Perhaps the first thing that stuck me during my brief time with Pokémon Sword and Shield was just how familiar it felt. As someone who only recently started playing modern mainline entries such as X and Y, I was expecting Sword and Shield to immediately feel different from the formula Nintendo had established on 3DS. Not radically different, but unique in a way that made it appearance on a home console again feel special. Based on the single gym I got hands-on time with, that might not be in Sword and Shield's mission statement.

If there’s anything succinct to say about DOOM Eternal now, it’s that this sequel hasn’t lost touch with what made the reboot great. It retain the same attitude of the Doomguy and his inherent mythos, while also putting the unrelenting action at the forefront with smart changes to make it feel like a step forward instead of to the side. There’s more facets of DOOM to engage with now that it feels like learning it all over again, but without having to forget about lessons learnt in the past. If you didn't know better you’d say that Eternal was just an immediate continuation of the game before it, with Doomguy not missing a step and simply continuing to grow his arsenal even more.

Crash Team Racing is almost unbelievably faithful to the original PlayStation 1 kart racer from Naughty Dog. Whipping my kart around the long corners of Tiny Arena felt like I was a kid again, experiencing arcade kart racing for the first time again while mastering all the right jumps and angles for efficient boosts and drifts. But like both the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro Trilogy remasters before it, Crash Team Racing using more powerful hardware to make these remakes stand out in new ways. With Crash Team Racing that’s clearly evident in its more effects heavy and detailed races, but modern enhancements are taking hold off the track too.

Good but not exceptional, Warhammer: Chaosbane is a solid and confident slice of medieval melee action. As Gothic as it is repetitive in the endgame phase, it’s still an enjoyable romp in the same vein as many an action RPG from yesteryear.

Los Angeles, USA - The black van rumbled into the parking lot and stopped outside a building complex. The small group of us foreign representatives climbed out and looked up at the glass buildings surrounding us. With anticipation rising, I wondered which reflective window hid the creators of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, who were the primary source behind hours of my youth spent playing video games.

Days Gone has moments where it reveals its brilliance, but they’re buried under a litany of uninteresting and repetitive missions and numerous technical issues

A bone-breaking blast of bloody fun, Mortal Kombat 11 is a celebration of ultra-violence that pushes the franchise forward to gloriously gory new heights.

Islander's charming aesthetic and straightforward objectives make each trip to a new speck of land a relaxing delight.