There's a lot to admire in Arc System Works' latest, but it's undone by some familiar faults.

Something Microsoft should have put out at a budget price from the beginning, because the single-player story mode is without question one of the worst platform games we've had the misfortune of playing in <I>years</I>, while the multiplayer is merely adequate next to the best in online console gaming.

No Going Back does more than caps it off with aplomb; it drags the rest of it up by its braces and recasts it as something much more than the sum of its parts.

A lacklustre port of a fantastic game. The sad thing is that the improvements to manoeuvrability and updated visuals show us what the ultimate Metal Gear Solid 3 would look like - but then Snake Eater 3D fails to deliver that due to stodgy aiming, low resolutions and a choppy frame-rate.

If For Honor occasionally feels like a game at war with itself, its edge blunted by some less arresting modes and design-by-committee add-ons, the heart of the game beats strongly enough to overcome these blemishes. [Recommended]

Eerie and loving by turn, Bomb Rush Cyberpunk is a gloriously haunted video game.

SHODAN is what makes parts of this game truly special, even with some warts. Thankfully, the original's impenetrable Excel sheet menus are gone. But Nightdive doesn't take the Capcom or Square Enix approach with this remake; they're actually pretty uncompromising in their mission to update the original. As a result, there aren't any wildly dynamic abilities or playful ways to move around the station (a la Prey) that some newbies might expect. But ultimately, the System Shock remake faithfully recreates a classic, retains most of its appeal, reframes everything with a horror tilt, and as a result, makes it more playable for everyone.

TumbleSeed is challenging in all the right ways. It never feels mean-spirited, yet it requires patience, perseverance, and experimentation to unlearn everything you know about how to manipulate a video game character. [Recommended]

Dotemu delivers an exquisite extension of Data East's 1994 masterpiece. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Astropop is a fun, but ultimately short-lived experience that's missing the X factor of the best puzzlers to drag you back for long.

It's an absurd bargain. With online multiplayer, it would be a miniature classic. As it is, it's recommended for PS3 owners, all but essential if you have a Vita - and for lovers of RC cars or top-down racing, it's a rare treat.

Deftly written and designed, Forgotton Anne is proof that seemingly small, simple things are well worth treasuring. [Recommended]

A simple music game. But, for someone who grew up with these myths wallpapering their imagination, it is a complex vehicle for emotion. Final Fantasy may be a loose, somewhat obnoxious umbrella term for a collection of games of mixed message and quality, but Theatrhythm succeeds in touching upon some true magic within its bounds.

Fun though DKC is, it is - as many have said in the past - rather on the short side. Stumbling through the game with a fairly good idea of where everything was, it took us about four hours to get to the final boss and dispatch him, picking up some 70 per cent of the game's secrets along the way.

More time, heart and money has gone into this than any other free game I can remember playing, and I think Riot Games is going to make good on its promise of post-release development. Until further notice, this is the DOTA game you should be playing.

Not everyone is going to enjoy this. Some people will never warm to Ubisoft's anarchic little fiends, many will find the constant enthusiasm draining. This isn't a purchase for hardcore enthusiasts or steely battlefield veterans with a thousand-yard stare and a pico-second response time. The rest of you, should you be able to engage your inner child, could well find a big old slice of the fun pie cooling on your windowsill.

Admittedly, many of the other problems haven't been fixed - staff, for example, are still in too short supply - but at least the effects add a touch of pazazz and the moviemaker mode finally works. The name may be misleading, but it was just the medicine The Movies needed.

Dune: Awakening is a harsh survival game, an intriguing RPG, and a fierce open world PvP game all in one. Somehow, it pulls it off.

A splendid hybrid of CSI, cyberpunk and Silent Hill woven around a potent central performance, spoiled a bit by unconvincing scare tactics. [Recommended]

The Dynasty Warrior reign is not in decline. It is, however, in danger of getting complacent.

It can't reach the heights of SSX or the first and second Amped, but what it lacks in precision, it makes up for in slightly mindless fun.

The voiceovers are also crushingly generic, featuring the kind of stereotypical scripts that gamers ought to be well and truly sick of by now.

While its battles can be surprisingly punishing and occasionally uneven, there's a lot of heart in this gorgeous turn-based tactics anthology, and the scale of its ambition just about sings through.

It's filled to the brim with brilliant ideas, and then barely uses them.

And, for my money, they fared brilliantly.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is enjoyable enough, and has glimpses of vintage Metroid shining through, but this game could and should have been so much more.

The individual stories are crafted with the same level of care as the main series, but divorced from a larger, more personal tale, these scattershot scenes show their hand as unused B-sides. More ambitious, but less focused than Season One, 400 Days feels like its setting: a serviceable pit-stop on the way to a (hopefully) brighter future.

A charming and entertaining Japanese RPG which adheres to the conventions of the genre far too much for its own good, but will still provide many, many hours of entertainment.