For $20 on Steam, it's a hard deal to beat.

While I consider myself a veteran of strategic RPGs, frequently I found myself frustrated by Aarklash and annoyed by the lack of depth to many of the systems that support the combat - looting and equipping characters has ever felt so much like a chore, while the puzzles you'll face are an unwelcome obstacle, lacking entirely in originality or ingenuity.

There are a fair number of things to like in Cognition and it certainly represents a promising start to the series. While it's not quite up to the "modern adventure" standard set by The Blackwell Deception at least Phoenix Online are trying, and I was pleased to see and feel how much thought and effort had gone into all the components.

While in truth, it’s possible that some might tire of its regimented systems and board game esque beats, the fact remains that Renowned Explorers still stands as one of the best surprises of the year so far that wannabe adventurers of any age can enjoy.

A welcome addition to the strategy genre, offering a few new ideas sprinkled over a solid base of classic turn-based gameplay.

An incremental upgrade to Dead Rising 2. It's still great fun, but just be aware this is little extra than more of the same.

Things feel like they're going to start hotting up in Cognition, and while nothing's blowing me away in general I am enjoying the series. However, certain things definitely require a strong polish, and I hope Phoenix Online has time to make improvements before the next episode.

While Star Wars Battlefront is by no means a triumph, it’s not a disaster either. It nails the Star Wars atmosphere perfectly, with an incredible sense of spectacle and some of the most awe-inspiring moments in multiplayer gaming.

Apart from those silly puzzles, a rushed ending and the absolute conviction that Revolution made a colossal mistake in splitting the game into two (and did it poorly anyway), Broken Sword 5 is still a good game and a worthwhile new chapter in the classic series.

The Saboteur can be both addictive and engaging, but also rather stale, all at the same time.

If you like your battles tactical this is a great game to sink your teeth into. The campaign escalates nicely and does a good job of selling the desperation of your mission. I’m not sure about re-playability but it does have a skirmish mode to play around in.

If you're more intrigued by jetpacks, rocket boosts, wall-running and the thrill of flying off a ramp as you make your way to levels end as fast as you ruddy well can, Cloudbuilt is heartily recommended.

A slight update to models and textures doesn’t solve Mafia 2’s myriad problems from a decade ago, nor justify a purchase if you don’t own it yet.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is at its best when it encourages you to be patient and focus on discovering its world, taking in the strange shapes of its trees and plants, while uncovering Na’Vi stories and customs. Easily the best way to experience the universe envisioned by James Cameron, it’s also a fun enough take on a FarCry game, albeit not one that refreshes Ubisoft’s tired formula nearly enough. Combat feels loose and, before long, clearing outposts or fighting the same few types of enemies will have you inevitably yearning to head back out in search of new wondrous sights. Exploration alone makes Frontiers of Pandora worth playing – especially if you’re an established fan of the universe – but, much like the RDA’s pollution suffocates the life out of its surroundings, mechanical tedium inevitably and unfortunately drags things down in the long run.

If it wasn't for these frustrating moments, Pid would be a lovely mix of puzzles and platforming, making you challenge and engage your brain. Missing the bus should be the most frustrating thing you experience, but unfortunately it's not, meaning Pid is just one stop short of something great.

While the game does deliver a nice bundle of challenges and like a larger number of other adventure titles now it comes with a FPS feel, you could still do better.

Beyond Blue struggles as a narrative adventure game but shines as an educational tool that brings awareness and reveals some of the ocean's secrets.

It’s a solid effort from tri-Ace in the end, and a marked improvement on their other titles this generation, but the solid gameplay is let down by its sometimes overwhelming difficulty and a bland story and world-design.

Part racing game, part destruction derby, and even part tower defense, Rock of Ages 3 is all ridiculous fun. With a variety of gameplay modes and a map editor, there’s a lot of life to this game, too. Rock of Ages 3 is a game that focuses on just being plain ol’ fun and you know something? It really is.

The likes of Flatout and Motorstorm have provided ample competition in the mud-filled Americana stakes previously, but there's something about the driving model in Showdown that satisfies in a fashion that few other games manage. Whether that's a result of simple expertise or just iteration over a number of titles is something only Codies can answer, but whatever the formula was for the success, you have to be happy they've gotten here.

What The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing may lack in replayability it makes up for in competence, enthusiasm and easy charm. The moment to moment slaughter, the deceptively deep levelling and abundance of powerful loot mean it's a difficult game to put down.

Finally significant progress has been put into place, as the game's backbone is starting to feel sturdy enough to carry the weight of expectation.

