Reign isn't a bad game at all, and it's surprisingly well-balanced given the tremendous scope and ambition on show; but that's a breadth that comes at a price, as none of the various elements in your kingdom ever feels completely well realised, leading to a lack of personality and ultimately forgoing that familiar Civdrive to play long into the night. If you want to test your management skills in one of the deepest strategy games of the year however, delve right in.

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.

Sonic Adventure 2 might technically be Sonic but it doesn't have any of the classic spirit of the cocky hedgehog. Instead, Sonic Adventure 2 offers a bunch of nice concepts that feel a little disjointed and muddled.

Off Road Drive's novelty and the simple joy of navigating its beautiful and challenging courses outweigh the lacklustre racing component.

Die-hard players will enjoy the new multiplayer content but will probably feel ripped off that it comes on a full-priced retail disc rather than a downloadable content pack for the first game.

Once again though, the graphics shouldn’t hold back hardcore fans of the turtles from purchasing Turtles in Time Re-Shelled.

What we're left with is a quirky combination of tones and systems that never really mesh together to create an engaging whole. The game feels like with a bit more depth, length and ambition it could've given us a pretty unique experience.

You'd have thought that any game featuring a high velocity jetpack would be a guaranteed winner, but Dark Void somehow manages to ham-fist the execution completely, leaving a game that's only ever fun in parts, while the rest is simply not up to scratch.

Dodgy AI, a horrible story, and a frustratingly steep learning curve are all obstacles to enjoyment, and even when you do hit the height points, it's still nothing special.

It's certainly a question of quantity over quality.

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.

For those after a fresh twist on a near-expired genre, MicroBot offers enough action to get your heart pumping.

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.

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.

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.

You'd have thought that any game featuring a high velocity jetpack would be a guaranteed winner, but Dark Void somehow manages to ham-fist the execution completely, leaving a game that's only ever fun in parts, while the rest is simply not up to scratch.

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.

If you have the sheer will power to push on through the vast mire of early drudgeries, there are jewels to be found buried deep within Ancient Wars: Sparta, but whether you’ll still be motivated enough to really enjoy them is another matter.

Mars is a fairly interesting action RPG with a cheap price on its side, but in all honesty it could do with being even cheaper.

A successful update of a great game’s presentation, but which removes a number of features that may leave old fans hurting.

It's a wasted concept and it's let down by lazy execution.

The cumbersome gameplay and completely unrealistic settings and character movement provide quite the opposite of an immersive experience, and within an hour or two, you'll be exiting to Windows and filling your time with more entertaining games.

Face Noir tries its best to be a compelling Raymond Chandler-esque film noir detective adventure and falls flat on its noirish face. The story is boring, characters are either bland or straight-up racist, acting is mediocre, writing is worse, cutscenes are mostly static photos, and the puzzles are a string of “find the important thing the designers have hidden” moments rather than any genuine brain-teasers.

Unfortunately, Obscure II's solidity of game design tends to fall by the wayside to some glaring technical glitches and generally low production values, making it look like a game from 2005 rather than 2007 at times.

N.E.R.O. has the potential to be very deep if you can connect with it and fully understand it.

Dogfight 1942 is a decent arcade flyer that's ultimately kept grounded by an insubstantial campaign and a lack of anything interesting in the multiplayer department, and while it may pass an afternoon, don't expect much in the way of longevity.

Epic Mickey 2 is like a wonderful celebratory book of Disney lore where 80% of the pages have been torn, ripped, doodled over or spilled coffee on. On a base level there are numerous things to love, but the actual playing of the game turns that joy into hard, bitter anger.

Overall, Murdered: Soul Suspect is an enjoyable but simplistic mystery adventure which, although it features a well-detailed game world and well-written plot, is far too short for its own good. It's a game which I'd recommend to fans of this genre, but only at sale price.