Horrendous difficulty spikes aside, Peace Walker is great. It has all the blisteringly beautiful visuals, impressive production values and rewarding stealth gameplay you expect from a Metal Gear game.

Despite offering a gritty medieval RPG sandbox with a layered, dynamic open world stacked with detail, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is haunted by the same demons as the original.

The Last Of Us' story was pretty much perfect in terms of what it wanted to achieve. This does nothing to build on or take away from that.

Pikmin 4 is an incredibly charming and fun experience for the most part, but its new additions aren't quite revolutionary enough to stave off a feeling of repetitiveness in the later hours.

Final Fantasy 16 is a rich, visually arresting spectacle with engrossing set pieces let down by a bloated story and stifled combat.

As a whole, though, it's an elegantly crafted thriller that stands out as an original, charming and beautiful adventure. As an experience it's well worth the price of admission, but sadly Ghost Trick lets itself down with its overall simplicity and the disappointment of its crucial final act.

A sumptuous remaster, but the games themselves have aged badly.

It’s only the inclusion of a much slicker set of tools to allow the recording of machinima movies and the sharing of customised content that prevents an even harsher score. While there was a significant step up both technically and in gameplay terms between The Sims and The Sims 2, the same can’t be said of The Sims 3 compared to its predecessor.

It's an impressive feat for sure, but to focus solely on that would be unfair to both the talented studio and venerable franchise: there's so much potential unexplored here, and occasional glimmers of ingenuity in Ready at Dawn's efforts show a developer that should be able to do better.

The game's excellent presentation - it's got a vibe of one of those football magazines your friends (or even you, perhaps) used to buy when you were a kid - and responsive, tactile nature make playing it a simple, punchy delight. I might have no idea what constitutes a classic goal, but it's impossible not to notice that Score! is a quality game.

Foregoing genre-advancing substance and texture for impeccable style, Ghost of Yotei feels like a cowed shadow of its full potential. Those looking for a departure from checklist-oriented open-world gameplay will be disappointed. The title lands as generic, risk-averse, rigid, and safe.

It took two decades and change, but a team of developers has shown they understand what made the old Sonic games great with Sonic Mania, even if nostalgia is sometimes too much of a driving force.

There are some fantastic environments and old school style puzzles in Resi 7. The final section stops being survival horror and becomes a bit of a clunky linear shooter, but the first few hours are scary enough to put you off Louisiana for life.

There's just not quite enough meat on Fight Night Champion's bones to recommend it to owners of previous games, however, and Champion mode itself is little more than a brief diversion you can bash through in an afternoon.

If you're a hardcore fighter fan, you'll be annoyed by the button layout and the associated lack of precision. If you're a newcomer who has yet to play Street Fighter IV, you're better off picking up one of the previous editions; it'll cost you little more than a tenner, rather than the £30 you'll pay for the 3DS version.

It's a not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, just a slightly poor use of the license.

Multiplayer is Rocket League's priority, and it delivers.

Nioh 3 has nothing to offer that hasn’t already been put out by other, better soulslikes. Outside of the occasional interesting boss fight, I found nothing but tedium in Nioh 3’s bland and deeply unengaging world.

While the campaign, UI and added value of betas and TV shows give Halo: MCC a lot to shout about, shoddy matchmaking means one of the biggest talking points for fans is being discussed for all the wrong reasons.

Whatever the antic designs of Dr. Tropy, there is a deeper story here, and it’s one that centres on a far sadder subject: it’s about time.

As much as Hitman III was a pleasure to play, it left me longing for the mood of the old games—for that European concoction of sirens and splashing rain, drenched in Jesper Kyd’s cold scores. I’m as excited as anyone for Project 007, but I wonder how long we will be left looking for 47—a wraith in a red tie, who has proven elusive enough to slip IO’s grasp.

Anno 117 Pax Romana is a structurally sound colony builder set in a Romanized world filled with flair and gravitas. For those who struggle to find joy in expanding their influence, the busy UI may disrupt the experience and confuse. It’s a game designed for risk-takers who won't hesitate to make tough choices to reap the rewards of a tantalizingly broad array of intuitive city-building mechanics.

