The Vita desperately needs good new games such as Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken. It's not a system seller, but this is solid and stylish side-scrolling action for hardcore players and beginners alike.

I'm not usually one to judge a game by its title, but in case of this game, there's really not too much behind its generic denomination. It's a standard multiplayer shooter with some nice ideas which lack quality in their execution. Skip this one, this genre has loads of better alternatives that will entertain you better and longer.

Even though this sticks close to Dead Space's horror roots in structure and pacing, the last two games were much more threatening, horrifying and memorable. That being said, Visceral hasn't really done anything wrong, except trying to blow up their game to bigger proportions than its initial idea was ever meant to. Consequently, Dead Space 3 can't help but feel stretched. By now, you know the tricks too well, as to be blown away by one or two sound upgrades. (…) Still, this is a competent and at times outright glorious game.

Half-cooked, bereft of ideas and technically despicable, this would-be triple-A production is an overblown movie tie-in to a flick you wouldn't want to see. Randy Pitchford once said 'if you've seen the film it's fan service, and if you haven't seen them it's content'. Content it is, but I doubt any fan will deem this a service to their liking. Quite the contrary: When it comes to video games, H.R. Giger's movie-monsters are done for until further notice.

Outside of its fights, Omerta is some sort of mind-numbing occupational therapy for the slowest of days, inside of them, it's often an incompetent carbon copy of much older and much better titles. It's not even that it's so bad that it's good. It's just boring and its plain existence is free of any relevance whatsoever.

If you were to ask me if you should play Skulls of the Shogun, I'd first go ahead and give you a list of better titles in a similar vein. If you're already past the Advance Wars', Fire Emblems and Valkyria Chronicles', this is well worth a look. It's just not all that memorable.

If you open your eyes, ears and brain for Antichamber, Alexander Bruce' mufti-dimensional labyrinth is a sublime experience without compare.

On the PC the shortcomings stay the same. The campaign and some missions can feel a bit padded and for the next entry in the series. I'd like Project Aces to return to the more fantastical scenario of old. The controversial "Dog Fight Mode" might not be the best means to remove the overly simple skeet shooting-like dogfight mechanics of older games, but its probably the prettiest one they could have thought up. It might have been better to make it optional, though, instead of mandatory. Still, it's a fast and in its best moments pretty exciting and spectacular ride. If more Ace Combat sounds like a good idea for you, you should give this one a chance, as the fair asking price even makes up for the only-competent port.

Even though the devs go overboard with the difficulty at times, what we have here is a well-playing space action game that will bring back fond memories for everyone who grew up on the classics of the genre. If you've got a soft spot for those and can deal with occasionally frustrating missions, this is well worth your time and money.

I don't usually count myself in the group of people who frequently wished they were younger. But in this particular case I'd give a lot to be able to see this world and its magic through young and unspoiled eyes, to be able to take it all in unfiltered. The influence Studio Ghibli exerts over this is so strong that it single-handedly might make Ni no Kuni that defining game for a young and Japanophile generation, not unlike what those Final Fantasys of old managed to become for us. And because I hold those so dearly, I couldn't think of a bigger compliment. I salute Ni no Kuni.

It all comes down to the question, if you want more of Rage. Depending on which difficulty setting you're playing on, this is two to four hours of that for the price of about 5 euros. That's pretty decent, considering that there are full price games with just about twice as much of content out there. To surmise: a good story, if you want to call it a story, solid, fresh enemies and new corridors for you to shoot through, that are enjoyable in spite of their linearity. If that sounds like a good evenings' entertainment for you, you can't go wrong with The Scorchers.

On almost every turn, The Cave stumbles over its own feet and its desire to be different from the rest - a wish that most certainly came true, only proving that you should sometimes be careful what you wish for. Ironically, that's exactly the lesson The Cave wants to teach you. In the end, this is a nice, but ultimately too ponderous, puzzle game with a whole lot of nothing in between its sometimes funny, sometimes clever stronger moments.

