One of the most compelling horror adventure games ever, and must rank as one of the best games on the Xbox.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is pretty much the perfect Scott Pilgrim game, hitting all the notes that fans of the series and its worldview could want. But for those who couldn't tell an Envy Adams from a Julie Powers (pity them), it's little more than a cute parody game, meticulously detailed, but outdated by design.

It's not badly done - a good, clean, simple, average game.

A beautiful if brief puzzle platformer that invokes the spirit of Flash gaming.

For your 400 points you get an absolute nailed-down classic that is, in many respects, just as much fun today as it was back when it was released.

Coupled with more exciting levels in the latter stages of the main mode, and the thrill of hitting triple-digit scores in Loopnastics, Wik is like a web-game that grew up.

The heart of Universe at War is a beautifully crafted strategy game which could have been one of the best things in the genre in years. This just makes it even more tragic that it's let down by a passable but unimpressive graphics engine, utterly dull single-player and the disastrous decision to use the godawful Games for Windows Live Gold service for multiplayer.

Breathless action combines with perfect pixel art in a game of real character and delight. [Recommended]

Outerloop recreates the messy dating world with an also messy, and sometimes brilliant, genre mash-up.

Alongside the recent port of Guardian Heroes, this is the perfect example of how to revisit your back catalogue. With 18 years' worth of dust carefully brushed aside, Daytona USA has been lovingly restored and thoughtfully explored - providing a fitting tribute to one of arcade racing's enduring icons.

Despite its unevenness and occasional cruelty, Teslagrad is a bold and captivating proposition. The unusual and elegant aesthetic is persistently attractive, and the lightness of touch with the storytelling brings the world-building to the fore.

It might not represent classic Monkey Island in every respect, but there's enough going for it to warrant an instant purchase if you have the slightest hankering for some more from Guybrush and company.

Playing with others is amazing, but #IDARB doesn't help me out if I don't have quite that many friends available. Instead, it's watchable.

Hell is Us is an absorbing, nightmarish meditation on the horror of war, but divisive design choices prove tedious.

The first couple of hours of the game are fantastic, as you're introduced to the universe, the ships, the stunning battles and the interesting gameplay, but for the average strategy fan, the realisation that the game is all about increasingly complex micro-management of your ships and crew is something of a let-down.

This will split the Supreme Commander 2 fanbase in two. The game's made enormous compromises, but it's also brought in a superb sense of mayhem and variety.

World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition is limited in features right now, but is rich in potential. It's not a well-oiled machine yet, but it's still fun to take for a spin. Given that it costs absolutely nothing to climb aboard, it's hard not to recommend.

Ironically, what makes Surge Deluxe so instantly sensational is perhaps also what holds it back from being one of the greats. That riot of colour and sound, that constant positive reinforcement, can make it feel a little too eager to please. And yet each play session offers a very tangible surge, a rush of dopamine that will take some time to wear off.

The handling is much more basic than the spongy physics used in the PS2 version, and it probably makes it an altogether more playable game as a result.

Arms does for fighting games what Mario Kart did for driving games, and the results are absolutely splendid. [Recommended]

For the price, and for the quality of offer, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is easily one the best games released all year. Blessed with an excellent control system and chock full of masterfully designed levels, as far as puzzle-based action adventures go, there have been none finer for years.

Definitely an improvement on THUG 2 in getting away from the outrageous slapstick and prank ideas and back to skating as it should be.

Enjoyable, but perhaps another instance of the 'reviewer's trance'. That's the mildly hypnotic effect that seems to take over when games aren't dull enough to be boring but aren't exciting enough to cause any kind of, erm, arousal.

Genesis may look like a departure, and it is in some ways. But at its core, it's the same old pleasures for this entirely pleasurable series, albeit with the odd new trick and delivered from a new perspective. [Eurogamer Recommended]

While it's a bit on the short side and a tad easy, this is a hugely promising start for Launching Pad Games. More, please.

It is a pity, for it is a would-be 'great' game, and on the Xbox would be reasonably scored as such. But, on a PC, the complexity of the default controls and the horrors of the PC keyboard for this kind of thing force the mark down to a mere 'very good'.

