If you're seeking a fast-paced shooter to tide you over through the Summer of Arcade but also want more than the usual mindless killing sprees, look no further!

Once again then, Madden has produced a highlight reel of new features which, while including something for everyone, still probably won't make it anyone's perfect American Football experience.

Sure, it has its share of faults; the visuals are a bit hit and miss and its long term value is dependent upon a required penchant for time attack chasing, but my God, give in to Hurricane's OTT aesthetics, its arcade handling and its complete disregard for the laws of physics and you'll be in for one hell of a ride.

Starcraft 2 may feel a bit too familiar, given the accepted trend for sequels to reinvent themselves with every iteration but it comes across more as a tried and tested success with enough fresh nuances to keep old school fans happy and attract many more players looking for a new challenge.

For anyone who bought Alan Wake, played through to the end and loved every minute, be sure to download The Signal. It is largely more of the same than an innovative step forward, so if you were not wowed by Wake's adventure the first time round, this new episode is unlikely to convert you.

And it's the fact that the game is free that makes it hard to criticise. Ultimately all you'll be loosing here is time, but then again, there's no shortage of cheap, budget racing games that have more content that World currently showcases.

At approximately four hours in length it's not a long game at all, but while those four hours last they're magical, beautiful and really quite affecting.

Alien Swarm is a free game and has been updated regularly to try to iron out the remaining bugs (excuse the pun). All things considered, as it stands the game is a little disappointing and falls short of its true potential.

Blacklight: Tango Down isn't going to set the world alight – it suffers from a few too many annoying design choices, is lacking any form of serious innovation and can't quite stand toe-to-toe with the big boys of the genre. What it can do though is offer up a largely enjoyable online shooter with a huge array of options at an unbelievably low price.

On the surface, Pacific City is bigger and more vertical than before, the enemies are thicker and quicker, the Orbs are more plentiful and the controls are far tighter, but on the whole, Crackdown 2 ain't no revolution.

Horrible Histories: Ruthless Romans is filled with important (and child-pleasingly gory) facts and does to a certain extent succeed in making learning fun. The mini-games are enjoyable overall and well put together, with only some suffering from irritating controls and the game is well aimed at young children, forming almost a love letter to the fans of the original books, although it is quite text-heavy, so don't expect your children to forsake Mario and Zelda for it altogether.

There are problems, but fans of the genre will be able to look past these imperfections and see that this is a far superior game to Agatha Christie. But even so, this is still an average game, especially when compared to the best of the Wii library.

At just £2.39 Ice Road Truckers will provide you with a couple of hours of inexpensive and inoffensive racing fun, but while it’s certainly not a game that will leave you feeling cold it’s also not one that will give you Goosebumps either.

XG Blast! is an entertaining and addictive shooter but Geometry Wars does it better.

There is more than enough content here to keep the majority of fans happy for weeks on end – just expect the occasional twinge of disappointment to tarnish the experience.

So perhaps Electronic Arts are on to something and the best way to enjoy this year's game is to buy it second hand and pay to access the online features. It's certainly an option because, as far as Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 is concerned, EA get a pass – but only just.

Joe Danger isn't quite Mario on a Motorbike – it doesn't have the depth, variety or genre-shaping progressiveness for that. Instead, it's a warmly nostalgic tribute that manages to land itself in between the inventive, physics-based precision of Trials HD and the frenetic speed runs of Excitebike – which is a pretty impressive trick for anyone to pull off.

There's nothing colourful about Colour Cross; it's a simple puzzle game akin to Picross or a painting version of Sudoku that hasn't been implemented very well.

Although home to some of the longest load times since the Commodore 64, ModNation Racers is nevertheless a hugely entertaining kart racer and certainly the first major threat to the Mario Kart throne since Diddy Kong racing way back on the N64.

Blur is very much a straight forward welding of the kiddie Mario Kart style racers with adult-friendly realism. The result is something that is far beyond expectation. The action is fast, unrelenting and 'on-the-edge-of-your-seat'.

ModNation racers on PS3 is worth all of the praise it is getting right now, but sadly some subtle alterations for the handheld version make those who only own a PSP at a major loss. If you're interested in a Play Create Share experience with Kart Racing, go for the full fat console version instead of this.

There are not many reasons not to buy this game – it’s a bit difficult to get used to at the start and the graphics aren’t as high quality as they could have been. Ignore these minor issues and buy this game – you will not be disappointed!

At times breathtaking, often awe-inspiring and never, ever dull, Red Dead Redemption is already one of 2010's biggest hitters, and is likely to become one of this generation's greatest achievements. A staggering work of art.

It’s an original, varied and faithful rendition of life on the frontier, filled with the kind of quality and eccentricity that we’ve come to expect from Rockstar, and stands on its own merits as one of the best games on PS3.

In every sense Split/Second brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "prime time".

Unless you’ve slavishly scoured every inch of the first two Skate games, it’s hard to recommend throwing down a large slab of cash for this update.

There will be some gluttons for punishment out there who will love Silicon Studio's tribute from end to end, and more power to them for their perseverance against all good reason, but the vast majority of gamers in this day and age will find that 3D Dot Game Heroes wears out its welcome all too soon.

While the added content may not be enough to entice gamers who have already bashed their way through the PC version, Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition is a near essential title for any 360 owner looking to unleash their freakier side and experience the finest that indie gaming has to offer.