Horizon Chase Turbo doesn’t come without faults, but even so, it’s easily one of the most entertaining retro arcade racers in recent memory. I take issue with the game’s unbalanced AI and its unsteady difficulty curve, collectively presenting infrequent moments of frustration. This, however, is easy to overlook in the face of its deep serving of content, its diverse track and vehicle selection, and its addictive, energetic gameplay.

Freedom Finger is a brilliantly surreal, challenging, vulgar and plain fun arcade shooter. While difficulty spikes can get a little frustrating, overall I enjoyed the style, story and gameplay more than enough to keep me going.

F1 Manager 2024 is the most feature rich experience to date in the franchise and just like last year I can see Team principles being glued to their chair once again trying to improve their team’s fortune. Whether it’s creating your own team or taking charge of one of the current Formula One teams, F1 Manager 2024 is close to being a 10/10 experience for any sports management game.

The experience of playing Football Manager on my living room TV really makes a difference – the whole thing feels more premium. I will always be a full-fat version of the game kinda guy, but that doesn’t take away from the fact the Sports Interactive have done a great job at making a Football Manager sim accessible to people who don’t want to search the Ecuadorean 3rd division to find the next wonder kid. One of the features that has really impressed me with the Xbox version is the quick resume feature, no waiting on loading screens just to grab a couple of games before dinner or heading off to work means that it really can be a pick up and play experience.

My time with The Surge 2 is far from over. Lessons from the original have clearly been learned, with the whole production having a better feel to every aspect, from combat through audio/visual presentation. While in some parts the difficulty spikes to an almost frustrating degree, it’s worth persevering with. An absolutely brilliant entry into the Souls genre, and well worth picking up.

Although quirky, Visage is a thrill to play as the random events can change your experience with the game each playthrough, but playing it more than once will remove most of the thrill by knowing the jump scares and harder puzzles. I hope SadSquare studio continues to add to this title, as it can benefit from it, and it deserves to be played by the horror genre fans. I managed to solve all puzzles and earn all 27 achievements for 1,000 gamerscore in Visage in roughly 12-15 hours.

Bleed 2 is an average bullet hell game that will be better appreciated by streamers and speedrunners. Those looking for a padded, in-depth, side-scrolling shooter, will be left in the cold. Despite some interesting gameplay design throughout the varying levels, Bleed 2 just doesn’t stand out. It’s worth the price of admission for its content alone, I’ll give it that, but it’s far from revolutionary and lacks originality.

Yonder’s world is as endearing as it is captivating, but the Animal Crossing/Harvest Moon-esque content that fills it, although accessible and plentiful, isn’t quite as robust as it appears to be. Whilst most of the game’s fun quests and opportunities have meaning and depth, a large portion of them feel needless and tacked on, merely to bolster longevity. Still, overall, it’s hard not to be allured by the game’s diverse and truly relaxing foundation.

Battlefield V’s content depth may indeed be lacking, though even so, the content that is on offer remains explosively robust from the onset. The campaign is relatively engaging and emotional, and the multiplayer is every bit as action-heavy as it ever has been. That said, if you’re looking for a varied shooter, you may want to hold off until DICE adds in its additional story, its battle royale mode, and its extra maps.

EAFC 26 is still the leading football simulation game in the world, and it’s not even close. It’s a shame there is no real competition to keep them on their toes. They are keeping with the ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ mantra and appeasing their biggest money maker by putting a large amount of focus on the Ultimate Team game mode. They have made just enough graphical and gameplay changes so it can be considered a new game, but barely.

I came into Spellbreak hesitant for yet another entry into the Battle Royale genre and yet I’m sitting here writing this a convert; it looks and sounds great, and the core gameplay is unique enough among its peers that it is easy to recommend if you fancy something that doesn’t rely on traditional gunplay. Of course, the usual FTP monetisation is present, but it’s a small (optional) price to play for what is an incredibly fun game.

Exit The Gungeon is a a game that I can’t say would keep me coming back for more. I absolutely love how creative the guns and bosses in the game can be, but I can’t see myself coming back to play it over and over again. It’s not a dungeon crawler anymore, your just fighting enemies in an elevator shaft. While the fun is immediate in the beginning, after a couple of runs it is sure to die down.

If you take one thing away from this review, be it this; playing Haven is utterly mesmerising, a wonderfully written and performed tale of two lovers taking a chance on each other even at the cost of their very way of life. Yu and Kay have become two of my favourite characters this year, and even now I can’t help wonder where they will go next. Exploring Source is an exercise if joy, even when we have to repeat sections a few times, and there always feels like there is something else to find or see. It could have been a tad shorter, but when what’s here is this enjoyable I’ll allow it!