Probably the only thing to say to people who feel cheated or ripped off by this tiered content set-up is that they simply shouldn't buy into Lumines Live until the range of downloadable content is broad enough to justify the cumulative cost - if indeed that happens - unless they have a powerful urge right now to play Lumines again on a big screen.

Regardless, that Cave continues to flourish in a shifting industry and to evolve a sub-genre they helped define, is testament to the studio's strategic nous - in-game and out. DoDonPachi Resurrection shows just how much poorer we would be without them.

It offers more of the great hack and slash gameplay that - for some strange reason - no one has emulated properly since the first Dark Alliance. On the other hand, the magic of the original has definitely been diluted, where it really should have been enhanced.

As a retro revival, Chronicles of Mystara does a commendable job of raising a fondly remembered arcade game from its grave.

This cosmic point-and-click looks and feels like no other game out there. [Eurogamer Recommended]

For all its borrowings and influences, all its sleights and feints, Eldritch's dark alchemy ultimately lies with the way it uses a blocky, cheerily primitive art style, silly sound effects and a surprisingly forgiving level of challenge to summon the kind of creeping dread that H.P. himself would be delighted with.

It isn't bad, but set next to last year's Donkey Kong Country Returns, or even Ubisoft's zesty Rayman Origins, this winter's other other platformer feels very vanilla by comparison.

Generally a decent, well-thought out and enjoyable conversion.

This is a game for the RPG fan willing to overlook intolerable weaknesses of character just to have a desirable looking girl on their arm.

It's not a great leap forward for gaming; but in terms of reassurance and welcome traditionalism, it's a small step for cosiness.

In gameplay terms it represents a commendable improvement on an already solid framework and seems to captivate its young players with the same gently challenging grip o' fun as LEGO Star Wars did. It's just a shame that this evolution seems to have come at the expense of many of the peripheral activities that made the previous LEGO games a more robust and varied experience in the long term.

I did not get nearly as far into this game as I would want to for a review. I simply couldn't. I tried for long enough. Yet I am completely unwilling to say this a bad thing - I'm certain this is a brilliant thing for the right person. Which is why I hope I've brought you to a place where you can make that decision for yourself.

Brisk, stylish and compulsive, this is everything an arcade game should be. [Eurogamer Essential]

Rogue Trader nails the 40k setting and provides an appropriately massive narrative filled with meaty tactical combat, though some bugs and poor performance hold it back.

A powerful, memorable story told not with dialogue but with interaction, movement, and art.

For many of us trying to recapture those childhood feelings of awe and wonder, Retro Game Challenge gets to the very heart of why we still play videogames and for that is to be applauded.

As it is, it's a game that veers between excellence and anguish a little bit too often.

One of the best fighting games of all-time gets a welcome new run out, even if it's not quite as complete as it could have been. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Like Craig David covering Marvin Gaye, Söldner X-2 makes you pine for the real deal.

There is, however, just enough range between its difficulties to appease both ends of the spectrum: those who want an unflinching recreation of island-based warfare, and those who want a manageable, mostly enjoyable military videogame. But its mild shortcomings ensure that, until Codemasters can fill its framework with a little more imagination and purpose, neither group will come away fanatical about the effort.

A serviceable restoration of one of the best and strangest games in Squaresoft's back catalogue. [Eurogamer Recommended]

It's just a pity that a developer with the unmistakable talent of Housemarque hasn't seized the opportunity to tweak, twist or otherwise refresh an overused formula.

It's absorbing and challenging without being irritating, and you should give it a crack.

It's a musical game that makes you feel like applauding.

Simply put, it's exceptionally good at what it sets out to achieve, which is to distil the best bits of John Woo's cinematic vision and turn it into a crazed video game approximation that anyone can play - in that sense, you can't really fault it.

Indeed, if you can get your eyes past the epilepsy-inducing menus, and your head round the aneurism-inducing unions, there is a decent game struggling to break free of its gratuitously obfuscated difficulty curve. [JPN Import]

A budget game, and Swift and her team can't be expected to match the perfect cohesion of Portal. The disappointment is that, in trying to do just that, they've undersold their own good ideas as well as inviting unflattering comparisons with a classic. Despite its frequent frustrations, it's a solid, intelligent puzzle adventure and represents good value for money, but it could have been much more by trying to be a bit less.