You'll leave with the knowledge that sometimes better tech really does make for a better game. On the PC you read the battles better and more immediately and have an easier time, translating the desired action onto the screen. You really become a better fighter in this incarnation. In a genre where milliseconds can make all the difference, this ultimately makes for a more enjoyable experience in total. Ninja Theory really did go the extra mile for the PC, giving DmC the last little push it needed to become something really special.

Even though Ninja Theory didn't finish as spectacularly as I would have hoped after the first half of the campaign, this game leaves you in the soothing certainty that you can count on Dante again. For the most part DmC is a pretty damned exciting and good-looking title that exactly knows where it belongs and what it wants to be. And because the Cambridge-based developers are quite the storytellers, this technical and elegant slasher works on even more levels than just the combat, something that was never really true for the DMC's of old.

Small problems notwithstanding, Paper Mario: Sticker Star is easy to recommend to any 3DS-User. Just crank up the excellently utilized and in no way distracting 3D and don't expect the role-playing experience earlier games in the series offered and you get a refreshing take on the familiar formula.

Hiding behind walls and corners with 40 other dudes, while in the thickest of crossfires, helping each other out with health and ammunition, providing covering fire and fighting for every inch of this vast battleground is just unbelievably compelling. And then there's even a case to be made for this game as a metaphor for the pointlessness of war. Planetside 2 is meaningful on so many more levels than other typical free-to-play titles.

It never ceases to amaze how Atlus manages to make Japanese games that lose none of their appeal in their translation to the West. Even though this is totally banking on it's Nippon slice of life approach, its no less compatible with western audiences than any other RPG. This is an approachable and sympathetic cast of characters going through relatable hardships – you don't need to be an anime fan to get that. In light of the Vita's situation you might not want a reason to get one of Sony's struggling portables. Now you have one nevertheless.

It's not as special as the title suggests. But that doesn't make it any less – or more for that matter – of a brilliant game.

This still is Baldur's Gate and even in this version it remains a highly worthwhile experience, especially when it comes to party dynamics, lore and the tactical fighting system, even if it sometimes comes across as a bit too reliant dice throws. It is still a big pleasure for anyone who likes their RPGs big, challenging and most of all classical in their setting. Which again brings me to the squandered potential of this re-release. They could have made something really brave and interesting with this. They didn't. So, even when this runs in a more stable manner than it does now, this hardly becomes an essential release.

Depending on how you play, Dragonborn is a 10 to 25 hours ride offering fresher and more compelling material than Skyrim itself came up with. That might be because it is slightly more dense and compressed. But it's more likely that it is down to a new found courage of its designers and their willingness to show you some new corners of this own cosmos and fill those with some interesting dungeons.

Is Little Inferno a game? What the heck do I know! What it is, though is quite unique experience, whose only downside I can think of is the asking price which might be considered by some to be slightly on the steep side.

It is a pretty game based on an intriguing idea, which just would have needed to be utilized to a deeper extent. Still, in a group of friends it manages to stretch its wings quite a bit for a few rounds. Playing alone, you'll never get to experience three quarters of the game.

Trine 2 Director´s Cut on Wii U is an essential buy. It's beautiful, clever and quite big, which is a combination not too often seen these days in videogames.

TT Games' most recent brick-adventure once again shines with its loving sense for details and its admiration for the source material. This one is easy to recommend to young and old alike because of its typical brand of LEGO humor and the tried and tested playability.

Nano Assault Neo is worth the asking price, so long as you don't have any other of the HD-consoles. Its twin-stick brethren on other platforms are just a tiny bit better. This kind of game needs to be immaculately balanced, precise to a fault and it needs to challenge you over and over again. Nano Assault seems to know its trade, but its not quite where the other big names of this genre are.

Granted, there's no real competition as of yet, but Sonic and Racing All-Stars Transformed on the Wii U easily takes the role of a really, really good Mario Kart game. It is the definitive game of this sort - and not by virtue of being the only one. The plumber will have to give it his best shot to regain his pole position on his own console.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition is the version to get, if you have the luxury of choice and prefer inviting friends to your house to playing online. A few buddies on the same couch playing Tekken Ball and / or the in more than one way appropriately named mushroom mode, is a real winner.

