I’ve beaten a crab with a stick, watched a man spear a wolf to death, been murdered by melted bat people, and met an invisible king who saved me when I was attacked by a 4ft medieval Eddie Guerrero. When will you ever say something like that happened to you irl (if you beat crabs with sticks, as a Marine Biology major I’m ashamed of you)?

As a study in human behaviour and survival, and as a story-based game of exploration, SOMA is absolutely a success. But as a horror game, it’s just not possible to overlook the feeling of boredom created during the monster encounters that are so integral to the experience as a whole, and that the game is at least two hours longer than necessary.

Stardust Vanguards is one of the few four player local duel games on the PlayStation Network Store. If you enjoyed playing Towerfall Ascension and want a game with a little more depth to it, or if you haven’t and want something to spank and trash talk your friends to whilst in the same room; this is defiantly one to check out. If you’re more of an online gamer or play for the story you should probably pass this one up.

American Truck Simulator is as hard-core as a truck simulator gets.

It’s not a long game; even if you select the longest campaign length of 52 weeks, it shouldn’t take much longer than an hour or so each time. But it’s fun while it lasts and has pretty much infinite replayability.

a game that had a lot of potential, and while it doesn’t quite live up to all of it, it’s still a very intricate, detailed attempt at bringing to life one of the biggest battles of that period.

With a decent experience for solo players and funny – if occasionally long winded – multiplayer matches, there’s plenty to pass the time with here. Not a groundbreaking title by any means, but it’s polished, bug-free and looks really nice, uncluttered and bright. Just a fun game to crack out when your mates pop around.

The game is quite short because once (or if) you complete the puzzles then the game is finished, unless you want to be a perfectionist and achieve perfect on all the puzzles. Other than that, I did enjoy playing the game even though it did annoy me at times when I keep failing at the hard puzzles, but if you want to get your hands on this puzzle game it is available on the Nintendo e-shop now.

Need For Speed is definitely a step in the right direction for the series, at least. With genuinely intelligent AI and the removal of rubber banding, as well as a cleaner lens, the next game from Ghost could well restore Need For Speed to its former glory. At the moment however, it is still unable to catch up to a game released two generations ago.

After playing through more levels and trying out the different characters, I am pleased to say that although it is not as intense as Koei’s Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, it is a nice hack and slash game to have on the 3DS. So if you are a cat person but also like to battle with them, then this game is the perfect combo for you.

From the eyes of a consumer I can say that this is a wonderful re-telling of a family’s bravery and strength. That Dragon, Cancer tries its best to represent such a difficult subject in an approachable manner that’s neither inappropriately light-hearted, nor depressing, and they do a good job with it.

It took me around 4-5 hours to finish, which in my opinion was about the right length for this type of game (no pun intended!).

Using intelligent AR, straightforward controls and that uncontrollable itch to “Catch ’em all”, Niantic have got the building blocks to something really special. To keep this momentum going fresh updates and major improvements to servers are crucial.

The problem is that sometimes that huge depth feels a little empty. I can’t put a finger on why, but maybe it’s because it’s predecessors had buckets of personality and that the concept here isn’t completely original. Nevertheless Ashes of The Singularity is not to be missed by anyone who has ever played any RTS game. It is larger than large and exciting to play, ushering in a new benchmark in real-time strategy.

Whilst it is a very basic, outdated and often boring gaming experience, it has a few key things going for it. Firstly, it is entirely free and I haven’t found any major pay walls to contend with, and at the same time, it does offer excellent use of the license.

It’s a real shame RIVE suffered technical issues, because if it didn’t, I would have loved this game and been willing to give it a high score. I just can’t score it high in its current state, it would be a disservice to you the reader, no matter how much I would love it if it hadn’t been for its issues.

Earth Defense Force 4.1 isn’t a game with an amazing story and the graphics are often less than impressive but the gameplay is addictive and easily accessible.

If you’re looking for an addictive Tetris clone that’s polished and inexpensive, it’s hard not to recommend Quatros Origins.

There are moments in the game where I was glued to my Vita but it’s unfortunately offset by some really annoying characters whose actions and words really got on my wick and only helped to undermine what is a pretty moving and poignant story.

The time between dying and restarting is far too long and the game is a little short on content, but despite these issues, I found TorqueL’s incredibly unique puzzle-platforming incredibly addictive.

Despite the fantastic presentation and brilliant on court gameplay, those looking for a solid single player experience can confidently ignore this entertaining but criminally undercooked offering.

Claire manages to retain it’s horror status without being all the scary after the initial area.

As far as Peanuts-inspired games go, Snoopy’s Grand Adventure is one of the better ones.

