Lego Voyagers is a brief, delightful puzzle adventure with a sweet, simple narrative and a disarming soundtrack. While playful by design, its linear nature and sometimes clunky controls make this a less-than-perfect outing, but it's hard to fault the game too much considering it's ultimately satisfying and not long enough for the few rough edges to cause much friction.

Disappointment about the lack of groundbreaking invention aside, Gunpey is a fun and intellectually interesting workout for brain and thumbs alike. If you're sick of falling blocks, or just need some new challenge to wrap the grey matter around, give it a go.

Rabbids games are built to fit one quality and one quality only: funny.

As cheesy horror goes, you've never had it this pretty or entertaining but when it comes to a one off experience, Until Dawn is expensive interactive terror.

The Inpatient excels at immersing the player, and it looks gorgeous. Unfortunately it puts too many barriers between the player and ultimate success.

These Rabbits make an amazing fling, but you won't want to buy them breakfast.

Right from the start you're surrounded by creatures that suck away your life. The only way to get ahead is to learn a novel's worth of tricks and memorize the mazy layouts - something only the old-schoolers may have the patience for.

Worms Revolution isn't going to alter the gaming landscape anytime soon, but that doesn't stop it from being a good time. Its combat is as solid as ever, the addition of new classes and environmental effects work just fine, and it's still a blast to play with a pal or two.

An unholy level of difficulty squelches the fun, and bullets will frequently find your grunts unless they're behind the most fortress-like of cover.

It's not a standout season, unlike some past hallmark Maddens that hold up well today. The guts are there for greatness, but there's still some work to be done until it reaches that high level.

We wish it had gone farther with its extracurricular activities, as its core enterprise requires nearly the same patience and stamina as does real fishing – but of course those who don't like the idea of fishing won't be barking up this tree anyway, right?

Star Wars Outlaws is an exceedingly fun Star Wars game that's hindered by poor stealth systems and lacklustre mission design. Massive Entertainment establishes an incredible sense of place through its open worlds, accurately capturing the look and feel of the original trilogy of movies, but the experience falters the closer you stick to the critical path. If you've ever dreamed of becoming a scoundrel in a galaxy far, far away then you'll find a lot to like in Outlaws, and a lot more crawling through cramped ventilation systems than expected.

No, it’s not game of the year, but it’s a solid, playable title that manages to serve the license really well.

It still is, at its heart, a foundation of derivative shooter tropes dressed up with Red Faction's (fantastic) physics and weapons. It's a fun game and a worthwhile purchase if you're not hoping for more of Guerilla and you're not turned off by linearity.

DW2 has just enough improvements to make it smoother and slightly more enjoyable than its predecessor.

Where the game lacks in production values it makes up for in a lengthy story that fans of Japanese visual novels will enjoy (although it's not as static as visual novels).

Not even building an empire can keep Dynasty Warriors 5 from feeling archaic and shallow. We've been doing this same thing for something like ten games in a row now.

It still is, at its heart, a foundation of derivative shooter tropes dressed up with Red Faction's (fantastic) physics and weapons. It's a fun game and a worthwhile purchase if you're not hoping for more of Guerilla and you're not turned off by linearity.

Kudos to EA for avoiding the path of least resistance and offering up perhaps one last big bang for puckheads across the landscape.

The lack of map variety hurts Chariots more than a similar paucity has hurt previous episodes, because Chariots is, overall, a bit slow.

The Champions League is an amazing showcase of the drama and passion of the Beautiful Game, but EA has mostly wasted an opportunity to transition it to the 360 by repackaging FIFA 07 with a shinier coat of paint. It’s fine enough for a lark, but not enough to claim the crown.

This is a love letter to longtime fans first and a cheap means for new players to meet the series second. Head-On is a complete game and fun for a while, but the extra features are the real reason you'll want to sniff around.

Visually, Muramasa Rebirth is stunning. The Vita's sharp screen enhances the already gorgeous graphics and rewarding gameplay, resulting in fast-paced combat and satisfying boss battles that have never looked better. Although backtracking and repetition will eventually take their toll, it's still a fine choice for your portable action-RPG fix.

Morsels' gnarly, gross visuals pair well with a dreamy VHS visual style – you'll immediately be hooked or feel a little sick. Collecting different playable creatures you can swap between is a nice idea, and mastering the chaos of this roguelike shooter can be satisfying. Yet, hewing too close to The Binding of Isaac, annoyances stack up to the point where I end up just wanting to play that instead – an ever present danger in a genre where replayability is the appeal.