Whether OlliOlli World charms you or chafes at your patience will depend on your appetite for such whimsy.

The new character models and HD visuals do a great job of bringing Hillys to life, but only serve to contrast how far game design has come in eight years. We're more critical of camera issues and interface problems these days, spoiled by the likes of Uncharted and Mass Effect. Considering the effort gone into revamping the character models, it strikes me as odd that Ubisoft hasn't addressed these issues too.

I found it mightily upsetting to have something in my hands capable of such beauty, such triumphant gaming bliss, only to have that thing ultimately turn into disappointment and frustration. It's almost more upsetting than playing something that was never up to much in the first place.

There's just not quite enough meat on Fight Night Champion's bones to recommend it to owners of previous games, however, and Champion mode itself is little more than a brief diversion you can bash through in an afternoon.

This is a quite beautiful game at times: attractive, detailed, and beautifully lit. The soundtrack is less noticeable, though the main theme, with driving rhythms and a strident melody that recurs in other tracks is an instant classic. But ultimately the quality of the mission design has taken a huge nosedive from the series peak of Assassin's Creed II.

While there's no denying that the Guild Wars franchise is both popular and technically superb, unless you're after dedicated PvP thrills, it's hard to see it genuinely competing with games like World of Warcraft in the long term.

Perhaps No More Heroes 2, like its predecessor, works on a level our feeble brains aren't capable of comprehending. Perhaps it's so post-modern it's post-post-modern.

Games like The Walking Dead are rare, and if you've played the first episode you'll be compelled to pick up Starved for Help, but prepare for the possibility of frustration and at worst, incompletion.

In going for detail and variety it often overshoots into complexity; where it wants to be insightful it's not as clever as it thinks it is. Mankind Divided isn't bad, but it already feels a few years old.

The Lost Legacy is proof that there's still life in Uncharted, though it'll need to break out of it's own formula a bit in the future. Chloe and Nadine could do that for the series. You just have to let them.

Split/Second is so close to being great; so much so that in short bursts it really is a spectacular arcade racer. It just doesn't have any legs.

Contre Jour manages to successfully ape some of the App Store's most popular mechanics, but it doesn't really know what it wants to do with them.

Reaching the credits, I sat back, exhausted and disappointed at where the series had ended up.

Endless runners rarely offer up too much variety, but there is something oddly appealing about Into The Dead. Let's keep it simple: if you like zombies, buy it. Yeah.

They've put more than enough bells and whistles in to make Battle for Middle-Earth II seem extremely fresh and, most importantly, a lot of fun. When it comes down to it, for the LOTR strategy fan, this game is a must.

Telling Lies expands on the concept Sam Barlow created with Her Story, with a web of intriguing characters and mysteries, but the more overblown aspects of its plot detract from the personal drama.

FIFA 16 is an incremental improvement, but with legacy issues still plaguing the on-field action the changes feel hollow in light of PES 2016's overwhelming turnaround.

The high-score hunting gameplay makes for an incredibly addictive retro gaming experience, and the sleek presentation gives it a modern appearance and feel. If you can choose between PSP and DS versions then the DS game is clearly the best choice.

While its impact isn't as great as the original, Guacamelee 2 is a reminder of how good combat and traversal can feel when married together as they are in this 2D platformer-cum-brawler.

A funky, fun third-person hack and slash marred by some boring open world side-missions. It's no more simple, or complicated, than that.

There's only so many times, however, that you can tolerate the poorly-defined stealth and terrible AI.

It's an elegantly crafted thriller that stands out as an original, charming and beautiful adventure.

Draw Something isn't about the game you're playing, but about the friends you're playing with. It's a very basic game, then, but the fact it's a game comes second to the fact it's a laugh.

Taro’s approach is of a restless rarity; he swaps genres as though trying to scratch an itch.

You have to hand it to Square Enix for trying to move things forward - better that than yet another rehash of the tried and tested Final Fantasy formula (the less said about Infinite Undiscovery the better). But it does so along a path so narrow and straight that you long for the days of old.

It won't last forever, and it has its faults, but if you've ever got addicted to Minesweeper you'll likely enjoy this curious puzzle game.