People, it's great if you're making a trash-themed game. I'm all for it. Tanks vs. Gorilla-Mechs, you almost had this one in the bag. I don't even have anything against the gameplay itself being trashy. But Tank!Tank!Tank! is just garbage. It's a cheap little stinker of a buggy mini game that didn't even know what hit it, when it ended up on a retail disc.

It's a solid and pretty entertaining Smash Bros. clone with a Sony paintjob, which beyond the obvious similarities to the original even manages to bring some individuality of its own to the table.

So, Wii U owners: In the end, you got the weakest version of a game that stays utterly remarkable in its own right. It deserves all of your attention. Everyone else, go on, there's nothing here for you that you haven't experienced in a better iteration somewhere else.

Granted, Omega is as much a matter of taste and preference as the next DLC. It's a story of its own without big connections to the main plot and you'll definitely get the most out of it, if you fell for Aria and Omega in Mass Effect 2. I liked it for its great production values and a solidly balanced mix of story, character dialogue and often more open ended fights than in the main game. Though this is hardly a must-have, it is most definitely four hours of entertaining side content with interesting companions and a charismatic bad guy.

On Wii U this stays an essential buy for everyone that hasn't played it yet. It is a very, very accomplished game and great for all the reasons the original was a few months ago, but you don't have to buy it again for the WiiU. Also, it doesn't do much to prove that conversions to this platform are necessarily better than their 360 or PS3 counterparts. It's still 'just' one of the best games in recent years as it was back in summer.

It´s a nice little time sink for a single player and a real blast in a group of friends or family. All of these games cater far more to the needs of the classic gamer than Wii Sports ever did and at the same time they manage to show of the capabilities of the new gamepad pretty well. It's not the revelation the Wii once was, on those first evenings after you brought it home. But its an endearingly crafted piece of quality software.

You'd have to have some pretty unhealthy attachment to these loony hares to get enjoyment out of this one. Because everyone else sees this as what it is: A collection of minigames which are average at best, hamstrung and held together by an overly dry board game concept - alone a torture, with friends just boring. If over the years the Rabbids were one big party for you, this is their get-out dance.

Nintendo crafts levels like no one else. They take their well-known motifs and themes and don't necessarily surprise you every time, but they always excel at reshaping them in a highly lovable and entertaining fashion. If that´s what you want out of New Super Mario Bros U, this is the best humanly possible result. That this might not be enough for some fans of the franchise speaks volumes about the three decades that princess spent in "another castle".

ZombiU is hardly everything it could have been. But it has to be commended for not reducing its gameplay to a handful of technical gimmicks. Its ideas are brave and while they tend to alternately make you love and hate the game, in the end they still make ZombiU a tense and worthwhile affair.

Who cares that some of the secondary activities are a terribly run-of-the-mill kind of affair? Between the skill tree, the unpredictably busy AI and the chaos nature tends to bring to the encounters you'll live through some of the most dynamic firefights in recent memory. It marries an immaculate stealth model, which couldn't work better if this was a third-person game, to a satisfying gunplay. A combination that will please more player types than Dishonored on the one hand and something like F.E.A.R. on the other ever could.

This won't have it all that easy to shine, being up against the likes of Sonic and Sackboy. Whose idea was it anyway, to release all these fun-racers so close to one another? Still, it is perfectly solid fun to zip around these nice tracks in little, stylized F1 Karts, even if it could have used more tracks and a few good ideas of its own.

The campaign has some weaknesses pertaining to the story and the maps, which are a bit too small for their own good. Also, I would have liked a few more clever kills and more options to follow through on my insidious plans. All in all, though, this is a typical Hitman game with quite some technical chops and solid gameplay.

Even with these upgrades, in 2012 the series' looks are not as cutting edge anymore as they were four or five years ago. Apart from the jump in resolution and performance you'd expect from a title geared towards gaming PCs, there's not much eye candy that would elevate this experience on the same level as other current PC titles. It still does look good, though, especially if the clouds open up and the sun bathes the detailed landscapes in warm light and stark shadows. And you should never underestimate how a game like this profits from the boost in pixel density and temporal resolution. It's still, in short, the best version of this game – if you're willing to hook up a gamepad to your machine.

