Games

While each of Ubisoft's previous sandbox shooters has felt like a reinvention of the franchise, this year's offering hews so close to the structure of Far Cry 3 that it sometimes feels like a re-skin. But does it really matter when the end result is this much fun?

...Advanced Warfare has aspirations beyond those of the typical Call of Duty game. Finally shaking off the ghosts of the Modern Warfare line, this instalment sees the franchise going full sci-fi with Edge of Tomorrow-style exoskeletons that grant various power-ups, including invisibility and enhanced jumping capabilities (more proof that vertical attacks are the current 'big thing' in the FPS genre).

Hidden inside a locker, you peer out through a slot in the door into the gloom of the room beyond. Something is out there, moving around. You shuffle backwards as far back as you can go and hold your breath. Welcome to the terrifying world of Alien: Isolation…

Tolkien's Middle-earth has provided rich pickings for games over several generations of console platforms, yet unlike the source material few have stood the test of time. This third-person adventure, nominally set between the Hobbit and Rings trilogies, is a deep and bloody cut above what’s gone before.

Highly regarded sci-fi shooter Metro 2033 gets fashionably remastered for its next-gen console debut and the result is a significant visual improvement over the original. But there’s more to this timely remaster than extra pixels; the gameplay feels genuinely cinematic, with some great high-definition lighting and atmospheric effects. It also runs at a smooth 1080p60 on the PS4 (version tested), which really complements the FPS shenanigans.

While the previous two instalments in the Sacred series were pretty full-on action role-playing games, Deep Silver's latest sequel has mostly ditched all of the RPG elements in favour of four-player monster-slaying that harks back to old-skool favourite Gauntlet. Unfortunately, Sacred 3 has none of the charm, immediacy or addictive qualities that made Atari's 1985 game such a hit in the arcades and at home.

In the four years since it first battered it's way out of the arcades and on to home consoles, Capcom's Street Fight IV has reigned supreme as the king of the one-on-one beat em 'ups. While much of this is down to the game's brilliant mechanics, its hasn't hurt that the developer has kept a stream of updates and expansions coming (both as standalone releases and DLC), offering new characters and countless gameplay tweaks.