The sheer unabashed evil that Eko Software has managed to cram into a seemingly cute puzzler is something to behold.

DICE goes big in a Call of Duty-baiting package that's as maddening, uneven and spectacular as the Star Wars films themselves.

With its varied mission objectives, well designed co-operative gameplay and highly impressive graphics, it's a joy to play - most of the time.

But the clean menus and HUD have a slickness and simplicity of interaction that elevate the squad-shooter genre to a new level of style and polish. Likewise, in moment-to-moment play, this is often a more engaging, tighter experience than Valve's Team Fortress 2. For those who can leap that first hurdle, Brink should run and run.

For now, Vanguard is a game which has plenty to offer a brave adventurer with a stunning PC. Aside from any design or content problems we've identified with the game, potential buyers need to be aware that they're entering a world which, as a prominent WOW character would have it, is not prepared.

Dull adventure game mechanics are enlivened by a brilliant sense of dread, as the Dark Souls director turns his hand to VR. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Tiny incremental tweaks to the function are all very well if your base material is simply amazing or the form changes significantly but, all told, this is an old, whiffy average GBA kids RPG, dull and tired through inbreeding.

As an interesting and well-thought -through study of the struggles of an everyday life, Kudos is well conceived and a welcome alternative take on life-simulation.

Entertaining though Lost Kingdoms can be when it's raising two fingers to RPG convention, it's still blighted by conventional RPG problems.

The biggest issue here, sadly, is the price. When this launched on Xbox 360, its faults could be excused not only by its big heart but also by its small price-tag: at £25, the original was a budget game in both outlook and its impact on your wallet. So why, well over five years later, is the Vita version being sold full-price at £34.99?

Completely harmless and sure to get a giggle from younger gamers.

If the team can perhaps fix a few niggling issues via an update A.R.E.S. will be well worth a look, but until then this is a case of try before you buy.

Battles are fun and fairly compulsive but this is a game we've played many times over, usually presented better, executed more beautifully and intertwined with a far superior story.

Its uniquely British humour and gentle progression system (the ability to restart levels with saved high-score is a hugely welcome feature) provide light relief to what is, essentially, one of the most unorthodox and alien gaming experiences you'll ever have.

The broader fault is simply that by the time you've spent an hour in Potter's company, you'll have sussed out the rest of the game, leaving you with even less to look forward to than usual - because of course you know what's going to happen to everyone anyway. If you don't, you're better off reading the book.

Almost equally fun and frustrating whether played in co-op or in single-player mode, it's a game you'll both love and hate in the same breath.

It's the Amy Winehouse of videogames: rambling and incoherent, a bit of a mess and not much to look at, but with a unique and distinctive voice that's very hard to ignore.

It's clear that the team is trying to provide an accessible, fast-paced scrap-'em-up that can be enjoyed by all the family, not just autistic puppeteers. In that sense, the game's a modest success, offering a shallow but sometimes riotous playpen for up to four players to scrap away in visually interesting ways. But the slightness of the package means that this polished after-pub game will provide some short-term laughs but only minimal long-term nourishment.

At its best, it's all very bite-sized and relaxing, like a bucket of M&S flapjack bites, a glass of red and some ill-gotten American-strength meds.

But the trouble is, as soon as you remove the novelty death sequences it's actually the dictionary definition of the average third-person shooter.

What's really missing here? A bit of inventiveness, we think.

Despite the missteps, Arrowhead's Gauntlet is a dungeon-crawler that understands the action's at its most thrilling when four players are piled in together, helping each other through the fight - and giving each other a hard time when they think that nobody's looking.

As far as block or blob-based puzzlers go, Puyo Pop Fever is perfectly adequate, but the PSP happens to have a few better alternatives: "Lumines" offers a more classy experience, while "Koloomn" is a more original title, and one that will take every brain cell to master.

For all its sheen, H.A.W.X. remains a curious sideshow in Tom Clancy's murky world rather than a star player.

The best thing you can say about the game is that it's technically impressive, and the openworld structure is a good idea - but that's it. The game's central purpose seems to be to make dismemberment as easy to pull off as possible, but as soon as that novelty has worn off you're left with a hollow, repetitive experience which quickly loses its initial appeal.

For now though, unless you're desperately aching to play a new turn-based 40k wargame - which is entirely understandable given how long it's been since the last one - we'd advise waiting on the outcome of one or two necessary patches before joining the fray.

It's just that what it does still isn't that exciting or memorable, and without the lure of permanently capturing your Poképals, it falls to the rather dull storyline to try and keep players engaged.

Slightly Mad's expansive world of motorsport arguably works better as a hard-edged arcade racer than it ever did as a sim. [Eurogamer Recommended]