Champions of Anteria can be a really addictive and occasionally fun game with nice ideas and a neat sense of humour, but as a Straction RPeGy it’s just got far too many flaws to recommend.

In the end, Gathering Storm brings a few new toys to the sixth entry of the classical turn-based franchise, but does hedge a few bets on the natural disaster part of the deal. While those are an interesting addition, they are not meaningful enough to spearhead a whole expansion – and certainly not at the full prices charged by 2K.

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.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Master Crafted Edition is an adequate remaster that makes 2011’s third-person action game easier to play on modern machines while improving how it looks and sounds. None of its additions address the original’s fundamental issues, preferring to leave it largely as it was. Its flawed but fun campaign delivers plenty of visceral slaughter while its multiplayer is worth dipping into for a few matches every now and then, provided you don’t run into lag and find enough players to fill a lobby. It’s easy to see why the game became a cult classic, but for what it offers, the remaster’s price tag and the lack of an upgrade option or discount for existing owners are undoubtedly head-scratchers.

Competent to the last, Alien Rage Unlimited will tick the boxes for anyone wanting to indulge in warfare, whilst perhaps parting ways from any sort of thought process for an hour or two.

While entertaining for the most part then, Skyhill’s ease of play and encouragingly gentle roguelike mechanics are not quite enough to allow the game to reach the ambitious heights of the structure that it takes as its namesake.

It's horrible to say, horrible to trash something that's been lovingly put together by a dedicated group of developers, but Comic Jumper: Adventures Of Captain Smiley is, sadly, a case of style over substance.

The tragedy of Alpha Protocol is that, hidden behind the mass of technical failings is a superb action RPG bristling with choice and driven by some inspired storytelling.

Spiders wanted Bound By Flame to be their big breakout hit but penny-pinching on theirs or their publisher's side will hold them back.

The Raven is a gentle, well-crafted mystery, but it just doesn't carry enough interest or intrigue to make you fully invest.

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

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

With more variation and a more concentrated shooting experience, this would easily be one of our Move party games of choice. Hopefully we'll see the ideas on show here shift and blossom into something brilliant in the future.

Whilst there’s little in the way of tactical depth to sustain the action beyond the initial rush, Rebellion’s sniping and killcam mechanics remain an interesting and satisfying prospect in the short-term.

In the end, Ancestors is a fine experiment that I’m sure will interest a lot of people, but I must say it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. As fun as it is to run around and climb stuff, leading a group of apes into a bigger group of somewhat smarter apes is not exactly an exhilarating proposition – especially when you can easily screw up to the point of losing the clan, not finding a surrogate, and having to restart the game and relearn everything all over again. If the idea of playing through evolution without any guidance and getting your ass kicked by nature appeals to you, then definitely give Ancestors a chance – it’s the kind of experience you’re probably not getting from anywhere else.

There is no denying that fans of the series can and will appreciate the options available and will spend hours customizing and creating the ultimate robot. With a stronger story and more attention to detail as well as a simplified difficulty level this mech could have been the ultimate warrior.

While it is clearly a nice game, Ancients of Ooga doesn't really do anything interesting enough to get beyond being a nice game into being a must have.

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.

If you've played through The Witcher 2 and are hankering for another similar experience, and don't mind a budget-feeling title, then Game of Thrones is well worth considering.

TinTin may be basic and one of the easiest games I've played in some years, but it's certainly a cracker of a game for children and gives them something to get their teeth into with its cute visuals.

TinTin may be basic and one of the easiest games I've played in some years, but it's certainly a cracker of a game for children and gives them something to get their teeth into with its cute visuals.

Coast Guard is a game that gets a lot of things right, but at the end of the day, feels rushed.

Its gorgeous visuals and in-your-face combat may wow, but their shine dulls with unfortunately little to be offered in their place to reignite that initial excitement.

The trouble is, after half an hour you'd be wondering why you got so excited in the first place, switching shuffle back on swiftly.

Heroes of the Inner Sphere is definitely worth picking up along with the main game for those jumping in for the first time, but players who have already spent hours with MechWarrior 5’s existing content may find the new additions to feel a bit been-there-done-that. The new career mode is my new preferred way to play, but the new structure, mechs, weapons, and mission type fail to significantly distance themselves from what’s already been present in the game.

The Baconing sags limply in a puddle of its own stale grease when it should sizzle: reheated leftovers from the previous two games, liberally seasoned with humour to mask the aging ingredients, in danger of becoming inedible.

The Baconing sags limply in a puddle of its own stale grease when it should sizzle: reheated leftovers from the previous two games, liberally seasoned with humour to mask the aging ingredients, in danger of becoming inedible.