While it fully deserves a gold star for recreating the classic nineties beat ‘em up, it struggles to appreciate the fact that the genre has moved on in some ways and poor performance behind the scenes lead to some frustrating, but not totally off-putting gameplay faults.

For all the small irritants contained within Escape from Zombie City, I would be guilty of being over critical considering the small cost to bring this zombie crowd control shooter to the double screen near you. It’s certainly fun to play, the music creates a brilliant atmosphere and the various score attacks will give you plenty to play for.

I like Boom Ball, despite the issues with the left hand control. It did make it annoying when trying to grab that gold medal. But it’s not the most important life goal. Nice to get them, but not the end of the world. Either way, I will at least attempt to get all 55 levels complete.

With some narrative flaws and somewhat repetitive game play Chroma Squad is held up by its polish and shameless confident style.

All in all, Snooker Nation Championship is looking like a worthy sports sim for both seasoned players and newbies alike. We’re looking forward to getting our hands on the finished product.

The Bridge is a good example of an Xbox arcade title done well, and if you want something to whittle away the weekend with, The Bridge stands as a very good option.

Standpoint may not be scoring any home-runs in the indie ballgame, but it could be a hit to some. A unique gravity mechanic helps keep it from falling under the overcrowded generic platformer category. Solid sound design and an original story may be enough for a fan of the indie puzzle genre to try this brain-teaser out.

Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty is a great quirky little game that newcomers to the franchise will enjoy, and returning fans will respect for the visual upgrade and nostalgic effect. However, the Vita version is by no means the best way to play it, but if you don’t have access to the console versions or if you just fancy a bit of Oddworld on the go, then this is the ticket.

With a steep difficulty curve from instant play, Super Robo Mouse can easily put off players not use to the challenge. No variety of music, mid-game pause function and general lack of sounds is dampening, still with 20 levels across 3 worlds including creative mechanical bosses and the cheap entry point you get a reasonable amount of content. For those that relish such demanding gameplay, this fits the bill exquisitely.

While not hitting the heights of Gone Home or Journey in terms of intelligent storytelling or emotional impact, nor reaching the quality of the original Broken Sword’s point and click gameplay and puzzles, Between Me and the Night is a thought-provoking experience nonetheless.

As far as the presentation goes, the game is an absolute treat. You will most likely find yourself laughing throughout despite some of the mediocre mechanics at play here. If you want my honest opinion, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a much better game. If you had to pick between the two, I would go with that one. But, Trials is definitely a serviceable sequel if you want to find out the conclusion to the epic tale of Rex “Power” Colt.

Amazing Discoveries in Outer Space may not grab your attention at first, it certainly didn’t with me, but something in its simplicity, its pleasant score chasing and basic, pleasing shapes might just open itself up to you. Maybe, like me, you’ll start getting excited about what amazing discoveries might be out there.

Overall Casey Powell Lacrosse 16 is a game that offers a surprising amount of depth and replayability for an indie title. From the deep creation suite to the solid career mode, there is a quite a bit to do no matter how you want to play.

Killer RTS gameplay, addicting creature building, and a few “wtf are those Eagles with Great White Shark heads swooping in and destroying my base!?!?!” moments.

If you are like me, and looking at jumping in on The Banner Saga having skipped the first one my advice is pretty simple – don’t. Do yourself a favour and spare the extra coin in getting the first game bundled along with it, you’ll thank yourself in the long run.

This is a decent game that has clearly taken a lot of inspiration from Hotline Miami in terms of design and gameplay. It does offer some unique ideas, like the ability to switch between characters and I also really enjoyed the moments that changed things up a bit.

Anyone who loves action will like Sora. My only complaint about Sora is that I got bored after awhile. There wasn’t enough variety in each level. The gameplay was pretty much the same in each level. It was too straight-forward and you knew what to expect.

Klei Entertainment have obviously put in a decent amount of effort and credit goes to them for not trying to spread the content out over several DLC packs. However for more casual players the additions aren’t as notable and although downloading Contingency Plan does provide the ‘definitive’ version of Invisible Inc. the changes aren’t quite as substantial as they could have been.

Never quite reaches the heights of its inspiration. It does look fantastic and its unique form of action is something to behold in the hands of a master player (not mine, unfortunately), but all those minor issues do add up, including a few framerate drops in certain areas. Iola’s adventure is still worth your time, but it’s not quite the great game it could have been.

This is a mechanically basic video game at best, and if the simplistic story and unique visuals don’t work for you, there is very little left to keep you entertained.