Only a few clunky systems, a couple of irritating puzzles, and a brief playing time let the game down, and none should put you off buying. Between this and Machinarium it seems post-apocalyptic adventures in robot civilisations are a safe bet for excellent puzzling.

Styx: Shards of Darkness is an incredibly fun game - provided you are ok with slowing down the pace and willing to put up with uncompromising stealth. If you are looking for an action heavy stealth experience, this isn’t really your cup of tea. However, if you’re like me (though I’m terrible at stealth on the whole) and want a great, difficult challenge, Styx: Shards of Darkness might be right up your alley.

Whilst Section 8 may not be revolutionary, it’s a refreshing take on the genre.

With the customary spit and polish the engine will receive over the next year, Champions Online certainly has the potential to turn into the best superhero MMO out there. For now, that mantle still belongs to City of Heroes, but having played both games throughout beta and release, this is certainly a more daring title in the initial stages.

This is a videogame that deserved a bit more attention, rather than being labelled as simply a fun download only diversion. That said, Papo & Yo is still a remarkable experience, one of the most emotive games of the year so far and one that will stay with you well after the credits have rolled.

For those willing to forgive its more archaically-rooted foibles however, Way of the Samurai 4 very often proves to be a hugely entertaining prospect while providing a gleefully quirky look at one of the most enticing and formative periods of Japanese history.

Earth vs Mars doesn’t have a fresh take on familiar tactics, but it gets all the basics right, is constantly pleasant to play, and offers good value for little money.

Terminator 2D: NO FATE doesn’t go the extra mile to really mine the sci-fi classic for gold, but it lands all its shots and delivers highly replayable, no-nonsense retro goodness that looks, sounds, and controls great.

However while The Chinese Room have attempted to make their Amnesia a purer horror experience they’ve merely succeeded in removing all the actual gameplay along with the first game’s brilliant sanity meter.

Directive 8020 is another solid entry from Supermassive Games, even if it falls short of the studio’s best horror experiences. The decision-making mechanics remain as tense and entertaining as ever, especially when playing alongside friends. While uneven pacing, cheesy dialogue, and technical hiccups hold it back from greatness, the game still delivers an engaging sci-fi horror adventure filled with memorable choices and strong atmosphere. Fans of Until Dawn and previous Dark Pictures titles will likely find plenty to enjoy here. It may not be the standout entry in the franchise, but it’s still an enjoyable and highly replayable horror game.

The best advice anyone can be given is to pick up South Park: Let’s Go Tower Defense Play! for the Xbox Live Arcade if they are either a fan of the genre or a huge South Park fan by default.

MotoGP 10/11 will disappoint anyone who enjoyed last year's game. In short, the 'all-new handling' the game uses as a selling point makes for a game lodged between two conflicting race genres.

Tormentum is a surprisingly addictive adventure game, despite being seemingly so basic.

Dungeon Siege III falls victim to its lack of ambition. With a little extra guts, the developers could have installed an engaging narrative, memorable characters and an online component that would prolong the title's life. Instead, what we have is an emotionless, unrewarding journey that shies away from doing anything special.

It's not quite deep enough, and the difficulty curve ramps up to an insane degree pretty quickly.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 will most likely receive a cult following for its kooky characters and general offbeat atmosphere, and the solid multiplayer options will keep many coming back. A word of warning, however - give this one a rent before you go the whole hog, as the baffling physics and numerous technical oddities are sure to kill this ride for many.

With some of the most nerve-shredding strategy you can engage in and a real embarrassment of riches when it comes to content, Space Hulk Ascension’s niggles aren’t nearly enough to derail it from being both the best Space Hulk title and one of the better turn-based strategy titles available right now.

The majority of those tracks, of which I've kept a list somewhere in this mess of a music hall (thanks to the hordes of music-specific game controllers), still remains undigitised.

Dungeon Siege III falls victim to its lack of ambition. With a little extra guts, the developers could have installed an engaging narrative, memorable characters and an online component that would prolong the title's life. Instead, what we have is an emotionless, unrewarding journey that shies away from doing anything special.

Unique and fresh strategic approach, but it lacks a compelling creamy plot centre that would make Perimeter an instant classic.

The harsh void of an instructive and friendly tutorial is enough to send away newcomers within the first minutes of firing up the game.

Finally the game that many 2K Sports fans have been waiting for, and at the very least, the gameplay and presentation is exciting and engaging.

In the long term though, I think Cities in Motion 2 will turn out to be a far better game than the original one was. Once the team get rid of the rest of the bug fixes, and fix that problem with short-term gameplay to pull people through, then this should become one decent transport simulator.

Axel & Pixel is an enjoyable experience through the brief moments that players are able to experience.