Rage is flawed from the get-go, and by the time it finds its legs, its all too little, too late.

Rage is flawed from the get-go, and by the time it finds its legs, its all too little, too late.

For everything that Altelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland does right though, it fails to deliver on another key element of the genre. I never felt fully connected to the world.

A must-have expansion to those players who dream of creating their own interstellar corporate empire.

As cynical as it might be to release a quick follow-up to a third-person shooter in one of the most populated thematic genres of the last generation then, Sniper Elite Nazi Zombie Army 2 is nonetheless another diverting exercise in brainless co-op action.

The trouble is, after half an hour you'd be wondering why you got so excited in the first place, switching shuffle back on swiftly.

The story tries to be too dramatic in parts, with a few out-of-place dark moments and a slightly unsatisfying ending that seems entirely written to tell me off for saying that Rufus was a selfish unlikeable dick (you’ll see).

Try it, you may very well like or even love it, but don't come crying to me if you don't. I told you so.

Sheltered is unquestionably inspired by Fallout Shelter but it’s much more challenging and complex. It’s too complex for its own good and a lot is left to chance. It could also use more action.

If you are a hardcore puzzle gamer looking for a new challenge, this game is for you.

This is a game in a rarely explored genre nowadays, and it does offer the interesting experience of fighting a guerrilla war on the Soviet front – a rare occurrence outside Russian games. If you are a fan of this kind of title and have a lot of patience for rough edges and frustrating stealth, Partisans 1941 might actually be worth a shot.

Space Ark is a decent kids game, and it will probably hold the attention of an adult for a good couple of hours, but eventually the repetition begins to grate, and staring into the hypnotic disney-eyes of the Arkonauts becomes slightly disturbing as you begin to wonder whether they can see into your soul.

There's still a bit of extra polish needed, not to mention, well, the rest of the game. If you like story and want to take yourself through the tale of the Gemini sector, then by all means give this game a go.

Mad Riders borrows a little too liberally from other titles to truly have its own identity. What is there, however, is an enjoyable enough arcade racer.

ELEX II will be an understandably divisive RPG, as is almost a given with Piranha Bytes’ titles. There are performance issues, incoherent conversation options, and some iffy combat. Yet its freedom is genuinely impressive, and its kitchen-sink approach to every aspect of the experience at least makes for an intriguing, if uneven, package.

It’s a real shame that the campaign plays second fiddle to challenges for drama and certainly entertainment, as Tropico 3 still has a fair way to go before it makes a significant impact outside of the PC world.

It's an incredibly niche title, which unfortunately suffers from one too many flaws.

If you're looking for what is probably the deepest and most complicated strategy game ever made, oh boy have you found it.

WRC 9 will come with the racing sim action you’ve come to expect from the franchise. This also means that it’s not for everyone and can get bogged down in micromanaging in its career mode. It’s not for everyone, nor does it sell itself for the uninitiated. But if you enjoy the cars, the managing, the challenge, WRC 9 will be your cup of tea. Everyone else should find something enjoyable but nothing that’ll hold your attention for long.

Wait for a better discount, or wait until they’ve made some improvements to it. As it stands, there are bigger and better titles to be excited about.

If you like the series, or enjoy games like Dead or Alive, then this new addition is something that you may enjoy. On the flip side however, the fact that it's very similar to these games might mean that it's not worth the extra cash.

Trackmania has the time trial gameplay you expect from the series with a neat map editor, but it's subscription service feels like a misstep. Rather than a social racing game, it’s a racing game with a social service built onto it. That might be enough for people, but its engagement can run thin and never feels worthy of its highest tier. While there were some good moments, there was some sense of unfulfillment every time I jumped in. There’s definitely fun to be had, but whether or not that fun will extend past a couple weeks is unlikely.

Criticising a title like Rig'n'Roll for lack of variety would be churlish considering the niche subject matter, but even so, the lack of interesting graphical presentation, open-world vitality or any compelling storyline presentation doesn't help its cause as you make your way from point A to point B for the 90th time.

Port Royale 3 is not a bad game, not by any means, and I'd say on the whole it does a better job of things than Patrician IV did – it's still not fantastic though. Definitely one to pick up cheap if you can find it, but still worth picking up all the same.

There’s not much about Sniper Elite 5 that’s particularly remarkable. That, however, didn’t stop the visceral X-Ray kills and the simple act of mowing down Nazis to see me through to the end of its campaign. There are plenty of other games out there that do stealth, action, or World War II better, yet the series’ formula is very much its own and does manage to carry a game that otherwise struggles to do anything interesting. Its flexible difficulty, the tension of invasions, and gruesome long-range executions keep things fun if the very premise appeals to you. But certain antiquated design choices and guns that don’t feel all that great keep Sniper Elite 5 from being memorable.