It will make you feel comfortable holding and playing a real guitar, and empowered to go further in spite of its apparent animosity towards you. The less you treat Rocksmith like a game, the more fun you'll have with it.

A hugely addictive addition to the Live Arcade scene, but very much a completist's game for the lone puzzler.

From its fast-paced, exciting battles to the beautiful, haunting environments, it's an MMORPG like no other we've played - and what it lacks in expensive polish, it makes up for in enthusiasm, ambition and creativity.

This year's "The Getaway" - it's not GTA and it will frustrate for some on that basis, but it's a respectable enough game in its own right as long as you don't "play it the wrong way", which will lead you down a path of frustration and pad-smashing fury.

It probably won't occupy you for more than a few evenings of play, but you'll enjoy them.

Overall, between the inconsistent campaigns and the botched co-op feature, there's enough here to nibble away at what is an otherwise enjoyable RTS game, and you can add the finer points of control to that list of grumbles as well if you're an impatient sort.

Pikmin 2 is also due a New Play Control! reissue this year, and it's a better game in every respect. It's longer and more sophisticated, with more varied Pikmin and enemy types; it has co-operative and competitive multiplayer; it has randomised caves with finite Pikmin numbers, ideal for the game's challenge mode; it has no time limit.

The only things that stop it reaching higher are that the combo system seems to be pitched a little bit above the average gamer's skill level, and could have been more inclusive, and that despite getting the basics very right it doesn't build on that as excitingly or inventively as some of the genre's best.

This steroid-pumped sequel works well.

While Capcom's colossal safari [Monster Hunter] is a master-class in intelligent enemy design and rewarding, consistently challenging combat, Soul Sacrifice throws caution to the wind by giving the player a vast array of options. The result is that it feels mechanically chaotic rather than refined.

A backward step from last year's release. The fact that it's less challenging may make a lot more accessible to the mass market audience that it's so desperate to pander to, but the net result is that it's also, on balance, a slightly less exciting and enjoyable game.

The classic formula gets an energising remix in this standalone charmer. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Just as enjoyable as the previous Buzz! titles - or just as tedious, if you're that way inclined. And that's assuming you're not expecting to be seriously tested if you're a real film fan.

A vast world and even vaster array of MMO-like activities mix with glittering fidelity in Crimson Desert, but what good is it without much character, texture or charm?

It's all horribly addictive. You're compelled to keep clicking that "end turn" button one more time, inching closer to an interlocking web of different goals, watching your domain grow and spread, star systems turning from neutral grey to your chosen faction colour as you go.

It's another delightful look into the minds of children; a window into their vivid imaginations, and the wonderful places their ideas and dreams can take them – and you.

I hope that Telltale is playing the long game here and that the final two episodes will pull everything together in a satisfying way. Not so much for the story - I find myself curiously unconcerned by the prospect of discovering the identity of the killer - but because I want to feel like I made a real difference during the time I spent in Wolf's clothing.

Gentle storytelling and challenging puzzles on an island of intrigue.

Structural complexity and a magpie's eye for pilfering makes for a strange, fragmentary journey into nightmare.

EndWar gets a lot of things right: a beautifully slick interface, stripped down mechanics, and the best voice-recognition system of any game we've played. It's got plenty to offer armchair strategists, but balancing issues, pathfinding and AI niggles and a disappointing lack of variety in factions stop it just short of its obvious potential.

Wilmot's gentle and relaxing jigsaw puzzles won't tax you in the slightest, but this warm bubble bath of a game is very soothing, and it weaves a surprising tale of companionship and found friends around the edges.

What Avowed lacks in gloss it makes up for with charm, depth and a playful heart. It's one of this year's most pleasant surprises.

Metro 2033 is far busier and far more accomplished than I expected it to be, and it's also one of the best-looking games - at least in a few very special scenes - on the Xbox 360.

While the companions may prove annoying at times, it's easy enough to resign yourself to their whining and manage the task in hand; for every platform blunder there are ten moments of huge satisfaction to look back on.

