Dead Space 2 is a more than worthy successor to the original, adding plenty of oomph to the series and a solid multiplayer experience to boot. We would have preferred more puzzles and a little less linearity, but that doesn't stop us wanting a third Isaac outing.

An unforgettable, beautiful experience.

It is glorious.

A fast, slick and beautiful community-driven MMO experience featuring all the content and mechanics you'd expect from a game with a monthly fee, and a good deal more besides. With that in mind, I cannot recommend it enough.

The only thing one might criticise is that it can get a bit samey after a while. Around two-thirds of the way through, you may well be feeling a bit fatigued by the whole yellowness of your surroundings, and be yearning for something to change, even just for one level.

A game that demands your total attention, it will consume it, and you’ll need to refine your skills in order to get anywhere. If you don’t think you’re up to that kind of challenge then you may want to pass, and seek something a little more forgiving. For the real racing fans, and gear heads among the gaming community, you’ll want this – want this bad!

This is the most fully featured Total War to date, and a great homage to the game that launched the series.

The presentation is absolutely sensational, providing a television feel that eclipses anything I've seen before.

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone may skirt the line between DLC and Expansion Pack by merely adding more of what was already in Wild Hunt, but gets away with it by being sizeable and awesome.

Without a single doubt, Remedy Entertainment is both proud and aware of its past accomplishments but also eager to look ahead while embracing creativity and consistently revealing new facets of its memorable and unique brand of weirdness. Even in a year as stacked as this one, Alan Wake 2 is one of those increasingly rare games that isn’t just an exceptional experience on its own but makes me curious about what its developer has cooked up next.

Resident Evil 2 Remake is a triumph of clever, polished game design, and is quite possibly our favourite game in the series. It leans into terrifying close encounters more than epic action setpieces, but that’s really what the series is about, and RE2 does the terrifying perfectly. Enemies are superb, and the game boasts the best zombies in any game ever - unrelenting and mostly unstoppable, they’re just creepy. Then there’s Mr X, the game’s own Jason Voorhees, continuously stalking you throughout. We loved every moment of Resident Evil 2, and even if you know the first game inside out, you won’t know the Remake at all. If you’ve ever loved a Resident Evil game, or wished that RE7 was third-person, want to go back to RE2 and its great horror design, or just want a horror-action game… get Resident Evil 2 Remake. You won’t be disappointed.

If we were to level any specific criticisms about Borderlands 2 it would be the whole guns thing. Yeah, we get it, the game has all the guns ever, but to be honest a lot of them are pretty samey, with maybe a new adjective or stat change here and there.

Devil May Cry 5 is a stellar return to form for the series, capitalizing on all the elements that make it great. Charismatic characters and stylish, over-the-top fighting mix together into an experience that keeps you hooked to your seat for the initial 15+ hours, and possibly more as you delve into higher difficulties. With very little beating around the bush, and a combat system that’s easy enough to grasp but takes a while to master, the title successfully pushes you to learn its combos, while providing an awesome power trip. Gorgeous and intense, Devil May Cry 5 is an unbridled serving of the purest form of action that few other titles pull off quite as well.

If you’re a Souls fan, you should play this game, and if you haven’t yet dug into this nightmarish world, Dark Souls III is an excellent place to start.

All you really need to know though, is this; Pillars of Eternity is a triumph.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is one of this year's finest releases, and improves on everything we loved about the previous title, while adding plenty of its own excellent features.

Whichever you prefer, playing versus with friends or cooperatively against the improved Director, there is almost no fault to Left 4 Dead 2.

Mass Effect is a superb game for its story, its breadth of characters and setting a new bar of standard for cinematic videogaming.

This game preys on your feelings, and is very skilled at manipulating them. Make no mistake, it takes a certain kind of person (never mind gamer) to stick with and possibly enjoy this game - we believe they are sometimes called Masochists - but Dark Souls does what it does extremely well, and it's to be applauded for that at least.

Inertial Drift is an espresso shot full of arcade-y goodness. Its approach to drifting isn’t just intuitive, but it encapsulates that Initial D fantasy wonderfully. It might be shorter than other games coming out, but that time spent is enthralling and well worth it. If you love arcade racing, you can’t go wrong with Inertial Drift’s “easy to pick up and tricky to master” style.

Excellent gameplay, superb storytelling, a ridiculously open world and the best damn writing you’ll find today.

It boasts some of the most imaginative levels out there, and they’re backed up by platforming and combat that feels very familiar yet also surprisingly fresh. Its story has a more personal note, yet fleshes out not just Raz and the characters around him, but the game’s universe as a whole. Simply put, Psychonauts 2 is a triumph in all the ways it needs to be, and this hopefully means that it won’t be the last we see of the series.

It's an absolute must-buy and, despite it still being early in 2012, a strong contender for indie game of the year.

The Walking Dead: The Game won't just go down as one of the best examples of gaming as a storytelling medium, it isn't just one of the best licensed games ever made, and it won't just be known as one of the best games of 2012 (if not the best). It'll also be the only game ever that made me think, made me laugh, made me jump out of my seat, made me cry, and made me want to vomit. That's Telltale's real achievement in my view.

To many it'll still seem ludicrous that sports games are worth the purchase every year, but for anyone who's ever kicked a football in their life, this is the definitive choice.

Challenging, addictive, immersive... provided you like stealth-based action – there hasn't been an action/RPG this good in a long while.

It's engaging, thoughtful, mature and currently one of a kind. Unless you're the type who only looks for quick, dumb action from their video games I'd recommend this to just about anyone.

As long as you enjoy action, sci-fi and a rich amalgam of gaming styles, there's loads to enjoy right here.