Shameless like a boob tube but about a billion times less interesting, Gal*Gun: Double Peace is a bad rails-shooter that tries tirelessly to get a raise, only to leave you feeling limp and agitated. If firing pheromones in the faces of overly appreciative schoolgirls is the kind of thing that turns you on, then consider giving Net Nanny her marching orders instead.
A blend of Spider-Man and Tony Hawk, Energy Hook is the kind of old-school Activision-inspired outing that any millennial should be able to enjoy. Unfortunately, the execution's just not there, and cumbersome controls coupled with some real lousy presentation mean that this is a swing and a miss we're sad to say.
Just because it employs the same font as a competing title doesn't mean that Professional Farmer 2017 comes anywhere close. This is a lousy, cynical game which has just one positive to its name: it's made us appreciate Farming Simulator 15 that little bit more.
Unless Lassie's got our back, then we'd never normally want to get lost down a well – but Downwell is a strong exception. This fun little freefallin' title ties you up in its gun-boot antics, and is difficult to put down once you casually drop in. The action's perhaps better suited to vertical screens, and it can be a bit obtuse – but for the price of a Big Mac, this is one deadly descent that deserves your tuppence.
A fitting end for one of PlayStation's most famous franchises, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End sits alongside The Last of Us at the apex of cinematic action experiences. Naughty Dog's ability to tell engaging tales is unmatched, with Nate's final chapter expertly balancing bombast against genuinely relatable themes. It won't redefine the genre quite like Uncharted 2, but the developer's boundless ambition means that this is a bigger, better, and more beautiful adventure than ever before.
A valiant attempt at creating a touch screen-based action experience with real depth, Severed struts confidently for four or five hours – before ultimately devolving into the same old swipe-fest that it seems to detest. Still, this is a wonderfully presented experience, with a mystifying world and some intelligent level design. If you're the kind of person who appreciates tailored Vita titles, then you'll more than get your money's worth here. It's just a shame that the studio fails to cut the foray off before it gets stale.
TrackMania: Turbo's a gaudy game that demands you excel in short bursts. A truly compelling online component and a meaty single player campaign is offset by some shaky handling that, in the case of one car in particular, is far too fiddly to be fun – but those that like a challenge will still enjoy attempting to tame the title's increasingly outlandish maps. With a clumsy but empowering track editor there's certainly no danger of this racer running out of gas – it just depends how long you're willing to keep up with the quest to be the best.
Kholat may be daunting to approach at first with its massive scale, but its eerie setting is worth exploring for its intentionally perplexing narrative and unsettling visual and aural atmosphere. The simplistic gameplay may turn some off with how tedious exploration can become with few scares and long stretches of nothing, but if you choose to remain steadfast on this trail, the sights, sounds, and story may very well be worth your effort.
Blockbuster brands like Hitman seldom make the transition to mobile successfully, but Hitman Go: Definitive Edition is a well-presented puzzler that we can get behind. Despite being respectful of the source material, its slide puzzle spin on the series is strongly executed – even if it can feel a teensy bit too rigid at times. This port's perhaps a little pricey, but with plenty of content and cross-buy on the cards, we'd recommend moving in and pulling the trigger if you've got the appetite for a little assassination.
Layers of Fear isn't shy about its influences, but if you were impressed by the P.T. demo, then how do you fancy five or so hours more? This is a tidily presented, tantalisingly tense trip through a fractured psyche – it's dark, desperate, and depraved. Bloober Team hasn't concocted the most original slice of horror in history, but it has pulled its inspirations together shrewdly – and the results are both repulsive and rousing.
Firewatch has the embers of a great narrative-driven game, but it fails to ever ignite into a furnace. Unforgivable performance issues detract from the otherwise outstanding art direction, but it's the abrupt story and unconvincing characters that really douse the hype here. Campo Santo's inaugural outing starts incredibly strongly, but your alarm bells will be ringing long before it burns out without ever really sparking into life.
Milestone has clearly spent an age under the bonnet, and Sébastien Loeb Rally Evo has a content quota that's befitting of all of that attention. Unfortunately, the Italian outfit's indecision with regards to the racer's handling model means that it's not always at its best when out on the track. If you can look past this shortcoming, however, then you'll find a real celebration of the sport here – and the man who helped put it on the map for a whole generation.
Gravity Rush Remastered will have you purring at the potential that its sequel looks set to fulfil, but it's a fine release in its own right. The mission variety's not quite there and the plot's paper-thin, but the traversal's some of the finest that you'll find on consoles full-stop, and the audio-visual achievements are outstanding across the board. It's an excellent first attempt, then, so irrespective of the laws of gravity, the only direction for this promising property is up.
Hardware: Rivals is slow and safe – it's a far-cry from the high-octane vehicle eviscerator that we'd anticipated. Its slightest of similarities to Rocket League may have hurt it, but even if Psyonix's excellent on-wheels outing didn't exist, this would still be a pretty darn tedious title. It's a shame because it's not hard to imagine a faster iteration of the exact same game being ten times more satisfying, but ultimately Hardware's only real rival is its squandered potential.
After the dreadful Dead Kings, Ubisoft has proven that it can make decent DLC with Assassin's Creed Syndicate's Jack the Ripper add-on pack. The new fear system is a novel addition here, while the whole campaign has a compelling, creepy vibe. The story missions are strong, and we appreciate the developer's decision to lead with an aging Evie Frye. If the expansion's titular serial killer famously came from hell, then this content is very much heaven sent.