Darren Edwards

You could do worse than Reed 2 on Xbox One if you’re looking to kill an hour or two. However, it’s most likely the price that will have it jump out at you, as whether it’s in the first game or somewhere else, frankly it’s a case of “been there, done that”.

Rockstar Games. Chances are you’ve fallen hard for one of their titles, and as a result lost several days of avid gaming to it. Red Dead Redemption saw their first big, open-world foray into the Wild West, in what has since fast become Rockstar’s trademark fashion.

The phrase “cult classic” gets banded around quite a lot these days, and I would challenge you to find a better fit for it than Alan Wake. It’s been ten years since we were introduced to the troubled writer, in a tale that channelled a lot of what made Twin Peaks so goddamn intriguing.

Unfortunately, everything about Infinite - Beyond the Mind on Xbox One screams average. It’s lacking ambition and gets repetitive quickly. Even at a modest £7.99 it’s hard to recommend, as beyond the lovely retro skin it’s not got a lot else going for it.

Generally, it’s a case of more of the same with World War Z - GOTY Edition on Xbox One. There’s nothing here that will win over new fans, but it is a decent offering to keep existing ones entertained, even if they might be left wanting more.

The latest instalment of Inside Xbox (7th May 2020) finally offered us a glimpse of Xbox Series X gameplay. After months of being battered by geeky technical stats, we could see for ourselves what all the numbers actually mean.

Cryogear on Xbox One is a stylish throwback which packs enough content to keep players entertained for hours. Despite not being the most challenging of its ilk, it’s a solid action-RPG platformer that more than deserves a look.

Machinarium is a beautiful, stylish little puzzler that provides a real challenge. More important than that however is the fact that it immerses you in a fascinating and mysterious world that is an absolute pleasure to explore.

There are certain Xbox games that, criminally, received less attention than they deserved. Psychonauts is one such game. Developed by Double Fine Studios, which now sits under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella, the game was praised by critics but commercially wasn’t a success.

Mekorama falls short of ticking the addictive puzzler box, but remains fun for the most part. And for only £4.49, I can't criticise it too harshly for that.

Snakeybus on Xbox One isn't exactly steeped in sophistication, but by god does it have a great USP. That alone makes it worth checking out. You can be certain of one thing here, and that is grinning like an idiot from start to finish.

Doom 3 is sometimes considered the odd one out; the black sheep of the family. After the fairly bloody, sometimes jumpy but altogether not too heavy outings in the first two games, the third was a different beast altogether. Put simply, it was s**t scary.

Doom 64 on Xbox One is exactly what you have come to expect from the franchise. There's nothing new or surprising here, but it's another solid set of demon slaying levels nonetheless. In all honesty, as Doom II was to Doom, it feels as if it could simply be an expansion to the original game. However, as the old saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

When writing this piece, the urge to play through Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory once again has been impossible to ignore. It didn’t simply just possess all the components needed for a great game, but combined them in such a way that made it totally irresistible to play.

Wacky, cheeky and above all else a laugh from start to finish is my best attempt to sum up this game. Timesplitters: Future Perfect was a worthy sequel to its predecessors. What the world needs right now is more of this, so while we hope and pray for the fourth game this is a title that deserves another look.