Traditional hack-and-slash mechanics, real-time strategy elements, serviceable writing and excellent visuals and music all come together to create one of 2018's best indie RPGs thus far.

Call of Duty: Vanguard's campaign and multiplayer are serviceable enough, but nothing exceptional for the series, while Zombies is disappointingly limited in scope and ideas.

While Lords of the Fallen and The Surge may have Dark Souls roots, the more I progressed in The Surge, the more I started to see Deck 13 shining. The shadows are falling away, The Surge is miles better than Lords of the Fallen, and some trademark mechanics are starting to creep into the light. Deck 13 has polished and primed The Surge, and it now feels like it's time to stop comparing it to others and let it be noticed for what it is. Calling anything a Dark Souls clone at this point is purely lazy and an insult to the many smaller ways in which they're no way alike.

Despite its flaws, Steelrising will reward those who give it the time. It's fun to explore, with a rewarding combat system and quality-of-life features that'd be welcomed in more soulslikes. While its easier difficulty and rough presentation may drive away some Dark Souls veterans, there's plenty on offer when overlooking its faults.

The final game turned out really well, with tight gameplay and a great selection of characters.

Though the combat is unoriginal and a bit confusing, every other aspect of Nantucket shines brightly and all of it comes together to form a great indie experience unlike any other.

This is a game of running at light speed, double-jumping like crazy, and perilously running across walls and over pits. The levels are just so vast and give you plenty to explore, and the collectables are fun to seek out as well. Throw in an intriguing story and you have one of the best indie 3D platformers in years. If you can withstand a true platforming challenge, don't let this one pass you by.

Though a few aspects of the Turok series' design haven't aged well since original release, these two games nevertheless deliver on an incredibly fun and satisfying experience that all fans of casual shooters should try out.

While it's true that a LEGO game will never surprise anybody, the individual games can still be tons of fun – especially when you like the property involved. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 is a blast for Marvel fans, with hundreds of characters great and small, 20 huge levels with full co-op support, and a vast and beautiful open world to explore. True believers will get more than their money's worth from this one.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed immerses players into the treasured universe of paranormal extermination like never before. The moment-to-moment gameplay is nothing short of enchanting, and the emphasis on authentic squad-based ghostbusting stands as the best video game interpretation we've been treated to so far. However, the fun is dictated entirely by the number of friends you play with.

Despite my list of complaints, I've had a lot of fun with Darktide so far, and I'm looking forward to playing it for dozens (if not hundreds) of hours more as new features are added, issues are patched, and an increased player pool with the arrival of the Xbox Series X|S console versions.

While the campaign is rather short, the addictive nature of pulling off stylish moves to sever body parts keeps you coming back for more.

The controls are smoother on the PC, but the new version offers everything you could want from a Pathfinder video game.

The Flame In The Flood punches far above its humble Kickstarter origins, bringing accessibility with its checkpointed story campaign and an unforgiving challenge in its roguelite Endless mode. The way The Flame In The Flood's crafting system interacts with its creatures and upgrades is wonderfully purposeful, creating emergent drama without the need for scripted cut-scenes. When combined with The Flame In The Flood's incredible ambience and wonderful sound track, your journey downriver will be unforgettable — and unique to you.

If you're willing to overlook some questionable design choices, there's plenty of fun to be had with Outriders. Despite its numerous flaws, Outriders manages to provide loads of incredible, over-the-top fun.

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep elevates the gameplay, but falters on a storytelling front.

Control's AWE Expansion will satisfy a lot of Alan Wake fans who have been theorizing for nearly a decade about what happened to the writer. While it does introduce some great ideas, you'll ultimately have to wait for whatever Remedy does next to get real resolution.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl stands tall as one of the most captivating open-world shooters I've ever played, with a palpable atmosphere and deeply rewarding exploration that kept me glued to my seat along with addictively intense and dynamic action that kept me on the edge of it. Some major issues with certain mutant encounters and noteworthy bugs and performance snags take away from the experience, but even so, The Zone will engross you with its haunting wonders. There's truly nothing else like it.

Though a fun concept and quite enjoyable in the opening hours, MechWarrior 5 suffers from really repetitive gameplay, sharp difficulty spikes without warning, and bad writing.

