It truly smashed the hype and shocked the critics. GTA IV is a game that MUST be experienced even if you haven't liked the game in the past... And what's better is that there is more to come.

A stunning, elegiac western that features some of Rockstar's best writing to date, Red Dead Redemption 2 is also the studio's finest open-world to date, handcrafted with real, tangible care and attention, defying the boundaries of what a video game can be. Arthur Morgan will also inhabit a special place in your heart, as a likeable, relatable rogue striving to find his way in the world. Good ol' Arthur.

Over one year on and Grand Theft Auto V is still a stunning, unmatched achievement. An open-world that's still utterly absorbing, characters that you'll still want to spend time with and enough new stuff to drag you back for more, all conspire to make GTA V on new-gen entirely indispensable. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

Memorable missions, barnstorming heists, amusing side objectives and an almost impossibly immersive world to explore, make for the best Grand Theft Auto since Vice City and San Andreas.

A modern day gaming masterpiece. Simply put, it's one of the greatest games of the current era and serves as a high watermark that may not be surpassed for years to come. From the compelling plot and completely convincing atmosphere to the fantastic graphics and attention to detail, Bioshock is the total package.

Elden Ring offers up a gorgeous open world that is enticing and exciting to explore, along with excellent combat variety, amazing bosses to fight, and intricate dungeons to tackle. It might feel a little familiar, but this could well be FromSoftware’s best game to date.

Mass Effect 2 is the poster child for non-linear storytelling. With perhaps the finest cast of characters in gaming, and tons of replayability, Mass Effect 2 is an epic sci-fi adventure that shouldn't be missed.

Simply put, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has raised the bar in the RPG genre, offering a plethora of engaging and unique content in one of the most immersive and beautiful game worlds ever created. Plus, any game that uses the word "lollygagging" deserves eternal praise.

An ornate and clever sequel that enlivens the formula, with a niggling hint of deja vu.

Red Dead Redemption is undoubtedly one of the finest open-world games in quite some time and easily the best western inspired game ever made. Rockstar San Diego’s production values are seemingly impressive, but for a large triple-A title, it doesn’t have the same polish that you’d expect from a publisher and developer of Rockstar’s calibre. With more glitches than Windows Vista and too much pre-mission horsey riding, Red Dead Redemption is an amazing adventure... but, and if you want to be a 90 plus title in 2010, there can’t be any buts. Well not that big anyway!

Someone, please send help. I can't stop playing Vampire Survivors, and I'm worried it might end up ruining my life. This is pure and unadulterated gameplay that will suck away hours of your life, but you'll be loving every bit of it.

Valve has worked its magic yet again with Portal 2, creating a mind-blowing game that's simply superb in both single-player and co-op. In other words, it's hole-ly essential.

An outstanding sequel in every department, with stunning gameplay, an immersive world to explore and fantastically well-realised characterisation. The music and voice-acting is exemplary and the visuals are gorgeous. Batman: Arkham City is an incredibly well-crafted, labour of love and no mistake. In short, it's genius.

Persona 5 Royal is easily one of the best JRPGs on Xbox, which isn’t bad for a game that originally came out in 2019! A perfect blend of real-world shenanigans, mixed with some intense dungeon-crawling sections, and put together in one of the most perfectly presented packages in video games - what’s not to love? Buy it, play it on Game Pass... just make sure you experience it.

The story was excellent and the campaign was extremely exciting to go through. The online is awesome, although it needs some work on gametypes.

Modern Warfare 2 shatters the old standard of excellence and has raised the bar for what it means to be an epic shooter. With a mind-shattering campaign, superb co-op play, and the deepest multiplayer experience on Live, Modern Warfare 2 is one of the greatest shooters in gaming history, and a must-own for fans of the genre.

Hades is an excellent action game that allows players to find progression even in death. Roguelikes are normally known for their high level of difficulty, but in Hades, the greatest challenge you’ll face is trying to put it down.

