Hypnotic art, otherworldly audio and captivating writing meet in an undersea exploration game that wants you to take your time. [Eurogamer Recommended]

PES 2008's entertaining match improvements, exhilarating action and solid additions mean it just about scrapes another 8, though at no point does it come even close to flirting with higher scores. It's fast, fluid, fun and physical, an improved, revamped version of PES 6 if you like.

Ion Assault is an extremely polished and well-executed twist on a very pure gaming genre.

Torturing yourself with frankly ridiculous load times isn't acceptable, nor is the choppy frame rate or the sound stutters. [U.S. version]

Mafia II gets the last word by destroying the myth that the mafia is interesting at all. It contends that the mob world is a hell of boredom populated by aggressively stupid automatons. These drones wake up each morning, carry out a series of repetitious tasks, and return home.

A harmonious meeting of two traditions, Fire Emblem Warriors explores a different, yet no less beguiling, type of battlefield strategy. [Recommended]

So few games display such effortless charm, and even fewer are rammed with as much warm humour.

For many, most of the titles on show will be obscure, but if you want to dip your toes into the bewildering waters of the '80s arcade, this is probably the best introduction released to date.

It wasn't the linearity that was the issue, nor the overall polish; more that the game ultimately lacks ambition and creativity in the gameplay department - until the last eight or nine levels there's little on show that hasn't been done better before.

Syndicate is a game struggling to be all things to all people and underselling its strongest points in the process. The story is a perfunctory thing, worth playing once for the robust gunplay, but it fails to make Syndicate stand out from the cyberpunk herd.

This is a quintessentially Japanese videogame reminiscent of classic 16-bit titles such as Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger, albeit married to a Nippon Ichi-style fanaticism for detail and Pokemon's kleptomaniacal Gotta Catch ‘Em All mechanic.

The Ascent's arcology setting is splendid, if heavily derivative - shame that all you can do here is gun and grind.

The net result of all this control confusion is that SSX Blur demands just as much mastery as its predecessors, but sets the bar for entry much higher, and never gives you the sense you're fully in control of clearing it.

All you're left with is a game that costs almost three times as much as the original, isn't as pretty, and still has all the frustration intact. What a shame.

As a follow up to Dead Island, Dying Light represents an improvement on the technical front, but has lost some of its knockabout charm in the process.

Stylish cinematic super-violence is transformed into smart temporal puzzles. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Tokyo Jungle is a celebration of classic games, with their ridiculous plots, repetitive tasks, excessive violence and all. It pulls off the impressive and nigh-on impossible trick of being an original homage. Also it lets you set a giraffe on a bear.

Metro Awakening VR delivers some terrifying moments in its deep, thought-provoking story, but after a strong start, repetitive levels and pacing issues kill most of its momentum.

There are two sides to SBK X, really. The Arcade mode is probably too laid back - if you just want to dabble with bikes without putting much thought in, MotoGP 09/10 is a more gratifying game - but the Simulation is extremely flexible.

The weak cutscenes, poor combat system and somewhat redundant spell system don't help its cause, and the game falls far short of what it could have been.

A generic and quickly tiresome shooter, with a contrived premise which, unfortunately, does nothing to elevate it.

It's just doing pretty much the same generally reliable job it always has done, putting in its hours and going home again - if anything, it's getting sloppier with age.

It lacks a single-player offering worthy of the name (and simply is not worth buying if you don't have Live), is mystifyingly missing most of the PC maps and has been ported to such a disappointingly low grade standard technically that we can't help but feel like it's a huge missed opportunity and a disservice to hardcore followers of the machine - the very people this game is intended to excite.

KeelWork’s strikingly opulent shooter dares to do new things with its genre in an effort to unite players of every level. This is what a blockbuster shooter should look like.

The core of Puzzlegeddon remains a fun, engaging take on a classic genre with a clever twist - but played against the soulless bots, with no bragging rights or trust in equanimity, there's a limited appeal which probably won't justify the admittedly low price-tag (GBP 10.95 at Direct2Drive). Find a similarly-minded friend, however, and feel free to adjust the score according to your love of competition.

An enjoyable, workable clone then - and a surprisingly un-cynical one - but lacking the raw ingredients to truly replicate Nintendo's success in this niche.

