Despite some flaws, Far Cry 2 is almost an essential purchase this holiday retail season. The only reason to excuse yourself from picking it up might be if you're just shootered-out, which frankly is an understandable possibility.

In raw gameplay terms, BioShock 2 improves on the original in everyway, with a deeper combat system, a broader set of enemy types and the addition of a fully-featured multiplayer mode.

Chrono Trigger DS is a faithful port of the wonderful original, with subtle improvements to the script and a little extra gameplay. If the very, very minor sound issues, or the moderately-retro graphics don't bother you, then is a must-own, especially if you've never played it before.

Valkyria Chronicles is a truly magnificent outing for Sega. It dares to be different, it scoffs at genre conventions and finds its own path, and in doing so succeeds brilliantly as both a deep strategy experience and a wonderfully story-driven RPG.

This is going to be the cult-hit DS game of 2008. Jupiter and Square Enix have developed a game that nails just about everything it tries – and it tries quite a lot of new or carefully lifted ideas.

Very possibly the Wii's longest adventure - and certainly one of the most varied. So many side-quests, hidden areas, collectables, characters, classes and things to do. A boon for RPG fans, so buy it.

Despite some flaws, Far Cry 2 is almost an essential purchase this holiday retail season. The only reason to excuse yourself from picking it up might be if you're just shootered-out, which frankly is an understandable possibility.

Zack & Wiki is very much what happens when talented Japanese game designers decide to revisit classic point-and-click adventure gameplay, and proceed to inject it with their own aesthetics and sensibilities, all with a modern coat of paint.

In raw gameplay terms, BioShock 2 improves on the original in everyway, with a deeper combat system, a broader set of enemy types and the addition of a fully-featured multiplayer mode.

It is slick in production, providing a lot of what one could reasonably ask for in a fighting game. The game is as accessible as ever, pretty to look at and arcade-perfect to a T.

It's taken far too long for non-American, English speaking gamers to get their hands on Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. But the good news is, largely Square Enix has managed to live up to incredibly high expectations.

I do have some complaints; namely a short campaign (seven hours), cowardly AI Spartans, an undercooked plot, and it's obviously disappointing that Bungie is no longer at the bleeding edge of graphics technology (as it was with Halo and Halo 2) but at the end of the day we've got an absolute treasure trove of gameplay for shooter die-hards.

Perhaps the best way to view Street Fighter IV is as the perfect complement to Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. This is classic Streeties – good pace, nice and accessible and yet with a truckload of depth. SFIII: 3rd Strike is always there if you want to delve into an intensely technical 2D fighter – and remains one of the greatest fighting games of all time, but SFIV is going to be the game that reinvigorates the series in the eyes of lapsed fans and newcomers alike.

A great action RPG. Solid, ever-evolving combat meets solid, ever-evolving puzzles in some really evocative environments.

It is slick in production, providing a lot of what one could reasonably ask for in a fighting game. The game is as accessible as ever, pretty to look at and arcade-perfect to a T.

It is not, however, a flawless experience by any means – and we think the series' finest hour is still coming – but for fans of the original, it's the step forward we were rooting for and just tempting enough for new players to savour.

Outstanding. It is consistent in every respect and is testament to the talents of the developer as well as the power of the PS3 in the hands of a team that knows how to use the hardware - and who have the full support of Sony behind them. In the same stroke, it is not the be all and end all of console shooters, or even shooters on the PS3.

It's a brilliant game and – despite not offering the weightiest selection of modes, and failing to incorporate replay functionality for launch – deserves huge success.

With so much provision for purist racing as well as arcade thrills, it's a delight to report that Shift strikes a fantastic balance between the two. From a thoughtful introductory race that helps define your style and skills through to a compelling career mode and constant back-patting, Need for Speed Shift is a delight to play.

The basic fusion of the core puzzle gameplay and the dynamic spin that the music applies to this is delightfully successful in itself, but is stretched even further by a drive for perfection.

With so much provision for purist racing as well as arcade thrills, it's a delight to report that Shift strikes a fantastic balance between the two. From a thoughtful introductory race that helps define your style and skills through to a compelling career mode and constant back-patting, Need for Speed Shift is a delight to play.

There's a real sense of cohesive design and polish at play here, something that we feel is missing from ports of PC titles. This is truly a console RTS, rather than a rethink on an existing title and that shines through in the intelligent interface, the interesting campaign and the multiplayer and co-op friendly gameplay.

Its larger than life sci-fi world and speedy, explosive gameplay really work on console and the whole thing runs like a dream. A great PS3 port, and a ready demonstration of what the system can do in the right hands.

A great action RPG. Solid, ever-evolving combat meets solid, ever-evolving puzzles in some really evocative environments. There are a few clumsy or lacklustre moments – the flying sequence is dull, for instance, and this isn’t in any way a revolutionary game, but it is good fun and it is well-designed.

A Crack in Time isn’t a revolution, but it is an impressively solid and fun game with a number of new gameplay hooks to enjoy. Plus, it continues a story set in motion back in Tools of Destruction that you’ll want to see through to the end.

Suffice to say, MCLA is the sequel we were hoping for; a ballsy, fast, challenging racing game set to a killer soundtrack. It may be a little frustrating at times, but it gets an awful lot right. Plus, it makes L.A. an appealing place, and that’s harder than you might think.

Suffice to say, MCLA is the sequel we were hoping for; a ballsy, fast, challenging racing game set to a killer soundtrack. It may be a little frustrating at times, but it gets an awful lot right. Plus, it makes L.A. an appealing place, and that’s harder than you might think.

It effortlessly captures the feel of a classic, rollicking pulp adventure film through charming, fallible characters, great dialogue and voice acting, over-the-top action sequences, and a story featuring plenty of twists and turns.