While disappointingly forgettable and undeniably safe, the Assassin’s Creed: Chronicles Trilogy collection is a nonetheless solid selection of more action oriented and small-scale stealth adventures.

It’s a very solid game that will challenge you but it’s not cheap or unfair.

It’s slick, fast and enjoyable. It wont be a game that lasts a lifetime, but it is one that you can dip in and out of to try and beat that previous score.

This game was good, but I was left disappointed.

In Between is certainly an experience worth having. It’s journey is not a path not many choose to take, and at the end it’s left all the more special and unique for it.

This game never pretends to be anything other than what it is. It’s a quaint yet challenging puzzle game that hit’s at the sadistic side of every gamer that gets a vicarious thrill out of torturing NPCs.

It does feel like you’re playing a mobile game on your console but that’s not a bad thing.

Newcomers to Grand Theft Auto III would giggle at the primitive graphics, spoiled by the advancements of the past 15 years. For seasoned gamers however, Grand Theft Auto III was the absolute tits back in the day and I really enjoyed playing it again. Sure, I paid out my butt for it but that was my choice, no one forced me to do it. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a platinum trophy to nail.

Spareware is an interesting idea, that just wasn’t thought out well enough to be a hit on next-gen platforms. Lack of online accessibility and repetitiveness are major flaws, but If you are looking for a fun game at a great price to play with friends, then Spareware is the game for you.

Zen Pinball has an amazing sense of physics for the most part, only let down by overactive bumpers.

If IDEAFactory wanted to ramp up the replay-ability factor of MeiQ, a DLC in the future which allowed for multi-player races against one another, or co-operative raids would be a welcome idea. Or a randomly generated dungeon, since the dungeons themselves are fantastic and simply having new ones to go through would help its longevity. Patches with the occasional new monster/monster mechanic couldn’t hurt, nor could personal or online goals to complete such as time-limit/damage dealt/survival mode.

The soundtrack works perfectly with the game itself.

A game that hits you with it’s playful aesthetic and novel concept.

Vortex Attack provides challenging and fun gameplay with an arcade mode that relies on repetition but delivers on replayability.

Lethe shows real promise, but perhaps not as a hardcore horror experience. Its well-crafted environments make for an adventure that’s less than scary but more than unsettling – an imperfect but enjoyable journey into a dark world that looks realistic but feels hollow.

Everything about it is fair/good, but nothing about it is overwhelmingly noteworthy. It’s just a solid game from top to bottom in a genre that’s gotten pretty lazy overall with clones, which this is not.

There’s a lot to love about this game, even with its lackluster story and presentation. But with its incredible music, awesome characters, and fairly deep customization, every anime and RPG fan should definitely give this game a chance now that it’s more widely available.

Shadwen is an enjoyable game that can be finished quickly by killing everyone, or spread out over weeks as you perfect each level as stealthily as possible and I know there will be some of you reading this who will relish such an opportunity, but for me something just didn’t quite hit the mark.

The one concern I would raise is game length. If you aren’t that much of a completionist, you can “complete” the game in an afternoon however the game compensates with so much extra content of repeating levels again and other secrets.

As always, those with a sense of nostalgia attached to the game will be the primary market, but even if you’ve never played/heard of Exerion before, the classic arcade gameplay that drives this simplistic but effective shooter remains as addictive and enjoyable as ever.

Despite my initial reservations, Farming Simulator 15 is not boring or tedious, it’s a fantastic amount of fun and definitely worth adding to your collection.

It’s fun, it’s challenging and it’s fast paced making for an entertaining gaming session all round.

If you judge it as a sonic game it’s disappointing but if you judge it for a good platformer it’s not a bad game by any means but there’s better and worse sonic games out there. That said it rarely delivers the speed you crave and as a sonic fan I was disappointed about this.

If your looking for a game that you can sink plenty of hours into, that looks better than ever and satisfying gameplay, then its worth checking out. That being said if you weren’t a fan of the gameplay the first time around nothing has changed on that side of things.

SimplePlanes is on the up with rocket speed, especially with the recent addition of land vehicles, broadening their horizons if you will (no weak-ass pun intended).

I would certainly recommend Riptide if you enjoyed the first as it gives you more of the same plus a few new gameplay ideas and mechanics, as well as a new playable character.

Cute Things Dying Violently might not be as gory as advertised, but it is a fun casual puzzle game.

Rogue Stormers is a unique action shooter that offers an enormous amount of replayability, customization and a unique vibrant art style complimented by the music and tight controls the game offers.