Sonic 4 is an utter mess of a game, cobbled together in a manner that puts the entire franchise to shame. It feels sluggish, broken and lazy, but at least it only lasts a couple of hours!

Nothing game-breaking, but there's so many oddities, annoyances and moments of utter frustration that keep this game from being as great as it could have been. Nevertheless, there's plenty here to entertain, and it's not every day that a game can stand up against Bioware and not be utterly crushed.

It comes away respectful of its inspiration and educational as well, but won’t last long in the memory as a gaming experience.

The art-style and characters make it a special experience and even though the final few levels are a bit of a let-down with their formulaic design, The Last Tinker is worth picking up just to drink in its handcrafted visuals and feel-good vibe - when was the last time someone said that about a videogame?

If you plan to play Nazi Zombie Army entirely in single-player, don’t bother. Get Dying Light or Wolfenstein instead. The gameplay gets tedious very fast and most people will be bored in no time at all. Get a few friends together though and the game comes alive (no pun intended, honest), and that’s clearly the way Rebellion intended it to be played.

Vampyr is by no means a bad game. We never gave up on it, and the compelling story and characters drove us on, and nothing about it is truly awful - apart from the menus. It’s simply not as good as it could have been, which is a real shame considering how good some of its ideas are. You may well enjoy it, but we suspect you’ll be left hungry for more satisfying fare.

A surprisingly inaccurate recreation of London ties into simplistic gameplay and terrible performance to create a deeply flawed and shallow game.

If you already own the Season Pass for Far Cry 5 give it a go, but we doubt you’d want to buy Hours of Darkness separately. Save your money for the far more fun sounding zombie and alien expansions.

Greedfall, even with its flaws, is a game that’s very easy to sink time into without regret. For a game about fighting a horrible disease, it ironically grows on you. It would be difficult, even impossible, to make an unproblematic game about colonialism. But the one Spiders made is engaging and a lot more open about the sordid nature of it than expected. If you’re craving that type of BioWare-esque game and want to pretend Anthem doesn’t exist, Greedfall has you covered. It’s a wonderful addition to any RPG lover’s library and will be well worth their time.

Every addition that Snowfall makes is fun and adds a bit of variety to your city-building. But those additions are few, and even the more sweeping systems like road condition and heating don’t add any long-term strategic considerations to the game. Even the new winter cities are a mostly visual change. It’s tough to recommend dropping money on such an insubstantial expansion.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry is actually a game you might possibly want to play maybe. In fact, it’s not a bad adventure game at all - with quite fun puzzles, nice cartoony artwork, a decent length (not that that’s important, right ladies?), and there’s no silly mechanics (like paying for taxis and death) to get in the way. Even the jokes aren’t too offensive, with all the characters (especially the women) feeling like weird but relatable people - not just sex objects.

A decent little title, and a testament to just how far you can take your hobby if you but try.

The real issue is that the game's own spin on the dungeon-building concept is just plain dull.

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom may lack the polish required to elevate it to triple-A status but its sense of adventure and exploration remain strong.

The only issue that stuck out like a sore thumb was that the magnetism of the cursor was poor and three options to change it didn’t help either. For only 800 Microsoft Points, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3: Commander’s Challenge has plenty of replay value for offline players.

An incremental upgrade to Dead Rising 2. It's still great fun, but just be aware this is little extra than more of the same.

Minecraft Legends is a genuinely impressive RTS effort that has the potential to convert Minecraft fans into enthusiasts of the genre. Although it's not always a seamless blend, most of its issues can be resolved through understanding and patience.

An injection of human drama could have brought the game's reality into line with our expectations, which were so cruelly raised by that teaser trailer mere months ago.

Darkstar One is as cold and empty as space itself once the novelty of trading or being a "system rebel" wears off.

Styx is a likeable protagonist and is quite possibly the best videogame goblin of all time, but his humorous nature and sailor-like vernacular isn't enough to lift his game beyond the abyss of mediocrity it languishes in.

With no online play, replay value is a reverse skyrocket, burrowing deep into the Earth's crust.

Surgeon Simulator 2013 is engagingly ludicrous. It’s neither a substitute for actual medical training, nor will it take anywhere near as long to complete, but it’s a good way to find out where you fall between squeamish and remorseless monster. Physician, heal thy self (and stay away from me).

Enjoyable, inventive, and great delivery by developers Modern Dream, Typing of the Dead is a curio but one that definitely requires a few moments of attention. If you like typing really quick, zombies, and wisecracking: look no further.

Arguably these minor upgrades could be included in a free patch but Divine Wind is an expansion worth playing for its inclusion of China and Japan.