For being Valhalla's first big expansion, Wrath of the Druids plays it a little too safe but still delivers an exciting adventure in the end.

Though things can often get a little too crazy, Hyper Sentinel's mostly satisfying gameplay and excellent presentation make it a fantastic choice for retro gaming fans.

If you're able to look past the lack of a strong central story, though, you'll be left with a gorgeous game built on some excellent (albeit underutilized) narrative foundations.

Mulaka is a good game which stands out more for its setting than gameplay. Had the combat and movement been more precise, it would've been a truly exceptional title.

The Lamplighters League is a solid turn-based strategy game that gives players a good amount of gameplay to sift through. Although the gameplay can get a little repetitive, its ability to continuously offer up new gameplay features or agents is impressive.

Team Sonic Racing offers a satisfactory experience. If you love Mario Kart 8 and want something on Xbox One, the game should satisfy you in the interim. However, you might want to wait for another, better game like Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a good fighting game that needs more polish.

Warhammer: Chaosbane is a good game, but it would've been better had it featured expansive environments.

Rise of Iron is a solid expansion to Destiny that may bring back even the most jaded fans. It's a great addition to a good game, that is fun for both new players and those who've been a Guardian for three years.

Atomic Heart nails the art design and core gameplay loops but loses focus due to its vast array of game mechanics and untailored open-world segments. Inconsistent writing quality and inaccessible game design will likely frustrate many players, but Atomic Heart can still manage to be an incredibly fun adventure.

Bloodline represents Ubisoft going back to its roots on the Watch Dogs franchise, and your mileage will vary. Either way, it doesn't feel like a Legion DLC.

Beyond Light has an excellent campaign and Europa is an awesome patrol zone, but the lack of new loot and the terrible Stasis balancing make the expansion difficult to recommend.

Strategy and simulation games can and do work on console. Titles like Surviving Mars and Halo Wars 1 and 2 have proven that you can make separate gamepad controls without fully necessitating keyboard and mouse support. But for whatever reason, They Are Billions for Xbox simply doesn't measure up. At the very least, the game is very affordable at $25, and the core gameplay is ace, but you'll want a mouse and keyboard hooked up to your console to get the best experience.

Though very aggravating to learn at first because of the terrible tutorial, Pure Farming 2018 is nevertheless an excellent farming simulator that brings new content and ideas to the table.

Hopefully Playtonic continues to support Yooka-Laylee with updates and refinements. But even with a few rough edges here and there, this is still a huge game that platforming fans must not miss.

The gameplay can get a little repetitive, but overall, the core experience of finding and befriending dinosaurs is well worth your time. There could certainly be some improvements, such as the ability to fast-travel back home or between biomes, and a limited supply of quests is disappointing.

My Time at Portia could use some polish to improve things like menus, positioning objects, and cursor positioning with a controller, but once you get used to its idiosyncrasies, it's a relaxing and rewarding experience.

Though there's fun to be had with West of Dead, cruel difficulty spikes, bugs, and unruly aiming prevent the game from achieving greatness.

Little Hope delivers solid scares and weaves a clever tale that, unfortunately, collapses in on itself.

Despite some buggy unit pathfinding and poor voice acting, Sudden Strike 4's tactical depth, excellent controls, and gorgeous overall presentation make it the best console RTS since Halo Wars 2.

The more serious tone and occasional lack of polish might disappoint players hoping for a true successor to Saints Row. But considering this is essentially a different brand and hopefully the first game of many, it certainly stands on its own as a quality open-world game. Just don't be surprised if it gets a stronger sequel down the line.

While this remaster succeeds in bringing the positive aspects of Guerilla's gameplay to a modern-looking experience, it also brought the negative ones as well. When you factor in the unacceptable performance flaws, it's disappointing. The game is decent... but it could have been so much better.

It's the sort of loosely adapted licensed game that we don't see much anymore. With great looks, fun exploration-based gameplay, and challenging shooting-based combat, most Metroidvania fans will get their money's worth as they try to master The Mummy Demastered.

Train Sim World Founders Edition is an impressively deep and detailed train simulator that is as fun to master as it is beautiful to look at and listen to. Though it faces some performance hiccups, the excellent gameplay ultimately makes it more than worth your time.

