As it stands this is a game that's quirky and fun, offering a welcome change from what we've come to expect from the genre, but ends up trying too hard to be smart and misses the target with many of its peripheral ideas.

If you are looking for an intelligent and very deep strategy experience in an under-explored time period, look no further.

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

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.

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.

Objective: Follow Diaz. Objective: Do everything he says. Objective: Buy a different game.

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.

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.

If you're desperate for a competitive tower defence game and have between one and three friends who feel similarly, Defenders of Ardania might give you a few evenings of entertainment, but that's about the only way I'd ever recommend this. The single-player campaign is just plain bad, and when you compare this to the solo offerings of Defense Grid, Plants vs Zombies, or any of the other good tower defence games out there, it's hard to think of a reason why you'd want to shell out for this.

Frustratingly difficult, and not in a good way. When it's not doing its utmost to irritate you Alien Rage isn't a bad shooter, but it's not a particularly good one either - and in this crowded genre, there's little reason to get this over something else.

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

This is not to say that Dead to Rights is a damned awful game. Its just not a good one and has very little original thought behind it.

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.

Daylight is capable of doling out some shocks, but it’s far too reliant on a single trick and the writing covers too much well-trodden ground for players to be truly unnerved.

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.

While there’s something to be said for giving value for money, I’d have preferred a more tightly paced story; a good handful of levels are just making up the numbers, and Shade would have been so much better for a bit of trim.

I'm not sure the Understone Quest Pack counts as content in any but the most literal interpretations of the word. Or does DLC stand for Downloadable Cynicism?

When all is said and done, Get on da Mic fails at just about everything it sets out to do.

A poor showing. Costing £10 to purchase just the add-on pack it is overpriced for the extra content it provides. You can download a hell of a lot more extras from The Sims 2 community sites online and these are free in most cases.

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

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.

More of the same. Almost exactly the same, in fact. Cities XXL is only worth looking at if you have never played the previous XL titles. And even than, wait for a sale.

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.

With the absence of a multiplayer, WW2 Tank Commander has very little replay value. There’s just not enough interesting gameplay to warrant the budget £20 price tag. Still, if you enjoy tank games or WWII in general, you may find something here.

Most gamers will feel cheated by the boring combat and atrocious camera work. Thus leaving the non-hardcore crowd focusing on a writhing, grinding, and silly second-rate strip act by a virtual Oscar winner.

It won’t scratch the Dungeon Keeper itch because it has no ecosystem – it’s an RTS rather than a dungeon-building game. But it also won’t scratch the RTS itch because it’s repetitive, offers little strategic challenge, and is deeply, deeply tedious.

I respect the effort expended in trying to get Deus Ex onto a system that absolutely isn’t tailored for it, but it doesn’t matter how well it worked there. It just doesn’t work on PC.

Sanctum of Slime is a bad top-down shooter with problematic co-op elements that makes terrible use of a beloved license. The game design is banal, the online co-op has issues and the single-player is an exercise is pained frustration.

Definitely more bad cop than good cop, but LA Cops could at least be a fair cop, guv, if given a bit of post-release polish.

A bland experience that does nothing to increase the appeal of a struggling genre. Avoid.

As clear a warning as there has ever been about the risks inherent to pre-ordering games.

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

A good game. I enjoyed playing it, but felt so frustrated initially that it left a bad taste in my mouth.

More irritating than Neelix: Star Trek is a buggy and broken cover-shooter with cover that doesn't quite work and shooting that's no fun.

Unfortunately Zathura plays like it was won in a car boot sale. Avoid.

How generic can a game be? How devoid of charm, ideas, or entertainment? How relentless in its march towards cliché and boredom?

I should probably have undergone some therapy before writing this review, as the game left me frustrated beyond belief.

Fairly inoffensive and pretty, but not much fun to play and filled with characters more loathsome than sexy.

The collision detection is ridiculous. Occasionally, you will get hung up on things as ordinary as steps!

There's no discernable ironic enjoyment to be gleaned from this game, and it's certainly not fun-bad like Deadly Premonition. It's just plain old depressing bad-bad. Like drowning.

It's full of problems, but it's also full of charm and ambition. Undoubtedly some of you will fall in love with it, viewing even the input issues as the latest in a long line of challenges thrown at you by From Software. Others will regret their purchase nine deaths into the first mission, unable to even think about how difficult the rest of the game could be.

A shambling 3D monstrosity.

Lucha Fury is a prime example of video game design gone wrong… very wrong. From the opening 'tutorial' to the repetitive, lacklustre levels that make up the rest of the game, there's almost nothing endearing, charming or enjoyable about this experience.

With such a lack of moves comes an obvious lack of depth, and it soon becomes apparent that most of the story mode and the arcade mode can be completed with pure button-mashing.

Give this to your kids only if you hate them, or want them to stop gaming, or feel like being asked how to solve "the next bit" time and again. Life’s too short. Play something else.

I am sure there are some Gameboy Advance fighters out there that would earn a higher rating when compared side-by-side with this one. As it stands, this game is exactly what its title states, and nothing more: Imperfect.

X Rebirth is the most disappointing PC title of 2013. A heartbreaking, gut-churning mess.

Unfortunately, it’s an uninspiring, flawed and ultimately a failure. Avoid the like the proverbial plague.

Fray is a promising plan that never quite comes together.

It’s hard to think of anything since the turn of the millennia that looks this bad. Not only are the textures bland and hazy but several levels suffer from what can only be described as "big room syndrome." Large hallways and walls will be monochromatic and feature single furnishings like a lamp, door or sign.

Gettysburg: Armored Warfare is a broken, bleeding mess. Do not buy this. Not even to laugh at it.

If you see this game approach you, do not panic. Simply aim for the head, attempt a decapitation or set it on fire.

All in all this is a fun game, while most flight simulators are difficult to fly you can easily pick this game up and be shouting 'chocks away' before you know it. Some people may find it a little short but it's got re-play value on the higher difficulty setting.

An exceptional, unique strategy title with near-endless customisation and unparalleled post-release support.

Despite the flaws, disappointments, and learning curve, I'd certainly recommend Star Ruler to 4X fans with a warlike bent. If you're prepared to spend a good few hours getting into it and learning via trial and error, if you won't get too upset by the outlined problems, and if you're not scared off by lots of numbers, then you'll find an entertaining, substantial, and surprisingly cheap game of galactic domination.

A turn-based, space trading and combat title which benefits from its open-ended nature and undemanding PC requirements. Aspects of the dynamic universe are too detached, and the combat doesn’t hold up forever, but these shortcomings do not undermine Smugglers V’s laudable player freedom.

What the people want doesn’t always have to be a revolution. State of Decay: Breakdown is a full sandbox mode for the main game, carefully designed to incorporate the original's strengths in scavenging and player-created character arcs.

A self-contained tale about the human catastrophe of slavery is an abrupt turn from the original’s happy-go-lucky plundering style, but the game’s mechanics adapt relatively well.

This is a bad Plants vs Zombies-esque tower defence game that requires absolutely no thought or strategy. If this is an April Fools' joke, it's a very cruel one on the public.

If nothing else, a game that contains three sewer/subway levels and then makes a joke about re-using assets deserves absolutely no higher than this.

A nice idea that's just not ready for release. Do not buy this game until there's more to it and the major problems are fixed.

HB Studios has tried to create an exciting rugby experience, but the game has emerged disappointingly under-developed. The wait for an excellent new rugby game continues.