ERICA

Platform: PS4

Genre: Adventure

Price: £8.99

Feel your way through this glossy mystery

Erica treads the dangerous ground between film and videogame. Dangerous because countless previous failures prove it's a hard idea to make work, with expertly executed experiences like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch or last year's Telling Lies being rare exceptions. But Erica succeeds in many ways. The cast is watchable, skilfully finding a delicate balance of character to allow meaningful reflections of your actions as you track down the murderer of the titular heroine's father. Interactions are tangible and tactile, directed by the DualShock touchpad or mobile app (definitely use the app) and accompanied by engaging animations and an atmospheric interface. It's disappointing that the self-directed story arc fails to satisfy cinematically, but Erica is an effective live-action interactive thriller.

Skip to the end: An intriguing and high quality choose-your own adventure. 8/10

MONSTER JAM STEEL TITANS

Platform: Switch

Genre: Racing

Price: £29.99

Trucking about

Monster Jam Steel Titans reckons it's for people who know their Grave Digger from their Blue Thunder. Yet it can't recreate the speed, feel or power that even a casual onlooker would expect from barrelling around in 150k-dollars worth of motorsport madness. In a nod to simulation, you can select independent control of your rear wheels with the right stick, but when jittery physics already turn even completing a race into a headache, there's no room for additional complexity. Which is sad, as the challenge would disguise the dreary track design and samey feel to races. Arena contests are especially frustrating since it's so hard to predict whether you'll land a jump successfully. Monster Jam is a massive no-starter.

Skip to the end: Irritating to control and almost impossible to enjoy. 5/10

DARKSIDERS GENESIS

Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch

Genre: RPG

Price: £26.99

Apocalypse now

Finally, Darksiders has discovered a classic it can rip off properly. Darksiders 3 was a dreadfully leaden attempt to copy Dark Souls, but Darksiders Genesis competently clones Diablo's action-RPG style. The visuals may be a little World Of Warcraft for some, but returning character War and new hero Strife look right at home in this isometric world, and fans will recognise weaponry, attacks and atmosphere from the series. The strength of Genesis is in the grind mechanic, which you can take or leave depending how hard you want to work, enabling even casual players to access an exciting combat loop of bashing hordes and grabbing loot. Reviewed on Asus ROG G703GI (i7, 16GB, GTX 1080, asus.com/uk/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers).

Skip to the end: A successfully action-orientated genre shift for the series. 7/10

MOSAIC

Platform: PC

Genre: Adventure

Price: £15.99

Second-rate life

Perhaps playing Mosaic is a risk not worth taking. After all, if this point-and-click exploration of a mundane working life ends up being more appealing than your own Monday to Friday adventures in boredom, what then? At first glance, Mosaic's grey, washed-out journey from bed to the office and back is merely a simulation of five days of commuting to a meaningless existence, yet if you're willing to return time and again there are sparks of interest lurking within, from hidden fantasy moments to satirical apps on your in-game mobile device. Maybe it's these pockets of joy in Mosaic that are the biggest worry of all.

Reviewed on Asus ROG G703GI (i7, 16GB, GTX 1080, asus.com/uk/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers).

Skip to the end: Be careful with this one, it might cause problems. 6/10