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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's campaign is tight, slick, and lots of fun, it almost avoids getting totally bogged down with militaristic mumbo jumbo, thanks to a barmy plot, and fun, albeit cliched characters, and most importantly, genuinely creative and impressive gameplay mechanics, that don't involve shooting. Sure it's as short as ever, but given it's one part of the package that includes zombies and multiplayer, it's easily the best Call of Duty story for many years, and perhaps one of the best shoot-em-up campaigns, too.
With Insomniac Games likely planning DLC to extend the campaign, Miles Morales is a brilliant follow-up to a fantastic PlayStation-exclusive franchise that will likely tempt over many gamers on the fence to buy the PS5, just so they can experience this wondrous story.
Make no mistake, Torchlight 2 is nothing revolutionary. It favors a remix of genre conventions over any true evolution of the action RPG formula, but it is a pitch-perfect execution of those traditions that remains satisfying from start to finish and beyond.
Overall, The Last of Us 2 is going to be divisive. Naughty Dog has made brave narrative choices for its difficult second album, which we massively respect. We would just have liked to have seen the same applied to the gameplay. It's still solid and thrilling, and if you loved the first game, this is a must-play.
Overall, Resident Evil 3's gameplay is solid, fun and thrilling, it's definitely worth playing at some point, but tragically it's all too short lived.
It pains us to say this, but Death Stranding is more like an elaborate sim for being a one-man Amazon Prime delivery service for the whole of America. Despite the beautiful graphics, masterful soundtrack, solid voice acting and fun combat, it's not enough to counterbalance how much of a chore lugging around boxes is.
The Outer Worlds is one of the most polished and best games of this type, undoubtedly helped by the smaller scope. Focusing and doubling down on the right areas while telling a story that often asks thought-provoking and difficult questions, the game provides a memorable time without overstaying its welcome.
Days Gone is definitely worth playing at some stage, but it's certainly not a must-own game. However there's a lot of fun to be had here, so let's just hope SIE Bend Studio gives us another pop at finally taking down the Freaker horde one day.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is an absolute undisputed classic and a legend in the making, plus with Red Dead Online on the horizon, it looks like our adventures in the wild west are just beginning.
Starting virtually from scratch has allowed the developer to experiment and push themselves as storytellers, and the result is a more grounded and mature story that has real potential.
There's a great story, beautiful graphics, excellent voice acting and simply lots of fun to play. There's lots of DLC on the way and potential for sequels, so we'll definitely get caught in this spider's web again.
God of War's reboot is a triumph.
The core mechanics are strong and locations are stunning, but the game's pacing and surprising lack of gunplay seems like a bit of a missed opportunity that makes the gaps in action even more apparent. Nevertheless, we're sure fans of the previous games will enjoy closing out the trilogy.
Nintendo has produced a game which is occasionally elating, often frustrating, but which definitely feels like nothing we've tried before. Assuming you're willing to overlook its flaws, ARMS could be a welcome addition to your growing collection of Switch games.
At its heart, playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a completely different experience to playing Mario Kart 8 precisely because of how, and where, you play it. The feel and fun of the thing is an intrinsic part of gaming and there's just so much fun to be had when you throw portability and local multiplayer into the fray.
BioWare is a pillar of the gaming landscape, but somewhere along the line the Andromeda project steered off course. Who knows where this leaves the franchise, but any sequel is going to have to rediscover its focus or just like the Initiative, fans may also choose to emigrate to pastures new.
Sorry, Ocarina of Time, you've been dethroned.
Horizon: Zero Dawn is simply great fun to play – the open world and fantastic enemies make it easy to get on board with the surreal premise which Guerrilla Games has crafted. The challenging gameplay always tempts you to push past the next mountain, through new cities or delving into caves to discover new beasts, secrets and gear.
If you can find a team of friends to enlist into your squad, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands is, well, wild. However, the sheer amount of travelling, planning and stealth required for numerous missions doesn't lend itself to online co-op with random drop-in muggles.
As brilliant as it is bloody, Resident Evil 7 doesn't just give the franchise a refreshing reboot, but also raises the bar for future survival horror games.