Like its name implies, Contrast is a game with a sharp difference between its highs and lows. There's a lot to like here, but it doesn't make it all that easy to do so.

Decent flying/shooting action with inertia, humour, and a number of design decisions that combine to provide endless amounts of frustration.

Crysis 3 is a decent set of free-form mechanics trapped, like the New York of its embarrassing sci-fi plot, within the bubble of an all-too-often constricting design.

While it's inarguable that Ridge Racer was very much in need of a makeover, Unbounded's formula is far from the required antidote. The focus on destruction has overshadowed everything else to the point where other elements are merely along for the ride. It's all well and good designing a game with a specific focus in mind, but not when that focus renders everything else pointless.

Big Game Hunt is certainly worth a play if you've got the Season Pass, but if you're buying it by itself then its numerous weaknesses make it harder to recommend. It's not bad, but it's not Campaign of Carnage.

Watch Dogs is decent, but as the first entry into the series it’s still trying to find its niche and its style, and as a result it’s a little bland and all too repetitive. It successfully apes a lot of other games without ever really finding a way to stand out on its own, and the hacking isn’t really enough to push it past “me too” status.

Solarix’s admirable goal to marry the mechanics of Thief to the setting and plot of System Shock 2 proves to be beyond the game’s capabilities. The intentions are exemplary, but the execution is marred by eccentric AI, bugs, and an unfortunate attachment to checkpoints.

For a contemporary take on the Sim City formula, CitiesXL 2012 is probably the best option around. Just be aware that it holds this title by virtue of being pretty much the only option around.

A fairly bland and generic first person shooter experience that proves repetitive even in a single episode. It gives little reason to look forward to further installments of the series.

The First Templar is uneven, inconsistent in tone and, to be blunt, wonky in execution.

Only players seeking the gaming equivalent of "easy listening" will derive significant enjoyment from this title.

Omerta is not a title I have plans to revisit, but the single player campaign had a definite spark to it that kept my attention. My advice: keep an ear to your digital download platform of choice and wait for it to make you an offer you … well, you know.

A precise, highly challenging parkour platformer with a heavy emphasis on replaying stages and somewhat unfortunate fascination with projectiles.

If Molyneux's Bullfrog had pulled an all night coding session while watching re-runs of Eurotrash, this is probably the football management sim they would’ve made.

Putting a solid score on a game whose overriding ideology is a rejection of certainty is an act of high absurdity. But it’s also somewhat appropriate for The Old City: Leviathan’s other persistent theme of reconciling incompatible truths.

If you’re looking for single player, "Call of Duty 2" is a better choice. If you prefer multiplayer, "Day of Defeat: Source" or "Battlefield 2" are better choices. If Pterodon Software does some patching this game has potential to excel.

An aggressively contemporary take on a classic series that'll divide as many as it conquers.

An intuitive and hectic burn-fest. But it may well cost you some friendships.

A very mixed bag, but one that's certainly worth a look if the Polis Ranger scenario intrigues you.

There’s no shame in derivation, and Magrunner applies its Portal-like mag-glove idea with confidence. A worthwhile, if unoriginal, addition to the first-person puzzle genre.

Impressive tech, uninspired game.

I like you, Gatling Gears, you seem like a well intentioned fellow, and it's admirable that you're trying to build on the work established by your brother Greed Corp. But I'm afraid I can't just overlook some of these offences. The jury and I are sentencing you to six hours community service, which is about the time most players will spend completing you on medium difficulty.

Sluggish controls and a failure to capitalise on the free-climbing potential leave this feeling generic and joyless. Here's hoping the second episode fares better.

Archenemy is a neat concept, but one which doesn't quite come off due to balance issues. So while DotP 2012 will provide an engaging distraction, it's unlikely to hold you spellbound.

Fun in the early stages but quickly becomes a grind as clumsy, derivative level design and a lack of creativity completely overshadow any enjoyment to be had from controlling a giant, badass robot.

Maybe the game should be renamed NBA Live Roster Update as it's basically the same game as NBA Live 05 with the up to date player transfers.

Many more teams and some minor improvements under the hood, but not enough to justify a full price re-release.

As more was revealed, however, numerous bugs caused the game to become unbearably frustrating.

It is, however, a game with truly stunning production values. There's some great animation, fantastic voice acting, and the levels have jaw-dropping visual design. It's also painfully repetitive.

If you're not bothered by the prospect of paying £12 GBP for something that needs a few more months in the oven, you'll be rewarded with a fun and unique arena battler.

Coded Arms nails the controls and graphics but comes up short where it really counts and that’s in its gameplay.

It falls short, sadly. What was a wow in the early 90s is merely pedestrian today.

Unlikely to live in infamy. Quest for Infamy is a reasonable attempt at making a Quest for Glory game, but it's let down by dull combat and puzzle design.

The weakest part of BioShock Infinite in four unremarkable wave-combat arenas.

Uninventive, but still enjoyable thanks to the quality of the basic mechanics on offer. Unfortunately, the PC version's bugs make it a much harder sell than it should be.