Farming Simulator 22 manages to scratch the itch of any hardcore simulator fan looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life for some time in an idyllic rural setting where they can raise livestock and produce. The mechanics can be a little convoluted for new players, but online multiplayer and a robust modding community can help anybody become an experienced farmhand.

Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck had a lot going for it based on its premise, but retreaded enemies and mostly underwhelming locations let down an otherwise fun expansion.

Throw in the enhanced photography and investigations, and Dead Rising 4 is an unusually deep and well-rounded game built around zombies. Forget the zombies, though. The real monsters are those who won't give Dead Rising 4 a chance.

Where RAGE 2 truly shines is its relentless, unapologetic, apocalyptic violence, which has long been id Software's forte.

I adored Atomfall every step of the way, and had more fun as it went on. Fans of Fallout, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, and Prey will find a familiar enjoyment in this masterclass of player freedom that promotes curiosity and rewards exploration that's worth the asking price — and at least worth a try if you're already subscribed to Game Pass. Enemy AI needs some work, and the combat isn't as well-refined as some of its peers in this genre, but it doesn't detract enough from the overall experience to matter.

The Order of Giants may not quite have the same impactful foes that permeated Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, but it's still a puzzle-laden adventure worth seeing through. Rome has never looked better in video games, and Troy Baker continues to put in a phenomenal performance as the titular hero.

The landscape of Regis III is as stunning as it is haunting, and Yasna's journey in this unusual land is rife with philosophical and moral conundrums that leave you with plenty to think about even after the credits roll.

The only major flaws holding this game back are that there only two playable factions and only one faction gets their own single-player campaign. But aside from that, Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector is a great, addictive strategy game that wonderfully translates the rules and action of the tabletop into a video game format.

Exoprimal is a somewhat fun action shooter that can’t decide what it wants to be. What potential fun there is to be had in its awesome PvE boss fights and horde-mode missions are bogged down by tacked-on and unfun PvP-elements and locking gameplay content behind hours of story progression without informing the player beforehand. If it had launched with the PvE-only Savage Gauntlet mode and removed all PvP elements from Dino Survival, Exoprimal would’ve been a better and more focused game.

For fans of the original, Mirrors Edge Catalyst offers a nostalgic return to a modern dystopian world, with massive improvements in gameplay mechanics. The franchise's fast-paced, fluid movement returns, combined with an immersive and engaging narrative. For gamers who aren't familiar with the first game, Mirror's Edge Catalyst's flaws are many, failing to obscure its biggest missteps.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a great survival game with an extremely steep learning curve.

For the first time in years, NHL 24 feels like a brand-new hockey game made for a modern generation. The addition of some much-needed gameplay features makes for a great time, but relatively unchanged game modes make this more of a small leap than a big jump.

Late Shift uses an awesomely innovative idea in a game that revolves around a young man being pulled into a deadly heist. The lack of normal gameplay elements makes it a very different kind of game, but it's a fun and compelling sprint for anyone who likes a good story. The differences your choices make also affect the story in new and unexpected ways, making it fun to replay the game trying for each of the 17 different endings.

Title aside, dodgeball and local multiplayer fans should have a great time with Stikbold. The $10 price tag is perfect for the game's level of content, too. Here's hoping the game sells well enough for us to get a sequel with online play and more arenas.

A short experience of about three to four hours, I was surprised the game ended when it did, because I'd become gripped by the story and revelations throughout. The horror is mild, and the only resource to worry about is oxygen, so it makes Narcosis a relatively gentle entry into the psychological survival horror fray. It's a thought-provoking and story-driven experience that I wanted more of, and a gripping narrative and boisterous sea creatures make Narcosis definitely worth a play.

Butcher's main selling point is its pixelated violence and gore. Blood from kills actually stays where it lands and will be visible on subsequent playthroughs, which is a cool touch. The premise is supposed to resemble classic shooters like Doom and Quake, but you play as a good guy in those games, not a bad one. Just being a remorseless killing machine (with no other explanation for your actions) might've appealed to my teenage self, but not so much nowadays.

