Antigraviator is fun while it lasts, but fails to be memorable. The developers are clearly talented and pay attention to detail, but more content and variation would go a long way to make the game long-term entertainment even for players who aren’t big on racing titles. As it stands now, there is a lot to like for enthusiasts of the genre, but the game feels a tad threadbare. It is certainly the beginnings of something great, and should be nourished to reach its potential.

It's bloated, cumbersome and little has changed from last year, and in that way bears many parallels to the game itself. However, it's also earnest, uncompromising and serves its purpose well enough, and in that sense it is equally a fitting title.

In many ways, Blood Stone is a mediocre title. Graphically, characters look dull and frankly some PS2 and Xbox titles looked better.

It’s been awhile since a game repulsed me. Not in a gruesome or transgressive way, just in a way that’s unenjoyable thanks to frustrating controls and its unfunny execution. Don’t get me wrong, it’s clear in its intent and you’ll know how you feel about it early on. However, it’s very unappealing and is a reminder as to why these sorts of games are better as experiments rather than full releases. If you like overcoming frustration, maybe you’ll find something worthwhile. I don’t.

Journey of a Roach attempts some nice ideas and is pretty cute, but altogether isn’t a particular good or enjoyable adventure.

My problem with War, the Game is that it's not really interesting enough.

Whatever your feelings about Cars, arguably Pixar's least popular movie series, you can't deny the quality of Cars 2: The Video Game. It's everything that typical movie games aren't, being fun, content-rich and technically solid.

Hoard is quite an addictive little casual game when it gets going, but ruins it by giving the player no satisfaction from winning or reason to continue after one level.

Though this title is flawed, shallow, and often bland, it does have fun moments.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 could’ve been game of the year, but some key mistakes basically ruin the whole thing. The progression system being randomized in Loot Crates and players getting significant game-changing upgrades, many of which were paid for, are the main offenders. With every player stocked up with Star Cards that give them massive advantages new players face a long uphill struggle, and it makes Battlefront 2 a chore to play. Which is upsetting, because DICE have put in so much effort into all the maps, modes, and Classes, and really nail the Star Wars feeling. When it works it’s a gorgeous spectacle, an imaginative and epic shooter with some wonderful objective-based ideas. Then you get blown up by an Improved Thermal Detonator for the 23rd time while other players shrug off your rockets and the fun oozes out immediately. The single-player campaign is simple but entertaining, however it can’t save Battlefront 2. If you’re desperate for Star Wars you’ve got no other choice, but if you want until a sale the game will be even more unbearable to play. Get Wolfenstein 2 instead.

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.

We don't want to say Naval War was disappointing, because it wasn't really – the preview stage showed us a simple, yet well-made title that does exactly what it says on the tin – we still couldn't help but find the game surprising over all though, and not in the good way.

The majority of the DLC is utterly devoid of surprises, treats or interesting characters and places, and you'll soon start getting bored.

Right now the small player population is seriously harming what makes Ravaged stand out, but even when you do end up in a big battle on a fresh map, its best attributes are lost underneath layers of niggling issues that just prevent it from being an enjoyable experience.

You won't be buying AvP for its single-player though, and if you are you may find yourself sorely disappointed. Rebellion has built AvP around its multiplayer, which is both well-constructed and surprisingly well-balanced.

Flight has nothing to do with Flight Simulator and the sooner people realise that the better.

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.

Xtreme Legends, though, is a proposition only for the hardcore Warriors fan or at a bargain basement price. With the original Dynasty Warriors 7 now reduced, picking up this package that arguably has less compelling content and asks for the original disc for some of its modes seems crazy. If you're just looking for some mindless hacking and slashing, though, this'll do fine.

It's a decent stab at resurrecting the atmosphere and sense of foreboding that the series was once known for, and if it wasn't for those frequent technical hitches, it could well have been one of the best in the series. As it stands, it's a very, very good survival horror title.

Atlas Fallen is perhaps best summed up by one of the later powers you add to the gauntlet. You are given the ability to raise ancient structures, the capacity to uncover a lost world, its towering buildings and long forgotten relics. You spend the next few minutes pulling empty boxes and planks of wood out of the sand. Want to raise all of the history from the mythical siege of the gods that lies beneath your feet? We’re going to go metal detecting for pennies down the local field instead…Such letdowns underpin a game that I initially really liked and quickly grew weary of. There’s fun to be had, and co-op may open up the enjoyment even more. But heed the warning; most of Atlas Fallen’s positives are tapered by the sense it hates its players and isn’t willing to give back on the effort put in.