This series has accompanied us through the better part of this past year, made us afraid, brought us close to tears and made us question why the hell we were even playing something this depressing. The Walking Dead's answer was one of the most striking ones of this generation of games: Clementine! She's that glowing light that pulls you through the harshest of tortures. She's the heart and soul of this remarkable little game. And when the lights go down on episode five, Lee finds the most sincere of words for her – speaking not his, but the players mind. That is, if you can bring yourself to utter them. What is it that he says? You should really find out for yourself.

In the end, for all its faults, this is still an easy to recommend package. 30 Euros for two very competent games that have aged well and without losing anything of their dashing, boosting and metal-disintegrating fascination.

LittleBigPlanet Karting is Sony's equivalent to Mario Kart's Wii-Version. Not bad by any means, but hamstrung by unbalanced extras and an all to conservative driving-model. With some friends, this is still a lot of fun, but special this one ain't.

No matter if you're six, 26 or 66 years old: Nobody likes a solo mode that's being sabotaged by the co-op game, and everyone can appreciate tight controls and a competent camera. It's basic things that this game just doesn't seem to be able to succeed at. Which is a shame, because creatively Epic Mickey 2 is a small wonder, be it in its imaginatively designed characters, its songs or its world designs.

I can look at it from any angle I want. I can detract that SEGA fan bonus, I can play this with people who have no idea what a Dreamcast is and this still is the pinnacle of what this sub-genre has to offer. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed reaches new heights, challengingly smiling down on Mario Kart.

When they announced a Call of Duty for Vita, people probably hoped for some kind of system seller. What they got instead is a catastrophic failure of a game that might well prompt people to stay away from Sony´s portable altogether.

Puzzlingly, it seems there are more than enough people whose standards for entertainment are low enough that companies can make a lot of money with products like The Simpsons: Tapped Out. The problem is, that this takes away resources for the development of 'real games'. Economically, it might be a sound strategy, but it's also one that could conceivably prompt me to quit this job some day.

Even though its graphics engine won't win awards anymore, especially on PC, the game succeeds in finding its place in the upper echelons of multiplayer-shooting. If you're looking for a great offline experience, though, you might want to look somewhere else.

Halo 4 is something really special. Not only is it a first-rate exclusive for the good old 360, it's also a shining example of the kind of technical excellence that's still possible on the elderly hardware. It's one of these games that justify the decision to buy this console. 343 Industries has gone ahead and obliterated my qualms about the brand's change to another developer than Bungie. Now there's only one thing I want: More.

It gives me no pleasure to dismantle a game that many people fondly grew up on. But in case of the ToeJam & Earl collection none of the two titles has aged particularly well.

Karateka shouldn't cost 10 Euros, at least not in its current form, without any sort of challenge beyond the one it offers if you want to finish it with only one life. And even that isn't as challenging as it should be in such a short and completely linear experience devoid of any extras. Karateka is a game completely oblivious of its time and environment. Beautiful, fun even, for those few times you play it, but Karateka ultimately overstays its welcome all too quickly.

In keeping with its title, the steep learning curve is a form of natural selection of its own. If you're not willing or able to drop the badass space-marine demeanor you have been conditioned to adopt by other titles, you'll regularly play a huge part in the downfall of your team. At the same, it's a hugely satisfying experience to act as a well functioning military unit or monstrous collective. I'm sure this form of intergalactic Darwinism will continue to thrive in its own little biotope.

In essence, it's got quite a lot of things going for it as interesting spin-offs go. The hunt for experience points and the leveling up of your character can motivate for a while you if that sort of thing floats your boat. In that light, it really is a bit of a shame that WayForward didn't dare to go even deeper into the role playing aspects. It's a game trapped somewhere between looting and survival, the series' past and its own future.

