outer Worlds excels most when it has fun within its own unique identity. The wealth of lore and world-building details could be a little overwhelming for brand new players, but a little confusion early on shouldn't stop anyone from taking The Outer Worlds for a spin.

Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville isn’t a huge evolution for the series — but it is mostly an improvement, and appropriately prepared for the persistent multiplayer culture we find ourselves in. Players jumping straight from Garden Warfare 2 to Neighborville may find the action too similar, though they will at least appreciate the distractions of some exciting new classes, new maps and a more engaging story mode.

Frostpunk can be overhelming and would benefit from a longer tutorial, so it’s understandable if those new to the genre find it too tricky. But a well-conceived narrative and premise makes it worth picking up whether you’re new to the genre, or have years of city-building experience behind you.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is the reigning poster child for the late-generation live service game. There is more on offer here than most people could ever dream of playing unless you retired from all other games — and maybe your family and your job too. But players should measure their content in quality, not quantity. There’s still a lot of fun to be had in Breakpoint, but you’ll need friends or good co-op partners to see a lot of it. For solo players, the gameplay loop wears out fast and even the awesome Jon Bernthal can’t save the project’s clashing design principles. Breakpoint measures its successes in stats like user engagement, but I still measure mine in memorable moments, and that’s one area this gargantuan game is not servicing.

You no longer have to wait for new episodes and you may not stress over your decisions if you now know what lies ahead, but for anyone who's managed to miss the series til now, and for its biggest fans, The Definitive Series is unquestionably the best version of the seven-year The Walking Dead saga.

Man of Medan is a game we want to love – for all of its B-movie nonsense and cookie-cutter characterisation, there’s a “so bad it’s good” vibe that would be entertaining for playing in couch co-op. Unfortunately even this slight praise is undermined by some frustrating gameplay and a host of easily avoided accessibility issues. Players will probably find themselves rattling through the game just to see things through, and might even get a kick out of tweaking some outcomes – but the first Dark Pictures tale is unlikely to linger in the memory for long.

Ultimately, this pack can make a player's city look the part of a modern capital trying to tread a difficult ethical line between industry and eco-friendly practices; it's just a shame that there isn't more of a progression and reward incentive for all players to properly interact with it.

The Sinking City is just the latest in a long line of horror games to be delivered via the Lovecraft Express. Because it's not adherent to any one of the author's tales, it manages to feel different from the crowded pack due to the blending of noir storytelling, its big open world full of side quests, and an investigative loop that asks you to put on your thinking fedora. Lousy combat and a low-res, buggy, lifeless land are blemishes for sure, but overall while this may not be the best of the bunch, The Sinking City is certainly the most ambitious of all recent Lovecraftian horror games.

Despite it all, I'd still say Final Fantasy XII is a good game. Its combat is almost entirely automated, but it's designed by you thanks to the programmable Gambit system, while character progression through the job system is deep and open to creativity. Running up to enemies and having the AI fight your battles for you may not sound great, but it is absolutely is. I'd be happy to play another forty hours, but preferably without any more story.

Despite its name, Layers of Fear 2's main problem is that there isn't anything going on under the surface. It's a competent enough walking simulator with a few decent jump scares and a little bit of mystery, but with no interesting mechanics to speak of and no effort to help the player feel attached to the vague story it's hard to justify the play time to anyone. If you were a big fan of the first iteration and need more in your life, you won't find anything particularly wrong with Layers of Fear 2. For anyone else, there's simply too many better examples of both horror games and narrative walking simulators to recommend stepping aboard.

Team Sonic Racing is Sumo's third race around the track with SEGA's flagship characters. It's not their best effort of the trio but because of the intriguing teamplay focus, it stands up as a worthy game for fans of the genre and families alike. The roster leaves a lot to be desired and the game needs a few changes under the hood to really play how it should, but it makes for a fun co-op or competitive game best played locally with loved ones.

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.

Brief Battles can be very fun if you have local players of comparable skill to play against regularly. It feels great to play, it's visually clean and distinctive, and it's got a high skill cap. Unfortunately, most of us aren't so lucky and the lack of online or even AI gameplay really hurts it. As an alternative, the game offers up both single player and co-op challenges. The co-op challenges are short and easy while the single player challenges are long and brutally difficult if you're going for gold medals. Knowing all those caveats, the challenges are fun and the game itself is designed very well. That's commendable in its own way and means platformer aficionados might find something to love here.

RAGE 2 is a pure power fantasy and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. It serves up some awesome powers and skills at an irresistible pace and makes the player feel like they're ready to take on the whole wasteland in one go. The problem is the story is over so quickly that you're soon left with nothing to do but exactly that — drive around the world, stop at every icon on your map, blow up everything inside, and move on. The amazing gunplay and combat of RAGE 2 shouldn't easily get so stale, but because of an open world all too familiar and a story that hardly gets going before it ends, players are left to rule over a kingdom of dirt.