I am particularly a fan of the naval battle, actually the ramming of another ship and seeing my enemy’s armies flying high up the sky.

White Knight Chronicles is a game that isn’t quite the sum of its parts. The parts actually add up together pretty well on paper, but in reality the MMO and single player Japanese RPG styles don’t merge too well, and what you’re left with is a fun combat system with a cluttered HUD, generic storyline and design and a multiplayer component that is a side-component at best.

Codemasters has produced a remarkably upbeat karting title that puts the feel-good into a license that is often bogged down by its own intricacy. Throw in a few friends and an evening of online multiplayer, you might just have yourself a starting grid worth gearing up for.

I could say a lot of technically bad things about Painkiller – mindless, stupid, old-fashioned, bizarre… but it's been given so much care and attention that none of it really matters. It does the mindless, oddly pointless single-player campaign extremely well and the re-done levels are both visually diverse and interesting; great homage to the original game.

Since this isn’t aimed toward the flight sim brigade, the control system is a critical make-or-break aspect of Attack on Pearl Harbor.

Regardless of its few flaws, Rise and Shine is a fun, vibrant arcade shooter that should please fans of the genre and remain accessible enough for newcomers. Its light-hearted approach, humour and gunplay make for a enjoyable fast paced experience that is filled with smirks.

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.

Other than the acting side of things, which is always an issue with smaller budget titles, there's little 'wrong' with J.U.L.I.A, it's just more of a case of what's right isn't right enough.

It means that for all Whispering Willows’ atmosphere it can’t deliver what it sets out to achieve. I don’t often say games need to be longer but here, the experience needs more locations, more detail and more time to fill out its fiction to be able to tackle the themes it wants to tell.

Fire is a sweet, innocent adventure with a very kid-friendly style, and it hurts me to kick it in the teeth. But I will. Behind those innocent looks lies a very basic adventure, with no story, no dialogue, no characters, no personality, and no satisfaction.

While the opening hours do nothing to rid your mouth of a slowly growing taste of disappointment, Nights of Azure eventually manages to claw you back once some of its more interesting combat mechanics begin to shine through. It’s relatively short length aids the process, but also comes under fire when you consider the bare-bones storytelling. It’s a difficult sell, but one I hope GUST can rehabilitate with the upcoming sequel.

A game specifically catered to football enthusiasts who are not really on the nitty-gritty of football technicalities. Creativity and the spirit of the football game are the very elements that EA and Tiburion had wonderfully weaved into this All-American game.

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.

It doesn't do anything new or exciting, but nor does it offend in any great way. There are plenty of little mistakes, and just not enough to make them forgiveable. It's a pretty average game with decent presentation. For something a bit more time consuming or in depth, I'd look elsewhere. If you just want a distraction then maybe.

It’s cleverly designed and brilliant - it just can’t seem to manage all of its ambitions within the rather tight, easy-to-run framework that Maxis has placed the game within.

Gods Will Be Watching is not necessarily frustrating in its difficult, it's that it really didn't need to be.

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 bloated, cumbersome and little has changed from last year, and in that way bears many parallels to the game itself. However, it's also earnest, uncompromising and serves its purpose well enough, and in that sense it is equally a fitting title.

As it is I believe Kholat is still worth playing but just be aware that frustration and tension will be present in equal measure.

Depicting the horrors of an asylum with animated pictures was a tender touch to sensitive imagery. Even the 3D animations conveyed moments with care. But the story is confusing and painfully disappointing and the translation errors make matters worse. So I can commend LKA’s efforts, but I can’t recommend The Town of Light.

It's a decent enough title, but unless you're a hardcore fan, you could easily live a happy life having not played this game.

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.

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.

Going into Yakuza: Dead Souls I had some reservations, but after playing it, I'm happy to say that this works surprisingly well.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 3 is a good-looking game but the lack of features from the previous entries are a sore point

It’s obvious that it’s a Dark Souls rip-off, but it’s a good rip-off. It’s fun to beat things down, and that certain style of combat is rewarding when you get the hang of it. But its flaws can make or break the game depending on personal perseverance. It can be confusing and its messaging system is less legible than Dark Souls, but it’s got that combat loop that makes Dark Souls (and Hellpoint) work. If you can forgive some unoriginality, you’ll have fun with Hellpoint, especially with a mate. If you can’t, maybe you should finally give Bloodborne a try?