In many ways, Halo 3: ODST marks a bold departure from the franchise formula, with story, characters, atmosphere and multiplayer that are refreshingly, surprisingly different. Due to a short campaign and overly familiar gameplay, however, it fails to escape the “expansion pack” label.

Cairn is a zen, meditative survival game defined by the intentionality of its movement and the way you interact with its world - when its protagonist can be prevailed upon to act like the elite athlete she's supposed to be. When it works, it's excellent, but its core system is often too clumsy to bring to bear with the precision required to ape top-level climbing.

While we would've loved a smoother and more expansive experience, what is here is great for the casuals and tolerable for the hardcore. Let's hope it's the start of bigger things to come.

Unusually addicting and accessible for a serious sports game, Top Spin 2 offers a lot of gameplay for a very reasonable $40.

The overall feeling we got from Uprising is one of a game not quite up to the standard of the very best Contra games.

After all, when you can fly up to an opponent and gut-blast him with a lightning bolt of sheer psychic power ... that makes up for a lot.

The game engine here is demonstrably better than Forza Motorsport 7's but, in terms of breadth of gameplay, presentation, general excitement, and enjoyment gleaned from racing the AI cars, the older, now-deleted Forza Motorsport 7 is clearly superior. More content including tracks and event series will be added over time, so it will certainly improve, but right now the career mode here is so sedate and one-note, it's hard to recommend Forza Motorsport's offline mode over any of its peers.

The elements of a fantastic and creative action game are all present and correct, and at times Quantum Break is indeed both of those things. But unfortunately its various disparate parts tend to get in each other’s way, leading to a needlessly complicated presentation that inhibits anything from shining as brightly as it should.

Knights in the Nightmare isn't a bad game; the combat system is addictive as hell, and though the various elements of the game that might seem like an odd mix, together they make a lot of sense. It just tries to do too much, so instead of a historic must-play that changes the genre forever, we get a quirky, worthwhile oddity.

We would have liked for this year's 360 FIFA 07 to combine all the best parts of its current-gen cousins and its older World Cup brother; rather, we got a good, not great, title that in several ways is outshined by those same games.

The battery packs offer a nice sense of urgency to controlling the vehicles in every stage, because as powerful as the fighter jet or the tank might be, there's a built-in shelf life they have now - you can either return them to the charger in time or risk them self-destructing and therefore waiting a few minutes before you can use them again.

It still looks great on the hardware and accurately represents the popular anime/manga series, but the statute of limitations for similar last-gen sequels expires now - it's time for Atari to take this franchise to next-gen consoles and put some real force behind these extraordinary characters and settings.

And wouldn't it be cool if you could edit, save and upload your videos to the internet, complete with visual effects and filters? Yeah - that's almost positively going to be in the PS3 version. Until then, this will get you by, especially if you're throwing a party.

It looks underwhelming, but spend a little time with Urban Chaos: Riot Response and it quickly stands out from the crowd.

Just be warned: this game's for the fans, not necessarily someone looking for a quick bus-ride excursion. Gradius has never been easy, and these five selections are no different.

Emulates one of the best games ever adeptly, and if you're a Nintendo fan that never owned any of the previous systems it appeared on, it's worth exploring. However, if you have the Subsistence version for PS2 or last November's MGS HD Collection (which costs the same as this 3DS remake), MGS3D isn't a superior replacement.

It's passable. If you're looking for a 360 party game with something for the adults, this is definitely the candidate you should endorse. But we have to think that's a pretty big "if."

A solid retro collection for those looking for stone-age thrills. There are enough good games to care, the miniature '80s revival bit is fun, and the $20 price tag is just about reasonable.

Dustborn is a unique visual novel-style adventure that brings combat and even a rhythm game to its sometimes-intense choice-driven dystopian world, where your decisions matter. But it often gets in its own way, mechanically and otherwise.

TMNT: Tactical Takedown is more experimentally thrilling than you might expect from a licensed game, its solo strategy fights packing so much momentum it almost feels like a brawler. A lack of variety in objectives and environments, along with some balancing issues, leave me wanting more from this short but cheesy (complimentary) experience – but this is still a radically easy recommendation.

Be warned, though: this is the simplest Tony Hawk to date. We hardcore Hawk-ers are left with little more than finding all the Gaps for a hardcore, extended experience.

Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is an ambitiously detailed Lovecraftian detective story that makes great use of its supernatural horror source material. Open-ended puzzles across each chapter challenge in all the right ways, giving you the tools to sort through the mountains of evidence. Sometimes overly fiddly, and with more than few technical issues, pondering can be replaced with bursts of annoyance, but this is more often than not a great chin-stroker.

