It's by no means groundbreaking or remotely innovative, and you might get fed up with some rather samey single-player mission objectives, but it's all delivered with a charm and style that will win over your heart and ultimately offers a satisfying multiplayer facet that helps round off the package nicely.

Any game that has you physically dodging oncoming cars from your television is no ordinary game.

Compact and terrifying, this score-attack shooter feels like it's come from the future. [Eurogamer Recommended]

A taut, time-hopping horror game that playfully subverts expectations at every step, and is all the more refreshing for it.

It's a true classic, not only one of the best games ever to carry the Star Wars brand but one of the best RPGs of all time. The ability to carry this classic with you and play it wherever and whenever you choose is proof that we are, indeed, living in amazing times.

For the most part, though, Night in the Woods is a triumph, comparable to Gone Home in mood and thrust, but with a delicacy and a humour that is all its own. [Recommended]

If I had to put a score on it, it would very likely be an eight edging towards a nine, and, in this hypothetical scenario, I'd probably also spend tonight lying awake - not excited about tomorrow (Merry Christmas, by the way), but haunted by the suspicion that I was being too harsh. [JPN Import]

Primarily single-player games are on the decline right now, but Nioh is a strong argument for the merits of this withering form. [Recommended]

Playing it my way has lead me to the kind of self-reflection that a man in his 30s can't always afford. Why do I care what this leopard thinks of me? Why am I losing sleep over the construction of a virtual bench?

The wealth of online servers, the randomly generated dungeons, the difficulty of missions, not to mention the three difficulty modes which change the way you have to fight to survive, all add some staying power to the game.

There's simply no competitor that can touch it in terms of poise, characterisation and storytelling, or the way in which it treats you not as a player - someone to be pandered to and pleased - but as an adult, free to make your own mistakes and suffer a plot in which not everyone gets what they deserve.

A masterful combination of serious strategy and cartoonish delights - and by adding mini-games, survival modes and a shop, PopCap is practically rubbing it in. The result is as fresh and accessible as Super Mario, and as refined and considered as Left 4 Dead, wading into another established genre and polishing the central ideas in a way that will make it a hard act to follow.

Rocksmith 2014 is a towering achievement on console, sitting somewhere between instructional software and rhythm action game...Joins that small club of video games that imbue their player with a truly transferable physical skill.

In truth, I would have preferred to select events on the fly, change vehicles on a whim, and restart failed events when I choose, but nor is it a deal-breaker that these features have been omitted. Once you (reluctantly) adapt to the demands of the game, a massive amount of fun awaits.

The thrill of Doom III is simply that id has not only created something genuinely stand-out impressive on a technical level, but has gone on to create a beautifully unpretentious game that feels at home with itself in that it's not trying to be something it isn't. [Single-Player review only]

An oppressively beautiful portrayal of an undersea environment, and a well-wrought survival game with a vaguely eco-friendly message. [Recommended]

A modern indie classic on PC finds in Nintendo's Switch the perfect platform. [Essential]

Capcom returns to its trusted formula for something that plays like a outrageously pretty PS2 game - and that's a very good thing. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Halo 4 is authentic, and assures 343's role is more than a mere tribute act. Their delicate yet sprawling work may be more continuation than true expansion - and perhaps the true test comes in the next step - but for now, Halo returns with a bang, not a whimper.

Elegant and artful, Year Walk is an unmissable piece of work - and one that is surprisingly hard to disentangle yourself from once it's done. You can close the app and put down the phone, but the forest may spread beyond its glassy confines, its spindly, silver-skinned trees taking root in your own home, your own dreams.

Despite annoyances with the gear system and the loot boxes, Injustice 2 is a huge amount of fun. There's tonnes of stuff to do, it looks the part and the new fighting mechanics serve a purpose while deftly avoiding adding complexity. Injustice 2 is also a game I thoroughly appreciate for the lovely little touches. [Recommended]

Mobile games always work best when they're simple and refined, but LEGO Harry Potter's debut on iOS feels flabby and unfocused.

It almost feels like an entirely new game - as a puzzler's secondary mode always should. Really, though, the small team at Wanderlands is offering more than enough to keep you busy with just one way to play, let alone three.

I can think of only a few instances where a new fighting game has broken onto the genre as such a strong contender, but with the Drive system in place BlazBlue is a genuine challenger for any fight fan's time.

If you come away unimpressed from playing RSC 2, we'd advise you to seek medical attention, because in 25 years of playing driving games no other title comes close to its startlingly lifelike environments, its impressively realistic yet fun handling system nor the overwhelming sense of fun that permeates the single player and most of all the multiplayer.

An expansive remake that treads carefully upon this most cherished of games, though some blunders will linger long in the memory. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Of course there's a lot that's the same. Of course there is. But with a great many small and well-placed innovations, a vivacious, inventive new cast and the biggest cosmetic makeover the series has ever seen, Pokémon Black and White makes it all feel new again. It reminds you what there was to love about Pokémon in the first place – and perhaps we all needed reminding.

There's a childlike simplicity in its approach to story and systems that may put off older players who prefer complication and convolution. But Dragon Quest IX cleanses the palate with its straightforwardness, allowing the workmanship to shine, and its clutch of nested fairytales to inspire.