Not only one of the best story-driven games of all time, it’s one of the best games we’ve ever played full stop. With a fantastic chemistry between the game’s two central characters, one of the most stunningly realised game worlds, some excellent game mechanics, incredible production values and a frankly genius story, it’s a game that simply everyone and his dog must own.

Street Fighter IV is a more than competent fighting game, in fact, it’s great, but in order to have the package these days, you need to deliver on more than the fighting mechanism.

It Takes Two set the bar for co-op excellence, and while Split Fiction doesn't necessarily raise it, Hazelight has succeeded in delivering another stellar two-player experience, packed with a variety of superlative set pieces and clever gameplay mechanics.

Fallout 3 masterfully creates a parallel universe for players to explore and lose dozens of hours in. No other game of this console generation comes close to offering the amount of content, freedom of choice, and level of immersion that can be found here.

Gears of War 2 is a fantastic game, with an epic campaign, incredible Horde co-op experience, and improved multiplayer; all in a package that promises to keep players entertained for dozens, if not hundreds of hours. Several issues keep the game from being all it could be, but it remains a worthy addition to any 360 owner's library.

The perfect ending to a masterful trilogy that's gone from strength-to-strength with each title. It's the conclusion you're hoping for, with each decision demanding that you think twice before pulling the trigger.

After reinventing the series with Resident Evil VII, returning to Raccoon City to relive past glories proves more than welcome. Calling Resident Evil 2 a remake, however, almost seems reductive. It looks and plays like a brand-new game, prodding the nostalgia glands while delivering something that feels fresh. Resident Evil 2 is expertly executed and bloody sublime.

A brilliantly effective blend of the old and the new, Resident Evil Requiem succeeds in just about every conceivable department. It's tense, compelling, and an all-round good time.

Building upon everything that has continued to mark out the Forza Horizon series as something special and unique its own right - beyond being Forza Motorsport's carefree sibling - Forza Horizon 4 demonstrates once again just how recklessly entertaining driving roughshod across an open environment can be. Revelling in what makes Britain great, Forza Horizon 4 also proves once more that Playground Games is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to delivering a polished, deep, and thrilling open-world racing experience.

Divinity Original Sin 2: Definitive Edition is a fine installment in the Divinity series and despite a few odd design decisions and the balance being completely out of whack, it’s still a truly memorable and enjoyable experience.

Picking up Rock Band and starting out is such an easy and enjoyable experience. You will feel like you are actually in a rock band, without playing thousands of dollars for equipment.

That’s the thing about Forza Horizon 5 - it’s like a Forza Horizon greatest hits album. The handling and fundamental mechanics remain unrivalled; the cars are still absolutely stunning; and as for Mexico as an environment… well, it’s honestly a bit mind-blowing – especially on new-gen consoles (although it works perfectly on the lower-end Xbox One S console, too). Ultimately, it’s hard to fault Forza Horizon 5 at all. Sure, it may not be brimming with exciting innovations, but it’s packed to the rafters with the entire franchise's most memorable, compelling content, informed by everything that Playground Games has learned over the last nine years. Forza Horizon is most definitely a jewel in Xbox's crown, and Forza Horizon 5 is quite possibly the shiniest of them all.

A singular work of brilliance, What Remains of Edith Finch is one-of-a-kind; a real breath of fresh air that serves as a welcome reminder of video games' capacity to surprise and tell incredible stories. Stunning.

Braid is a classic, and this edition features beautifully redone art and music, with hours of excellent developer commentary.

After a bit of a difficult start, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth soon manages to hit the gas, its story proving an engaging affair amid an ocean of mini-games and other distractions. This is a massive game, but one you'll want to dive headfirst into.

Easily the best simulator on consoles and is a simulation game that racing fans around the world can welcome with open arms. I mean everyone, whether you want to race with all the assists off and get the true simulation experience, or whether you want to experience fast cars and beautiful tracks but don’t know your clutch from your cam belt.