Ubisoft's free-to-play first-person arena shooter is less Call of Duty and more Overwatch, but the Snowdrop engine shines even on maps that are way too large for their purpose. Weapon grinds are sluggish, leaving players with more time in the game access to better attachments, while newcomers struggle to even leave their spawns. The lack of skill based matchmaking is being celebrated by influencers on social media, but in practice it makes for unbalanced matches where high ranking players are steamrolling beginners, even in the Welcome Playlist.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre presents a distinctive virtual house of nightmares unlike any of its asymmetrical contemporaries. Every match feels like a bite-sized, three-act horror flick packed with gripping tension, genuine scares, and gratuitous murder. Technical problems and limited content variety put a damper on the overall package, but there’s ample twisted fun to have with friends and foes in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Watch Dogs: Legion is a departure from the typical Ubisoft brand, and it's better for it. The play as anybody system just works, there's a lot to do, and it's unabashedly political in a way that feels important in 2020.

For its $14.99 cost, the replayability is through the roof, with a selection of different assets to pick from, and weapons, mods, and upgrades to apply. The swings and roundabouts the game throws at you balances the game well in that it's challenging enough to want to keep playing, but every challenge in your way can be overcome with patience.

It's easy to see what games inspired All Walls Must Fall — think Superhot and X-Com — but developer inbetweengames managed to craft a unique setting and story that invites the player on a time-bending adventure through the Berlin nightlife in 2089. Implementing a time-sensitive system that forces you to make quick decisions and consider future actions on the spot, it's easy to pick up but difficult to master without a lot of practice.

If you're looking for a (mostly) peaceful gameplay experience that relaxes you and immerses you into an artificial world, Planet Alpha is definitely for you.

GreedFall delivers an experience that is as satisfying as it is ambitious, although it does falter in some notable ways.

Saying this is the best Need for Speed games in years may not mean much when some of its recent predecessors were just decent, but Need for Speed Heat is a return to its roots for better or worse, and is still fun to play even if there are better racers out there.

Layers of Fear (2023) makes full use of Unreal Engine 5 to elevate its visuals, lighting, and environments to all-new heights, reimagines the original Layers of Fear, and features brand-new DLC content to tie the entire story together. Layers of Fear 2 still struggles to compare, however, and scares often fail to land.

Many of Battletoads' design sensibilities may seem archaic in 2020, but that was ultimately Dlala trying to build on the chaotic formula set by the original. Battletoads struggles as a single-player game but soars as a varied couch co-op experience party game for up to three friends. And hey, it's often laugh-out-loud funny too.

Solo players will likely be disappointed by the content offered here, but if you have a squad of dedicated friends who enjoy sinking their teeth into class-based meta, there’s so much to love with this gory, campy, and mesmerizing video game.

The port of Halo 2: Anniversary is good in many ways, but suffers from big issues in others. Overall, it's fine — but "fine" isn't good enough for Halo.

Minecraft Legends is a wonderful addition to the expanding Minecraft universe, perfectly encapsulating its character while exploring a new, unique action-strategy genre. Its two halves aren't always perfectly balanced, though, and there are certainly ways the game can improve.

With excellent gunplay, awesome destructibility, a huge roster of playable characters, and a suite of well-designed stages, this experimental entry in the long-running military shooter franchise checks many of the right boxes.

Though it fails to satisfyingly remaster the game's visuals, Assassin's Creed Rogue Remastered nevertheless brings the original game to the Xbox One with perfect performance and every feature that made it great in the first place.

Maneater is a quirky and addictive role-playing game that every Xbox One owner should play.

Battleborn is an incredibly ambitious title, and beneath the issues, there beats the heart of a robust and strategic MOBA shooter – and it occasionally reveals itself in exciting moments throughout both PvP and PvE. Methodical, strategic players will potentially get a lot out of the game – particularly if you're playing with co-ordinated friends – but the clunky engine could dissuade traditional first-person shooter fans. It'll be interesting to see how Battleborn develops further over the coming months.

NHL 23 is a step up for the NHL series as a whole, with changes to gameplay features resulting in a much more accessible experience. New inclusions to the game's Franchise Modes and online play also make it one of the best entries yet.

Despite the unimpressive graphics, Fishing Sim World is definitely a game you should get if you like simulators and want to see what a simulated fishing experience is like.

While there's something that doesn't sit quite right with me in regards to Mutant Year Zero's characters, that's not even close to being a good reason not to get the Seed of Evil expansion. Offering a plethora of new, enjoyable content to experience for a little under half of the base game's retail price, Mutant Year Zero: Seed of Evil represents incredible value for your money.