Unfortunately Nail'd's core gameplay doesn't do quite enough to justify stripping back all of those extraneous details. It's a game that's begging for a little more refinement, visual polish and structural content; and without those in place it struggles to elevate itself above the frustrations inherent in its erratic engine and course design.

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.

Despite lacking the scripted set-pieces of a so-called 'AAA' game, Insect Armageddon does a remarkable job of showing what a focused team can produce on a minimal budget.

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

Dirty Bomb is off to a great start, offering a blend of fast-paced team-based action that I hadn’t realised I’ve been missing since the glory days of Enemy Territory.

With precious few of those quality gameplay moments and a plot that limps along in need of focus, unfortunately Force Unleashed 2 ultimately fails to live up to the interest of its broken but far more compelling predecessor.

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.

None of the single pieces of Darkstar are particularly shoddy (voicework aside), but mixed together they form an experience that's largely devoid of anything memorable, but also one that remains hypnotically sedate until eventual boredom sets in.

King’s Bounty II is a game where it takes forever to do anything. I averaged maybe 2-3 short battles for every hour of gameplay – perhaps 20 minutes of fun for 40 of drudgery. All this is doubly frustrating because somewhere under all this crap is a pretty solid strategy game. I just wish that King’s Bounty II would stop jerking me around and just let me play it!

Hothead may be pushing their luck, but there's life in the Hero to the Downtrodden yet.

Fans of the game will enjoy this distraction, even with its similarities to Pirate Bay, and with any luck some of the more promising additions will pave the way for further enhancements for what is really a neat, if slightly flawed, little game.

Some will find its look and concept tired and defunct, but slow paced strategy titles are still big business. If anything, it's good to have the choice of another franchise in English. It's just a shame that the potential for something great has been squandered by a lack of sheen.

What kicks this game into the frustration bucket more than anything else is that control system.

The level of historical detail on offer will be enviable to even the more established franchises, and whilst Imperium doesn't do anything to reinvent the genre as a whole, it's certainly a well-refined product that's worth a look to veteran players; or particularly those of you jumping in for the first time. Solid, if unspectacular then.

As enjoyable as Blacklight: Tango Down can be, more often than not the game struggles under its own limitations; it's near unplayable when frame rate drops kick in.

The ending's superb (much better than both New Vegas and Fallout 3), and I never was bored or wanted to give up. It's not the full Fallout experience, but as the ultimate final test of your skills it works very nicely. Now then… when's Skyrim out again?

It would be best to continue playing your favourite ARPG or MMO instead of giving time to this hybrid.

Gothic 3 is a deep and rich world, waiting for your guidance to free or subjugate mankind. Any RPG lover must have this, but you may want to wait a while for the patches to arrive and then settle down.

In many ways, Blood Stone is a mediocre title. Graphically, characters look dull and frankly some PS2 and Xbox titles looked better.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India is a stealth game with Assassin’s Creed adornment. Its story barely invites you to understand more about Arbaaz Mir and Climax Studios completely fails at telling one, but if you are desperate for a stealth game, you will be challenged and fairly compensated for your time and money.

Front Mission Evolved can sit well with mech game fans especially with its multiplayer. However as a third-person action shooter not very much stands out unless you quite enjoy boss battles with lots and lots of strafing, reloading, repairing and firing volley after volley of missiles, rockets and bullets.

The Guild 2: Pirates of the European Seas does justice to the franchise and certainly shows in the areas it has listened to the community.

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

Simplistic combat and a lack of variety mean that it begins to run out of steam by the end-game, but if you’re looking for a more relaxed approach to world domination, Grand Ages: Medieval is a perfectly solid option.

The games weaknesses - spotty optimization and too much early focus on transporting materials - are overshadowed by its generally solid gameplay.

Hearts of Iron IV: Together for Victory does something that Paradox has been known for: adds compelling new content to an already brilliant title. The new Commonwealth mechanics give you a reason to explore this time period from a different lens, while the combat improvements make planning and executing battle plans easier than ever. However, the performance issues marring the experience, as well as frustrating AI, make Together for Victory one of the most poorly performing game in Paradox’s library.

If you were to summarise it in a puzzle, Puzzle Agent 2 would be a paint-by-numbers picture: formulaic, messy, and unable to hold the attention of all but the most easily perplexed.