This is certainly not a game for just Batman fans, comic fans or action fans; this is a game that everyone should play and thoroughly enjoy. It looks beautiful, plays like a dream and has a superb mix of action, stealth and detective elements. The combat is intuitive, flexible and surprisingly deep too. Give this game a go and you will not be pleasantly surprise, you will be blown away.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a wonderful new IP from previous Persona stalwarts. Sure, a few of the similarities are a little on the nose, but Studio Zero has executed enough tweaks for it to fly its own flag... and boy does it do that! It's a charming fantasy RPG with a lot of heart.

The added online feature for the Band World Tour mode surely makes this the best music game on the market right now.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is probably one of the most impressive $40/£40 games I’ve ever played and puts a lot of full price games to shame. Thanks to some really unique battle systems and combat variety, Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG to remember. It’s bloody gorgeous too! Oof!

Few will find themselves longing for things to return to the way they used to be, and Super Street Fighter IV updates the already winning formula in a logical, progressive manner to create an end product entirely deserving of its superlative moniker. Others will eventually follow, but for now Super Street Fighter IV is the undisputed fighting game champion of the world.

A grand sequel and one that adds to the impressive nature of the first game immensely.

Diablo IV boasts a new look, with its new open-world and online format, but at its heart, it’s very much a classic Diablo experience. A little old-school still, sure, but the core combat is still as fun and addictive as ever, and there’s RPG mechanics for days to sink your teeth into. What’s not to love?

Despite its vast scope, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt tells a personal, intimate and touching story, filled with characters you’ll love and hate, and stuffed with monsters to slay. I completed the main storyline in around 50 hours and - yes I know this is a cliche - I’ve barely scratched the surface. The Witcher 3 is an astounding achievement.

A gorgeous, joy-filled, characterful platformer. Aside from a few minor niggles, Rayman Legends deserves a place alongside the very best examples of the genre. It looks ever-so slightly prettier on Xbox One, but that's about it. Nonetheless, Rayman Legends is still highly recommended.

Overwatch abandons a lot of what we’ve come to expect from multiplayer shooters to create a fresh, exciting, fantastically entertainingly experience. I may never play anything else.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is effectively the offspring of what would happen if Dark Souls and Tenchu got frisky under the covers on a weekend trip out to the lake. It’s devilishly difficult, supremely stylish and fantastically realised. It’s just a shame that FromSoftware still hasn’t fixed the camera issues and shonky lock-on system a whole ten years after the first Souls game.

Forza Horizon 3 is another stellar open world racing game that has a plethora of things to see and do. Some of it can get somewhat repetitive during prolonged sessions, but Playground Games has really gone to town in packing the game with a variety of events and some great online activities to keep you hooked. Hit the gas and set off on an Aussie racing odyssey. You won't regret it.

Unapologetically tough, brilliantly slick and well put together, Dead Cells is a roguelike platformer that will put you to the test. And you'll probably end up enjoying (almost) every minute of it.

Bungie wanted to go out with a bang, but instead, they've gone out with a nuclear explosion that not even a Spartan could survive. It's the end of an era, that's for sure, but the beginning of a new one. Step up 343, you have some big boots to fill.

A remake full of changes and adjustments that stays true to the spirit of the original, Resident Evil 4 can't be seen as anything but a complete success. Some may malign what's missing, but the areas that have been added or expanded more than make up for what's been taken out. This is brilliant stuff.

Boasting unrivalled visuals, an engaging career mode, fluid, responsive gameplay, and plenty of features to boot, the only real criticism we have is that they possibly haven't advanced the series as much as we'd have liked them to have done for the fourth iteration.

An unmitigated triumph for Epic, not only finishing off the trilogy in style, but doing so while expanding upon already sturdy foundations. It's a game that tugs on the heartstrings at times, raising more than a few laughs, offering undeniable value for money and boasting production values of a Hollywood movie. Gears of War 3 is the very definition of a killer-app.