High on Life 2 can be a pain when it comes to performance, but if you're willing to look past that, there's some decent gameplay wrapped in the funniest dialogue a game can have.

Achievement hunters and completionists may find Trek to Yomi more daunting with its multiple playthrough requirements and the cursed decision to forego a chapter select feature. The majority of the game's challenges come from completing boss encounters without taking any damage, and failing to do so means rerunning the entire campaign or manipulating cloud saves to try again, which simply feels like forced padding of otherwise solid gameplay.

With engaging combat and a story to accompany it, Tokyo 42 is a great addition to the ID@Xbox program.

The Medium is one of the most gorgeous horror games I've ever played. Its detailed environments, compelling characters, and unique setting make it a must-play for psychological horror fans.

Spellspire isn't quite as good as Letter Quest Remastered. The latter offers more variety, better art, and an easier, more entertaining battle system. Still, this one is a quality word game, with 100 floors of word battles on the way up and an extra challenging 100 subterranean floors to contend with after that. The upgrade system adds some depth and helps maintain interest along the way. While Letter Quest looks a little nicer, Spellspire's music is actually a lot better and more appropriate for this style of game. Given the scarcity of word games in general, players who enjoy spelling and finding words in general are bound to get their money's worth from Spellspire.

With its striking art direction, haunting soundtrack and focus on exploration, Sable is a great journey about understanding yourself. Frequent stuttering and some bugs bring the experience down though.

Space Hulk: Tactics falls over a little when it comes to its campaign and progression system, but over all it earns a recommendation from us for fans of the genre. For more detail, read on.

The Coma still manages a strong sense of dread thanks to its dark atmosphere and unstoppable killers. Throw in an intriguing story and sharp writing, and The Coma: Recut is an excellent remake of a horror title that console players never had a chance to play until now.

Flintlock is a fun "Soulslite" that has an interesting plot despite bad storytelling. It will hook you with its satisfying combat, fast-paced exploration, and fascinating environments. You're armed with an axe, a pistol, and magic while going up against both human and supernatural foes with a fox-like creature at your side. Knowing when to use what attack makes all the difference. There are three difficulty modes to choose from, so you can find the best playing experience. Plus, this game allows you to pause whenever you want, making it more accommodating than other Soulslike games out there.

Nine Parchments is a good game that needs more open environments and a stronger story. Nowadays, the plot is what distinguishes one experience over the other because there aren't many truly original gameplay ideas out there. Unfortunately, Nine Parchments fails here because it takes place in the Trine universe but does not provide a compelling narrative like Trine and Trine 2.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is brimming with fantastic characters, fun combat, and legitimate potential. However, limited content and a laundry list of bugs keep it from thriving as a platform fighter right now.

Last Stop takes a lot of risks, and for the most part, it succeeds. It's a game about interconnectivity in a modern world, but a few flaws keep it from rising to the heights it wants to.

Despite the issues that drag down Darksiders III, it's still an excellent hack-and-slash action RPG that is more than worth the $60 purchase. Combat is challenging and fun, the game world is richly detailed and full of secrets, and the artistic presentation is nothing short of phenomenal. Darksiders III is definitely a game that you should pick up, and the Darksiders franchise is definitely here to stay.

Minecraft Dungeons meat is in its satisfying combat and complex character-building opportunities, and in that, the game delivers by the truckload.

For more casual fans there's much more on offer there albeit without the real-life licensing. It's got more modes, more vehicle types and ultimately, more longevity before you have to think about the multiplayer option. It also doesn't implement any artificially bad handling.

Madden NFL 22 injects some much needed improvements into a series that was dangerously close to growing stale. Coupled with some big changes to core modes, Madden NFL 22 elevates itself into one of the best from the long-running series.

Scorn presents one of the most visually striking and untouchably atmospheric game worlds in recent memory. Ebb Software also admirably challenges horror gameplay conventions and profoundly examines humanity's insatiable desires. Unfortunately, the crawling pace might deter players from seeing it through.

Having played on both Xbox One and Vita, I find that the big-screen experience really shows off Sword City's amazing artwork and provides a more immersive first-person experience.

New World is one of the most beginner-friendly MMOs available, but its lacking quests and PvE makes me worried about the future. The PvP, however, is a blast.