In virtually every way, the series has improved in important ways since V2 – from a more intuitive control scheme to better level and mission design, more varied environments, and improved gunplay across the board. All of this makes it hard to argue that anyone new to the series should try V2 Remastered. It offers too many 2012 issues in a prettier 2019 package. However, if you're already a fan, these poorly aged issues are more forgiving, making Sniper Elite V2 Remastered worth aiming for.

Mortal Kombat 11 has some design issues, but overall I enjoyed my time and I can sincerely say I'm looking forward to the inevitable sequel.

If games like Payday, Earthfall, and Overkill's The Walking Dead have left you wanting, World War Z should fill the Left 4 Dead-sized hole in your heart in most ways. It doesn't have the memorable characters and borrows all of its special zombies from other games, but it makes up for those problems with great visuals, stunning setpieces, and an addictive progression loop. It's one of 2019's biggest and best surprises.

We've known courtroom dramas are exciting and engaging for a long time. Who hasn't been swept up in an episode or two of Law & Order: SVU while flipping through channels? There's something thrilling about watching a case unfold before your eyes and to see justice ultimately brought to light. The Ace Attorney Trilogy nails that feeling perfectly. It'll take you through captivating mysteries that have plenty of twists while still leaving you satisfied that you solved the crime rather than being drug through to the end. It'll let you pretend to be an attorney and find the gaps in testimony that reveal the true story. Most of all, it'll be an experience you won't find anywhere else.

Shadowgate is very easy to recommend to fans of the original game or of the early days of point-and-click in general. For modern genre enthusiasts, it may be a tougher sell thanks to basic presentation and lots of opportunities to get a game over. Regardless, this is the best updated version of a thirty year old game that one could hope for, and it should leave nostalgic adventure gamers hopeful for more classic revivals in the same vein.

My Time at Portia tries to do so much at once and impressively gets most of it right anyway.

It’s hard to recommend this to anyone unless you’re sorely desperate for a new Burnout game. If anything, Dangerous Driving might leave you pining for a decent sequel more than ever.

Overall, this remaster puts a nice coat of paint on a great experience and I'd recommend everyone, especially those who weren't so hot on it at release, give it a try to see how it's held up.

Cities Skylines is an essential metropolitan simulator, but some of its DLCs aren’t all that necessary. Parklife might be the least essential of the major updates so far. Its mechanics don’t impact or benefit the systems of the main game enough, and individual building objects aren’t attractive either. However the ability to shape a park space on both a larger and smaller scale does make cities feel more alive, more lived in and more like mankind has carved a space into the natural landscape. Die-hard fans of the game will jump at the chance to fine-tune and beautify their creations, but the casual city planner probably won’t find enough here to be worth the investment.

Ubisoft has taken criticisms to heart, and made changes that capitalize on the series' potential in ways the first game never did. Their approach to this title should be considered a success on many fronts, with their main downgrade from the predecessor coming in the form of a lackluster main plot and forgettable characters. Technical issues and instances of poor AI shouldn’t be ignored either, but they’re outshined by the superb gameplay improvements that include meaningful optional content, a deeper well of skills and gear, and a more level playing field in PvP. The Division 2 has something here for fans, critics, and newcomers alike.

If Avalanche can improve the inventory system, fix quest tracking, and get it so the enemies can't cheat through walls and other physical spaces, they'll have repaired most of what ails these dysfunctional machines. Generation Zero isn't the game I wanted it to be today, but in a world where games are alive and changing all the time, I'm hoping the singularity is still near.

Seven years, four seasons, 19 episodes, and one studio closure have all come down to this. Thankfully, the final episode delivers a sendoff worthy of Clementine's arduous and emotional journey. Beautiful and tragic often at once, and thematically tight, Take Us Back is a finale the team can be proud of as they move to whatever is next, and the fans can cherish as the story comes to its end.

The Occupation brilliantly blends elaborate levels, breadcrumb-chasing, gotcha journalism, and a politically-charged drama to become one of 2019's most interesting games. It deftly adapts to the many successes and failures you can have and always leaves the clues in the open for those with a keen eye, rarely holding your hand. It's ironic that a game that so smartly builds urgency through strict time limits would've done better with some extra time of its own in the studio, but the bugs I saw can't prevent The Occupation from being the game I won't stop talking about this year.

Devil May Cry 5 is so successful because it is impeccably designed from top to bottom with one goal in mind: be awesome. It knocks that goal out of the park in nearly every element of the game. Nero and Dante each bring something unique to the combat while still maintaining the trademark feel of the series, with plenty of depth to ensure they feel awesome to play. The enemies follow suit, ensuring every battle has plenty of challenge, and the boss battles are almost all excellent. The story is backed up by flashy set pieces that are fun to watch, though I’ll admit the story itself is not particularly good in any way. The only major negatives are that the new character V seems unbalanced and doesn’t control well and that the Bloody Palace mode has been left off the feature list. Devil May Cry 5 is excellent and you won’t be disappointed.