If you've never played any of the Dancing Stage games, it's well worth a try - but don't buy the Xbox 360 version. For the same money you could pick up one of the old PS2 games and two mats. Or, best of all, spend a very happy afternoon down the Trocadero.

If you can get over a difficult start and fancy a lean take on the survival genre, Atomfall delivers an intriguing tale worth discovering.

Offering all the satisfaction of flossing with overcooked spaghetti, FIFA 11 provides an object lesson in how not to make a football title for mobile platforms.

There's something about Bohemia's world-building that inspires people. Importantly though, Arma 3's vanilla content now stands on equal footing with those third-party inspirations. It's still a little rough around the edges, but it's a darned impressive package nonetheless.

Toppling "Geometry Wars 2" from its throne is now the goal for any stripped-down Live Arcade shooter, and Namco Bandai deserves praise for delivering a game that comes within grasping distance of this lofty aim.

A worthwhile addition to any Sims fan's expansion collection.

Tumble's never quite as outright fun as something like Boom Blox, but along with Sports Champions' table tennis mode it's a terrific showcase for Move, and another reason to get excited about the possibilities of motion control.

What we get here feels like a place-holder, a nostalgic diversion that exists so there's product on the shelves to coincide with the movie, rather than something driven by a flash of inspiration as to where the series could go next.

NetEase's spin on the hero battler is complex and moreish, but rarely much actual fun. Its biggest impact is a renewed appreciation for the rivals that do it better.

You can build anything in Minecraft, something this fun dungeon-crawler from Mojang ably proves.

A game that by any objective measure now languishes in second place behind EA's spirited new-look FIFA. And yet it's only with a heavy heart that we mark it down a point lower, because we still love PES for its personality.

Rather like Half-Life’s "Blue Shift" expansion, Spearhead is over in barely three hours... It’s only because Spearhead chimes in at 20 quid or thereabouts that we don’t rip it apart – as it is, it’s rather like buying a DVD of your favourite war flick.

Perhaps Neverwinter has more potential, perhaps it will grow beyond this, but games can only be reviewed on what they are, not what they might become, and for now the many user-forged forays into fantasy are, just like the rest of Neverwinter, mostly about going to a place, bashing heads in and grabbing swag.

The combat in Phantom Crash is mostly excellent.

It remains a simple, addictive and hugely enjoyable game concept, and that alone makes Bomberman PSP into what you might call a "fairly good game" - nothing remarkable, but a nicely presented repackaging of a much-loved original.

Like most games from the Nippon Ichi stable, though, it's not one for the majority - obscured as it is by obtuse mechanics and a sometimes-vicious difficulty level. Hurrah for them all the same.

For all the game's lighthearted sleuthing and slinking, it does not shy away from dreadful subject matter, concerning itself, to a large degree, with the Church's often monstrous real-world legacy. The most affecting story is that which occurs through the bodies and minds of its uniformly endearing characters. As they are beaten and maimed by fearsome monks and brutish henchmen, a slow accretion of hardship takes place. It is not the enjoyably flexible stealth action, nor the undercooked mystery, or even the lavish monastery that lingers in the mind, but their human suffering. Foregrounding this emotion is reason enough to tell such a story again.

Pursuit Force remains a great idea in search of the right execution, and there's clearly a fantastic arcade game in here absolutely bursting to get out, but it's still not there yet. Not quite.

it's an enjoyable plug in the market until number three, and perfectly acceptable for Naruto fans, albeit not absolutely essential for those happy with what they've got, or what they'll get in the future.

It is weakness in the basic concept of the franchise, and some excessively similar events, which prevent this from climbing any higher in our scoring system - but as an execution of an admittedly simple concept, this is genuinely brilliant.

Next to ageing titles like Frontlines and European Assault, it feels soulless, hastily cobbled together and depressingly formulaic.

Rome is another largely enjoyable offering from Paradox, and the fresh personnel management aspects add an interesting new twist to the series.

If you harbour kleptomaniacal tendencies and find curvy polygons racier than we do, then the increasingly repetitive bouts of volleyball and weakness in the rest of the package won't bother you.

YourShape revolutionises fitness gaming with its amazing use of technology, but fails to back that up with a game that does enough to encourage you to be active. Which is ultimately the whole point.

