On a basic level Hard Corps: Uprising is excellent, retaining the Contra spirit yet giving it a new lease of life. As such, series fans and old-school throwbacks will probably love every minute of it, regardless of cost. However, it does get bogged down a little by the strangely bad voice acting, downloadable content concerns and its meek attempt at catering for a broader, less experienced audience.

It has some nice features which make it better than an average FPS, but the things that are missing mean it’s never going to be great.

Mafia II is exactly the sequel Mafia fans have been waiting all these years for.

Raskulls is cute, fun and clever, but it won't be for everyone. A more casual player will most likely get a big kick out of racing around bashing bricks, but the more hardcore Xbox owner will long for a more beefy experience.

After the massive improvement of last year, we're glad to see the WWE brand is back on track.

Dying Light is a very impressive game that’s clearly had a lot of care and attention put into it.

The Night of the Rabbit, regardless of what it’s called and the few other minor complaints I had, is a triumph. It’s Daedalic once and for all proving that they are indeed capable of producing an adventure that can stand tall with the classics of the genre.

If the prospect of slowly picking apart the mechanics of giant stealth sandboxes is exciting for you, then Hitman should provide a wonderful experience. But if you’re a one-and-done type of player, then you should look elsewhere.

If you love the atmosphere of Eastern European survival games but hate the jank, Chernobylite is for you. Its cycle of scavenging and questing is addicting, and its characters are fun to meet. But that also means it becomes too easy once you get a feel for the controls and mechanics. Add that with a story that isn’t scary, and you have a flawed game with an engaging core. It held my attention during its full runtime, and I can’t say that for a lot of games.

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

There’s fun, then, to be had with Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, especially for those familiar with the original series, but in following a “see what sticks” approach to adding content rather than focusing on exploring and updating the franchise’s core mechanics, Sanzaru have ended up with a game that’s caught somewhere between the past and present and, no matter the nostalgia, that isn’t quite good enough in 2013.

Despite it's downfalls, El Shaddai is a memorable experience from start to finish. It offers a quirkiness and sense of style that is not only unique, it's surprisingly refreshing.

The Next Big Thing, then, is not exactly what it says on the tin - but we still got plenty of laughs out of it. If you're on the prowl for a point-and-click adventure, this will easily tide you over until the next Telltale title comes knocking. Never before has a game produced a character who was so... disconcerting.

Fans of classic adventure gaming should absolutely check out the Hector: Badge of Carnage series. The point and click formula is present and largely unchanged from the golden age of the genre but the unique well-realised setting and the excellent writing put this well above the mediocrity bar.

Despite the acting, music, and graphics teams doing their bang-up jobs, and the storyline taking some interesting turns toward an epic finale, Episode 4 of The Wolf Among Us was more than a little unsatisfying.

Green Day Rock Band is an enjoyable distraction but wholly unnecessary especially when you look at the features announced for Rock Band 3.

Road Not Taken might not always be successful in making players feel remorseful for paths avoided, but the game itself stands as one journey that at least everyone should attempt; if only to expose themselves to the game's frustrating, yet undeniably fresh idiosyncrasies.

Regardless of its technical shortcomings, CoS provides a superbly engaging story driven experience, that feels uniquely its own. When a story makes you care about its characters, it's a triumph, and in this, Chains of Satinav excels.

While only the first episode, Game of Thrones is off to a fine start with Iron From Ice.

Pour yourself a beverage, grab the controller and sit down for a great evening of stabby stabby.

Realmforge have finally got the formula right. Dungeons 3 is plain, straight, addictive fun from start to finish. Both Overworld and Dungeon sides are kept relatively simple so things never truly get frustrating, and every part of it remains satisfying, from smacking your minions to blasting dwarves in the face and watching their bodies fly across the floor. The developer have made sure both sides are supremely playable and compliment each other well, with loads of neat touches and details to make sure you always know what’s going on. That things can get a little repetitious is the only real downside, but with this formula I don’t think Realmforge can better it further. And Thalya’s great. Yes, fine, and the Narrator too. Don’t want him sulking on me.

