In essence if Colonial Marines were chocolate it would be Cadbury's; it's chocolate, has all the ingredients of chocolate, but the only real attraction is the name, the quality leaving you somewhat hollow and unfulfilled.

The fact that there are several difficulty levels and the ability to fine-tune Sonic’s speed, jump height, and even damage recovery as part of the in-game options is not a great sign and is indicative of the mish-mash feel. In the end, the lack of focus and consistency makes Sonic Frontiers feel unfinished - even if playing in the solid 60 frames-per-second performance mode is great for capturing and conveying a sense of speed and scale. But even here there’s so much pop-in that you lose out on a true sense of awe when it comes to the environments and structures born from the mysterious Cyber Space. Another average, but ambitious, outing for the blue hedgehog.

Comic book characters, just as any work of literature, can be timeless. What Deadpool fails to acknowledge is that he does not fall in this category. While the likes of X-Men and Hulk have served, at times, as allegories, there is just too much toilet-driven humour in Deadpool to come off as anything more than droll shtick.

Creativity is all well and good, but it needs a more receptive canvas than what Scribblenauts Unmasked offers.

Whilst its hordes of mindless, generic, evil kamikaze AI make for great target practice, there isn't much else on offer if you're a veteran third-person gamer.

A fun game for cover shooter fans who don't mind linear progression and a decent amount of cut-scenes.

In the end Space Hulk: Tactics also has the appeal of its premise and works better as an experience played with others whilst also designing missions and various layouts. Much like the origins of Space Hulk it feels true to the tabletop roots of the series - but also lacking in its limited scope.

Ultimately the new Saints Row is a disappointment, especially if you’re a fan of the series. The co-op mode, although highly problematic when trying to establish a game, was commendably solid once up and running, and fun for a while. The new location and characters don’t really land and the sloppy nature of just about every aspect gives the impression of yet another game released long before it was finished. And even though this might sound like a random aside, when a Saints Row game with multiple radio stations features only a handful of memorable or recognisable tracks - to the point where you don’t even notice driving around in silence - you know there are issues.

This is not going to set the gaming world on fire by any means but if you're a sucker for movie tie-ins, have reasonable to low FPS expectations and don't mind some light RTS antics, Battleship is a decent enough distraction for a handful of hours or so.

A low point for the franchise. The best way I can put it is that the soul of the series has left the building. It has action aplenty but it feels more like a slog.

The problem with Thief is that the studio spent so much time trying to make a game for all kinds of people that it forgot to execute any single part of the experience perfectly.

Croteam have delivered the goods when it comes to the Serious Sam series before, and some of that is peppered throughout Serious Sam 4. From hopping into a giant mech that also happens to be a Pope Mobile to a gun that fires giant cannonballs that can mow down anything in its path. Played in co-op with unlimited respawns and you could even go so far as to recommend it to fans looking purely at that side of the game. But then you remember that the cannonball gun doesn’t show-up until several hours into the campaign, right near the end, and that you had to use a piss-weak pistol for a lot of the time. Shooting at the same aliens from Serious Sam’s of old - in environments that are, well, even uglier than a one-eyed reptilian.

What we’re left with is a product that relies more on promises and potential than what is actually playable. The tracks are boring, the tricks not worth bothering with, the attempt at storytelling laughable and far too much expectation rests in the audience to shape Fusion’s potential.

In the end Earthfall is unfortunately the exception to that age-old rule, originally spoken and then sung by Mary Poppins – ‘a spoonful of co-op makes even the most mediocre of shooters go down’.

We have been spoilt in subsequent years, which isn't Doom 3's fault. The unfortunate truth remains that it is more of a chore to revisit than a joy.

On the cynical side of things. NBA 2K is a billion dollar enterprise, it doesn't do things by accident. It chose to put MyCareer front and centre, to put MyTeam right below it, to bury the ability to simply play a game of basketball in layers of menus. The shame of it is that I genuinely think it's the best representation of basketball ever. But they make you work so hard to see that, and I just don't know if it's worth the effort.

In the end the impressive, but static, visuals and sound design do a lot to put you into the universe. But, at best Aliens: Fireteam Elite is what you play in the arcade before jumping into the cinema proper.

Unfortunately the gameplay is riddled with weird and detrimental quirks, like your ranged characters standing right next to your melee characters (making them easy fodder for foes) with no way to change their formation, maps that get confusing when you change the rotation of your viewpoint, clicking on obvious targets not registering as you hit the wrong pixel - all wrapped up in a difficulty curve that forces grinding the same boring maps over and over.

Redfall is disappointing. A moderately enjoyable co-op game set in a stylish and inviting game world marred by repetitive and bland design and a long list of technical shortcomings.

With Back 4 Blood available on Xbox Game Pass on PC and Console there’s reason to jump in if you’re looking for something new to play with friends. The look and feel is familiar and the action is engaging and chaotic when played with a group. For a while that is. Thanks to the sameness that permeates across most levels and backdrops and the predictability of the pace, it doesn’t take long for this Left 4 Dead spiritual successor to wear a little thin.

Even the visuals seem disinterested with everything looking lifeless and devoid of any real colour or identifiable landmarks, outside of a few fan service cameos. Bland is probably the only word to describe how the game looks.

There’s an upgrade system to offer up replayability and variation, but there’s just not enough about the world, characters, and story to elevate it above anything more than a fun tech demo to put your new GPU through its paces.

Hidden within Travis Strikes Again there are a few fun, unexpected, and outlandish moments. Some of the dialogue in the text adventure story sequences can be amusing, as are reading the fake classic game reviews you can collect. But even these are limited to only a handful of moments when you’re not in direct control of either Travis or Badman, and even they quickly begin to exhibit the same dual-traits of boring and over-played. In a game where you use toilets to save, fight with a lightsaber-like weapon, assassinate strange and odd characters in a world chock-full of pop culture references and absurdism – that’s strike three and four.

With no real championship mode, and a limited number of tracks, the appeal begins to wear thin after a couple of hours. Perhaps the biggest mistake that World Series makes is with re-imagining a classic party and same-room multiplayer experience into a game with a focus on online competition. Some types of games just don’t work all that well when forced into the mould of a character-driven, loot box collecting, quick match system. Playing Micro Machines World Series with four players in the same room is undoubtedly fun, but this option is relegated to a secondary mode with no customisation or incentive to come back when all you have are limited options, and unbalanced vehicles.

What many had hoped would be a glorious trip down memory lane, is a muddled affair that lacks spit and polish across the board. Hail to the king, baby? No. Sadly, it's more akin to, 'Fail to the king, baby.' And I'm genuinely disappointed that I couldn't love the game more.

Part ‘80s love letter, part Trials game, part mash-up of new and mostly terrible play styles.

Crash Bandicoot can still be fun – but is far from essential. A visually impressive remake full of detail and polish for what is for the most part a painfully average platformer.

It's about a gazillion times better than Rugby World Cup 2015, but it's just not able to compete in the big leagues against well made, polished titles like FIFA 16, NBA 2K16 and Madden 16.