Steep looks stunning and offers plenty to do and see, but unfortunately gets repetitive too quickly.

So those of us who aren't down with the difficulty level are going to want to play a game that utilizes the Xbox 360's potential with a balanced difficulty level that compliments the solid gameplay - and thereby restore self esteem - leaving Itagaki's insatiable bloodlust to the hardcore crowd that loves it so.

Guilty Gear Xrd Sign lives up to the high-speed standards of its predecessors, but doesn't bring enough of its own to the table to exceed them.

If you've got the time and patience to prep, and an audience willing to go along for the ride, Master of Illusion could turn you and your DS into the hit of the holiday party.

If you want more modes, and a whole bunch of extras, Tetris Party Deluxe is available as a retail release, and offers a much more diverse Tetris for $30, but if you just want simply Tetris with some worthy extras, you can't go wrong for $5.

And yes, while 2K10 doesn’t have as many options as The Inside or NBA Live, it’s still a worthwhile handheld hoops title that deserves a look.

"Final Fantasy" followers might be looking for more. Even so, at times tonelico conveys more energy and thoughtfulness than most big-budget RPGs even attempt. It's primarily for the hardcore audience, though any gamer looking for another fantasy outlet should take a look.

The issue, though, is with conflicted gameplay; more specifically, scarcity of ammo and an annoying inventory system. Resident Evil 6 doesn't blend horror and explosive action, it simply sits awkwardly between them, leaving you with facing too many enemies with too few bullets.

Sure, it plays things safe, but there's a surprising amount of fun to be had crafting items, taming monsters, and building relationships in between sometimes-bland dungeon runs.

In its self-aware campiness and macabre action, there is a contagious confidence in Zombie Army 4 that will leave anyone who plays it a fan of this exciting co-op shooter.

While annoying, the lock-ups don't really do much to dampen how outlandishly fun the game is. If you like the Hulk and you enjoying destroying things, you'll enjoy your time with The Incredible Hulk, even if you have to reset the system from time to time.

Lords of the Fallen just about justifies the return of this forgotten franchise by being basically fine. It has a few clever ideas and a whole bunch of very predictable ones, ultimately resulting in a soulslike experience that won't feel particularly new or fresh, but rarely offends or goes too far wrong.

Thankfully, these soldiers move with much of the fluidity of their PS2 counterparts.

The online four-player is badass, with support for USB headsets and a split-screen option to enable two players to go online using the same PS3. But Calling All Cars! really shines as a party game, and if you can get four friends in the same room all screaming and cursing each other out, then that's worth the price of the download right there.

These minor quibbles never prevent the game from being fun, though.

Pass defense is more realistic, and the balance smooths out at higher difficulty settings, but pounding the run is still unrealistically easy.

Ultimately we made a key realization that finally let us come to acceptance: AC5 is not a fantastic single-player game, but it can be a great multiplayer one.

As much a detective story as a horror one, Vampyr rewards you for taking an interest in the people around you and tests your moral compass with a lack of black and white options.

If you're a Castlevania completist, or just a fan of old school gaming, then pick up this bloodsucker.

Competent and stylish in its real-time strategy, The Lamplighters League puts an art deco spin on a simplified XCOM formula, but is let down by real-time segments that dilute and distract from its core offering.

Impossible to recommend ahead of the PC version because of some issues with the port, but nonetheless one of the most unique experiences on console.

If you played a previous Lost in Blue and just couldn’t get enough, this will certainly satisfy your craving. If you weren’t too into the last one, this entry is basically more of the same (and even a near-remake in most respects) with a few extra features thrown in, so you won’t be finding some revolutionary new direction for the series.

Die-hard players...will certainly get $40 worth of fun out of this release. 12 new characters is huge, and exploring the interplay between them and the tweaked returning cast will provide hours of fun. The much improved online interface is also a huge draw for competitive players. Ultimately (pun intended), the vast majority of UMVC3's new features will only really be appreciated by dedicated players, and for them it's a must have, for everyone else though, it's a harder sell.

If you're a comic-book fan, this is probably the most satisfying videogame ever made for you.

Its portrayal of the world's greatest fictional detective does the license justice, and its narrative intrigues up until its satisfying conclusion, even if getting there can be a pain sometimes. In other words, it's all elementary, my dear friends.

A well-written story that doesn’t quite gel together properly and a lack of actual things to do make this a sub-par start to this potentially great sequel.

