The 10 amazing games you must play this August

From the inevitable new iteration of the world's biggest American Football game to Ubisoft's surprising Nintendo crossover, more Uncharted for you to get stuck into to the latest in Codemasters' fast and furious F1 series and even a new FPS game from the legendary CliffyB, August looks like a mighty fine month for games. Join us as we run through all the top titles that you'll need to be playing.

Ninja Theory have been working on what could arguably be the biggest, most graphically impressive indie game to date in the form of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. The DmC devs have been bringing their latest action-adventure title to life over the last few years, giving us a hack and slash game that hasn't seen before. It's out later this month and if it’s anything like Ninja Theory's previous titles, this'll be one visually attractive game.

Fans of classic shooter Unreal Tournament have lots to get excited about with LawBreakers, the upcoming FPS from Unreal designer Cliff Bleszinski, which packs in fast and frantic gameplay, plenty of mayhem and team based combat. Much like Overwatch, you'll be able to pick from a variety of class-based roles, but unlike Blizzard's take, LawBreakers offers several game modes and isn't just a total fragfest. If you're looking for a fresh FPS title, this is one to keep your eye on.

Volition's Saints Row franchise is getting its very own spin-off later this month, giving you an open world action-adventure to play with – complete with the ridiculous, over-the-top humour the series is known for. With inspiration drawn from superhero comic books and story threads from the original Saints Row universe, Agents of Mayhem looks to give you everything you loved about its predecessor, only with even more freedom and even more ludicrous weapons. Look forward to jumping in this month.

Forget FIFA, for gridiron football fans, this is the big release of the year. EA's mammoth Madden NFL franchise commands huge numbers every year it's released and the latest title in the annual franchise looks set to be the biggest yet. Taking a cue from EA's own FIFA games, Madden NFL 18 will feature a story mode and the game's set to get a huge graphical upgrade, as it's moving over to the Frostbite engine better known for powering gorgeous games like Battlefield 1.

After Nathan Drake's story was neatly wrapped up with a bow and playable Crash Bandicoot level last year, few expected another full game in the action adventure series that has come to define PlayStation would drop so soon. And yet, here we are: this time around we've got two new protagonists, Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross, in what can best be described as a Tomb Raider buddy comedy.

We've already played a snipped of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and came away impressed by the huge scope of its surprisingly open levels – given Naughty Dog's pedigree as a studio, it's unlikely to be anything other than an explosive, high octane action film of a game.

Codemasters are back with the next version of the official F1 racing sim this month, and it looks more authentic than ever. This year the big addition is the return of classic cars from F1's long history – including the one and only championship winning Red Bull Racing RB6 car from 2010 – so if you want to relive legendary races with next-gen graphics, now's your chance.

Word of this crossover game leaked out before its E3 announcement this summer, but nobody saw Nintendo and Ubisoft's cutest mascots being pitted against each other in a deceptively smart XCOM style cover-based strategy game. Kudos to both publishers for trying something brave indeed – as hot as the Switch launch has been so far, the handheld needs as many new third party titles as possible, and the more genres the better.

Sony's classic golf franchise is back, and it'll be yours to play on PS4 later this month. Everybody's Golf started life back on the original PS1 and now, 20 years later, it's been been updated and given a fresh lease of life on Sony's latest console. It packs in character customisation, online play, and the ability to free roam around golf courses in your very own golf cart. Expect more of the addictive, easy-to-pick-up-but-difficult-to-master gameplay the series is renowned for when it debuts later this month.

If Mario + Rabbids doesn't have enough permadeath for you in your strategy gaming, not to worry: there's more XCOM on the way this month. The best strategy game of 2016 is back (just on PC for now) in this expansion, which features a terrifying new race called the Chosen, along with more missions and more character modes. With any luck, if it's a hit, we could see this DLC expand to the excellent PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game down the line.

Thomas Happ Games' excellent Metroidvania-inspired Axiom Verge is already out on PC and major consoles, but now it's getting a re-release for the Nintendo Switch, letting you take it on the go. It's a brilliant way to play one of the best 2D side-scrolling games we've seen in a long while. With crisp graphics, engrossing gameplay and some of the best sprite-based visuals available on consoles, this is well worth a look to take on the go with you.