But however much positive energy we lavish on FIFA all the areas that EA beats Konami on - bar online - are simply gloss. In a straight tussle between the games, we just don't enjoy playing FIFA as much as we do "PES3," and, for most of you, that's what matters.

As it is though, it's a good, solid, disquieting action game that ought to serve fans of the macabre and whodunnit-with-demons perfectly adequately, but stands little chance of threatening the crowns of the Silent Hills, Resident Evils and Project Zeros of this and other worlds.

The mixture of task and race-based challenges, refined controls and delicately poised difficulty level are adequate compensation.

Rebellion has folded in the essence of stealth greats such as Splinter Cell and Metal Gear while keeping the characterful flavour of Sniper Elite itself, and for the first time it's not necessary to make any excuses on its behalf. Sniper Elite 4 is a really good video game. It's as simple as that. [Recommended]

SkyDrift is comfortably one of the strongest aerial combat racers we've seen in the world of download-only titles.

More developed than a throwaway Flash game, yet less self-conscious and showy than a WiiWare or Xbox Live Arcade effort, it's a product that ignores the spectacle and bluster of gaming in order to more clearly celebrate the raw elegance of good design.

With a longer, more substantial campaign mode, a bit more polish and less pointless peripheral missions we could have been talking about The Godfather more fondly, but as it is, its place is history is as a flawed GTA clone that really didn't need porting to the 360.

Grandia III can be an enjoyable trip for the 30 to 40 hours it takes to complete, as each battle is a joy even in the most boring of dungeons.

In terms of shoot-'em-ups we can't recall a more enjoyable one, and any game that causes someone who's supposed to be holidaying from videogames to not only complete every single campaign and challenge mission, but go back and replay some of them as well has to go down as a one of the games of 2003.

Chaos is actually choreography, as an unreleased Atari arcade game gets the full Minter treatment. [Eurogamer Essential]

Clearly the aim here has been to make something broad, to bring this story and its amplification of southern culture to as many people as possible. But in the process the joy of more rewarding interactivity, or more uniquely defined identity beyond the familiar platforming and fighting patterns, has been lost. So, again, the overwhelming sense here really is one of disappointment. Not that South of Midnight is a disappointing game - far from it - but that it's such a shame for it to get so close to being something so genuinely special. This is a game of just remarkable craft - we've not even mentioned the stop-motion style of animation! It's lovely - and likewise remarkable attention, thought, and care. If only just a little more of that care had been afforded to the playing of it.

Ironically, while the PC version inarguably shows up the flaws in the 360 effort all the more, it also fares far worse when compared to its peers. Consoles have relatively few RPGs in this traditional mould, but on the PC the competition is much fiercer and so well-intentioned failures are harder to tolerate.

The stylised visuals looks great after all these years (and better than most things on GBA, it has to be said), and the exacting, refined gameplay formula still had us as hooked now as it did back then.

It's short, shallow and repetitive, and where humour might elevate the experience, the pointless and clunky motion controls drag it down again.

Dark Arisen is indisputably in Dark Souls' thrall. But this tribute is both thoughtful and creative, building upon Miyazaki's work with some individuality rather than merely mimicking its - arguably unrepeatable - wonders.

As much as you might not be thrilled about the prospect of a 2D scrolling tank shooter, Heavy Weapon is far better than it initially appears to be. As an example of how to bring the past up to date, it's one of the best examples on Live to date.

The controls are silky smooth, the visual style is adorable, and it doesn't involve shooting men in the face. All this for less than the price of a Spectrum game.

Xenonauts knows exactly who its audience is, exactly what it's aiming for and, while it may never achieve a wider appeal, it will capture that audience in a very familiar act of alien abduction.

For genre fans, the educated, the talented or the time-rich, Makai Kingdom represents a rich and deep pasture with almost limitless ways to play. It's clever, expansive, funny, well made and beautifully translated and, if you are committed enough, could be one of the best videogame investments you'll ever make.

Kunos delivers a frequently brilliant take on the Blancpain GT series - but it's beset by a feeling of being unfinished.

Once you're in the zone, it starts to feel like a slapstick top-down Burnout. And if you don't feel like paying for that, maybe you should have your eyes popped.