If this is how F1 goes out on current-gen, Codemasters should be proud of where it's taken the series, not only in making it more open and accessible to players of all skill levels, but also in bringing unprecedented depth, detail and immersion. Make no mistake, F1 2020 is the best Formula One game money can buy and a stellar racing experience in its own right.

Brilliant. The last big release of the year, Far Cry 3 may well top them all. Almost unfalteringly entertaining, it's a game that will have you coming back for more long after the credits have rolled, in order to seek out every nook, cranny and secret of the game's tropical island. Chuck in a decent multiplayer suite, a fun co-op mode and staggeringly impressive map editor and you've got a winner. A must buy.

Odd, compelling, and ultimately engrossing, Death Stranding: Director's Cut is a genre mash-up with more than a few ideas of its own. Not quite a work of genius, it's nonetheless something that once again demonstrates the madness and brilliance of Hideo Kojima. Five years on from its original release, it's only gained in relevance.

Assassin’s Creed 2 does exactly what we want a sequel to do. It improves on the original vastly and corrects all the errors, it adds a ton more depth and content, yet it still manages to encapsulate the charm of the original.

Alan Wake 2 might feel slightly different than the original in terms of composition, but it’s still equally as brilliant. With two vastly different campaigns and perspectives, Remedy’s sequel is a great survival-horror game and a fantastic detective drama, boasting one of the best narratives in recent memory.

It has been a while since a game of this quality has kicked off the year, but Bayonetta delivers on every front, even managing to draw in players that would normally give this genre a miss, thanks to the superb presentation, humour and charm. The game pretty much lures you into multiple playthroughs too, thanks to that ‘one more try’ mentality to surpass yourself, which is a rare feat indeed. It may be that Japan will not make them like this anymore and that would be a tragedy, so do yourself a favour and enjoy this game.

To insinuate that The Lost & The Damned is downloadable content is almost an insult to the depth and content that is packed into a tiny 1600 Microsoft Point punch. The Lost & Damned ($20, €19 or £13) is as big a bargain as you could possibly ask for and can offer you a hell of a lot more content than your traditional budget titles and even fully blown retail games, but with 50 times the quality.

Another flowing, fun, feast of football which most fans will lap up. FIFA 12 is not a great leap over the titles from recent years, but is still one of the very best sports games on the market.

After all this while, Team Cherry has come back and done it again. Hollow Knight: Silksong is a fiendish metroidvania that repays your close attention and your stress with rich sights and sounds.

It's easy to see why Blue Prince took eight years to make. It's an intricate and layered puzzle game that rewards discovery, albeit at a pace that can make it quite frustrating. Still, if you stick with it, the journey, and the secrets you reveal along the way, make it all quite worthwhile.

The Dead Space remake successfully revives a beloved survival horror franchise with gloriously gory aplomb. Nothing that made the original so good has been compromised, even with all the new additions. Bring on Dead Space 2!

This is still a great game of football and has a few neat improvements over last year's offering. However, the 360 degree control hardly seems groundbreaking and the rest of the package seems amazingly familiar. For all those that picked up the game last year, it will seem like very little has emerged to justify another full price release.

NieR: Automata makes some very brave choices when it comes to gameplay and direction. Platinum’s work on the combat and the bullet-hell comes off strongly and cleanly, and with Yoko Taro’s insane vision and obsession with morality and philosophy fuelling the narrative, the result is a game with a split personality that makes you fall in love with both sides. NieR: Automata is unlike anything else you can play on Xbox One.

Backed by an amazing art style, a great soundtrack and a selection of heartwarming characters to take you through the story, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is pure platforming perfection.

