4.5/5 Review

Olija on Xbox is a game to be savoured. Everything about it is rich and expertly crafted, from the slick combat to the world of Terraphage, scattered with secrets. It’s over far too soon, so relish the experience while it’s there, as Olija is an astonishing adventure game that you can lose yourself in utterly.

The Medium on Xbox is the game fans have been waiting for. A dark, mature, scary, visually appetizing next-gen delight with a gripping story, it is one to not miss if you are a fan of psychological horror. Above all, this feels like an experience that really shows the chops of the Series X, and will likely serve as a benchmark title going forward, especially if the few remaining technical issues are patched.

If you've played the other two games in the World of Assassination trilogy then you owe it to yourself to finish the narrative in Hitman 3. If not, well, the ability to play all the games in one location makes this an almost essential purchase. If you like sneaking around and playing dress up with guns, Hitman 3 is for you.

So, Cyberpunk 2077 on Xbox. This is a game I had been looking forward to for what seems like a lifetime, and it was never going to live up to the high expectations that CD Projekt Red, I or the world as a whole has been putting on it. It's a great RPG, but at the same time it doesn't do anything grounding breaking in terms of style and gameplay. Yes it has bugs, there is an annoying UI and I can’t ignore the mission stutters, but similarly it's a game that I constantly think back to when I’m not gaming, looking forward to my next deep session with it.

It says a lot about a game when writing its review makes us want to close the laptop, boot up the Xbox and return to play it. So it is with Monster Train on Xbox, which chucks out a lot of Slay the Spire’s baggage to create a ride that’s more breakneck and exhilarating. Monster Train is more-ish to the extreme, and we’d worry about our social lives, if there was any social life to be had right now.

Hivebusters is a great addition to the story content of Gears 5 on Xbox. The same production values, the same great acting, and (whisper it) a better set of protagonists than Kait and J.D., all add up to make this a must play expansion.

Morbid: The Seven Acolytes on Xbox is an excellent Souls-like experience and one that any fan of the genre should play. It’s constantly rewarding and delivers a frantic challenge on the whole. There are some hiccups along the way but it’s not enough to bring down this trip into steampunk nightmares.

At the end of the day, Tetris Effect: Connected on Xbox is just Tetris. It’s the game we’ve all played a million times over, it’s a game we all know like the back of our hand, and it’s a game in which we can rack up the highest of highscores with our eyes closed. And that, that feel of familiarity, is quite possibly the only thing that is holding Connected back from utter greatness. Yes this version looks great, it plays brilliantly, it sounds awesome, and it could well be the best Tetris experience yet, but at the end of the day it’s still Tetris... yet is still as stupidly addictive as it ever was.

If you like an arcade racer, if you like drifting, and especially if you like drifting in arcade racers, Inertial Drift on Xbox One is the game for you. Even if you usually like the more serious end of the racing spectrum, I defy anyone not to be gripped by the sheer exuberance of the game world and the outrageous handling that is on display.

Maneater on Xbox One is bloody brilliant. It’s a massive game with a lot to do and a huge amount of content to discover - the locations or beauty spots are usually wittily scripted, and have quite a few nods to popular culture as well, making them entertaining asides. What's more, there is a good story of revenge to follow.

Visual novels aren’t for everyone, but after playing this I am intrigued to explore the genre a bit more. It is an early contender for Indie Game of the Year, it is such a joyous game.

Without the multiplayer element, I’d be happy to say that Door Kickers: Action Squad is more than worthy of the fairly low asking price. But with it, the entire experience moves up another good notch or two, providing some of the best cooperative styled gameplay I’ve managed to take in over recent years.

When a distress call from a crippled space freighter arrives, there is only one man/woman/thing for the job - Constable Cactus. And that is exactly where this super smooth, very slick twin stick shooter kicks off.

Sky Force Anniversary is one title that brings a hell of alot of grinding to the table - but thankfully it does it in the best way possible and Infinite Dreams need to be commended on creating something so goddamn good.