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.