Dead Space 2 is a worthwhile sequel to its predecessor, delivering the same brilliantly foreboding atmosphere, outstanding audio and peerless lighting. Despite the somewhat tedious final sequence that far outstays its welcome, fans of the original won't be disappointed by Visceral's latest instalment. Everything else that comes before moment though is pure video gaming gold, which is both fantastically paced and an unreserved joy to play.

A ludicrously polished and tight game of basketball, NBA 2K17 is representative of a series that's at the top of its game. There are a few flaws, as ever, but they pale into insignificance against the consistent excellence that shines through in almost every nook and cranny of NBA 2K17. This is a shoo-in for All-Star status.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is not just the best strategy game this year, it's the best strategy game this generation and possibly the best ever strategy game on consoles.

As Street Fighter approaches its 36th year, Capcom proves that it still has what it takes to make a cracking fighting game. Street Fighter 6 not only feels fresh and vital thanks to its excellent World Tour mode and online Battle Hub, but it cements the series' credentials as one of the best around.

Retaining its position at the top of the league, FIFA 13 shows us yet again that EA Sports is the daddy of iterative improvements. It may not be a huge leap over FIFA 12, but it remains the very best football game available on consoles. An easy recommendation.

Another Monster Hunter game, another eminently playable entry in Capcom's colossal creature feature. Monster Hunter Wilds is superb, with the new Focus Mode making for the most immediate and enjoyable instalment to date. A monster triumph.

Yakuza makes its long-awaited debut on Xbox One with the best entry in the series. Yakuza 0 is a superlative game, boasting outlandish and violent combat, bizarre peripheral characters, and a story that introduces two great protagonists in Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima. Play it and you'll quickly become fully invested in all things Yakuza.

If you've never played a Mass Effect game before, you can consider purchasing the Legendary Edition an absolute no-brainer. If you fancy revisiting BioWare's seminal sci-fi saga (and frankly, why wouldn't you?), then, equally, Mass Effect Legendary Edition is essential. Bottom line: you need this.

A gorgeous, joy-filled, characterful platformer. Aside from a few minor niggles, Rayman Legends deserves a place alongside the very best examples of the genre. Highly recommended.

Don't be put off by the NBA lockout causing a lack of rookies in the game, NBA 2K12 is still a massive basketball game with unfathomably deep gameplay and an astonishing array of game modes that'll easily last you until next year's instalment.

Building upon what makes the series unique, Borderlands 4 is a triumphant dose of looter-shooter mayhem, with ample depth to match its fast and frantic gunplay.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is about the importance of friendship and striving to become a better person, which is a message we could all do with right now. It also happens to be a sensational new dawn for a series that's brave enough to shake up the formula and accomplished enough to pull it off with aplomb. To quote Ichi, “let's do some hero shit!”

A fantastic sequel full to the brim with colour, verve and personality, excelling as an enjoyable shooter with involving RPG elements despite more fetch quests than several dogs will experience in a lifetime. It's all wonderfully well-executed and fun to play.

Infinity Ward's seminal Call of Duty gets the revamp it deserves; Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered gives the 2007 shooter a new lease of life, enabling newcomers to see what all the fuss was about and veterans the chance to relive a classic. The best Call of Duty game just got even better.

Yet another elegantly composed and impeccably designed Arkane sandbox, Deathloop is an intricate murder puzzle that’s part-Hitman, part-roguelite, and entirely sensational. There are few better ways to kill time.

A game that provides a healthy dollop of pathos with its co-operative fun, It Takes Two is an unadulterated shot of joy brimming with inventive puzzles and smart ideas. Sure, some of its metaphors for the breakdown happening in May and Cody's relationship might be a little heavy-handed, but there's so much to love here that it's hard to care about such trifles. It Takes Two is a breath of fresh air and total.

Hugely original and imaginative.

Achingly beautiful to behold and incredible to play, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will be the best Roman holiday you'll ever have.

More modes, more scary zombie madness, a totally different feel to how you romp through the campaign and so much more. Yes, it’s all very familiar, but you won’t regret paying the cash for what is the best co-operative multiplayer experience around.