In any case, the simple concept can be quite a bit of fun, which is in no small part thanks to the well-tempered difficulty curve. Still, it could be a lot better in many regards, which keeps this entry in the long running series from reaching the must-have status SEGA's monkeys once had among sociable Gamecube fans.

Even though it doesn't reach the class of Forza Horizon, Most Wanted is an open-world game in the truest of senses. You have to look for the fun to find it. But since there is so much entertainment scattered about Fairhaven, this should be no problem. Those wild and nerve-wrecking police pursuits alone, which regularly develop their own zany dynamics, would be a decent raison d'être for any racing game.

Let us hope that the next generation of consoles will bring back games enchanting and inventive like this one, marrying the joy of being different to the tradition of good, sturdy game design. Until that day, buy this one!

Delivering familiar goods is one thing, doing so with a constantly high quality another – but making basically the same game three times in a row is a whole different issue entirely. I won't complain too much, though, I greatly enjoyed the long hours leveling and exploring this revisited universe.

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is up to a better start than War of the Roses. Torn Banner Studios have shunned any historical accuracy or character editing options, but their fighting system is easier to learn, while at the same time offering a surprising amount of depth. Dynamic rather than authentic, these skirmishes are much easier to enjoy.

Assassin's Creed 3 is a fitting end for the series and - to an extent - this generation of consoles as a whole. The characters and story are the strongest yet, but at the same time the game comes with all of the franchise's well-known strengths and weaknesses. So, even though this might just be the perfect finale, the next generation of assassins definitely will have to be more willing to refine the series' systems from the ground up. Then we'll happily listen to their brilliant stories some more.

Sometimes, videogames are thought of as a means of escapism into worlds and universes you always wanted to immerse yourself and spend your time in, but in reality never could. I truly hope I never encounter someone who thinks this way about Hotline Miami.

In the here and now,Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is not only the best-looking platformer, gameplay-wise it's also one of the best of its kind. It's a modern game in the best of senses, and it's cheap, coming at a price tag that is hugely allowance-compatible. Fans of platforming: If you don't buy this, what the hell do you want?

Sadly, the pitch for this shoddy, ugly and conceptually uneven game probably amounted to "we need to get out a game quickly, if we're gonna keep the license". At least this uninspired actioner is playable from start to finish. I'd like to think James Bond deserves better than this.

War of the Roses still has the potential to become a real jewel of a game. Coming patches and updates will determine if it'll go under in the storming sea of middling arena action titles – or if it will become an exotic insiders' tip that'll win a devoted following apart from renaissance fair enthusiasts.

For such a monster of a game, some quibbles and problems are understandable. Still, it's about time EA started taking care of long known problems before integrating new (if really interesting and reasonable) features. If FIFA Manager is going to become a thoroughly recommendable product again, something really needs to happen.

Even today, NiGHTS into Dreams is one of the most interesting titles you can download onto your console. But in light of some of the fundamentally flawed design decisions the game has retained from it's 32-Bit days, 'interesting' alone just doesn't cut it anymore.

Minor troubles aside, for about ten bucks you get one of the best Sonic experiences, and one that can and will keep you busy for weeks, if you're really want to see everything. If you can get past the camera issues, some control quibbles and the rather boring search for crystals, this will hook you like in the olden days. This reunion might bring with it some surprises, as your memory seems to play tricks on you, but it's still a worthwhile get together.

Truth be told, Doom 3 has held up better than I expected. It's still a game with both its feet in the nineties, and one whose haunted house antics work best in small doses. But when it clicks, it does so with the resounding blast of a shotgun to the face. As a package, though, the BFG Edition is hardly the be all, end all in all things Doom most people might have expected. None of the games in this box comes in its best form, which basically tells you all you need to know.

By no means does Warfighter reinvent the wheel, but at the same time it doesn't dent it in any way, either. And while it's certainly not for the war-weary, most shooter fans will find a lot of solid entertainment in the well-paced, good-looking campaign and the all right, if a bit standard multiplayer modes.

