Each level looks so enormously different that aside from a very distinctive 2D style, it very rarely seems like the same game at all.

It's unfortunate that the story is so incredibly mundane, with a bad case of structural repetition for each main area. Oliver's grief is a valid emotion to ride, but it takes a back seat to so many hours of grinding.

As commendable as it is that 5th Cell have made a game that will likely encourage children to think outside the box, experiment with words, and unleash their imaginations on the screen, for those of us who have grown up and have been cultivating our love affair with words for years now, it's the most boring Scribblenauts entry ever.

Nan Assault Neo successfully blends the biological with the mechanical into a twin stick shooter that just feels right.

What it lacks in variety it makes up in sheer insanity.

The entire experience, virtually across the board, screamed of cool ideas and massive potential but Ubisoft may have bitten off more than it could chew. The final product was equal parts sloppy and magnificent. For every moment I set the Vita down to applaud there were similar moments the air turned blue as I cursed in frustration.

The combat overall leaves much to be desired. Halo is so rigid in its linearity that the player is forced to learn gunfight sequences by rote - remember where the snipers are, make sure you find the Watcher quickly to put him down, memorise where extra ammo is.

While I had a better time than expected taking Warfighter online, its singleplayer remains a well-crafted imitator in a year of new ideas.

Resident Evil 6 is as confused and destitute as its zombies, left adrift without any true direction, an action game stuck over the top of a survival horror engine.

I'd recommend Tokyo Jungle to anyone looking for an utterly unique take on the post-apocalyptic theme. It's the sort of game that can get overwhelming if you play it all in one weekend, but if you jump into it every now and then you'll find yourself repeatedly enamoured with the world.

If the shift powers had been less drip-fed, the puzzles more open to experimentation, the dimensions less generic and the general conceit more fully realised, Quantum Conundrum may well have blown us away as much as Portal did.

The Amazing Spider-Man isn't a bad game outside of its ridiculous story - it's just pointless. It's very nice looking and it is very cathartic to swing about the streets of Manhattan, but without a good reason to do it, you might as well not bother.

The Line lacks a strong direction. There's a very powerful hint of an outstanding game sitting beneath what is ultimately a flawed experience. I can imagine it being easier to play on PC - not something you'd typically say about a third person shooter - and yet I can't see that making up for all of its faults.

I've played 28 hours of Diablo 3 (according to the in-game measurement) - but this isn't the whole story. I've spent six hours not playing it - nearly a quarter of my time total. With no competitive multiplayer (except for the facile concept of a 'race to the finish line'), constant network related issues and what I feel is negative movement in terms of the 'loot' metagame, Diablo 3 in its current state isn't something I see myself playing any more.

It's a story-heavy sequel to a game with a pretty forgettable story and the story it has is almost laughably bad. It abandons the concept of being a supervillain, but never burdens you with the responsibility of being a good guy and ultimately, it brings almost nothing new to the franchise.

The co-operative features are silky smooth with great voice chat and not a hint of lag and the inclusion of Daily Challenges keeps the content fresh and constantly evolving. It may not be perfect, but goddamn it's a hell of a lot of fun.

If it was a Wii game it would be one of the best on the console - hell if they stripped out the awkward, pain in the ass Land Battles it would be a much better game. Still, is it so much to ask that one 3DS game not be portable, one 3DS game not follow the format of 'pick up and play anywhere'? With the 3DS' currently small catalogue, I think so - but maybe in the future, things will change. I really hope they do.

Operation Raccoon City gets fifty percent of the way there. It has some really cool ideas and core concepts that deserve acknowledgement and recognition counterbalanced by almost half-cocked development choices. I hoped that this would set a new benchmark for the series and usher in a new direction, but this isn't the title to do it.

I can't even begin to describe how much I tried to like this game...Unfortunately the execution was so unresponsive and flawed it destroyed any immersion or emotion the experience could have potentially delivered and that is a crying shame.

Action gamers who found their way to Uncharted via God of War and similar bombastic franchises will only have their itches scratched in the cutscenes. Whereas if your main enjoyment comes from the character interaction and cute dialogue these games seem to do better than so many others, you won't be disappointed at all.

The single-player alone doesn't make Shank 2 a must buy, but if you enjoy horde modes with a spicy Mexican twist then Shank 2 is an unbelievably fun addition to your party game collection.

It's still a little distressing that a game with all the potential in the world to be one of the most spectacular gaming experiences of the decade is instead... a middle-of-the-road title. It may not crash, and it may not really bore you, but it isn't polished, and doesn't fully engross you.

SoulCalibur V closely resembles the Modern Warfare of fighting games with an instantly forgettable story line in its single player campaign paling before a more robust multiplayer and online component. Ignore the story mode and delve deeper into the arcade, character creation and versus modes for the best experience. It's not even close to the finest incarnation of the series but it looks quite pretty and is still reasonably solid.