Funny in bursts, regularly creative, yet held back by distinctly average combat and poor exploration elements. High on Life 2 is a surreal trip well worth taking, although you'll need to adjust your expectations accordingly. Do that, and it'll regularly put a (sometimes guilty) smile on your face.

Don't use the lock-on, and the dodgy controls and at best so-so ally AI will end up killing you. The camera system will cause death after death in the infuriating mandatory stealth missions - it's just too hard to get real situational awareness. Despite all that, the game is perfect for the PSP - fun to pick up and play in short bursts.

By hooking up with other players via Wi-Fi, you’re also able to play levels that other players create, giving you a virtually endless array of levels to puzzle over even after you’ve completed the main game.

Gylt presents some bright ideas in its dark world even as its gameplay mechanics are often much too familiar.

What Toxic Commando does, it does very well – but most of it has already been seen elsewhere. Carving through zombies is fun, but by failing to leverage the idea of superpowered protagonists, the threat of fatigue after completing the story for the first time looms large, which isn't ideal for an online game like this.

The world opens up nicely as you play as well, gaining things like a flying Ikran to soar high over the trees, or opening up the map to introduce new areas and ecosystems just as you're starting to get comfortable with what you know. There is an occasional lack of clarity with things like guidance not always being crystal – wooly tracking missions being a prime example. However, the vibrancy of the world and the pure alienness of almost everything you encounter make Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora an enjoyable place simply to exist in, with all its otherworldly environments and creatures adding freshness the mechanics lack.

Mind Over Mutant is a lot better than Crash of the Titans and the world is probably a slightly better place for its existence. But it’s not quite slick enough underneath all those pretty visuals to earn essential status.

Adding phenomenal, modernized improvements to the Metal Gear franchise, Ground Zeroes is effective at getting you hyped for the future of the series. Still, it feels like an expensive tease that only gives you a taste of what’s to come.

If you're bored with what's currently on the table, the visuals (while not jaw-dropping) are certainly pleasing if you're into the whole dystopian future Russia fetish, the familiar controls are very easy to master, combat is fluid and fast-paced, and the customization options and wide range of player modes keep the game continually interesting. If you're not convinced, consider this: for all you get, it's really hard to argue with fifteen bucks.

Another superbly entertaining basketball sim with some of the sickest visuals you've ever seen.

Offers a rather refreshing take on war-status games. It's nowhere near the excellence of other established stealth games, but it does offer enough innovation and open-endedness to get enough entertainment out of.

Zoos are special and Zoo Tycoon captures that nicely. The sometimes disappointing limitations and even the dreadful menus don’t take away enough from the overall package to prevent it from earning a recommendation, particularly for animal lovers and families.

But let everyone, regardless of skill level, have the tables you’ve written on the back of the box with no strings attached. They paid for them.

If you’re ready for the heightened difficulty of solo play in New Super Luigi U, then you’ll find it rewarding. Otherwise, it’s a taxing platformer that’s only made more rage-inducing in multiplayer.

Puzzle Scape isn't terribly original in either concept or presentation, but it's enough like the great games it's copying to be well worthwhile.

The visual representation of the duels, as well as rewarding Challenges and time-consuming Sealed Deck mode, all make for a fun experience for the player. Now if only they’d use their powers to make a dedicated custom deck building tool with every magic card ever made. That would be something.

Even with its problematic moments, Commander’s Challenge has hours of tough and intense gameplay to offer console owners with a hankering for more Red Alert 3 action.

With a fantastic story (and some awkward controls and puzzles), Grim Fandango Remastered is still the same great game you remember from 1998. Those bugs, though? Those are all new.

If you're looking for a 360 party game with something for the adults, this is definitely the candidate you should endorse. But we have to think that's a pretty big "if."

Most of the time, though, it just sort of is, existing as a weirdly generic, blandly acceptable compromise between casual and hardcore that doesn't really go far enough to please either set of fans.

But if this was a test of the shooter on Nintendo's new box, it definitely passes. Revisions and experimentation will no doubt improve the experience, but for now those looking to migrate into Nintendo's new way to play won't be fully out of their element.

Though Tearaway Unfolded does wonders with paper, it sometimes leaves you feeling flat.

Stages quickly become repetitive thanks to the reused scenery and restrictions.

There’s good stuff here (especially for what, two bucks a game?), but sometimes not even modern hardware can recreate the past very well.

Though you'll need multiple copies of the game to share the experience with friends (definitely a bummer), this is one of the few DS games that could make that investment worthwhile.

We were pleasantly surprised with how it drew us in and kept us going.