A great game that you’ll find yourself unable to step away from because you have to research one thing more, or expand to one more territory.

The game time is shorter and the goals are more defined, leading to a more immediate need for diplomacy and warfare, and the stripped down nature of the game actually does it credit when playing with others.

Finally significant progress has been put into place, as the game's backbone is starting to feel sturdy enough to carry the weight of expectation.

Bionic Due is not only a necessary purchase for all true rogue-clone fans, but it’d easily be a pride-worthy addition to the game collection of anyone with even a remote interest in this sort of thing. This game is a great laugh and a good challenge; Arcen Games, hat’s off to you chaps.

While a bit too rigid and buggy at times, Commandos: Origins is a worthy enough return to nerve-wracking tactical WWII scenarios that are a blast to figure out.

While the original model, texture and animation work of these three Hitman titles hasn’t held up all that well, the actual technical work done on this HD collection is solid. There’s widescreen, a higher resolution and undoubtedly a better frame rate than the original titles - and that’s the best you can expect without stretching to be more of a remake than a straight port. Three games in one place for a budget price is pretty good, too.

An injection of human drama could have brought the game's reality into line with our expectations, which were so cruelly raised by that teaser trailer mere months ago.

It just lacks that bit of variety and any sort of multiplayer that would push it right into recommended territory.

I’m pretty sure this won’t appeal to a lot of people. It can be bone-crushingly hard at times and difficult to get into. But by giving you the tools to craft your own escape and leaving you alone to sort it out, The Escapists is one of those classic hands-off games that encourages you to create your own story and incredible moments.

You can tell a lot of effort has been put into the GeoMod technology, and making sure everything is as polished as it can be. This has to be one of the most technically sound releases we've played in a long while, and it's draw backs mainly come from the content itself, and not the design.

But a jam-packed experience underpinned by flawed game play is still a flawed package.

These caveats are not minor ones, and it's important that people don't rush into buying the game from blind nostalgia without some idea of its not inconsiderable technical deficiencies.

Nevertheless the quests are fun, the world still good to explore, the combat great, the community wonderful (apart from those damn spambots) and the Alliance War a wildly ambitious and impressive experiment. Elder Scrolls Online is, by the skin of its teeth and a lot of hard work from Zenimax, a success.

A pretty and novel use of the 40K license, brought down by uninspired design and plain bad game balance.

It may be shorter, but The Pact is an exciting session almost entirely devoted to Bruce Wayne chatting with some of the best Batman villains around and trying to get on their good side. If this were a TV show I’d be in rapt attention.

The Calm Before The Storm is probably a better title. The third episode of Telltale’s second season of Batman isn’t big on action, massive shocks, or set-pieces, but it is big on character development, interaction, making choices, and probably making the wrong ones. Fractured Mask isn’t the most eventful episode, but it’s still fun, all the characters are clashing wonderfully, and it’s fun waiting for the hammer to fall and your choices to bite you hard. Which will probably happen in Episode 4. We can’t wait.

While it won't be able to compete with its big budget peers in pretty much any aspect, at least it's a fraction of the price of the likes of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Some of its more unique spin on things do shine through, such as City management, but others like the added adventure/discovery element just get lost amongst the need to survive.

But what could easily become an overburdening mess of a structure is cleverly handled by the developer, and Lionheart is engaging as a result.

As awesome as it is, the arcade action in Destroy All Humans! is only a part of the experience, struggling to carry its rudimentary stealth missions and hit-or-miss writing. It’s definitely a blast to level entire neighborhoods and disintegrate humans; we just wish we had to spend less time impersonating them.

Dungeon Siege III falls victim to its lack of ambition.

One for hardcore military history fans only.

Overall, Battle Worlds: Kronos is a really robust strategy game.

An interesting game that scratches the detective itch, without ever reaching great heights.

It’s nothing particularly new, as Telltale games go, but I think that playing with a more family-friendly property has been good for the studio. Those trademark life or death choices were getting a little contrived, so it’s nice to just hang around with a likeable group of characters and go off on a fun, mostly light-hearted adventure. With the occasional eldritch abomination thrown in.

Anyone who enjoys a good tactical shooter, especially those with an affinity for the long-range kill, would do well to check it out.

While the idea of a Telltale miniseries is a welcome and novel one The Walking Dead: Michonne suffers because there’s already too much Walking Dead in the world, and also the invulnerability of Michonne means you never worry about her the same way you did Lee or Clementine.

Upgrading to the next tier of combat space ships was an easy highlight. It’s where you cross the boundary from struggling and nervous to overpowered and feeling like you can bring the entire galaxy down in blazing glory if you wanted to for a little while.