Final Fantasy XIII wanted you to love it for who it was, but Final Fantasy XIII-2 wants you to love it for who it's like. And compared to Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy XII and Chrono Trigger it falters significantly, with a ridiculous and convoluted story, some awful voice acting and the worst music I've heard in a video game. If you're a fan of JRPGs you'll probably enjoy it, but it's in no way the best game on the market - not by a long shot.

If you're the kind that relishes a challenge and has understanding neighbours (for when you swear loudly), Dustforce is a low cost yet deep title that can keep you mercilessly addicted for hours.

When it works it really works well and its attention to the canon and lore of the Lord of the Rings is phenomenal, but it does too many things poorly to put it in the same league as a game like Dark Souls or The Witcher 2.

An extremely fun action experience that is sure to induce Tourette's to the most levelheaded gamers. It's a blast for the most part, but on occasion it defies explanation by breaking its own conventions and using shoddy camera angles and unresponsive controls to artificially increase difficulty.

Die-hard fans of the anime can feel free to throw an extra [10 points] onto the final score, but with repetitive cannon fodder enemy types, a nonsensical plot and some of the blandest and most repeated ad nauseum backgrounds I've ever seen in a video game, it's hard to justify going any higher. A little more care could have really made a difference. Pity.

While its cover and suppression systems and tanks are outstanding, there are far too many bugs throughout the single and multiplayer game. While broken animation and even the bizarre leveling bugs can be ignored to an extent, the constant framerate and sound dropping - not to mention outright crashes - make RO2 too frustrating at the moment - and sadly it's only going to get worse as more people get fed up and move on to something else.

A game unlike no other. Every minor failing in gameplay or plot was cancelled out by a graphical marvel or auditory explosion.

A little more spit and polish could have significantly elevated the title to the ranks of the FPS elite. The old school gameplay was a winner in my book; just don't expect to be wowed by the plot or anything else.

No, F.E.A.R. 3 isn't scary - but considering the length of the singleplayer and the strength of the multiplayer, I don't think it really matters.

The AI makes playing on your own a pain in the arse and the netcode ruins the multiplayer. The story is actually pretty interesting but at the end of the day you don't play these sorts of games for the plot, and Brink doesn't deliver where it should.

If you do have friends with the same console who are willing to pick up a copy of the game, it's a no-brainer. In terms of execution, Operation Flashpoint: Red River demolishes all comers - and thanks to a heavy dose of replayability, I'd even recommend it over Portal 2's coop.

Bulletstorm's best gag is that it'd be light years better if it didn't attempt to have any story at all. The story it does have is so clichéd they could almost credit Home Brand, and a large portion of the humour is written for 14 year olds. The skillshot system, the leash and the core game though - it's a fresh and interesting take on the FPS genre. There's genuinely more fun to be had playing through the Echo mode than there is putting up with the half-baked story in singleplayer.

As much as I loved powering around Ibiza and Hawaii in a Bugatti or Ferrari, it doesn't make up for the tedium of earning cars through repetitive, samey races against underwhelming (and teleporting) AI, the Z grade voice acting and the half-arsed attempt at injecting story into a game which very literally didn't need it. Test Drive Unlimited 2 is a wreck.

It requires a significant investment of time before players will begin to enjoy themselves. It has loading times which are pretty bad at best and unacceptable at worst. Oh and for a lot of the game the only thing you'll be racing is your own PB time.

If you're after the definitive Bond adventure, Blood Stone 007 isn't it, stick to GoldenEye 007 instead.

By walking the line between Sim and Arcade, H.A.W.X.2 manages to represent neither and alienate both.

If you aren't familiar with the difficulty of the Castlevania games previous to SotN you will probably see Castlevania HD as nothing but an exercise in frustration. If you want to get into Castlevania you can pick up the excellent Symphony of the Night from the Xbox Live Marketplace - and while it doesn't have multiplayer you're much more likely to have a good time.

Singularity is a game which uses the concept of time travel less as a game mechanic, plot driver or interesting concept and more as a distraction. This philosophy carries across the entire title - graphics, story and puzzles all seem to simply serve as filler to keep your attention between shooting things.

Fans of Transformers - real fans, the people with the cartoon series and die-cast toys - will probably get a huge kick out of the story behind Transformers. They might even get enough out of it to overlook the insipid level design, borrowed gameplay elements and sloppy AI.

Though its fundamentals are starting to show their age, Earthworm Jim HD was really satisfying to knock out.

Those of you expecting a return to the Prince's former glory may be disappointed, though this is definitely a step in the right direction.

For your money you get about 15 hours worth of gameplay in a single playthrough, and while that seems a little light in comparison to Origins, it's a decent price for a stand alone expansion pack on a console.

In all, the game seems to alternate between a wonderful, engrossing experience and a frustrating, incomplete one - and while we can hope that upcoming patches fix many of these (often niggling, sometimes major) problems, for the moment, Silent Hunter 5 remains a interesting but partially-broken game.

At the end of the day it may be trite and an unfunny pun, but unless you’re a massive fan of Battlestar Galactica and have the ability to put shonky gameplay to the side, I’ll offer this one piece of advice… Avoid the Void.