Card and board game fans will find a lot to enjoy though, and the online integration and solid support for the lone player make a game that is well worth its budget price.

Despite improvements Metro 2033 can’t shake its slightly clunky roots and Last Light isn’t quite the game it had the potential to be. PC gamers could simply opt for the cheaper originals.

One of those games you can happily dip in and out of over a period of weeks.

A game high on fun, packed with action, but not without a number of infuriating problems.

While Sucker Punch should be applauded for its efforts (and successes) in adding user-generated content to an open world game, there's a real sense that the developer should have sorted out the foundations of its own house before inviting others to come over and redecorate.

There's not much more to Triple Town, but it's easy to get hooked into a gentle rhythm of item placement and the climbing satisfaction of watching your shrubbery transform into a glorious castle. This isn't the most complex game in the world, but when the time comes to invest £2.49 it's likely you'll have already worked out if Triple Town is your perfect match.

Gris plays to your aural and optical senses by delivering something exquisite in that area, but lacks a compelling story to prop itself up alongside equivalents.

The absence of London Life is particularly grating, as it's arguably the lone element of Spectre's Call (or rather, Last Specter) that tries to do something new. The game we're left with will still please the Professor's long-term supporters, but it's clear that the next instalment needs to bring in a fresh idea or two. Simply being Laytonesque won't cut it anymore.

Although Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword isn't the spectacular action game we hoped it would be, it's still a highly polished, hugely enjoyable game.

In a genre resplendent with elegantly refined scoring systems and mechanics, Luftrausers lands a little short of brilliance.

Imagine Contra meets Kid Chameleon via Super Meat Boy, with a touch of Sensible Software's irreverence, and you're there. One the most enjoyable couch multiplayer games I've played in quite a while.

There are better 2D brawlers out there, better ones on Xbox LIVE Arcade in fact, but probably none prettier. And it seems like that's probably just enough to make my weird old brain smile.

The incredible scope, combined with the awkward menu system and lack of tutorials just serves to make this game completely inaccessible to the grand strategy novice. [Score originally posted as (50)]

Shadow of the Tomb Raider takes the series’ formula and pushes it, polishing the platforming and bolstering its tombs, but the game’s power ebbs as the main quest is bloated with distraction, and the writing is still patchy and dull.

Revelations hooked long-time fans with the promise it would return to the series' survival horror roots, but couldn't resist an attempt at reaching a wider audience. Instead of producing a splintered and botched attempt at blending action and horror, Capcom should have stuck to its guns.

Layton is a good distance removed from the hysteria that surrounded his debut title, then, but the fifth game in this stylised series is enough to keep you entertained.

TSoT is the best, most faithful South Park game to date, but it’s still just an okay game. That said it might also be your only chance to fart on a flaming, used tampon and hurl it at Nazi zombie fetuses, unless they make another Postal.

Tiny Tower's real question is about the scale of its economy, then, and whether you can stomach playing a game that becomes increasingly desperate in its desires to part you with chunks of your own money.

Shooting the bad men and tinkering with your loot in The Division 2 is good enough to keep you coming back to something that’s regularly monotonous and lacks any real message.

N++ delivers consistently excellent bursts of platforming devilishness, but it's not enough to keep me interested for the long haul.

Like KotOR 2 before it, Neverwinter Nights 2 promises much without quite delivering its full potential. It's a shame, as it could have been the Elminster of computerised AD&D games.

The humour is thankfully intact, but the mysteries grow as ornate and heavily threaded as Sholmes’s overcoat.

FIFA 15 has gameplay problems, but it can also play some sublime football. However, single-player’s continued stagnation leaves a sour taste in the mouth. If goalkeepers can be addressed, EA will remain the football king.

Despite the way narrative has been re-structured and the combat made meatier, this sequel follows the old conventions of the genre too literally to develop an individuality beyond them. Two entries down the pipe, and Dragon Age is still experiencing the growing pains of a series that's more dedicated to studying fantasy games than developing its own personality in the genre.

With support for up to 32 players online there's nothing quite like this for the PlayStation 2 or on consoles in general.

