Another promising game is ruined by the lure of procedural-generation, which is a particular shame given Sundered's gorgeous animation and interesting gameplay ideas.
Every bit as intelligent and daring as its predecessor, and if you’re prepared to be equally creative while playing it then Dishonored 2 offers almost endless rewards.
Some may dismiss it as just another pretentious walking sim, but this innovative Lynchian drama is one of the best story-based games of the year.
A co-op Metroid seemed like a bad idea from the start, but while Federation Force has its moments they’re overshadowed by sloppy implementation and bland design.
A stunning technical achievement and a mesmerisingly addictive one, even after you realise how simplistic and repetitive it really is.
A disappointing start to what should be a potential rich concept, with an overfamiliar storyline and bland presentation.
The best of the Fire Emblem Fates trilogy and one of the best portable strategy games ever made, with a perfect blend of the best elements of the first two chapters.
Full of imagination and great ideas, but Kirby seems destined to repeat the same mistakes forever – with zero challenge and aimless, unfocused game design.
A better game than the original, but it still suffers from many of the same problems – with desperately uninteresting storytelling and combat.
The Street Fighter of online shooters is an inspired new take on familiar ideas, that proves personality really does go a long way.
Warhammer's fantasy elements add colour to Total War's already impressive framework, with a strategy game that is both deep and tactical but also fun and attractive.
A stunning work of imagination that turns the shallow spectacle of the original into a gorgeous-looking action game with real depth and replayability.
The core gameplay is as excitingly well-crafted as usual but some strange design decisions, and odd omissions, make this an underwhelming sequel.
One of the best graphic adventures of recent years, with an interestingly complex main character and some enjoyable puzzles.
An incredible technical achievement but also one of the most cleverly crafted and most cinematic action games ever made.
The best Fire Emblem yet, with more depth of gameplay and options than ever before and yet still perfectly accessible for new players.
A fantastically strange and unique first person adventure that manages to make touchscreen controls seem fresh and interesting again.
A disappointingly bland top-down shooter, that while entertaining enough with friends lacks the finely tuned splendour of Stardust and Resogun.
A charming and well-made role-playing adventure, but despite how much it might resemble Pokémon it has nothing like the depth of Nintendo's games.
It spends too much time recreating the genius of Metroid rather than adding to it, but this is still one of the best examples of the genre in recent years.