Maybe Platinum Games had deliberately pushed the game so far over the top it became ridiculous and stupid, not out of an attempt to circle on round from stupid back to awesome in that out-there-crazy-no-holds-barred-explosion way, but as a direct parody of all of the previous games which have tried to do that. Maybe Bayonetta isn't a terrible game, but is in fact the pure utilisation of irony to mock both the game manufacturers and its fans!

Your 15th trip through the barren Hyrule countryside sums up not just dodging trains in Spirit Tracks, but basically the entirety of Spirit Tracks.

Regardless of my feelings for The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull movie, its levels were longer, set in interesting scenes, and did what the Lego games have been doing from the start - paying excellent tribute to one of my biggest heroes.

If you told me three months ago we would be suggesting PC gamers hold off on buying Modern Warfare 2 I would have thought you're crazy. But if you are buying this game mainly for multiplayer - especially if you're contemplating serious competitive play at a high level - that's exactly what we're saying. The single player story is great, and if your idea of multiplayer is a quick zap with mates maybe an hour or two a week then by all means - it's great for your purposes. However if you're a Counterstrike, Battlefield, ETQW or even a COD4 player looking for a serious competitive platform to move to - best wait. Wait and see if Infinity Ward can implement dedicated server support.

Even with the pet and the infinite dungeon, Torchlight is very much the definition of a Diablo clone. If you liked Diablo and you want to play it again, saddle up because you are going to love Torchlight.

Our problem is where Polyphony Digital has focused their content here. 800 cars and 35+ tracks(which can be played in reverse) is super generous and no small feat to cram into a PSP. We'd trade half of them for a career mode – even if it was a cut-down version of past GT games – so we'd feel like picking the game up for a quick race was actually progressing something more than our track and car count.

The core gameplay of ODST is decidedly average - as such it earns a decidedly average score.

Overall, excluding the jumping puzzles, there isn't anything particularly bad about WET. It's a fun shooter, it's clearly designed for adults, and it gives you a lot of options for looking cool while mercilessly slaughtering hundreds of people.

The more you play Need For Speed: Shift the more you find yourself forgiving the half-arsed attempt at vehicle damage.

The game doesn't have the depth to keep the average gamer interested, especially not for a second round - even with the branching storyline.

In a world where First Person Shooters come free with pizza (Pizza Hut gave away the Battlefield series for a while for those of you leading a healthier lifestyle than me.) The Conduit really doesn't stand out in the crowd. If anything; other, better games are sitting on its shoulders.

Very average in most respects - everything it does right has some element which drags it straight back down. The one thing which makes the game amazing is the attention to detail given to the characters, story and the world they live in.

Virtua Tennis 2009 isn't a bad game - it's more fun than most sports games with three other people at hand - but it certainly isn't a good game. Go and get Virtua Tennis 3 or Top Spin 3 if you desperately need a tennis game on your Xbox 360 though - they're both better.

The best reason to buy this is if you don't think you can hold out until God of War 3 - the other reason is if you're a huge fan of the character. You'll find that this is ultimately the definitive version of the Xmen Origins story.

The weirdest thing about this game - I've never had so many gripes and still found myself so incredibly addicted. I played the game all the way through - around 25 hours - in two sittings.

The clichéd characters, the abysmal voice acting and the repetitive, unrewarding gameplay all reinforce this idea that you are playing a video game - a poorly written, poorly made one at that.

The more I played it the less I wanted to as the story got sillier and the horror theme phased in and out. I wouldn't recommend F.E.A.R. 2 to anyone except the ultra hardcore fans of Monolith Productions - even then you'd be better off playing Condemned 2.

Since we’re stuck with an unrefined and choppy experience, it’s better to dust off some classics and remind yourself what makes this genre so special. After that, give Square Enix a call and let them know.

One of the biggest early appeals of Mortal Kombat was the forbidden factor, personified by that curtain that appeared around some of the earlier arcade cabinets to shield kiddies from the evisceration. In its quest for broader appeal, that element of MK is now dead and gone.

There's not a lot to redeem Mirror's Edge beyond its immersive atmosphere. The clipping is probably the worst thing about the game - it's simply inexcusable to have a game rely on something so much only to have it not work when it should.

Compared to The Force Unleashed’s Duel Mode, Lightsaber Duels is too simplistic and shallow to warrant purchasing – while it would suit younger fans, the wait continues for the rest of us Star Wars fans for a game that lets us unleash our inner Jedi and use the Wii-mote like a lightsaber in a realistic manner.

Quantum of Solace directly suffers at the hands of a strict movie release schedule - with more time the game could have been the Goldeneye replacement everyone has been dreaming of.

If you're under 14, or some unfortunate pituitary disorder has rendered your hands miniscule, you can't really go wrong with Guitar Hero: On Tour. Just make sure that when you're touring, it's somewhere devoid of other people and their pitiless, judging eyes.