Football Manager 2012 is still the best manager game out there, and delivers a solid and fun experience. But Sports Interactive would do well to let go of the past and actually keep innovating the series, as stagnation may be an issue based on the small amount of improvements this year.

Nadeo trims away the unnecessary to make TrackMania 2: Canyon an arcade racing experience that is as focused as it is brilliant. Selection of tracks is a bit uneven, but the good ones are great. Simplistic yet complex racing that really comes alive in online mode.

Rocksteady Studios surprised us all back in 2009 by delivering one of the best games that year with Batman: Arkham Asylum. This year they show us that they are a force to be reckoned with when Batman: Arkham City more than lives up to expectations; it surpasses them in what is a very strong contender for Game of the Year 2011. No multiplayer? Who gives a bats a**?

If you love Formula 1 games this is an absolute must, and it's the best F1 simulator on the market. Unfortunately it's not accepting of newcomers, so if you haven't watched the sport on tv or played a lot of heavy racing simulators the high difficutly level, time consuming races and the lack of tutorials may prove a problem.

One of the more understated games in the Resident Evil franchise gets a facepaint and a new release for the current generation platforms, but without fixing any of the archaic gameplay problems existing in the earlier games. New players beware, this is a harsh, unforgiving game compared to the newer entries. Nostalgics will likely already own this in one or more format, and have little reason to repurchase it in this upgraded version. A little more love and polish could have gone a long way to make this more appealing.

Forza Motorsport 4 is a work of love and an absolute gem of a racing game. The feel of the actual racing has been tuned somewhat and now feels a little more playful.There´s realy not a whole lot of new content compared to the last entry in the series, but the polish and improved graphics is incredible. If you'er only going to get one racing game this year, this should be it.

Dark Souls is the girl you had a crush on in high school. The one that really enjoyed teasing you, making fun of you or punishing you. But you couldn't help being drawn to her. And even when she was as mean as she could be, you still loved her. You knew in your heart of hearts that the torture was her way of saying she loved you. As harsh and unforgiving as Dark Souls can be to casual players, the pleasure and gratification received from completing seemingly impossible tasks are still off the scale. Bigger, harsher and even more atmospheric than Demon's Souls, this is an immersive and immense experience.

A multiplayer centric WW2 shooter that puts great emphasis on realistic mechanics and ambiance. Unfortunately realism does not always translate into fun, resulting in a game with little appeal except to the hardcore fans of the era.

Last year I raved over Madden NFL 11 and loved most of the features in the game. This year is either a transition year with small adjustments or my great score from 2010 was a product of my absence from the series for over ten years. If you are a hard core NFL fan that craves every small adjustment Madden NFL 12 may be for you but the rest of us can wait for a price drop or just go and play Madden NFL 11.

El Shaddai is the most visually interresting game I have seen so far. And beyond the visuals lies a game with great controls, balanced difficulty and an excellent mixture of fighting, 2D and 3D platforming. I love it when developers do something different and actually succeed.

Renegade Ops is an absolute blast in any sense of the word. The great graphics, weighty handling and character upgrades create a fantastic, explosive and entertaining experience, and the chaotic multiplayer is the most fun you'll have in a game in a long time.

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are both timeless classics, and to re-experience them in HD resolution is an absolute treat. The 3D enhancements are nice, but more time could have been spent on ICOs controls and the graphical prowess of Shadow of the Colossus. But nevertheless, this collection is a must for anyone who hasn't experienced these two fine games, and for those who already have they're a wonderful reminder of how great gaming can be.

Sometimes it's very relaxing to just shut off the brain and perform some indecent acts of brutal shooting and hand-to-hand combat. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine delivers this experience in abundance. This is an enjoyable experience that falls a little flat due to pacing and repetitiveness, but for sheer brutal fun, it's hard to beat.

As a HD re-imagining, God of War Collection: Volume 2 does exactly what it should. With excellent controls, trophies and a solid 10 hour action blast split over two games this compilation really excels. Chains of Olympus may be a little outdated, but Ghost of Sparta is well worth your while, especially if you haven't played the PSP versions previously.

Deathspank: The Baconing is a fun game with first class humour that gets dragged down by repetitive combat. Brilliant in small doses, though.

A licensed game that tries to emulate the Dynasty Warriors formula, but fails rather miserably. Gorgeously animated celshaded characters are not enough to lift up the repetitive hack and slash formula and the more than slightly nonsensical storyline. The fighting system is fun, but extremely limited, and can be stimulating for a few hours, but after you've had your fill there really isn't much incentive to pick it up again.

Huge amounts of content can't hide the fact that this is pretty much the same old NHL with a few tweaks here and there. Thankfully the biggest changes have been made to the action on the ice and the result is more physical, smarter and all round more fun gameplay than ever before.

Newcomers to the series will get a lot of entertainment for their money, but previous fans can mainly look forward to the 3D effects and the portability. Thankfully that's more than enough to make us happy.

Gears of War 3 falters somewhat in its storytelling, but it's still a game I highly recommend. The story has never been the focus in the series anyway. Both the single and multiplayer modes are massive, and despite not being a perfect game it's still well worth your while.

Hole in the Wall is filled with flaws and becomes quite boring if you play it in long sessions. As a party game in shorter sessions, it's really fun to play and reminds me of a modern version for the classic family game Twister.

A descendent of classic PC-puzzler The Incredible Machine, almost 20 years down the line, and Crazy Machines: Elements manages to be the worse game. There is some enjoyment to be had in the unlockable challenge mode, but most of the experience lacks real creative freedom and is let down by control issues.

Despite trying to act as a gritty tale of survival, Resistance 3 is in essence just a regular shooter, with far more action filled firefights than lurking tales of humanity. Thankfully it's a well made game and has an impressive arsenal of excellent weapons, and the multiplayer - including a much-missed co-op mode - is a lot of fun.

As a single player game, Dead Island delivers a meaty experience that lasts absolutely ages, and the first person zombie adventure is an excellent pastime. However, the overall enjoyment is slightly marred by the fact that the online coop is infested with bugs.

The shift mechanic is the real star here, and transforms even the most ordinary sequences into thrilling race experiences. But there are flaws, such as logical mis-steps in the storyline and generic presentation. They don't matter too much though, especially in the multiplayer mode.

The concept in Rock of Ages shows a great potential, but humour and polish only takes you so far. After that the game mechanics really have to shine through, which happens quite frequently. But it could absolutely do more.

With the abundance of first person shooters we live in today, it's strange that some still persist in making mediocre games. Exactly who is supposed to be impressed by Bodycount, I don't know, when there are at least a dozen better games out there. I'm negatively surprised.

A world of anticipation rested upon Eidos Montreal's shoulders when they set out to create the prequel to the widely popular Deus Ex, released 11 years ago. Fortunately for both them and the players the results are very good. Deus Ex: Human Revolution has a more narrow storyline and the AI could have been better – but it more than accompishes its mission in delivering a great prequel to one of the most interesting stories in gaming history.

Tetsuya Takahashi and Monolith Soft finally manage to deliver on the promises and visions underlying the earlier games sharing the Xeno-name, and the result rivals even the team members earlier works at SquareSoft. This is the finest japanese roleplaying game crafted for a home console this generation and will become a measuring stick against which other games are held up and scrutinized again in the future.