If I asked you to make NBA Jam , there's a better than good chance NBA Playgrounds would be the end result. But, as much as it looks, sounds, and acts like a duck, it is missing the intrinsic qualities that make it a duck. For the most part, NBA Playgrounds is a polished game.

A wasted opportunity to create a modern take on System Shock, with the dull storytelling and action overshadowing the otherwise effective puzzle elements.

Huge, well-designed game world, filled with interesting environmental puzzles and side quests; Wide range of useful weapons, gadgets, and abilities

Highly derivative premise, with a quickly wasted plot; Dull, unsatisfying combat and stealth; Equally uninteresting enemies and drab visual design; Long loading times between areas

All I do each night

Forces experimentation; Excellent use of game mechanics; Encourages desire to replay single player to experiment

Aim Assist and hit detection still feel off; Fatigue does set in after a while running through the same space

A great throwback to the days of games like System Shock and System Shock 2. A tense horror survival game.. really been enjoying this game so far, which is great since there are so many bad games today.

Scary, builds up suspense well.

Toby Hills warily eyes the space furniture in Prey, the latest immersive sim from Dishonored dev Arkane Studios.

Exceptional world-building and level design; An excellent, isolating electronic soundtrack; A large cast of side characters that make Talos I feel lived-in

Players looking for combat as deep as that found in Dishonored will be disappointed

good level of difficulty and hours of game play. good value for money.

Prey is another of my first person shooter games. I like shooter games. I find them therapeutic. I will not tell my future NHS boss of this obsession though. Shooting things in the head is not an ideal reference for a doctor.

Story and world building

Stealth mode

great game with some decent story mode

Wouldn't an all-new NBA Jam be a lovely thing Let's briefly put aside the fact we had a perfectly serviceable revival as recently as 2010 and wallow instead in the warm nostalgia that fuels NBA Playgrounds, Saber Interactive's characterful spin on a much-loved 90s classic.