Without a doubt this is one of the best multiplayer experiences you will find on the 360, however anyone wanting to go it alone will quickly tire of playing the scenarios over and over again. Repetition is kept to a minimum thanks to the A.I Director but unless you have LIVE and a solid squad of friends then you should probably give this a miss.

Dark Souls makes no bones about being unrelenting in its difficulty though, although it's by no means insurmountable. It's a rare game that's unlike anything else, refusing to pander or compromise in any way, shape or form. In this day and age, Dark Souls is hugely refreshing then, and well worth the time and effort.

A captivating trawl through four decades of Tetris, with a stack of archive footage and other interesting tidbits, Tetris Forever is also a superlative collection of games and curios that will satisfy all but the most demanding of Tetris fans. Essential stuff.

More than the sum of its parts and some really quite magnificent visuals, Tekken 8 is a truly terrific fighting game, which, in the midst of a resurgence for the genre, is quite something. After thirty years, Tekken 8 proves there's a lot of life left in the series yet.

For newcomers Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin is a superb package, with the wonderful DLC thrown in and the visuals at the best they have ever been. However, it's also tough going thanks to the remixed enemy placements and new random encounters. For veterans this is a welcome return to Drangleic but not one that is mandatory, as the changes feel all too insubstantial at times.

Persona 4 Golden has absolutely withstood the test of time, delivering a fantastic story with a truly likeable cast of characters. Could more have been done with the visuals? Perhaps, but it’s still a brilliant game nonetheless. A true classic, now available on your console of choice. Sweet.

The great combat system is paired up with tight controls, while superb graphics, audio, and storytelling will keep players rapt from beginning to end. Horror fans will have a blast with this game.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution has happily been worth the wait and is a game that can hold its head up high next to the first game. Jensen isn't the most charismatic character, and the story is a tad patchy in places, but the game's world and its characters more than make up for it. Deus Ex: Human Revolution heralds the arrival of the cyber-renaissance, and it's pure gold.

On paper, LA Noire sounds like an open-world sandbox fused with an interactive movie, but in truth, it's so much more. It's groundbreaking, effortlessly engaging and utterly sublime. To miss playing LA Noire would be a heinous crime. Simply put, it's a work of unbridled genius.

Instead of being a case of diminishing returns, NBA 2K11 sees the franchise in peak condition. The inclusion of the sport's greatest player is much more than just a stunt for the cover and resurrects a time in basketball that we remember fondly. Nostalgia aside, NBA 2K11 is much like Air Jordan himself – the all-time greatest.

With NetherRealm firing on all cylinders, Injustice 2 is not just a great looking comic book fighting game, but it's also a remarkably deep, gratifying and consistently entertaining one too. The gear system is great too, ensuring you'll be playing for months on end. A triumphant return for DC's heroes and villains.

Fallout 4 might not be as technically advanced as, say The Witcher 3, but it’s a game full of charm and substance, which makes up for an aging Creation Engine. Fallout 4 boasts an incredible world full of intrigue, mystery and suspense, backed by a whole host of weird and wonderful characters. It’s a world you’re going to want to go back to, time and time again.

Sonic and co.'s best kart outing to date, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds comes close to achieving Mario Kart levels of fun, with enjoyable drifting and power-up based combat, as well as a neat gimmick in those realm-shifting 'world ring' portals that drop on the track. This is a bright and breezy blast.

A well produced title that will give you another slice of entertainment, whether you choose to go it alone or head online to kick ass and take some names. It's nothing new though, and single-player feels especially lightweight this time around, so there is still room for improvement. More of the same next year then – which is both great news and a bit disappointing really.

Dishonored is this year's must-have new IP, with fresh ideas, plenty of charm and inventiveness, and tying them together in a stylish fashion. Who said creativity in the games industry was dead, huh? Dishonored says hello. Your free time says goodbye.