The sharp difficulty and rough edges of Dirt Rally 2.0 give way to a rewarding racing model, with a surfeit of meaningful options for the obsessed.

It’s worth pointing out that few other studios have the confidence to take this approach to horror: not to jolt you with sudden frights or to ration your ammunition, but to probe and puncture your emotional ease by putting foulness in such close proximity to the childish.

There just isn’t enough juice in the combat, the cover shooting, or the endless hoovering of collectibles.

Split/Second is so close to being great; so much so that in short bursts it really is a spectacular arcade racer. It just doesn't have any legs.

An interesting and fun roguelike, albeit one which doesn't capitalise on its potential.

The whole package is undeniably ambitious and for the most part Zipper Interactive has pulled it off, but the complex controls combined with the dumbed down aiming make it less impressive as a game than its PlayStation 2 cousins.

You have to hand it to Square Enix for trying to move things forward - better that than yet another rehash of the tried and tested Final Fantasy formula (the less said about Infinite Undiscovery the better). But it does so along a path so narrow and straight that you long for the days of old.

Metro Exodus injects life and light into the series, but its mechanics are still starting to creak; it’s a good end to Artyom’s journey, even if the story seems muffled.

Sonic Racing CrossWorlds offers plenty of arcade fun, especially in multiplayer. If you have friends over and are looking for a great racing game, you’ll find what you’re looking for here. Equally, if you enjoy online play, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds will scratch an itch. However, due to shallow progression systems, players may find themselves lacking the incentive to play more alone. That said, fans of the Sonic franchise will eat well here, since CrossWorlds’ soundtrack, as well as its literal tracks, are brimming with adoration for the blue hedgehog and his storied history.

The frenetic fighting and over-the-top fun of Tekken 7 is great, but it's let down by light offline modes and online matchmaking that, right now, simply isn't working well enough.

While this Switch re-release doesn't add as much as some may hope, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is still a delight.

A Plague Tale: Innocence has some clunky writing in places, and its play gets stale after a time, but it prevails with a compelling mystery and a beautiful world.

It's slightly lightweight, sure, but Injustice will slap a grin on your face for a few days and then entice you back with the promise of idiotic multiplayer battles.

A brief hit of retro goodness that loses its enchantment all too soon. If you're looking for a demanding blast from the past, Renegade Ops will sort you out for a week or two; just don't expect to be playing it for much longer than that.

Splatoon can be intensely tactical, and its end-of-battle results screen after a close match is genuinely tense. But these moments can't overcome the thinness of Splatoon's package.

I can only tell you that the game isn’t for me, but it might be for you. If it is, it’s probably the best value PSP game ever released. If it isn’t, then it’s a slow, mind-numbing exercise in masochism.

WWE 2K24 has a game mode for everyone, top creation capabilities, and an engrossing Showcase Mode celebrating 40 years of WrestleMania that will transport you through history.

All of Dishonored's famed hallmarks are there: a beautiful world, intriguing political game-playing, and highly replayable levels. Sadly, chief failings are also on show - high levels of trial and error, overpowered abilities, and the feeling that your first run-through is sure to be nothing more than a glorified trial.

If you're after a tilt-based racing game that mimics the big titles on home consoles, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is a more complete and accomplished iOS title.

Skylanders Superchargers is another solid entry in a franchise that has done gangbusters for Activision, and fans will enjoy the new vehicle gameplay and adventure-strewn story.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker isn't the most taxing puzzle game in the world, but it's well-paced and enjoyable all the same.

Sunset Overdrive has some excellent ideas, but its triumphs are sadly suffocated beneath ultra-repetitive mission design and unsatisfying enemy encounters.

True Colors is the best game in the series since Before the Storm, and it will satisfy your narrative craving for a time.

Overlord is an entertaining game that should keep you smiling for its duration, but certain control complexities and a distinct lack of evil keep it from being a truly great next-gen adventure.

Gran Turismo 6 ends up feeling stubborn to adapt to modernity. Its myriad landscapes are barren and unexciting, while the music sounds like it’s been ripped straight from a Ron Jeremy compilation VHS.