Dark Scavenger takes an iteration of the RPG genre that is generally thought of as obsolete and breathes fresh life into it. While there's room for improvement, it does what it does very well, and is packed to the brim with colourful characters and desperate situations.

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.

It might not have the longevity of a full action-RPG or the combat depth of the best side-scrolling beat-em-ups, but the balance that Lionhead has struck between accessibility and quick 10-15 minute bursts of fun is hard to resist.

If you can pull yourself away from killing things for a few hours to play a sweet, adorable, bizarre, funny, joyful game, you owe it to yourself to buy Botanicula. It's not massively challenging and it only really lasts four hours, but you'll have a smile on your face for the entire time – and often a good laugh too.

Even relatively minor things like the inability to jump will grate, let alone more major concerns such as the control system. What could have been something rather special is simply a scattering of nice ideas, awkwardly actioned.

Evolution's main strength comes from ambition. It's definitely a fully-fledged, weighty sequel. With a superb array of courses, newly-introduced multiplayer and a limitless track editor, 1200 MSP remains an absolute steal.

There's a great game in here, and people who buy Risen 2 will probably be quite content with their purchase if they can get past the infuriating first few hours (and that sugar quest in the giant termite cave, shudder).

What this game does really well is appeal to those nostalgic fans of old-school fighters, whilst providing a new, refreshing aesthetic.

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

Those who've played the first game will either not want to touch another AZMD or be supremely disappointed at the sheer amount of regurgitated content here. Newcomers will likely get frustrated with the emphasis on grinding and repetitive game play.

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 Witcher 2 itself is still an incredible title that really makes you feel that you're having an impact on the people and politics of this world, and the Enhanced Edition only makes it better.

There are small issues with the HD conversion – especially in the menus – but this still feels like one of the more accomplished HD collections this generation.

Even without comparing it to previous games, it's still mediocre at best. If I had one word to describe Wrecked, it would be unnecessary. There are enough arcade racers out there, and some of them are actually pretty decent. This one; is not.

There were times when Unbounded crept into frustration territory that almost saw it as a complete write-off, but perseverance eventually unlocked something special indeed.

All-in-all, the game can be a lot of fun, but basic gameplay controls and mechanics stifle its ability to really make a lasting impact on you other than one of untimely-rage quitting and frustration.

The problem with Kinect Star Wars is down to the use of the Kinect Sensor itself – while the package is a well constructed and well thought out one, it's all too often that the sensor misreads something and it becomes frustrating.

Blades of Time never matches up to the well-executed time mechanic it so readily deploys.

Sine Mora is not only a breath of fresh air from a developmental perspective, adding new ideas to a old, yet ofter over-used genre, but it's also fun. Few games nowadays manage to look good, play well, and still offer a level of enjoyment on par with games that haven't existed since the Nintendo 64 era, but Sine Mora manages it.

And there isn't even any beach soccer in here, disappointingly.

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

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.

I'm confident that Silent Hill 2 will be held up as one of the greatest games of all time in years to come, and you owe it to yourself to (re)visit those deserted streets.

I had hopes for Yesterday, but they were beaten out of me during its absurdly short playing time. I got actively angry at the game at several occasions just because of the leaps of non-logic I was supposed to take.

There is no denying that fans of the series can and will appreciate the options available and will spend hours customizing and creating the ultimate robot. With a stronger story and more attention to detail as well as a simplified difficulty level this mech could have been the ultimate warrior.

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.

The rhythmic chants of bygone planes is something that easily get your juices flowing.

Most will come for the original game, which offers a decent amount of challenge and length and a great deal of variety in its levels. Just go into it knowing that the original game was released back in 2003 – and in spite of the HD upgrade, it feels like it.