Like another upcoming entry on this list, whoever booked Mad Max's release to coincide on the exact same day as Metal Gear Solid V, didn't just shoot it in the foot, as cleave off a limb and mail it to another planet. Mad Max might not be able to hold a candle to the inventive and experiment-encouraging gameplay of MGS V, but it's not trying to. Instead, Avalanche (who you'll know from Just Cause) decided to create an open-world game that is completely emblematic of everything that makes up the genre in the first place. Narrative is dialled back and side-objectives are brought to the fore. You'll spend most of your time just indulging in the weighty driving physics and ramming other enemies off the road, but you can also pillage their wares for upgrades to your car and Max himself. Choose to point in a direction and explore to see what treasures you might find, unlock some of the map, free another chunk of it from leader's rule - you get the idea. In-car combat is dirty and full of oily explosions, but the hand-to-hand stuff, woah baby. When you connect with a haymaker in Mad Max, it feels like you're following through and taking the guy's jaw with you. Brawls are frantic scrambles for position and who can grab a piece of debris fast enough. Every time one kicks off it's a highlight, and when you're standing on the other side, wounded and breathing heavily as Max's makeshift weapons are covered in blood, it's the perfect embodiment of surviving in a wasteland this side of Fallout 4.
