I don't fault DICE for making another botched campaign for Battlefield 4 - I blame the focus tests and market research that was used to decide that a campaign like this was necessary in the first place. But the online play is obviously where BF4 was always going to shine, and here on PC, the result is pretty damn outstanding.

We also enjoy The Stanley Parable, but this isn't just a game meant to be enjoyed. I refuse to believe something like this is just meant to be something we goof around with for a couple of evenings and dumped into our hundreds-strong Steam libraries, never to be thought of again.

Skylanders: Swap Force is a somewhat-fresh take on the franchise with a really satisfying new element of mixing and matching character halves, but let's not pretend that it's going to take the series' fans by surprise.

Does GTAV live up to one of the pedigree of one of the best franchises gaming? There's no doubt for me that it does, and a few minor issues here and there don't get in the way of this game delivering such a lively and large world to explore or from presenting such an entertaining way to do dozens of activities - and I love that for the first time for GTA in nearly a decade, the developers aren't relying so heavily on mind-numbing, straightforward gunfights with thugs and cops.

Outlast offers a lot for the $20 that the developers are asking: great visuals, a decent story, some solid scares, plenty of checkpoints, and a little bit of openness in both exploration and in dealing with the enemies that can't be fought back against.

If you're interested in a more grounded story and don't mind calling a game without violence, well, an actual game, then you should definitely consider Gone Home. For everyone else the best I can recommend is to keep an open mind in the future and maybe catch the next one.

I'm not going to even attempt to suggest that Saints Row IV is some kind of video-game-defining-moment or whatever, but at least for this generation, we might have found the best example yet of a big-budget developer doing whatever the hell they want and rather than being generally criticized for what doesn't work, being celebrated by newcomers and fans alike for what does.

Despite a few iffy choices and some frame rate issues, this new, fresh version of an FPS semi-classic breathes new life into the classic shooter genre. Even if you didn't grow up playing these games in the early-mid 90s, I think you'll still value the kind of action that Rise of the Triad provides.

Buy this one without hesitation, especially if you haven't played it before.

This is an arcade revival done right, and even if my memories of the games were a little more idealized than reality, the games are still a blast to play and this is now by far the best way to play them.

With a well-thought-out mythos, a mildly original take on the zombie survival game that relies more on superb execution and storytelling than innovative mechanics, acting that's so good we actually see character development happen without even words being spoken, and Naughty Dog's impressive engine and top-notch production values, it all comes together to make for a wonderful reminder that not all big-budget action games need to be measured in headshots-per-minute.

The Cognition series is nothing if not consistent. Thus far, all three chapters have delivered bizarre-looking characters and laughable dialog, but more importantly, they've delivered seductively gruesome murder cases and an impressively comprehensive story arc.

It's still a fantastic game that follows in the footsteps of great Russian-style FPS games before it, and the added polish, fantastic visuals, and supernatural story elements help keep things fresh.

Even if you dislike the poker, this game is probably still worth it just for the general humor you'll get, and it helps that Telltale can keep nearly anyone laughing and coming back repeatedly.

As much as progress NetherRealm has made - and improving on MK9 was a difficult feat which I believe they succeeded in doing - the problem is that the face of fighting games has changed even just in the last year and a half that I'm not sure Injustice is a comparative step forwards when you look at everything else.

Either way, Defiance gives off a bad first impression, but it still holds up well on its own with continued play.

On PC, BioShock Infinite absolutely shines. The use of the venerable Unreal Engine might surprise you, considering just how stunning this game looks, especially with the high-res textures exclusive to the PC version that balloon the game to about 15GB in size.

As much as I've said over the last year-plus that I actually don't mind the ending to Mass Effect 3, that I found it a bit iffy but not nearly as rage-inducing as it seems the vast majority of players thought it was, maybe the Citadel DLC, which jam-packs five-plus hours of maximum entertainment into its $15 package, is just a better way to end the story.

Tomb Raider delivers a slick, fun time with plenty of collectibles, great action, and an excellent main character.

I was skeptical about why I'd really want to play anything like a PS2-era action platformer here in 2013, but spending even just half an hour in this game made me a believer, and there's much, much more fun to be had beyond that. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time may not innovate in bringing the genre forward, but there's still a ton of merit in bringing to market a polished, charming game with colorful graphics and inventive characters and levels.

Anyway, even with its flaws, The Wise Monkey offers some good old-fashioned adventure game entertainment and promises more to come. Fortunately for us, the Cognition series' compelling heroine and an even more compelling story arc do two important things: make it possible to overlook the game's graphics, dialog and puzzle design hiccups and ensures that I for one, will see it through to the end.

Skyrim was such a wonderful game, and it was disappointing to see something as half-baked as Dawnguard serve as the only example of what Bethesda could offer for post-release support for this game. Dragonborn, however, is truly worthy of the Elder Scrolls name - even if it doesn't have characters casually pulling actual Elder Scrolls out of their back pockets and buying or selling them for a few thousand gold - as it adds the kind of large, epic feel you should be experiencing when playing an open-world RPG.

Nostalgia aside, Sonic Transformed as a kart racing game is a blast to play and it comes highly recommended, especially at the reasonable Steam price of $30 (or $80 for a four-pack).

This PC version is better than some straight-over ports I've seen this generation, but it certainly could have benefited from a little more time spent on PC-only features.

Alexander Bruce's biggest achievement with Antichamber is that he created a game that's brilliant and inviting, something that can rarely be said for a game made entirely of difficult puzzles where what you see isn't always what you get and where the room you're standing in can change at any moment.

Any fan of the genre owes it to themselves to give Ni no Kuni a try, but I won't go so far as to guarantee that you'll love this game even if you've hated past JRPGs.

With clever puzzle design, inspired graphics and laugh-out-loud dialog, it's head-and-shoulders above the majority of adventure titles and is a shoe-in for any adventure fan's list of most-loved games.

Far Cry 3 gets so many things right about why we play first person shooters, that I really am having a hard time knocking it too much for the few things it gets wrong.