In the end, Warlords of New York is a fantastic setting beautifully rendered, but is ruined by bad gameplay decisions, and an interesting expansion that could have lasted days is artificially rushed by forcing you to complete it in one go. If you love The Division 1 and want to see more of it, you’re in luck - but be aware that every single good side is going to have a massively disappointing bad side.

Unfortunately, its tower-defense half fails to offer compelling strategic options, and that lack of depth, compounded by the lack of content, keeps the game from having much lasting appeal.

Kinect Adventures acts as a decent way to show off your latest hardware purchase to friends, but beyond this there really isn't much reason to bung the disc back into your Xbox.

UFC Personal Trainer would make a fine introduction into the world of fitness – it's just a shame that the surrounding shell of the software is so lacklustre.

I admit, I’m the target audience for this game, so I probably enjoyed it more than the average gamer. If you’re an Asterix fan who either hasn’t played XXL 2 or wants to play it again, this is certainly worth picking up, despite the game itself being a bit more simplistic and repetitious than it needs to be. A fun Asterix game and a decent remaster, so a goodish score. But why by Belanos isn’t Sam Schieffer called Samfishus?!

Unfortunately while it gets the mechanics right the overall design is a far cry from Dark Souls. The world itself is plain, unimaginative and uninteresting. The level design is cramped and maze-like. The enemies are mostly stock sci-fi robots which aren’t that fun to defeat. If you’re desperate for a new Souls-style game and like the idea of the sci-fi setting, set your expectations low and you could totally enjoy The Surge. We on the other hand got bored of it very quickly, and we can imagine a lot of gamers feeling the same way. Shame.

The gameplay of Paradise is fair, but nothing that will impress. A typical point and click third person style interface, with plenty of pixel hunting and manipulating of levers, dials, switches, etc.

There's a great game in here, and people who buy Risen 2 will probably be quite content with their purchase if they can get past the infuriating first few hours (and that sugar quest in the giant termite cave, shudder).

For all its strengths, Martyr fails to impress. While the meaningless loot system and slow progression are clearly an issue, it is the uninspired control system that never really comes together that drags the game down to limbo.

It’s far from an essential purchase, but hardcore Crusader Kings 2 fans will probably want to pick this up for the custom kingdoms alone. For everyone else I’d advise giving it a miss unless you’re very interested in the period setting.

So when it’s all said and done, The King of Fighters XII isn’t going to be placed on a mantle above all other fighting games. It lacks proper net code and not everyone is going to enjoy the pixilated graphics.

Alone With You is overall a narrative driven game that is severely hampered by its shallow repetitive gameplay, and while the narrative has plenty of depth, the mind-numbing tasks in between story moments become tiresome quickly.

Biomutant's strong presentation and beautiful world invite exploration, while its combat makes you feel like a badass magic-flinging, gunslinging, Kung-Fu warrior. Sadly, its tedious missions and weak story make it increasingly harder to stick with the game the more of it you play.

Project Highrise takes obvious inspiration from a cult classic, but struggles to build compelling mechanics around a proven concept. Constructing a tower still offers its own simple pleasure, but there’s not enough depth here to keep you building a skyline’s worth of high-rises.

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake successfully captures the soul and voice of a classic while improving on the presentation and scope, but shoddy combat often brings those commendable efforts down.

WRC 5 is a completely competent, inoffensive racing game, but it lacks the features that have become standard in the genre. Whether you’re a fan of simulation or arcade-style racers, there are many better alternatives out there.

There’s a great ‘town defense’ RTS at the center of Age of Darkness, but the lack of polish even after its 1.0 launch is disappointing and the campaign lacks punch.

While Sengoku Jidai’s historical accuracy and tactical focus made a strong first impression, I found that the more I played and understood its mechanics, the less I enjoyed it.

There is no doubt whatsoever that The Living Dungeon should have spent longer in the oven than the time that was afforded to it. Nevertheless, despite the fact that it feels like an Early Access title attempting to punch above its weight, The Living Dungeon still manages to provide numerous, if somewhat unambitious thrills in its hassle-free multiplayer skirmishes.

What's here is entertaining enough, but you can't shake the feeling that the end product could have been so much more fulfilling with just a little more conviction and/or development time. Whatever their reasons though, I'll be crossing my fingers for a sequel; the concept is brilliant.

Same old same old, then - Alien Breed 3: Descent is not the sequel we were hoping for, dragging the series out rather than building on it. Still, for Alien Breed fanatics, the story will at least provide closure and more of the same.

