The Observer’s best games of 2015

It's been a year of quality sequels, indie class acts and some incredible immersive journeys, from the zombie apocalypse to a rural Shropshire one"

The year has been dominated by a series of open-world games that were both impressive and exhausting. Batman: Arkham Knight gave us a glittering gothic maze; Mad Max and Fallout 4 traded visions of the apocalypse; Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain erected a grand stage for the apparently final exit of Snake; and Just Cause 3 built another just to blow it up as inventively as possible. These games are odysseys of side quests and collectibles, and their relentless ambition has become the dominant mode of this generation of consoles, if only because they leave little time to play anything else.