ON THE BUTTONS

Will it be a Lite Christmas?

01 CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE RRP £49.99 | PS4, XBOX ONE, PC

Not, as the title might suggest, a remaster of 2007’s genre-defining shooter, but a series reboot some would say is long overdue. The much-admired co-operative Spec Ops mode returns, while zombies are off the menu. The solo campaign, meanwhile, promises a provocative, Sicario-inspired take on contemporary conflict, with a score-based ‘threat assessment’ mechanic that rewards you for avoiding collateral damage.

02 GOOGLE STADIA RRP £119

The end of the console? Google’s cloud service streams games to smartphones, smart TVs and tablets in up to 4K resolution, with no need for extra hardware. For those with high-speed internet, it could be a godsend, though latency concerns suggest it won’t be ideal for all games. Still, the prospect of playing on the equivalent of a high-end PC without the astronomical cost is an enticing one.

03 DEATH STRANDING RRP £49.99 | PS4

The most eye-opening cast ever assembled for a videogame (Mads Mikkelsen and Léa Seydoux star, while Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn have lent their likenesses) powers Hideo Kojima’s eccentric action-adventure. It’s led by The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus, who plays a courier being chased by spectral beasts across craggy highlands while carrying a baby in an artificial womb.

04 STAR WARS JEDI: FALLEN ORDER RRP £54.99 | PS4, XBOX ONE, PC

Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment delivers the perfect appetiser for The Rise Of Skywalker, with an adventure that sees padawan Cal Kestis fleeing from the Empire after escaping Order 66. With Force powers enlivening exploration and combat, and lightsaber battles that play out like tense samurai duels, this looks set to be the best Star Wars game in over a decade.