The 5 Games You Must Play This March

No matter what the calendar might be trying to tell us, there are still some chilly, long evenings ahead of us this month - providing the perfect excuse to pull up a chair/beanbag/sofa and indulge in a few levels of escapism. 

From handheld bloodbaths (seriously, the first trailer in our list is for adult eyes only) to latest console exclusives, we guarantee there'll be a title in our selection to suit your hardcore/casual preferences. 

And if you're still not satisfied - well, February's titles are still worth having a crack at. 

Hotline Miami 2

Coming to: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and PC

When was the last time you ate? Should you possess a weak stomach, you might want to leave a few hours between your last meal and watching the above trailer for Hotline Miami 2. Already refused certification in Australia, the sequel to Dennaton Games blood-washed top-down shooter of 2012 has refined the carnage of the original, with new characters, masks and weapons. Following the events before and after Jacket's attack on the Russian mob, the story runs secondary to the violence. If pixelated evisceration doesn't rank high on your list of "Ways to relax this Sunday", best give this a miss. Otherwise, you're in for a gory treat. Worth playing for the soundtrack alone. 

Arrives: 10 March

Sid Meier's Starships

Coming to: PC, Mac, iOS (iPad)

Not sure how many hours you've poured into the games of Sid Meier? The figure's about to grow anyway. The new chapter in the expansive Civilization series, Starships adds a sci-fi flavour to the classic turn-based formula. Explore the galaxy, build ships, enact deep space diplomacy or wage war across the stars in the hope of finding a new home for humanity. Vastly complicated, with thousands of stats to crunch and potentially endless scenarios to embark in, this could be the only game you play for the rest of 2015.

Arrives: 12 March

Battlefield Hardline

Coming to: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC

Cops vs robbers. But the cops aren't the roly-poly jovial sort and the robbers aren't dressed in black-and-white with bags marked 'Swag'. Battlefield's latest venture swaps the deserts and traditional warfare of the series for urban environments and criminal operations. As a crook, you'll be working tactically to obtain a target (by illegal means, obviously), while those in the role of heavily-armed law enforces must take them down with their own strategies and gadgets. Imagine the games you would play out in the school playground as a kid, but with added DLC, customisable weapons and about the same amount of swears. 

Arrives: 17 March

Mario Party 10

Coming to: Wii U

"It's for my son/nephew." Yeah, sure. While Mario Party 10's cuddly aesthetic and candy floss branding might not appeal to the die-hard PlayStation crowd, anyone with a Wii U under their telly will be wanting a crack at this. The tenth instalment in Nintendo's mini-game-filled 'party' title, 10 features a vast array of levels (there are 10 Bowser battles alone) set across five boards from around the Mushroom Kingdom. If you've never thrown your controller at a friend just for beating you to the banana in a game of Fruit Scoot Scurry, you haven't lived. 

Arrives: 20 March

Bloodborne

Coming to: PlayStation 4

Guns are for wimps. That's a rough guide to the logic of FromSoftware. The developers of the hard-as-nails fantastical adventure Dark Souls have always had a preference for swords, sorcery and death. Lots of death. Mainly your own. Bloodborne brings the testing DNA of FromSoftware's franchises to Sony's muscular console, drenching the macabre city of Yharnam in Gothic, HD tones. Cursed with a strange endemic illness, knights and soldiers are being transformed into horrific beings of vast proportions. Armed with equally massive blades of your own, it's your task to slice your way through the massing undead and put a stop to their bloody mischief. Expect progress to be slow, infuriating and addictive.

Arrives: 24 March