It's certainly fun for the odd match, definitely different from all the other quick-play multiplayer games out there, but you have been warned. It needs an injection of extra fun, STAT.

What's here is entertaining enough, but you can't shake the feeling that the end product could have been so much more fulfilling with just a little more conviction and/or development time. Whatever their reasons though, I'll be crossing my fingers for a sequel; the concept is brilliant.

Good voice acting and cool, bloody werewolf fighting sequences could not fully save the rushed story and flat facial animations of this one-dimensional take on the rich World of Darkness universe.

Enjoy it for the looks, the controls and cuteness of it all and enjoy it for the simplicity, most of all.

Same old same old, then - Alien Breed 3: Descent is not the sequel we were hoping for, dragging the series out rather than building on it. Still, for Alien Breed fanatics, the story will at least provide closure and more of the same.

Majesty 2: Kingmaker will appeal to two types of people; those who enjoyed the original so much that they cuddle the game box while they sleep, and masochists.

Krillbite get a lot of things right in Among The Sleep. Their use of graphics, sound and level design to build tension and create a creepy atmosphere is second to none, and I was genuinely on the edge of my seat for almost all the time I spent playing. Unfortunately the tension builds to nothing, the monsters aren't involved enough and the game's over and done with in no time at all.

For its budget and decidedly indie status, maybe that's a bit of a harsh criticism of Strike Suit Zero, but the feeling of repetition was overwhelmingly strong as I made my way through the latter half of the game.

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

Quake Arena Arcade is Quake III: Arena again, except this time around there is no-one to play against. If you've already played Quake to death, there is no need to pick this edition up, even for the exclusive maps. The lack of players online is a clear sign that Quake fans would really like something new for a change.

A capable yet uncreative and unimpressive game that feels straight out of the early 2000s.

Far Cry 6 finds the series at its most complacent and stale, showing little desire to push things forward and missing the mark when it comes to its story and villain. And yet, despite the tired recipe, there’s still an adequately enjoyable first-person shooter underneath that manages to offer the freedom expected of it and make popping the heads of countless dumb opponents feel satisfying. How much you’ll enjoy it really depends on where you’re approaching it from. As a new player, its world will keep you busy and show you a good chunk of what the series has to offer. If you’ve played previous entries in the series, you’re more likely to be left wishing there was more. Yara’s had its own revolution; perhaps it’s time for Far Cry to follow suit.

So when it’s all said and done, The King of Fighters XII isn’t going to be placed on a mantle above all other fighting games. It lacks proper net code and not everyone is going to enjoy the pixilated graphics.

Whilst 1954 Alcatraz does certain things very well, it too often lets itself down.

As a celebration of all things Jurassic, Jurassic World Evolution 2 serves as a worthy successor to the original. As a park management game, it struggles to find a meaningful focal point. Given Frontier’s expertise in this exact department elsewhere, that’s more than a little disappointing. A light, messy sim that acts as a tribute to the prehistoric pandemonium of the Jurassic Park/World series.

Those who fully appreciate the fast-paced, arcade action may not be fully appreciative of the attention to detail paid to the planes on show. Likewise, those who fully appreciate the attention to detail, may be disappointed to not be given a deeper flight simulation with which to fly their historical birds.

Toukiden 2 ends up offering something that’s lacking in all departments.There’s too much fluff between the good stuff, but it still offers a somewhat exhilarating experience in short bursts. If you’re looking for a combat-heavy co-op experience on PC, it’s not a bad choice at all - but if you’re coming from similar games, you’ll likely be left feeling generally underwhelmed.

And that’s the reason the first Leisure Suit Larry is beloved enough to get a crowd-funded remake – it’s still very funny to play. Yes some of the mechanics are painful, irritating, or just obtrusive (even by 1987 standards, yet alone 2013), but lose them and you lose the experience.

The more focused second half saves Eriksholm from oblivion. For a game clocking around 10 hours, it takes too long to get going and put all its cards on the table.

If you honestly loved Just Cause 3 and want to carry on the war that game started, along with balloons to send cows into the stratosphere, you’ll mostly be happy with the sequel. For the rest of us, it’s never as good or insane as it needs to be, and every part of the excitement is tinged with frustration.

The narrative is interesting, the puzzles are fun to tackle, if a little too simple and yet, if there was just a lot more content and if everything was a little more polished, we would be looking at a great game heavy with recommendation, rather than a good one laden with caveats.

For every piece of brilliance Guns and Robots delivers, it’s matched by an equally as confusing or lackluster one.

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.

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.

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.