A fantastic game of exploration and survival. You can occasionally feel lost in its open-world that lacks any real signposting, but the simple joy of digging and crafting means you’ll keep playing to discover the naturally-occurring progress.

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.

Should you buy it? Maybe, as it is cheap. Will you be playing it in a month? Probably not, unless you really get into it. Is it good value if purchased and played with friends? Definitely, it’s at its best. Are there enough people playing to sustain it in the long term? Doubtful.

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm embodies an evolved RTS that shows Blizzard has taken on even more superior genes from other gaming greats, even when those greats coincidentally happen to be of their own creation. If this is what happened since Wings of Liberty, then we should be in for a real treat when Legacy of the Void drops out of hyperspace.

God of War: Ascension is a decent addition to the franchise. Combat remains sharp and puzzles are more intricate than ever. Unfortunately, a lack of interesting source material never shakes off the feeling that the stakes are lower here. This is easily the weakest God of War title to date, but when you consider the immense quality of the previous five games, it's perhaps to be expected.

The Campaign might only last around 6-7 hours, but there are plenty of reasons to go back, ensuring that Gears of War: Judgment feels more than just an expansion pack to its predecessors.

Flawed as its presentation of the young Lara story may be, Tomb Raider is a great game first and an interesting story second. The latter certainly stumbles frequently throughout, but I was never put-off enough to actually stop playing - chiefly because the gameplay I was indulging in was so persuasively fun. That’s what matters in the end.

Crytek seem to have this innate ability to forget what made their previous games liked and fail to address any complaints – so with Crysis 3 we once again see poor checkpointing, an abundance of non-human encounters, not so fun shooting, linear enclosed areas, and forgetting about human enemies altogether after the halfway point. Their best looking game yet, but also their weakest.

All in all, a fantastic effort from Critical Studio that reaches a climax when you've got three friends fighting against the toughest and most numerous hordes. If only it wasn’t for that damn AI.

The game time is shorter and the goals are more defined, leading to a more immediate need for diplomacy and warfare, and the stripped down nature of the game actually does it credit when playing with others.

Ultimately, we can’t help but feel that you’ll play through the rather short campaign, and while you’ll probably have a great time doing it, you’ll shrug your shoulders and either give multiplayer a quick blast, and/or go back to Call of Duty or something.

Bland, boring, and turgid to the last - look to Tropico 4 for a fine example of micromanagement, or instead XCOM Enemy Unknown for turn-based kicks: Omerta: City of Gangsters deserves to be thrown in a trunk and taken "someplace up state."

Impire does have an interesting approach to resources, with its above world raids (it’s a 2D map) and points system of dungeon upgrades based on performance but, ultimately, Impire is flawed, conceptually and technically.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is a slap in the face to anyone who put the game on their Most Wanted list at any point since 2007. It’ll be remembered for a long time, but for all the wrong reasons. What a shame. I just feel sorry for those who bought the Season Pass… since there probably won’t be a Season now.

Franchise aficionados will know how convoluted Metal Gear plots can be. Revengeance also stumbles into preachy territory and tries to provide comment on America, politics and terrorism. This is expected for the most part and doesn't become too overbearing until the final hour, where cutscenes take an even greater role in proceedings. If the sociocultural commentary becomes too much, Virtual Reality missions offer a direct chance to get down and dirty.

I tested the Xbox 360 version of Omerta, which controlled fine. The 360 versions of Tropico both had decent performance, and the same is true here. As well as working smoothly on a technical level, the actual control scheme is well-thought out. It’s clear that Omerta began life with both platforms in mind instead of console being tacked on as an after-thought.

As usual, all objectives revolve around causing mass genocide and protecting painfully annoying innocents. If you were looking to buy this game for the online multiplayer experience, don't bother. At the time of writing, it seems nobody across the world wants to punch with friends.

Dead Space 3 is a game that looks sleek, is polished to the last minute detail, and is full of some stunning set-pieces. But beneath those shiny distractions, it lacks any real sense of soul, slotting in among a raft of other third-person shooters, never causing you to feel anything other than short bursts of panic and relief.

What saves Dungeon Gate from being a total frustration-filled write-off is the one innovation the game has: Dysan’s ability to scan and turn himself into every single person, animal or creature in the game, and then use their powers and even upgrade each form.

While the original model, texture and animation work of these three Hitman titles hasn’t held up all that well, the actual technical work done on this HD collection is solid. There’s widescreen, a higher resolution and undoubtedly a better frame rate than the original titles - and that’s the best you can expect without stretching to be more of a remake than a straight port. Three games in one place for a budget price is pretty good, too.

Things feel like they're going to start hotting up in Cognition, and while nothing's blowing me away in general I am enjoying the series. However, certain things definitely require a strong polish, and I hope Phoenix Online has time to make improvements before the next episode.

Overall if you've got the rig and a game controller plugged in then DmC: Devil May Cry is great start to a new direction for the series, and hopefully one that will get to keep exploring this new, grittier Dante.

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.

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.

Given the pedigree of Ron Gilbert and Double Fine Productions' past works, a lot of people will be understandably excited by the prospect of The Cave. On paper, it sounds appealing, with its variety of characters and plethora of reasons to replay. It looks charming and, at first, the humour hits the spot. Problems lie with its inability to give you any great reason to replay it. It's just all too disappointingly shallow.

Ubisoft are to be applauded for grasping, as Hi-Rez Studios did with Tribes Ascend, that the secret to a successful free-to-play title is building a healthy player base first and foremost and watching the income flow from that, rather than nickel and diming gamers for even basic content. It also helps if your core game is any good to begin with, and Might & Magic Duel of Champions is most certainly that. In fact, I'd heartily recommend it to fans of the Might & Magic series or online trading card games in general even if it had a price tag attached.

Despite a battle system that has the ability to irritate, Ni No Kuni should be experienced and enjoyed by all types of gamers.

DmC does a fantastic job of being immediately recognisable as a game belonging to the franchise, while also providing an experience that will introduce those unfamiliar to it. It's sleek and cool, providing a frantic and flowing combat system that underlies and defines it from the get-go. Dante doesn't just look cooler, he plays cooler, and this may well be the series' finest hour.