Drenched in retro nostalgia, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a straightforward boomer shooter with a 40K skin. Its minimal story is as bog-standard as Warhammer gets, but is enough to justify the on-screen slaughter, while allowing for a pure focus on satisfying action. Crunchy weapon sounds and plenty of pixelated gore make turning enemies into giblets something that doesn’t get old. Its main drawbacks come in the shape of how easy it is to get lost in some of its levels, a handful of frustrating encounters, and its decision to introduce most enemy types during the first part of its campaign. Yet, even so, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun delivers enough awesome action to keep you engaged and eager to make sure the Emperor has a thousand or two fewer Chaos servants to worry about.

Total War: Troy makes some curious changes to the Total War formula, but the less streamlined resource system, extra micromanagement, and weird mix of reality and mythology work against its favour to create a less than entrancing experience.

I haven’t enjoyed an RTS game this much since Company of Heroes 2. Forget the comparisons and enjoy Iron Harvest for what it is: a squad-focused, narrative-driven, old-school real-time strategy game. If you enjoy your RTS games with a strong single-player element and a multiplayer scene that is seemingly well balanced and competitive, then there’s a lot to like here. I wish the production values were higher in both the cutscenes and the audio and voice-over elements, but if you can look past that as I did, Iron Harvest can be a lot of fun.

If you're looking for a fun arcade-style racer that you don't have to plop a disc into your machine to play, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is definitely a more than worthy candidate.

Alice: Madness Returns may not win awards for genre innovation, but it's the most darkly fun and gloriously batty game I've played since Psychonauts. I can't think of any higher praise.

Sorcerer King’s fatalistic themes are tied cleverly in to its mechanics, resulting in the first game in the Elemental series that really feels like it has a distinct identity.

There are a whole lot of things I want to try over the next few months playing Stronghold Kingdoms, and it's gotten its teeth into me such that I'm ploughing a little time into it at least three times a day and not feeling cheated for any of the money I've spent. For a free-to-play title at the very least, that has to be mission accomplished.

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!

Railway Empire is a satisfying enough experience for any strategy fan with even the remotest interest in trains -- or train fans with a passing interest in strategy. It offers campaign and scenarios with tasks and objectives alongside a sandbox mode that allows one to build the network of their dreams, catering to most players. While the lack of a single level going from 1830 to 1930 might displease some, the end product is a capable and accessible title in a very scant genre, and Railway Empire comes off as a passionate -- if not exactly flawless -- title.

If you’re a Batman fan you should already have Batman: Arkham Origins, but anyone else might want to hold off a couple of weeks for some patches to come through.

Improves vastly on a lot of the formula that made the first outing good; better and sexier powers, more stuff on screen to play with, addictive collectibles and fun bonus objectives, rewarding and pip-boy-esque mutations and, frankly, a better all-round character in James Heller.

I'd not visited The Sims 3 since its launch and Late Night has successful reignited my passion for the series. It's a welcome addition the Sims 3 family and one that's executed to the high standards that we've come to expect.

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.

Medal of Honor tries to cram in every trick it can conjure up, but ultimately fails to include the kind of staying power needed to take over from Call of Duty.

If I had to describe in one word the high point of this game, it would be Atmosphere. This game has it by the mega tonne.

Yes, things look prettier. But scratch the surface to plumb the depths as the saying goes, and Sins of the Fathers Anniversary Edition’s flaws become that bit more glaring. The polished aesthetics may well be enough to sway those avid nostalgia hunters, but I can’t be sure that new players will be at all interested.

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 plot is bland and often corny, but the gameplay is mostly solid and enjoyable.

Space Colony HD: Steam Edition is a re-release of a re-release that’s added a few cute little features but kept every single flaw from the original intact.

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.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope's retina scorching vistas and fast-paced swordplay, you'll be well served.

Just Cause 3 taps the pleasure mechanism that derives so much joy from watching complex structures crumble. Because the game gives you so many ways to interact with the world and to tether anything, blowing things up never becomes a chore.

Total War: Pharaoh will surely benefit from the shortage of AAA strategy games with real-time battles, but it may play things too safe for the most demanding fans of the series, and given it’s a full-price release, the overall scope lands dangerously close to that of the Total War Saga entries.

Playing this short and sweet game makes you wonder whether they couldn't construct the next title in such a way so that co-op can play a larger part, because if Dead Rising 2's co-op was anywhere near as much fun as Case West's, I doubt I'd want to play it solo more than once.