The action is predictable, clichéd and, ultimately, unsatisfying. There’s probably a good hour or so of entertaining game play here.

World of Warplanes needs fleshing out. In time it could be what arcade flight buffs are after but at the moment it's lacking.

More stuff crammed into cities that are too small still makes the game frustrating despite Maxis' best effort. Only pick this up if you're a fanatic.

A big disappointment for me. The control was unreliable and I could not configure it to my liking. In addition, a game of this type should be easy to pick up and fun to play. Instead, Battle of Europe is uninspiring, boring and ultimately very frustrating at times.

It suffers and revels in both gaming and horror-story clichés, but still succeeds in creating a sense of wonder and unease.

This is definitely a game for hard-core Scooby fans. Or children under the age of ten. Or children under the age of ten with a short attention span. Or, ideally, all of the above.

Not exactly the cross-media revolution that was promised, but there's a decent (if flawed) third-person shooter inside this light MMO structure.

This third-person, multiplayer cover-shooter has firm foundations, but an uncertain life-span.

A well constructed core, in need of more finesse and better editing.

While not quite horrid, the Alpha Black Zero experience feels too empty to get us excited. For the most part, the gameplay mechanics are in place, but ABZ’s very slow pacing and merely mediocre storyline just can't separate it from the millions of other ordinary shooters.

Fray is a promising plan that never quite comes together.

Granted, this is a budget arcade title, but that doesn't justify the attempt to get away with a bare minimum of content. Vehicle numbers and the variety of game modes are adequate, but the paltry five tracks are a grievous error that put paid to any longevity.

Ryse is a little better than its reputation as a tech demo in search of a game. But not much beyond a mediocre combat system in want of something more than its predictable, opulent story.

If, however, you enjoy tongue in cheek sports spoofs, scantily clad girls and, ahem, volleyball, then you’re in luck.

Podracing is decent, but nowhere near enough to save the entire package.

Well, I certainly had a better time with it than with Serious Sam: Double D (an indie title, like this one, commissioned by Croteam to help promote Serious Sam 3), but the game doesn't quite live up to the potential of its premise.

A decent pool model that tends towards natural-style simulation, let down by several minor annoyances and one crippling problem. It’s a multiplayer-leaning title, and Pure Pool’s PC server troubles mean any online play is currently a non-starter.

Taking into account that All Zombies Must Die! will set you back only about £8, it's not a terrible purchase. But it isn't one that is easy to recommend, even at that price. If you're desperate for something to play while you wait for new post-Christmas content to hit for real then give it a shot.

The broad stylistic flourishes do a fair job of masking the underwhelming reality of much of the gameplay, but once Greaves’ tall tale is told you’re left with a pretty linear, whack-a-cowboy shooter in a no-horse town.

Although not terrible, Ultimate Spiderman is not the ultimate action game. Bogged down by tedious missions, a confusing plot and predictable boss characters you might want to rent this before you buy.

Until someone can come up with better controls, more interaction at key gameplay points and still keep a rugby game playable, rugby fans will have to struggle through with what's available. The only other option is to make rugby like football, so simple that anyone can pick it up in 2 seconds, but I hope that day never comes, you have to separate the men from the boys right ;).

Oh, and whatever you do, don’t do the tutorial. It’s a punishment from God or some other cosmic being.

The fact is that nutmegging an opponent a couple of times can solicit a quiet smile of satisfaction. But after the zillionth time, you will find yourself getting pretty bored with the whole thing.

FIFA 15 still plays decent football, but with the same (increasingly inexcusable) bugs and instabilities of the past few seasons.

Like a smoke filled wheel spin, it looks good but it gets you nowhere.

A combination of a not particularly good puzzle game and a not particularly good platformer, helped out by strong writing and animation.

Urban Trial Freestyle’s big problem is not its similarity to the Trials series, but the inability to offer anything that casts it as a credible alternative.

So while single player is pretty much a write-off, and none of the game modes really do the Game of Thrones license justice, multiplayer House vs House offers a relatively original take on medieval power struggles. Pray that enough of a multiplayer community sticks around, because this is a title where you'll want to wait for a sale.

Unfortunately the game misses the mark on so many issues that gameplay is behind even the current market leaders which are at least 2 years old.

Wreckateer offers some chaotic catharsis, but it's got too many problems to be easily recommendable.

If tropical islands and resort management sound like fun then you'll likely enjoy this; if they don't, then you're really not missing any major updates to the base game. Either way, though, you'll likely want to wait for a price drop.

This is a genre that is hardly lacking for content. Unless you're a true hack 'n' slash nut, I recommend you look elsewhere.

Let's not beat around the bush (no pun intended), it's the so-called titillation factor that gamers will go for. Remember, when you start looking deeper than the brand and packaging, there's little substance. Oh, the irony.

Less an endless voyage through the stars, and more a space-bus journey to the shops. If you're intimidated by Civilization this is an reasonable starting place for the 4X genre, but it's not for those seeking a deep or lengthy experience.

A bitter disappointment in almost all accounts. The game’s physics are laughable, characters forgettable and audio too generic. The main reason to play games in the first place – the fun aspect – is sorely lacking here and a few hours of gameplay will be more than enough for most people before becoming seriously bored.