It's totally okay that WRC 3 doesn't have the finely-tuned stylings of the bigger racing brands. Real rallying has become somewhat of an endangered species, so I'm fully prepared to even overlook the career mode that is all but completely absent here. Where a game like this absolutely cannot fail, though, is in the connection of car and road, which sadly is what WRC 3 does. Theoretically this could have been much, much worse, to be fair. And WRC 3 might even find some friends amongst the most starving of Rallye fans. But that's only because this is basically their only option right now.

Structurally, this is a really clever game. To get the most out of this remarkably liberal samurai-playground, though, you should be willing to make some compromises when it comes to the stiff and stuttering fighting engine and the colorful, but somewhat ancient-looking graphics.

In single player the game suffers from a huge lack of varied content and could do with a more flexible fighting-system. It's understandable perhaps that the developers didn't want to burden their central multiplayer mode with the complex combos of something like Bayonetta, for example. But in doing so, Anarchy's single- and multiplayer modes keep on holding each other back. Still, regardless of its problems, matches regularly end up being a ton of fun.

The last time I had this much fun with a similar racing set-up, I was playing Project Gotham Racing 2. Fans of the genre should definitely keep an eye on whatever Playground Games decides to invest their considerable talents in next.

Even though authenticity-wise Visual Concepts seems to have maxed out this console generation a couple of games ago and big new additions are scarce, NBA 2K13 sits firmly amongst my favorite games this year. I'm excited to see the makers shed the shackles of the old consoles and lead the way into the new generation next season.

Some of the old strengths are on display here, though. The characters are likeable, the world is still a sight to behold … But playing the stuff that normally gets visualized by a loading screen is hardly an exciting proposition. Fable: The Journey started out as a lie and now ends as an utter disappointment. What a waste of Lionhead's considerable talents.

This playable tale once again dares to discuss the more substantial implications of the survival-horror scenario, a setting that was once mostly defined by scarcity of ammunition. I'd lie if I professed that The Walking Dead had anything to do with "fun" in the traditional sense, but here for once, it's a glowing compliment. I'm not looking forward to accompany these Walking Dead on their last steps to the conclusion. But I wouldn't want to miss it for anything in the world.

It's a shame that in the end, it's quite apparent that this project started as a tech-demo. As much as the bitter-sweet music and the story of an orphaned boy, his dead mother and a king that never seems to finish what he started try to get an emotional reaction out of you, it always stays a mess of themes and symbolism. If it had something to say, the message somehow got lost under a heap of its own metaphors. If your heart burns mainly for artistic visuals, though, this graphically visionary little game has a lot to offer.

2D experts might not find quite enough challenge with Hell Yeah! and there's not the most replay value to be found here. Still, the game is absolutely great looking and lots highly enjoyable, just because of its overall level of insanity and its funny antics.

Every puzzle, every piece of dialogue, every punchline and every single one of the sprawlingly hand-drawn backgrounds is pervaded by the charming eccentricities we only got a glimpse at in the first game. Where other second games in a trilogy often fail, this middle-part manages to marry the obligatory cliffhanger-ending in the run-up to Episode three with a whole-heartedly satisfying conclusion of its own.

Is this the only shape a fresh new XCOM could have taken? Definitely not. What it is though, is a sincere and absolutely splendid tribute to one of the best games ever made; undyingly in love with the source material, but at the same time absolutely determined to be its own beast. 'On the shoulders of giants' one of the final achievements says. Firaxis just put another giant there.

Dishonored grants us a first look at the future of free-flowing gameplay in the triple A segment. Even though it stumbles over its own freedoms here and there, it still is an absolute winner of a game.

It ropes you in as a cute and simple game, only to show its true identity after just a couple of rounds. Only if you play clever and smartly plan your journey, you'll be able to ever finish FTL: Faster Than Light – only to turn around on a dime and start all over again.

For some this will definitely not be enough. RE 6 is an uneven game that plays some dirty tricks on you, holds some of its more debatable design-choices in the highest regard and is way too hell-bent on blowing up each of its separate campaigns to full game length. Funnily enough in the end it's the secret Ada Wong campaign that just barely manages to hold everything together.

