Games of the week
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4
Genre: Shooter
Price: £49.99
A vintage hero returns to begin a new era
Recent Call of Duty outings have been limp and uninspired, but Modern Warfare is a return to greatness. It revisits and reimagines Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the epic high-watermark for the series, yet with a new and equally thrilling tale of proxy wars, global terrorism and questionable motivations for lethal action. Single player is genuinely breathtaking, designed with perfect pace and occasionally bewildering explosiveness. The high-tech, high-tactical approach of multiplayer, meanwhile, brings reliably tense skirmishes over staggeringly detailed maps. Modern Warfare's relish in depicting war zone horrors is ethically problematic, but this is primarily a toy for grown up fun and an undeniably genre-defining FPS.
Skip to the end: A compelling, challenging and perfectly executed shooter.
Score: 10/10
The Outer Worlds
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4
Genre: RPG
Price: £42.99
The familiar frontier
Fallout 4 veterans will feel immediately at home in the alternate universe of The Outer Worlds. A mildly steampunk brand of humanity has expanded into space and your nameless citizen makes planetfall on Halcyon, a planet of lurid flora, lethal fauna and backwater settlements with problems they need solving. But despite the similarities (the squarish visual style, wasteland questing and conversational NPCs) there's a distinct and appealing flavour to The Outer Worlds: a host of well-rounded companions who come to define your time on Halcyon, complementing the variable play style you've chosen through the excellently balanced character levelling system, underscored by a consistently funny anti-corporate theme to the plot. The Outer Worlds is an essential destination for any adventurous gamer.
Skip to the end: Humourous, enchanting and more than just Fallout in space.
Score: 8/10
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch
Genre: Platformer
Price: £24.99
Leap into fantasy
Trine 4 conceals a basic platform design through the neat skills of its three warriors. These heroes have joined forces to track down the titular missing prince, but after Trine 3's forgettable journey into 3D, this adventure reverts to the tried-and-tested formula of challenging you to overcome 2D physics puzzles by flicking between each character and their special abilities. The thief creates rope bridges, say, while the wizard summons magical platforms. It sounds repetitive on paper but in practice there are multiple ways through a level's obstacles, or inventive solutions which require you to juggle the various skills available – this is where co-op play works excellently.
Skip to the end: Handsome looks and clever puzzling make a fine mix.
Score: 8/10
Concrete Genie
Platform: PS4
Genre: Adventure
Price: £22.99
Paint by numbers
Concrete Genie is a rare opportunity to do something unique with PS4's motion controls. In the dilapidated village of Denska, you pick up the paintbrush of Ash, a young boy who longs to revive the abandoned community and who discovers that a host of mysterious creatures called genies have begun to appear in his murals. Ash must tackle the bullies who roam the streets (ready to break his brushes or rip up his sketchbook) with the help of these playful sprites, until finally confronting the nightmares at the heart of Denska. The VR modes feel tacked-on and fiddly controls cause awkward frustration when in the heat of a confrontation, but Concrete Genie is a heartwarming story with something different to offer.
Skip to the end: A cute and thoughtful way to play with motion controls.
Score: 8/10