Styx is an honest attempt at a traditional stealth title that, like its protagonist, all too often grasps for the ledge and falls short.

But while Sengoku has the stable basis of a game, its biggest problem is a feeling of emptiness.

I can't really recommend Okabu to anyone who plays a lot of games or who fancies a real brain-teaser, but those wanting to introduce a younger non-gamer to your favourite pastime may have a way of doing so.

It's a shame to see one of your favourite franchises shrivel up and dry out. Rainbow Six Three on the PS2 is in so many ways the dumbest version of the series yet.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China is a wonderful setting for a competent, but fairly unimaginative, 2.5D stealth title. Hopefully this won’t be Shao Jun’s final appearance.

Another day, another PC launch riddled with bugs and issues. Battlefield 4 is a perfectly decent game with a crashing client, crashing servers, and a whole host of issues that cause lag, disconnections, graphic and sound glitches, and plenty more. When they get fixed it's easily worth a purchase; right now, it's a frustrating experience.

Fun enough in its own right, but lacking in a number of ways when compared to its predecessor. There isn't much in the way of new stuff for Naruto fans to squee over, and as this is a game based around making Naruto fans go "squee", that's a bit of an issue.

Cuban Missile Crisis will only appeal to hardcore RTS fans or anyone who has a strong interest in playing a hybrid RTS/Turn-based title.

In the end, Hammer and Sickle was just not fun for me. And for a game, that is not a good thing.

Any half-decent Windows machine will give you a far better range of Ghost Recon goodness for less money. Over here on the PS2, this stand-alone expansion pack just isn't very filling.

The locations and themes in Deadfall Adventures are its stars, but neither the combat nor the puzzles really stand out and the pulp tone goes missing whenever most of the cast speak. A forgettable, Boy’s Own jaunt through well-thumbed pages of adventure fiction.

Mad Riders is Nail'd with better stunts, disappointing tracks and a fresh set of inconsistencies.

City management was never meant to be adrenaline-invoking, vein-busting excitement. On the other hand, we’ve seen the genre served so much better, and look better, too. Make no mistake, madam: this here Medieval Lords is cut from very ordinary cloth.

A brave attempt to fuse battlefield strategy and tank sim, let down by baffling UI and feature-starved maps.

WFaS still has the core of a Mount & Blade title, but it fails to distinguish itself as a standalone game. Everything feels too much like a retread of old territory, and it's questionable whether the addition of guns really benefits the single player combat system. The multiplayer side of things is as excellent as ever, but (Captain mode aside) unless you're eager to roleplay as a 17th Century Swedish musketeer, it makes more sense to just pick up Warband on the cheap and apply a suitable firearms mod.

Raccoon City isn't really Resident Evil as we know it, then. It's trying to be something else, which is fine in theory, but it doesn't quite manage to pull it off. The campaign is sloppy, repetitive and devoid of narrative intrigue. When playing as a group of four it's fun to the same extent that most co-op games are, but there are much better alternatives waiting to take your hard-earned cash.

Little more than a routine, seen-it-all-before FPS. For all the imagination, originality and excitement on offer it could have been written by a robot.

SOCOM: Special Forces was obviously designed to be a more accessible experience than its predcessors, but I suspect this will prove to be a mistake. Long-standing SOCOM fans are likely to protest against the changes to the mechanics, while those new to the series are going to wonder what all the fuss was about.

Resident Evil 6′s main achievement is that it makes me worried about the future of the franchise. I was looking forward to Resident Evil 6, I'm not looking forward to Resident Evil 7.

Beneath the crashes, the clumsy mission design and the comically inconsistent environment lurks a perfectly average stealth adventure.

Cheap and fairly entertaining, but Primal Carnage needs to solve some rather large problems before it lives up to its sizeable potential.

The Sims 4 is just like a dollhouse: it's pretty and polished and there are all sorts of possibilities, but in the end, it's really quite empty.

Might & Magic: Heroes VI can still be fixed with adequate patching, because the bugs really are its biggest problem.

The gameplay changes, ludicrous storyline, clunky controls and horrible presentation, however, may have polarized the game’s potential audience.

You would be better served, I think, purchasing an old copy of "Fallout." As for me, I will be uninstalling this game as soon as I save this article.

The game is rift with technical glitches, interface issues, obscene content, and frustration instead of fun. It is not the worst game I have ever played, but that is not saying much.

Broken gameplay, shoddy graphical and sound work, and terrible combat all combine to make this title a little more than bearable.

But it is a game, and as a game Duke Nukem Forever doesn't succeed at being a good modern shooter, a good retro shooter, or even a worthwhile successor. The shooting is bland, the level design is uninspired, the jokes and ideas are old and tired, and the synthesis between old-school PC shooter and modern console shooter has resulted in a hideous chimera that rarely works as either. It's not utterly without merit, but it rarely manages to raise itself above mediocrity and often falls well below. Unless you're desperate to once more kill the aliens and save the babes with Duke, there's little here for you.