Fat Shark have managed to shoot themselves in the foot by simplifying a formula that worked rather well. Rearmed 2 does enough to remind players as to why the series is often remembered fondly, but quickly blurs the image by stuttering over its best features.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days provides what the original could not - fantastically gory action over a stunning backdrop of mob warfare and careless violence. There are still a few issues carried over that mar the overall package, but both Mr Kane and Mr Lynch now most definitely have our full attention.

Ultimately, EoS is not a bad game. But the lack of content within its strategic layer holds it back from living up to its full potential. With that said, I think the tactical combat and RPG elements are pretty solid. If you are drawn to lots of X-Com style tactical combat and some over the top Prohibition themed hijinks, you will find some fun within EoS. However, people looking for a deep strategic or tycoon focused experience, will likely be disappointed.

MX vs ATV Alive doesn't do itself any favours. It races well, and it's great fun alongside other humans, but it seeks too much of a commitment.

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.

Anyway, if you want a hacky-slashy title that mocks videogame and comic conventions and never takes itself seriously then Deadpool is for you.

Cossacks 3 is extremely ambitious in its offerings and they mostly look good on paper, but when it comes time to deliver, it collapses under the weight of its own promises.

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.

Enjoyable? Certainly. Inventive? Never. Defense Technica is a game so humdrum and so by the numbers that it is a struggle to say anything much about. The game exists within its own genre, and that seemingly says enough. Serviceable to a fault, but where the developer's expected to find their own niche, nobody will ever know.

Life is Feudal has a lot of things going on in it. Between the comprehensive skill systems, the crafting mechanics, and the maintaining of self and relation with players around, there’s a lot of things that could have made Life is Feudal really enjoyable. The biggest problem it faces is that practically everything in the game is a tedious crawl.

It’s a shame that Infamy devolves into such juvenile practices as there are some nice flourishes on display – for instance, the hand-drawn aesthetic lends a quaint, homely feel to adventuring that feels refreshing in light of the grandeur that western RPGs typically strive for – yet it’s impossible to root for a game that makes such a critical misstep.

There's just so much missing that would have made this a must buy game. Customisation is nowhere to be seen, and the multiplayer modes may as well be non-existent. Loading times slow things down, often hitting the 30 second mark, a time frame that is often longer than your actual run on the water.

We don't take offence to the content, but rather the execution - it's poorly designed, and feels hopelessly filmsy. If you're looking for a game to take out at parties then this may well do the trick - otherwise, steer clear.

Though it's competently made and packs in a good amount of content overall The UnderGarden makes for a fairly dull experience.

Good, but not good enough.

Given the price tag, I have to seriously question what this game offers. It seems like the greater part of the work went into designing the rules, which can be downloaded for free. The adjustments are certainly intriguing, but there's absolutely no good reason to recommend Chess 2 as a videogame.

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.

Overpass is for a certain type of sadist, and it’s been awhile since a game made me want to stop playing it as quickly as possible. It might have its polish and intent, but the mechanics they serve are frustrating. Perhaps everything I mention makes the game all the more interesting, a game that isn’t for noobs like me and something that would sit comfortably between Surgeon Simulator or Getting Over It. But this makes for a niche game that will bug anyone else. I get the appeal, but it’s simply not fun.

Despite a great deal of attention obviously being poured into the environments (both sea and land), there’s a distinct lack of various aquatic hazards that would make Ship Sim far more immersive; namely tides and currents.

From my view then, this is a game of unrealised potential; it hangs on the verge of being 'good' and instead rests sadly in the realms of 'pretty decent'.

Silent Hunter 5: Battle for the Atlantic would have been a fitting and enjoyable experience had it not been so inexplicable demanding on hardware, buggy and generally frustrating.

Necromunda: Hired Gun checks all the boxes that should make a single-player first-person shooter tick, but its flawed execution and an ugly Warhammer 40K paint job give you few reasons to stick with it until the end. It’s functional and has a grappling hook that’s alright to use. But its tedious, unsatisfying combat, janky animations, and AI that’s prone to mess up all test your patience without offering any tangible reward. It misses out on making you feel like a bounty hunter – badass or otherwise – and all you’re left with, in case you do play through its campaign, is a sense that you could have spent that time playing something better.

Much care has been taken with character, monster and environment design, so even if it is all a bit boring and repetitive, and insists on making obvious statements, it sure is pretty to look at.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days provides what the original could not - fantastically gory action over a stunning backdrop of mob warfare and careless violence. There are still a few issues carried over that mar the overall package, but both Mr Kane and Mr Lynch now most definitely have our full attention.

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