Geoffrey Tim's Reviews
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is, without a doubt, a masterpiece. Its few minor faults do little to detract from one of the very best games ever made.
Assassin's Creed's gradual evolution to RPG is complete. While it remains familiar, the deeper combat, dialogue choices and consequences have upended Assassin's Creed's stealthy roots to deliver a sprawling, multi-tiered historical RPG epic. It's the culmination of the series own journey, and only fitting it be called Odyssey.
Rayman Legends takes everything that was great about Origins, and using a combination of black magic and near faultless design, manages to make it better - but there's no reason to get it again if you've already played it.
Most importantly, it adds closure. There's no cheap set-up for a sneaky sequel, no cliffhanger ending. Just the door fittingly closing on a series of great – if unfortunate - adventures. While I wouldn't go so far as to call Uncharted 4 the greatest game that's ever been made, it is indeed a remarkable one, and undoubtedly the best the Uncharted series has to offer.
Forza Horizon 4 isn't as surprising or inventive as the last one, but that's hardly a slight considering how good it was. Playground Games' latest sequel continues to shine as one of the best things on the Xbox One. It's beautiful to look at, it's fast and it's unbelievably fun. Forza Horizon 4 is a joyous, enthralling celebration of racing.
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition - while superfluous - makes a near-perfect game even better. If you haven't played it, now is the perfect time - and even if you have, it's worth revisiting.
Titanfall 2 is a far more “complete” package then that the first game was, offering one of the best single player campaigns in first person shooter, and a robust and cleverly nuanced multiplayer. It's everything the first game should have been.
Nintendo and HAL labs could easily have just made the same game with more puzzles, and nobody would have been upset by that. Instead they’ve upped the complexity, creating a damned near perfect sequel - and something genuinely unmissable for fans of logic puzzles.
Injustice 2 is NetherRealm at its very best. It's a game that succeeds not just as a great fighting game, but a superlative superhero one. An accessible yet deep fighting system, an engaging and cinematic single player campaign, a rewarding loot system, and a wealth of content. Injustice 2 has it all.
It shouldn't work, but Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle coalesces into something that shows a reverence to Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom, but isn't afraid to challenge its ideas. It's a wonderful game in its own right, and a bit of magic for Nintendo's Switch that's far better than it has any right to be.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is more than best-of-hits collection of Smash games past. It’s a tightly woven experience that deftly combines the old with the new and manages to meet the lofty expectations placed on it. It’s incredibly easy to pick up and play, with enough depth and nuance to keep players engaged. It’s the best Smash Bros has ever been.
Astro Bot would stand tall as a platformer on its own, but it genuinely uses virtual reality to elevate it beyond that. Delightful and joyous, It's one of the best VR games to date, and an essential part of every PSVR library.
Tales of Vesperia stands as one of the best entries in the long-running franchise. Any issues I may have are minor compared to everything this game gets right. The Definitive Edition will be a treat for both returning players and newcomers alike.
There are missteps, especially with the open worlds feeling lifeless, but Gears 5 is a more confident turn from a developer that no longer has to prove it's capable of making a faithful Gears of War sequel. Bigger, better and more beautiful – and a bold step in the right direction for the series. The action is superlative, the writing hits humorous and emotional notes, and the number of multiplayer modes is extensive. If ever there was a reason to subscribe to Xbox's Game Pass service, this is it.
There's not much in the way of new content, but Red Dead Redemption 2 is undoubtedly best played on PC. With scalable graphics options for future PC tech, improved input latency and an already burgeoning modding scene, Red Dead Redemption will continue to shine on the platform for years.
Yoshi's Woolly World is a challenging, cleverly designed platformer that as delightful to play as it is to look at. It's unbelievably beautiful, unrelentingly challenging, and undeniably adorable.
It's more of the same, then – but when you're getting more of one of the year's best games, that's not something to complain about.
A Link Between Worlds blends nostalgic familiarity with newfangled fantasy, introducing innovation with sacrificng any of what made its forebear great. It's an incredible adventure for fans old and new.
It's hard not to be impressed by Xenoblade Chronicles, not least because it's rekindled my long-dormant love for a genre of games I thought I'd never be interested in again. It's one of the best JRPGs in a generation, capable of inspiring wonder - and it fits in your hand. It may have been one of the Wii's swansongs but it's a great start for the New 3DS.
Dishonored 2's story beats are perhaps a little too familair, but it makes up for its narrative trappings with open-ended gameplay that rewards exploration and creativity. To call Dishonored 2 a stealth game is a bit of a disservice, because you can play it any way you like.