Don’t Die, Mr. Robot! is a quick fire arcade game that is surprisingly good fun in small bursts. As the sort of game that can be returned to over and over again, particularly after a long hiatus, it’ll be a welcome mainstay for your PS Vita library for quite some time. The classic aesthetics of the game along with some variety will remind of lost afternoons in the arcade, without gobbling up your loose change at the same time.

The restricted maps and character pool really do make Obliteracers feel somewhat empty. Despite this I’ve given the game a 7/10 overall because it is addictive.

It is enjoyable and challenging on its own, with a rating scale after each level telling you how well you did in a time frame, to really challenge the player in to focusing on the physics of the game.

It’s hardly the spiritual successor to Jonah Lomu Rugby that we have all been (patiently) waiting for, but despite its issues and its relatively budget presentation, Tru Blu Entertainment’s, Rugby Challenge 3 stands comfortably as the best virtual recreation of the sport this generation and a perfectly enjoyable rugby video game in its own right.

The pacing of the narrative works well and kept me wanting to push forward and find out more. I would certainly recommend this game if you like point and click adventure games or like narrative driven games that have slightly darker and mature themes, but still manages to have moments of humour.

I was impressed by this add-on.

Although it was an enjoyable experience there were plenty of aspects that could have been more polished and with more to do, plus the constant similarities to XCOM only made me yearn for another playthrough of Firaxis’ offering.

A well designed, compact story that delivers an immersive and absorbing experience. The game only took me around an hour and a half to complete, but I’m sure that I missed a few things along the way.

Despite the lack of unit diversity and disappointing multiplayer situation, 8-Bit Armies is a tremendously fun explosive bundle of radiant voxels.

Push Me Pull You is an incredibly fun party game. The hilarious and fun premise makes it great for a night in. It’s unique and offers something new which you definitely wouldn’t have seen before and while the gameplay would probably become boring quickly, it’s worth playing at least once just to say that you have.

Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 still has the fast, smooth and responsive gameplay of the first title in this offshoot series, but it takes a lot of work to get to the meat and potatoes of the game.

I think it’s an ideal game for younger audiences and the more casual players. With its extremely modest price tag of only £3.49 I think it’s worth giving a try.

Played as a complete season it feels much more like a complete game, especially as you don’t have to wait eight months between episodes as they were initially released, and overall I very much enjoyed it. However the rushed ending and lack of polish does unfortunately count against it – despite comparisons to The Wire it’s nowhere near that level.

It won’t take long for you to be balled over by the sheer joy of hitting someone in the face with a ball. Sure it’s technically or graphically not going to win anything but Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure is definitely one to add to the party collection.

It takes the more addictive elements from popular puzzle franchises and combines them with finesse.

The battle system is clever and makes you think carefully about each attack and move you make. The story is very interesting and genuinely kept me entertained throughout. I liked the overall design of the worlds and characters and I would certainly recommend this game if you like old-fashioned JRPGs or a game that requires a bit of thought and patience.

The amount of freedom is a huge plus point, however, this is a port, so don’t expect 60fps and amazing graphics.

A good game with some flaws, it is beautiful to look at and listen to and while similar to game experiences that have been before it is actually quite an unique offering.

Picross e6 would be a weird place for a Picross virgin to take the plunge.

Else Heart.Break() is blazingly modern in design, antiquated in execution

Tricky Towers is a nice and fun game, which will give you a lot of fun, specifically at parties. With a couple of drinks involved, this game will be a hit. Considering it is one of this months PlayStation Plus games, there is no better time than the present to download it.

This game definitely put a smile on my face with the cute marching band, the music when you complete a level and just the simple joy of cutting grass.

The hardcore Destiny fan will most likely have already bought this without a thought as the game becomes fairly unplayable if you don’t. The more discerning that haven’t already sold or tried Destiny and looking to see if it’s worth trying or going back for this I’d say wait for a discount and then pick it up because it is definitely worth playing.

A fantastic little twin stick shooter, that is well designed, full of character and has some good variation. The characters you play as feel unique and varied as well as the enemies you face. Boss battles mix gameplay up and offer some challenging moments. I appreciated the extra modes and ranking at the end of each stage.

Although it’s short, it is a unique, interesting and enjoyable concept that had me hooked from the outset not only due to its gameplay, but also because it offers a compelling and unusual take on the standard zombie apocalypse model.

Fortified! is a good game. The art style is great, and really well done. The enemies are pretty basic but fit the bill nicely, and if you can get together a group to play with, this game could easily be worth it’s budget price.

Amazing Princess Sarah, a decent little game, with some interesting gameplay ideas and character design...The game does get repetitive and frustrating at times and you probably wont want to play through it more than once, despite the added extras.