Coming so soon after the first entry Blackguards 2 is a surprisingly packed improvement over the original, giving you the chance to dominate and rule over South Aventuria with all the bitterness and rage such a task would need.

Relic’s conservative and surface-level approach to this remaster means Dawn of War – Definitive Edition isn’t quite definitive, but it’s by far the best way to play one of the finest RTS games ever made.

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.

Right now, Binary Domain is an accomplished and enjoyable shooter that proves excellent combat can make up for shortcomings in other areas.

If you enjoy a good horror mystery there’s definitely a lot of meat here to dig your teeth into provided you have the patience for the places that move a bit more slowly, or require a lot more dig. I think I’ll go play something warm and fuzzy now to chase away the chill.

Deponia's saved from being worse than Yesterday by at least having a simple understandable storyline and by not taking itself too seriously, but that's not saying much.

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

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.

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.

Additional gameplay material, such as playing through training simulations, harder difficulties and the ton of unlockables promise lots of replay time for the Marvel fan.

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.

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.

Dungeons 4 doesn’t raise the bar for the dungeon-building subgenre, but it’s a delightful fantasy romp that harkens back to less complicated times, and that’s quite valuable on its own.

If you're looking for a game to get stuck into that can be played in smaller chunks as a fun little time-sink, this is a really good way to spend that 5 bucks. Go without a coffee today.

It’s a solid entry in a series that’s been far too prolific, and while Syndicate is good, it’s tough to be excited about it.

Combat is simple but fun, and once the game brings a tameable animal companion in then Primal becomes entertaining enough to last you many hours. Unfortunately stealth gameplay is more problematic as enemies blend into the environment and Hunter Vision is useless, but worse is that the constant need to hunt and gather resources takes up the majority of Primal’s play-time and isn’t fun at all.

The fact that, at the time of writing, Magicka had surpassed 150,000 sales, is just a testament to how fun and addictive the core game really is. Now that most of the major hiccups out of the way, this is definitely a must-buy game, but it really needs to be experienced to get how much fun it is.

The Turing Test offers some engaging puzzle gameplay that will keep you entertained for roughly 12 hours. It lacks polish in some areas but as a package is a solid addition to the library of those interested in first person puzzle games.

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.

Crookz is a very enjoyable crime caper, and one of the most pleasant surprises of the year.

Despite lacking multiplayer and having an insane distaste for newcomers King's Bounty: Warriors of the North is a fun, compelling game with good value for money. On the other hand, veteran fans of the series will feel like they're merely getting a Viking-inspired expansion pack to The Legend, and so really have to ask themselves if that's what they want.

Gatling Gears offers several hours of enjoyable carnage and it's doubly fun with a friend, but it settles into a routine early on and sticks to it.

Street Fighter V is mechanically one of the best titles in the genre and possibly the best in this storied series, but it’s also lacking in single-player content to the extent that in places it feels unfinished. Multiplayer battling has practically endless scope on or offline in a game of this tactical depth, but I still can’t help but feel that doesn’t excuse the lack of solo activities or how key training features such as trials are missing for the first month after launch.

After the massive improvement of last year, we're glad to see the WWE brand is back on track.

There is a ton of fun to be had with Zombie Army 4. But that fun, like most vices, is best in moderation. Its skinner box sensibilities alongside gameplay that turns stale fast makes for a game you cannot binge. It’s a simple pleasure to kill zombies, and you’ll get that if you want it with some solid mechanics. It’s a weekend game, something to play once in awhile when you and a friend can find an opening in your respective schedules. But if you don’t find splatter engaging, you won’t miss much.

If you have young children, Kinectimals is a must - it will keep them entertained, and you'll secretly enjoy it too.

A mixture of classic and new levels is a perfect introduction for newcomers, but perhaps only the ardent roll ‘em up fan will truly love this Katamari.

If we view Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure in the most “objective” terms, it technically gets things right. It looks stylish, it runs smoothly, and it doesn’t come with the bugs you’d expect from modern gaming. However, the details that make a game a hearty recommendation aren’t there. It’s got heart, the amount of care put into its art proves that. But an average story, simple puzzles and shaky voice acting makes for a game pleasant to view but not amazing to play. It can be an alright introduction to the genre for people who haven’t experienced old school adventure games and don’t want to use walkthroughs. Anyone else will find a title that’s pretty, fluid, and underwhelming.