There's little doubt that anyone who fell in love with the first game's slender charms will be enthused by the prospect of more of the same delivered with a higher degree of HD polish. With its A-list production still held back by B-list ambition, though, there's ultimately not enough of substance to lure players away from the multitude of other co-op gaming experiences for more than a few days.

There's a lack of confidence here that contrasts starkly with Guerrilla's dazzling, sure-footed command of the new hardware. It's a game that any new PlayStation 4 owner will be proud to show off - but it won't be one they remember by the time PS5 rolls around.

Rainbow Six Extraction's tactical PvE is good, punchy fun with a squad, and has a couple of nice little twists - but that's about it.

It's a blast from start to finish and somehow manages to be greater than the sum of its parts. It's perhaps a classic example of the ideal game to rent.

A classy package with plenty going for it to satisfy those with kleptomaniac/sado-masochistic leanings.

I polished off the three main Match Race cups, most of the Time Trials (to unlock the better boards), the final Extreme Challenge and most of the Gate Challenges, not to mention completing each Trick Attack course to a decent standard, well within one five-hour sitting.

FlatOut 2 seems content to cement itself in the niche of Burnout's bratty redneck cousin, but it passes at least one basic quality test with flying colours: I couldn't help taking regular breaks during this review to creep back to the joypad for another go.

Still, if you fancy a means of enjoying the unhinged insanity of user-created microgames on the big screen, Showcase is a worthy purchase.

A wide range of systems make Dune: Spice Wars an enjoyable 4X, but the depth of Frank Herbert's world-building is largely lost in translation.

With brainless autoaim combat, forgettable missions and little in the way of challenge, the flash stunts and crazy moves can't hide Just Cause's flaws, and ultimately, rather than being some sort of "GTA"-beater, it's more of a poor man's "Mercenaries," ludicrously padded out with hundreds of entirely worthless side missions that sprawl over uninteresting terrain.

A cheap, but rather lovely remake of the simple shooter that kicked off Rare's legacy. It's a wonderfully playable link to UK gaming's past, and well worth the 400 points Microsoft's charging for it, but way too repetitive to keep you amused for long.

There are some truly magic moments here that transcend nostalgia. Even now, that first time you achieve absolutely blinding speed is exhilarating.

Not half as bad as the limp first few hours suggest. It's perhaps not the greatest company epitaph in the world but, as Devlin might say, while throwing himself out of a speeding car, knocking back a slug o' the good stuff and mashing a Nazi's head in with one punch: "It coulda been a lot worse."

But as tools for improving your language skills, whether you're starting from scratch or have some basic knowledge, they're great.

There are glimpses of a game worth loving tucked away in the folds of LittleBigPlanet Karting's chunky lop-sided weave, but it too often goes out of its way to bury those simple joys under fussy distractions and needless obstructions.

What's important, though, is to not get bogged down in the detail too much. It's a game that, when played under pressure, can be a real pain, but taken at your leisure is one to savour.

Like the very best ghost town, it can be surprisingly hard to leave.

The core concept - whilst interesting, different and certainly as well executed as it can be - never quite hits the level of compulsiveness and excitement that other high-score games like "Meteos" and "Zoo Keeper" and, to a certain extent, the Mario 64 DS mini-games have already hit.

Apart from the (sadly) expected Bethesda hiccups - erratic quest markers, odd spawn glitches - there's nothing really wrong with Dawnguard. At the same time, there's nothing here that demands 1600 Microsoft Points' worth of attention. If all you want is a solid side quest and some good loot, this will scratch that itch. If you were hoping for something more epic and ambitious, keep waiting.

It's a delightful nod to early eighties platforming, but one held back by an ill-suited input method.

Full of anomalies in more ways than one, Stalker 2 is a mess of bugs and jank that nonetheless stays faithful to the open world survival shooter of yesteryear.

If Assassin's Creed 3 saw the series gracefully soar back into full flight, Tyranny is where it lets you strap on a jet-pack for the next adventure.

Wrath of the Druids is a meaty expansion which succeeds in taking Valhalla to new shores, even if the path sometimes feels familiar.

Depending on the response, Minter reckons this won't be the last the iOS market will be seeing from him. With the prospect of more enjoyably warped re-imaginings like this, maybe his best work is yet to come.

Mafia continues to feel a tad dated in its design trappings, but there's a fascinating mix of beauty, efficiency and nuanced performances here that are well worth your time.

