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.