A tight, funny, smart, focused, super-violent 2D cover-shooter that works a whole hell of a lot better than you might expect.

Solarix’s admirable goal to marry the mechanics of Thief to the setting and plot of System Shock 2 proves to be beyond the game’s capabilities. The intentions are exemplary, but the execution is marred by eccentric AI, bugs, and an unfortunate attachment to checkpoints.

The game formerly known as Double Fine Adventure is a fine adventure, but definitely one best taken as a whole rather than in two parts.

An extremely promising beginning is squandered in a mess of awkward puzzle design, structural dialogue oversights, and a truncated conclusion which, sadly, suggests Perils of Man simply ran out of time and money.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China is a wonderful setting for a competent, but fairly unimaginative, 2.5D stealth title. Hopefully this won’t be Shao Jun’s final appearance.

Not a komplete katastrophe, but you should employ kaution when deciding if Mortal Kombat X is right for you on PC. It's a great game, but one that's krippled by bugs.

Strong thematic hooks, well-written characters and reactive quest design, all resting on an original set of tabletop-inspired mechanics, make this a triumphant return.

An episode where plenty goes on, but neither story nor characters are actually advanced a great deal. The Ironrath Forresters are still miserable hostages, Asher still needs an army, and Gared is still doing Nights Watch duties. A few revelations, plus Mira’s dynamism, keep things from going stale.

Book One is a tiny taste of what's coming. It's delectably delicious and I'd love to rate it higher, but at this point, it's hard to say whether Dreamfall Chapters will be filling and satisfying - or if it'll leave us feeling a little empty.

The main plot starts moving into gear, and with it come puzzles, decisions, and a bit too much time-wasting... but not enough to detract much from the wonderful core experience.

The short version is this: Tales from the Borderlands' second episode is just as good as the first, and considering I'm not eager to pile on the praise for an episodic series that still has a long way to go, that's really saying something.

Definitely more bad cop than good cop, but LA Cops could at least be a fair cop, guv, if given a bit of post-release polish.

Assassin's Creed: Rogue is Black Flag with worse writing and (broadly) improved missions. Does very little to alter the formula, but is about as mechanically sound as Assassin's Creed gets and runs well on PC.

Less an endless voyage through the stars, and more a space-bus journey to the shops. If you're intimidated by Civilization this is an reasonable starting place for the 4X genre, but it's not for those seeking a deep or lengthy experience.

Hotline Miami 2 is certainly worth a purchase from anybody who played the original over and over, but don't expect it to hit the same heights.

The city builder is back! Colossal Order has succeeded where others have failed. Cities: Skylines is a brilliant game.

The shimmer of Central and South American gold may catch the eye for a spell, but the real substance of this DLC lies in the custom nation designer. A capable tool for all your bizarre alt-history fantasies.

An essential pair of games for your collection, beautifully remastered and enhanced.

In sporadic bursts, Evolve can be outstanding. But its design depends upon uniting players of idealistically equivalent skill levels, and it struggles to consistently do so. The game’s gated progression system is superfluous and, at times, actively harmful to positive team-play.

More of the same. Almost exactly the same, in fact. Cities XXL is only worth looking at if you have never played the previous XL titles. And even than, wait for a sale.

Episode two of Telltale’s Game of Thrones concerns itself with maneuvering pieces into position and foreshadowing greater conflict. It’s a robust foundational episode, shoring up Forrester character development for future pay-offs (and inevitable tragedy.)

A combat-heavy, side-scrolling jaunt through the wonderfully unhinged realm of Ancient Greek mythology. Apotheon unites presentation and theme to tremendous effect through its stylised, Grecian pottery worlds.

A solid opening to what could be a genuinely interesting episodic adventure. The mystery seems compelling, the characters are largely likeable, and the presentation is impeccable - but the emphasis is on "could" and "seems". It's still just episode one.

Pix the Cat isn't the sort of thing that'll keep you staring at your monitor until 6am, but it is the sort of thing that you'll open every half an hour for just one more go.

Grey Goo is an extremely well produced game. Fans of classic RTS games should sample the Goo for themselves because it's the best RTS released for quite some time.

Grim Fandango represents the pinnacle of 90s adventure games and is arguably the finest videogame noir created to date. This remastered edition stays largely faithful to the source material, preserving it in digital form with some worthwhile extras and tasteful improvements.

The unofficial NYPD Blue adventure game that Telltale never made. Aside from some pretty clear budgetary constraints, The Detail’s hard edged cop narrative has a compelling opening.

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is a short, but mechanically very sound, sandbox stealth appetiser for The Phantom Pain. Just be aware that its value is in experimentation and replaying scenarios, rather than lasting narrative.