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.

FEAR 3 would just be considered an okay shooter with a terrible story and poor attempts at horror, if it wasn't for the wealth of unique side-options it brings to the FPS table.

There’s a lot of great game here, with some fantastic ideas, but a lot of major problems are stifling the fun. If those issues are fixed, then Phantom Doctrine might be worthwhile. If you see a patch with the note “combat isn’t broken anymore”, then you may pick it up. Until then, hold off.

Much of F.E.A.R 3 is commendable then, but ultimately a lack of polish and genuine investment in the campaign sees it fall a distance short of full potential.

I enjoyed exploring and the missions were always entertaining. You'll probably need at least one friend to buy the game and play some missions with you, but as superbly Funcom allow players to move their characters between servers at will (YES!) and join forces with players of a different faction (hooray!) this becomes very easy.

The 40th Day is just far too inexcusably frustrating to heartily recommend, but if what you're looking for is a hefty serving of disposable, bombastic fare, then this will be right up your street.

Darktide’s incomplete crafting system doesn’t allow you to efficiently refine gear. Its rewards are scarce and unsatisfying, especially going into the endgame. Optimization is not great, while its cash shop holds hostage any remotely worthwhile cosmetic upgrades so far. It’s a real shame, because all of these missteps cast a dark shadow on its excellent, visceral combat – that evolves Fatshark’s addictive co-op action formula – alongside what’s quite possibly the best depiction of the grimdark universe to grace video games to date.

In plundering Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag practically wholesale, Rogue proves to be a double-edged sword. As much as Rogue succeeds in servicing those who were disappointed that Unity eschewed Black Flag’s naval shenanigans, the game also serves as a timely reminder just how little the franchise has evolved in recent years, in spite of its relatively novel take on the series’ narrative.

There's just so little to do, and if you don't like commenting on videos you won't see anything here but a bunch of crazy confusing videos. Lovely idea, not for me or people like me, but a community of people already love it so feel free to ignore me and give it a go.

There will be few fans of Naruto that will find much to gripe about in this game. Its story is huge and detailed, the epic battles with the incredible quick time events will dazzle gamers regardless of their opinion of Naruto and anime in general, and the online fights have hidden depth, but those irritating load screens and the mundane aspects of Story Mode put a large pinch on the glories found within each battle.

Armed Assaults comes with all the bells and whistles any gamer would love in a combat simulator, despite some really poor choice of menus, texts and questionable briefing presentations.

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.

If you have any prejudices about mobile games, look past them and get stuck in – Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch Enhanced Edition is the real deal.

You’ve got to work for hours upon hours to reach anything approaching competence, and it’s tough to recommend that investment to any but the most hardcore of space strategy tactical RPG simulation enthusiasts.

A much needed expansion which still doesn’t deliver some pretty important facets.

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.

Craftlings successfully rediscovers genre-bending mechanics and systems to deliver a puzzle-strategy adventure that doesn’t reinvent the wheel but feels thoroughly polished and focused.

A success in its simply-stated goals, and worthy of a play for anybody looking to zone out and relax for a while.

A superb addition to the Xbox Live Arcade library that is full of shoot ‘em ups. It’s a smart purchase for any Geometry Wars fan that is dying to fill their time with a similar title. The controls could’ve been tightened up and the single-player campaign could’ve been longer, but in the long run, Ion Assault is a surprisingly great title for 800 MS Points.

There’s lots of fun to be had in Devastation, but you need to be an old-school Transformers fan and pretty forgiving of a few major flaws.

Mafia II is exactly the sequel Mafia fans have been waiting all these years for.

If you're looking for a game to get stuck into that can be played in smaller chunks as a fun little time-sink, this is a really good way to spend that 5 bucks. Go without a coffee today.

Destination: Treasure Island a good game. In fact if you like Adventures, I’d say that given the slating they have been given over the years, it is very good.

A turn-based tactical effort that manages to deftly marry cheeky style with small scale strategy, TASTEE Lethal Tactics might not be the most groundbreaking effort around but its charm and accessibility make for a compellingly fun prospect.

Satisfying if a bit on the short side.