WWE 2K22 is the comeback that the series needed to put itself back on everyone’s radar once again. The game’s amazing presentation and fluid gameplay are exactly what the doctor ordered to make such a solid and enjoyable experience. 2K delivered on all of their promises making WWE 2K22 a instalment that “Hits Different”.

The Legend of Tianding is a solid beat ’em up that offers a unique twist by allowing you to collect stackable buffs, making it a great way for you to customize their experience. The platforming and combat mechanics are superb, and fun. Overall, if you enjoy beat ’em up games, I highly recommend giving it a try.

Heading Out has a clear sense of style and carries the whole experience. It falters a little with the driving model and some small bugs.

Metal Eden is a fantastic title, brimming with explosive encounters and dazzling moments of traversal. It is as good as the other big budget run-and-gunner this year.

Radiolight is an enjoyable sci-fi adventure where we’re constantly wanting to see what’s next, with great performances pulling us through to a solid conclusion.

Some weaker combat and a few UI problems aside, Tormented Souls 2 is a good love letter to the survival horror genre, with good exploration and puzzles to keep us wanting to see more.

Deep Silver Fishlabs has spent a lot of time developing space-combat shooter games; they also developed the Galaxy on Fire series, and I think all of that time has culminated in a stand-out product here in Chorus. Taking the gameplay elements found in a typical 3D action RPG and applying them to a space flight game works tremendously well. Flying around the levels is a blast, the combat is enjoyable, and the story is more substantial than I expected, which was good and bad, as sometimes I wished the characters would shut up so I could get back into the action. If playing a space-combat shooter with an action RPG structure sounds at all interesting then you should consider checking out Chorus.

Q.U.B.E. 2 is thought provoking, well designed, and intriguing. Unfortunately, however, issues with the framerate and some texture problems persist throughout. With that to the side, this is a wonderfully crafted puzzle adventure that maintains its innovation and unique concept from beginning to end.

Moving Out is simple, light-hearted and fun – and a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. If you take it as face value, it’s well made and entertaining. Single player can get a bit boring, but this is clearly a multiplayer focused experience and it’s much more fun there. And yes, it may cause arguments, but isn’t that part of the fun?

Immortal Redneck is a good, lengthy game. With its outdated graphics to the side, the game holds its own and deserves a place up there with Serious Sam. Its fast-paced gameplay offers fun, hilarity, and comes with some truly crazy gimmicks. The biggest downside is that it becomes overly repetitive before long.

My Brother Rabbit’s dual story offers a charming, warm and somewhat emotional adventure. Special mention goes to the game’s gorgeously drawn artwork, together with its wonderful soundtrack. It’s easily the most distinct point-and-click game that we’ve seen from Artifex Mundi so far, and despite its lack of difficulty, it’s a journey worth taking, one that’s filled with character and splendor throughout.

Now, as I mentioned briefly at the start, the trailer didn’t quite sell to me the whole psychological horror tag that has been applied to In Sound Mind, and even now after having spent some enjoyable hours running through it, I wouldn’t quite point fully towards the horror genre for placement with In Sound Mind. Sure it has a few horror elements, however, should you be willing to accept it as a psychological thriller, then I for one would certainly assign that as amended tag, whilst also raising the expectation that In Sound Mind is a game we’ll likely see mentioned in the same breath as previously mentioned classic Condemned, in years to come.

Where Shadows of the Damned stumbles is within its inability to be a horror game, and although its genital jokes can be chuckle-worthy, the sense of comedy is dimmed by predictable stereotyping. Nevertheless, Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered is a treat as it pulls the blinds up and shines the light of straightforward satisfaction into your face in a refreshing way that few modern games can match. Sure, Shadows of the Damned is a hella remastering of a thirteen year-old product, but on current-gen hardware it stands out like Garcia and his uhhh hot boner….Remember it’s the gun in the game you filthy minded scoundrels! So yes, play Hella Remastered, though you may need some in-game Tequilla to not only heal Garcia, but to soothe the sense that not all the pieces in Shadows of the Damned fully jive together harmoniously. Now here’s to that cabrón!

Double Cross is a great game that sports quite a lot of variation. Whilst the detective mechanics, although solid, are perhaps a bit too simple, everything that pertains to the platforming remains diverse and engaging throughout. The end result makes for an adventure that’s not only interesting, but thoroughly entertaining, and although the dialogue can be too invasive at times, the game goes on to get a lot more right than it gets wrong.

Tropico 6 is a fun sandbox strategy game, with some new additions that provide some reason to upgrade from the previous entry. I enjoyed my time with the campaign, even if some of the objectives and demands sometimes got a little too overwhelming. At least sandbox mode is there, allowing you to de-stress with no pressures and just enjoy the act of creating your own little empire.