After so many years of trying, EA has, with the exception of a few little missteps, finally gotten player AI right and created a fast, fluid football experience that looks and feels like the real thing. This will go down as the year that EA finally ticked all the boxes.

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS does an immaculate job of bringing Nintendo’s beloved fighting game to the handheld system and has packs in the best character roster and feature list to date, but the shortfalls of its hardware prevent it from reaching greater heights. It’s the perfect Smash Bros. game on an imperfect console.

A near-perfect action game, then, and a irrefutable reason to own a Wii U.

It’s a fantastic game; an echo of the past that simultaneously feels (in the most part) contemporary, and a game made with such a clear love, passion and vision behind it that you can’t help but feel its 26-year gestation period actually helped.

In many ways The Sims 4 is a beginning, its core foundation of functions playing their parts beautifully. But in others it feels like a step back, like a set of systems designed around future expansion in mind and not providing the necessary wealth of options from the start.

Nothing like it has been done on console before, and we have to respect Bungie – and Activision – for that.

The highest compliment that you can pay Creative Assembly’s uncompromising, nerve-plucking and lengthy entry in the Alien canon is that even without any prior knowledge of its source material, Alien: Isolation is superb.

A hugely entertaining, tongue-in-cheek and fulsome experience, it’s a worthy expedition whether you’re a Rings fan or not.

While it's not likely to satisfy anyone looking for deep fighting action, existing fans will be pleased with what's on offer. [Issue#152, p.123]

The attention to detail in both art direction and audio design is admirable, and it's decent value for money. [Issue#152, p.122]

Ultimately, you can only drive where you're supposed to drive - something we never expected to say about a Crazy Taxi game. [Issue#152, p.120]

A basic campaign may have been a good addition when away from the Wi-Fi. [Issue#152, p.119]

Beige. [Issue#152, p.119]

The game taper[s] off into mediocrity after a few hours. [Issue#152, p.118]

The price is hard to fault, the work put in is outstanding, and the games themselves are damn-near essential. [Issue#152, p.117]

The increased level of challenge will be welcomed by those already "done" with the main game. [Issue#152, p.116]

The poor AI becomes increasingly apparent and even more of a chore upon completing the campaign. [Issue#152, p.114]

While Hyrule Warriors might want for modes and options compared to recent entries, it more than compensates with the variety of its roster, subtle refinements to its systems, and that extra layer of Nintendo polish. Against all odds, it works beautifully. [Issue#152, p.102]

It's a focused, exhilarating, interesting and rewarding shooter.

New ‘N’ Tasty is exactly what it claims to be: a new experience still instantly familiar to anyone that played the original, and vital playing for those that didn’t. Oddworld was a defining presence on the Playstation, and New ‘N’ Tasty will remain a defining experience on the new generation of consoles, too. It’s a pleasure to see a remaster done so well.

Don’t venture into Hohokum hoping to understand what it’s all about, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Levels are exercises in banal repetition. [Sept 2014, p.106]

Firefall quickly wears out its welcome; beaten to the punch by games like Tribes Ascend and the aforementioned Planetside 2. There’s still space for a PvE focused take on open world combat, and in time, this could well fill it. For now though, it’s a few well engineered systems in search of a game that fully deserves them.

Mechanically, this is a game that is worth your time investment. [Sept 2014, p.128]

The goalposts are moved without warning. [Sept 2014, p.127]

Light ends up feeling like a proof of concept, an unfinished prototype with some decent ideas that either lack depth or don't quite hit the mark. Ultimately, strong aesthetics can't compensate for that. [Sept 2014, p.126]

A merely serviceable afterthought. [Sept 2014, p.125]

Konami may have created the most robust digital version of its popular CCG yet, but it has married it to a distinct lack of gameplay modes and player interaction. [Sept 2014, p.123]