Elden Ring is a crowning achievement for FromSoftware and undoubtedly the very best gameplay experience they've yet delivered - and that's really saying something given this developer's incredible back catalogue. The Lands Between deftly combine breathless open world exploration, stunning artistry, immaculate world-building and wondrous adventure with classic Dark Souls combat and dungeon-crawling, resulting in not just the best Souls game to date, but a candidate for one of the very best video games ever made.
Starfield is Bethesda's best RPG to date, an enormous space odyssey that serves up some incredibly evocative and engaging exploration, satisfying combat, and a narrative that had us hooked right to the end. Yes there are issues here with the usual jank, and some very messy and fiddly menus and interactions, but all of these problems feel minor when compared to everything this game gets right. In a year that's been packed full of absolutely essential games, Starfield manages to sit right up top with some of the best of them. After all the hype and bluster, this is just a very, very good RPG and a game we'll be playing and replaying for a long time to come.
Tunic is a fantastically clever adventure that kicks off in familiar Zelda-esque fashion before branching out to become its own thing entirely. There's an exquisitely designed world to explore here, a great big puzzle-box to probe and prod at as you progress through a story that's got just the right amount of mystery and intrigue about it to keep you hooked in. Combat can be a little clumsy at points early on but it improves as new powers are introduced and the game develops and grows into a surprisingly big, surprisingly challenging experience that's absolutely one of our favourite games of 2022 so far.
In our view, Shredders is an ideal Xbox Game Pass game. It's a game most players will get a few hours of enjoyment from, complete the missions and grab some achievements, and then move on. The dedicated fans will keep coming back for the fluid and rewarding gameplay, and maybe to get perfect scores on all those missions. If you go into it expecting a big-budget rival to the likes of SSX and Amped, you might be disappointed with what you find, but taken at face value, Shredders is a fun time and a worthy addition to the sports library on Game Pass.
WWE 2K22 isn't going to surpass the likes of "No Mercy" and "Here Comes The Pain" in terms of fan favourite wrestling games, but in our opinion, it's the best WWE 2K game to date. The gameplay is improved, the graphics are improved, and there's enough content here to keep you busy for a long time, even if some of the new modes haven't quite reached their potential yet. There are still some unwanted series staples here, such as clunky collision detection, but for the most part it's obvious how much progress has been made across the board over the past couple of years, and it's now up to 2K to take things to the next level with WWE 2K23.
Elden Ring is a crowning achievement for FromSoftware and undoubtedly the very best gameplay experience they've yet delivered - and that's really saying something given this developer's incredible back catalogue. The Lands Between deftly combine breathless open world exploration, stunning artistry, immaculate world-building and wondrous adventure with classic Dark Souls combat and dungeon-crawling, resulting in not just the best Souls game to date, but a candidate for one of the very best video games ever made.
Overall, GRID Legends feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. Its on-track racing is really good fun, and with the right AI and event tweaks, and a little more content, it'd be a really solid sequel to GRID 2019. As it stands, it feels very safe and lacks the personality to really stand on its own amongst the competition. It gets real close to mimicking what PGR did so well all those years ago, but something's missing. Sparks often fly out on the track, but Legends doesn't quite have the spark to make its arcade action stick.
This really is one of our favourite old-school indie titles to hit Game Pass in the last few months and we urge retro fans to nab it at the earliest possible opportunity, as it's a super-satisfying love letter to the glory days of Castlevania and an excellent and addictive little game in its own right.
In most cases though, you should know what you’re signing up for here – this is an addictive but challenging 2.5D skateboarding game. The story and characters gel the colourful levels together, and the avatar customisation and unlocks add personality. One other thing that will keep you coming back is post-codes – these generate levels for you to play on, and you can share them with other players. Simply put, OlliOlli's newest entry is god-tier, and places it up there with the best skateboarding games on the market.
Dying Light 2 is a pretty disappointing sequel to one of our all-time favourite zombie games. The parkour and combat here feels slightly off-point, light, floaty and unsatisfying. The first game's signature tense melee encounters feel diluted in a setting that gives you far too much space to catch your breath and night-time sorties lack the straight-up fear factor that made them so appealing first time around. With a lacklustre campaign that offers little to enjoy in the way of drama, some serious performance issues - which we hope will be patched day one - and an enormous world stuffed full of basic busywork padding, this is one zombie apocalypse we're finding quite hard to recommend.
Overall though, Rainbow Six Extraction, while it lasts, is a super solid time, a delightfully warped addition to the Rainbow Six stable of games that is a total blast when played with the right people. It also sweetens the deal that it's available via Game Pass, meaning there's really no reason not to jump in and get down to some good old co-operative strategy action.
Drinkbox Studios has served up another great time here with a colourful and clever dungeon-crawling adventure that gives you a ton of options as to how you approach its challenges. Switching up forms, mixing and matching skills and hoovering up an absolute ton of loot is addictive stuff here and, although it can be a tad repetitive, this is one of the slickest indie RPGs we've played in quite some time.
