Tanveer Aujla (tav95)

Cricket games have not always been massively successful. Brian Lara Cricket is one that springs to mind from my childhood, but the market hasn't exactly been rife with them. That's why it came as a surprise to me when I played Ashes Cricket 17 recently, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It captured the feel of the game well, and was accessible. But can Cricket 19 improve on these strong foundations?

Back in October 2018, Devious Dungeon released on consoles to a fairly middling reception. Largely regarded as a solid if somewhat unspectacular sidescroller, the game was clearly successful enough for the studio to develop a sequel. And now, that moment has arrived with Devious Dungeon 2. Question is, can the sequel improve upon the original, or is it just more of the same?

Purple Chicken Spaceman is a completely mad concoction of so many elements that it probably shouldn't work. But somehow it does. You can throw in a silly premise, ridiculous enemies and some really weird music to top it all off. It’s just mad, all of it. And that all works in its favour.

2007. The final instalment in the Halo trilogy is set for release. Exciting new IPs including Bioshock and Mass Effect are about to be introduced to the world to instant critical acclaim. And among them is a game based off a series of beloved Polish fantasy novels. And no one could have predicted what the series would go on to become.

Iron Snout is one of those games you look at, and think: "How on earth did this come about?". I can't say I'm complaining though, as it's an absolute blast.

Metagal lets you take control of a cyborg named Meta, who's on a mission to rescue her creator, Dr Ray, from the villainous hands of Dr Creeper, the mad leader of a robotic army. To make things even more sinister, Meta’s siblings have all been kidnapped by Dr Creeper, and turned into battle robots you must face along the way to stopping the evil doctor.

Alien Cruise is a sci-fi side-scroller developed by Cotton Gamer, in which your protagonist embarks on a journey to discover another planet, due to the deterioration of the Earth’s environment.

Making games is hard. I mean, I’ve never made one, but I imagine that it’s really hard, at least. So much to code, so much to program, so much can go wrong. But when the final product is a resounding success, this should be celebrated. However, sometimes games may not meet expectations or turn out the way somebody expected, much like any movie or TV show. Crafting a great piece of entertainment is tough. So it gives me no pleasure at all to say that I didn’t enjoy Crimson Keep.

Creepy Road represents Russian indie studio Groovy Milk’s first ever game. A name like that would indicate something offbeat and weird; a game unlike most others. Creepy Road definitely fits this bill, and after seeing a release on Steam last May, it has now finally found its way to the Xbox One. But is it any good?

2013. A different time. A whole new generation of consoles were announced and subsequently released. Generation defining games like GTA V, The Last of Us and Bioshock Infinite were released to immense critical acclaim. And the first Evoland saw a limited release on Windows and OS X, with the sequel releasing a year later, both receiving positive reviews. And now both of these have been bundled together in a new collection - the Evoland Legendary Edition - for newer consoles, almost six years after the release of the original.

The fact that Animal Super Squad was created by a studio with developer Armin Ibrisagic, who helped bring us Goat Simulator, may already tell you a little bit about what you might get. The newest game from a partnership with DoubleMoose and Revelmode - a company owned by YouTube star Pewdiepie - sounds like a random collection of words jumbled together, and that's what playing Animal Super Squad feels like. In a mostly good way.

There are a lot of different games out there. Some are long, epic, winding adventures that can swallow up whole days of your time. Others can be shorter, much briefer distractions. Planet Rix-13, developed by Russian indie studio 9 Eyes Game Studio, is definitely among the latter. This is a bite sized title that you'll probably be done with in an hour or two, but one you won't be unhappy that you played.

After the launch of the series opening entry back in 2007, Assassin’s Creed has become a behemoth of the industry, and Ubisoft's flagship franchise. The series, which now ranks as one of the highest selling of all time, has spawned all kinds of additional tie ins, including novels, an ill fated film, and a variety of comics, which began in 2015. Since then, several arcs have been released, which have largely been well received. The complete collection of Assassin's Creed Conspiracies is the newest entry here, but is it actually any good?

One of the great things about storytelling has always been the ability to evoke emotion. Films and TV series have done it for decades. To tell a story that can really mean something, even if the characters aren't real, is no mean feat. The games industry may not have been around for as long, but it has come a long way very quickly. The quality of writing, direction and acting has improved consistently over the years, leaving us with games that have moved us, and dare I say, made us cry.

The First Tree represents what storytelling can be in the industry today, provided that real care and thought has been put into it. This is an indie title that tells a beautiful, emotionally affecting story while painting a vivid, colourful world for you to explore, all in under two hours. It's an impressive achievement.