Rocksmith's European version is an improvement over the original but the ingenious concept still leaves some things to be desired. The idea is there, the tech works. Now it's up to future versions to serve guitar prospects the freedoms to choose how they play the game and to ditch the automatically adjusting difficulty.

It's hardly really all that "new" and we've seen way better conversions of a compelling concept to the PS Vita. But nevertheless, this cross between Pikmin and world-building strategy is a good fit for the system. Not because of its scale, the game easily fills many enjoyable evening sessions, but just because its such a pleasant companion.

It's three games that are not coincidentally phenomenally successful, all rolled into one batch. And it really is a winner, as long as you enjoy the HD graphics and are willing ignore that it is a bit pricey and you always have to cram out the disc if you want to have a go. It doesn't take much away from the quality on offer, but it's up to you if you need the prettiest and most expensive version of this.

This is no revolution for the series, in whatever direction. And with me that's alright, this time at least - and mostly because I largely ignored part 4. It does signify the current struggle of the genre, though. All is well and good, but also a bit boring. Still, I did have quite a bit of fun with DOA 5, especially offline.

So, is Guild Wars 2 the MMO messiah everyone is waiting for? Maybe not. What it is, though, is the first MMO in years that really does the "massively multiplayer" part justice. This is a gigantic, sprawling world for explorers, with countless wonderful stories and characters, all backed by a gameplay concept that treats all players as equals. And that's just the basis of what Guild Wars 2 is.

Torchlight 2 is the distillate of everything I have always liked about Diablo as a series. People who came to love Blizzard's hack and slash with its second iteration, Torchlight 2 might well be a better choice than Blizzard's own sequel.

Gearbox has consistently built on the strengths of the first game and managed to capture the sort of gravitational pull that always sucks you in for another go. Sometimes it pays to not change a winning formula all too much.

I couldn't wish for more. The faster pace really does wonders for FIFA 13. It might take a while until you get used to it, but that's a couple of hours well invested as you get much more dynamic, tense and unpredictable game of football.

If R.A.W. was some oldie hack and slash which I'd gotten from the bargain bin for three bucks to finish it in one miserable weekend's sitting, I could surely present you with some redeeming arguments. Like, it was only three bucks, the game's a decade old and so on. But it is neither.

The great thing is, everybody can decide for themselves how much depth and realism they want from F1 2012. Granted, there might not be too much new stuff in this iteration, judged on its own merits, it is still a very satisfying experience, though.

You wanted more of the same? Then Crossfire has got you covered. It's an add-on that doesn't bring much new to the table and does little to enhance the core strategic gameplay. That notwithstanding, it still is perfectly solidly playable and quite challenging.

In the end, it's quite a shame, because whenever you think you've seen enough of One Piece: Pirate Warriors all of the sudden Ruffy and friends make your belly ache from laughing again or dazzle with superbly choreographed special moves that fit the Dynasty Warriors formula quite well. I'm not usually one to judge a game on basis of what it could have been. But this material just begs for a title in which you get to live the actual adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates, instead of just their battles in a solidly playable but ultimately mind-numbingly generic fashion.

Tokyo Jungle is a game of many small errors, PS2-level graphics and a fighting system that lacks depth come to mind most prominently. Still, I wouldn't want to miss the experience. Where else can you sent a group of cats with pink beanie hats to fight a towering elephant?

Sackboy still doesn't do his actual running and jumping in the same league as Mario or Rayman, then. But at the same time this is by far the best toolbox for gaming creativity this brand ever spawned. How much you will appreciate this package almost entirely depends on how much time you are planning to spend building, constructing and mucking about with this aspect of the game.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is perfect. It is. There will still be many philosophical discussions, if it is better than Tekken, Street Fighter or some other fighting-game, but the reason for that is that all these games have reached such a high level of quality and none of them has a clue how to break out to the top.

Puristic stealth, thinking instead of simply reacting, having a plan and seeing it unfold thanks to near-perfect controls – that's how Mark of the Ninja creates its own little sense of addiction.