This may be Onion Games' most conventional release to date, but still Kimura finds a way to bend the rules. [Jan 2019, p.122]

For a while, Arca's Path promises to be a new kind of VR game, but in the end its problems are all too familiar. [Jan 2019, p.121]

The price of this intricacy is that Gwent is anything but accessible... It feels both remarkably grown-up, and finely aged by its years of open development. [Jan 2019, p.120]

As a first adventure for beginners, young or old, this gets a lot right. No alarms, then, but a fair few surprises. [Jan 2019, p.119]

As a first adventure for beginners, young or old, this gets a lot right. No alarms, then, but a fair few surprises. [Jan 2019, p.119]

Most egregious of all is that Deracine too often turns into a tedious game of hunt the sparkle, as you grope awkwardly around bodies to find the twinkle that triggers conversation audio. [Jan 2019, p.118]

If the worst part of war is the waiting, 11-11's writing is often strongest when it's lingering on the mirth, grief and boredom of soldiers before and after the bloodshed. [Jan 2019, p.116]

What's here is enough to be going on with, but we'll have to wait till next year's updates and in particular, that possibly seismic battle-royale mode, to discover whether this is truly a Battlefield that stands apart. [Jan 2019, p.114]

There are moments to savour throughout Hitman 2, and they all have a corpse lying somewhere. [Jan 2019, p.112]

It is a game you've played a thousand times before - yet there is nothing else quite like it. [Jan 2019, p.106]

The reality, inevitably, is that you want Fallout 76 to play like a Fallout game, and on those terms it fails to satisfy. After all, how could you not want that from it? [Jan 2019, p.110]

A return to Hogwarts to relive Harry Potter’s school years, this remaster features an enjoyable adventure for fans who haven’t taken this trip before. Though the games are still fun to play, the experience doesn’t offer anything new (other than updated graphics) from the original releases. While the Harry Potter movie world keeps expanding, game fans get a rehash, which is something of a downer. If you haven’t played the Lego Harry Potter games before, this is a great package in terms of value and sheer amount of gameplay. Otherwise, it would be better to play one of the newer releases in the franchise.

With an eye and an ear for the theatrical, the wonderfully evocative staging turns you into a horrified, fascinated voyeur; you might be late for the Obra Dinn's fateful voyage, but you have a front-row seat to its frequently thrilling demise. [Christmas 2018, p.122]

With a generous array of modes and some unexpected creative flourishes, this is certainly the best Mario Party since the GameCube era; perhaps even beyond. [Christmas 2018, p.120]

There are some VR games that still make our stomachs flip, but this captivating adventure is one to make the heart soar. [Christmas 2018, p.118]

This is a pizza-and-a-six-pack kind of game: sit back, crack open a cold one and get ready to grin your way through the most gleefully stupid 20-odd-hours you'll spend in front of a screen all year. [Christmas 2018, p.116]

Who knows how we got here, but Zombies is the most compelling reason to buy a COD game in 2018. [Christmas 2018, p.114]

It's a shame that, for all those nifty custom USB sockets, there's no real connection to be found here. [Christmas 2018, p.112]

It also commits a few of the same sins: in particular, the deluge of gar drops feels vaguely insulting, conditioning the player to lust after items exclusive to the in-game store. It's lifted, however, by the relative wit and intelligence of its quest design, and the delicate notes of uncertainty and curiosity introduced by Exploration mode. [Christmas 2018, p.108]

It's a game of restraint, but with some brutal sucker punches; the tale of a one-man cowboy army who is nothing without the people around him. It's a game about the fear of the future that reaches astounding new technical heights, and makes Rockstar's previous games look and feel like ancient history. It's a resounding triumph to which there is only one reasonable response - and an appropriate one, too. Hats off. [Christmas 2018, p.104]

The Gardens Between is at its best when it marries whimsical design with fresh twists on logic puzzles, each level delicately exploring a new idea before moving onto the next. [December 2018, p.122]

There's something vital about this first episode's endearingly messy setup: to err is human, after all, and Life is Strange is nothing if not that. [December 2018, p.121]

Despite the occasional stumble and sticking point, Transference will frequently leave you transfixed. [December 2018, p.120]

This is a game that understands that nostalgia is a core part of its appeal. [December 2018, p.118]

The scenarios are often ingenious finding fresh ways to breathe new life into familiar systems. [December 2018, p.116]

Generous checkpoints and quick restarts just about cover for awkward platforming sequences. [December 2018, p.114]

The friction between precision and imprecision is what makes the game unique. [December 2018, p.112]

There are whole essays that could be written about the depth of the tuning mechanics. [December 2018, p.110]