Bohemia, just for a change, how about giving us a character with a little flesh on his bones.

One of my biggest problems with Nocturne was its system requirements, which placed the game frankly rather ahead of its time.

Not essential by any means then, and it's probably not worth much more than a weekend's rental, but Kill.switch definitely proves that even a depressing list of rent-a-mechanic gaming clichés can keep us happy when administered in the right amounts.

If Pirates seems less ambitious than the last two Lego titles, lacking the cohesiveness of Potter's Hogwarts hub or the epic scale of Clone Wars', um, wars, then it makes up for it with an overall confidence borne from TT Games' experience with the licence.

Vanguard, I suspect, will do well - Call of Duty does well! Its in-game store will sell silly outfits for its World War 2 operators. Pricey weapon skins will keep the money rolling in. As the Call of Duty menu screen swells, adding a new front to fight on even as we head into what's sure to be a difficult winter, Vanguard will do its bit for the war effort. But unlike the source material, Vanguard won't live long in the memory.

While it's unlikely to make fans of those of you who've sampled the shooters that came before it and left unsatisfied, as a die-hard Guardian and card-carrying fangirl of the genre, Outriders tickles me in all the right places. Offering gunplay that feels solid and satisfying and an array of additional powers and abilities to keep combat fresh and exciting, I can only admit that Outriders has surprised me in all the right ways. Maybe it'll surprise you, too.

Expedition will satisfy those who've spent the past two months regenning, arc mining and "standing by", and is further proof (if any were needed) that Respawn is rather good at this whole first-person shooter thing.

This rock-solid Race 07 variant is a difficult game to wholeheartedly recommend, despite being superb in both single and multiplayer.

If you've already sampled the mesmeric magnificence of either of the PSP versions, or of the Xbox Live version, or of the mobile phone version, you won't be surprised, or challenged, by anything included here.

It's a slightly old-school adventure with a vibe reminiscent of Castlevania (especially the PlayStation 2 sequels). But while those games under-delivered on a compelling world with a consistent structure, Pandora's Tower will draw you in and make you care.

It's GUN on a handheld platform, but it doesn't work quite as well as it does on consoles.

Marrying some frightfully clever time-scrolling with a captivating look into its characters' lives, Eternal Threads is a nosy player's dream. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A curious mix. Some undeniably strong and distinctive pieces of game design, tarnished by some elementary errors, such as the lack of a decent training program or real in-game help.

Double Trouble is still undeniably a lot of fun - clever ideas, decent puzzles, and so on - but rather like the name, which seems to be struggling to fit the standard jokey Game Name: DS format, the end result isn't quite good enough.

Lengthy play of Urban Chaos is a double-edged sword, in fairness. You'll come to admire the arcade structure and the way it taps into gamers' motivations to unlock everything, but the longer you play it, the more you'll spot the cracks in the AI, the level design and some bloody weird bugs.

A slightly dated reintroduction to one of Capcom's hack-and-slash greats.

Kunai throws a grappling hook and a fair amount of style into the Metroidvania genre for a solid if not stellar example of the form.

The camera is crap, the scale is awkward, the story and characters are basic and cringe-worthy, the combat is tedious, the platforming and puzzling is too basic, and I was well bored of it by the time I conquered the final level with the first of the four Teams, which wasn't even that long after I first grabbed it out of the shrink-wrap.

If only its sedate beginning and dreary atmosphere didn't make it a throwaway extra, we'd probably recommend it. But we won't.

Ease of using the touch-screen aside, it's something we'd prefer to flick to on the mobile while on the bus rather than dedicate the DS slot to. Nevertheless, it fulfils its puzzling duties.

Despite throwing in a canine companion, button-tapping mini-games and retweaking difficulty levels and so on between NTSC and PAL, Dead to Rights is fundamentally underwhelming to look at, repetitive to play and riddled with more flaws than bullet holes, and this'll stick like rigour mortis after your fiftieth fistfight.

Hutch is to be congratulated for coming up with a control system for touch screen driving games that really works in a simple yet gratifying way. It's just a shame that it debuts in a game so determined to penalise you for enjoying its knockabout potential.

Despite a number of difficult to spot and ultimately underwhelming "improvements", the Cube and PS2 versions of Dead to Rights remain generally engaging, with an uneven sprinkling of genius.