If you're thinking about picking up a copy of L.A. Noire (and I recommend that you do), don't judge it as you would other third-person, open-world games. It's not trying to be a new GTA, Red Dead or Saint's Row. It's not about action, it's about investigating. It's not about changing the course of history, it's about experiencing a history. It's not about random encounters, it's about planning, watching and reading encounters. That may not sound like many people's cup of tea at first, but stick with it and you'll reap the rewards.

If you're thinking about picking up a copy of L.A. Noire (and I recommend that you do), don't judge it as you would other third-person, open-world games. It's not trying to be a new GTA, Red Dead or Saint's Row. It's not about action, it's about investigating. It's not about changing the course of history, it's about experiencing a history. It's not about random encounters, it's about planning, watching and reading encounters. That may not sound like many people's cup of tea at first, but stick with it and you'll reap the rewards.

As I said, this is still Fable III which means it's as divisive as ever.

It's the best Hydrophobia yet, and it's absolutely worth a look, but it still falls just shy of greatness.

If you're looking for an in-depth, engaging experience that rewards practise and team work, and represents a welcome break from the stagnate place the genre has found itself, then you can do a lot worse than Brink. If you're looking for a drop-in/drop-out, ten-minutes-a-night-and-I'm-done shooter then you could do a lot better than Brink.

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.

Mortal Kombat is not a game that will satisfy beat 'em up enthusiasts for long – it doesn't have the required depth and there are too many momentum swinging variables that prevent skilled players from achieving the winning percentage they deserve. For everyone else though, it's a whole lot of fun. It's silly. It's crude. It's easy to learn. And, as a result, it's eminently charming and easy to like.

Cargo! is a little on the short side (I finished it in five hours and probably could've improved on that), but it delights and surprises at every turn as it propels you through its frankly baffling narrative. Much like Ice-Pick Lodge themselves, you'll never quite be able to predict what it's going to throw at you next.

Outland is fast, it's fluid, it's unbelievably gorgeous, and it's got some of the finest level and boss design I've seen in a long time. If you fondly remember the days of sitting down in front of your NES or Mega Drive or Amiga with a new platformer, or if you recall Flashback, Strider, Castlevania, Metroid, Ninja Gaiden, or anything else I've name-dropped in this review, you shouldn't hesitate to pick this up immediately.

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.

A brave and largely successful attempt to use the medium of videogames to depict environmental crises.

By concentrating on iteration rather than re-design, Valve have created a sequel that improves upon the original and yet stays true to its memory. The puzzles, the story and the expert way in which players are taught to use the new tools all combine to create what is very possibly the most absorbing game the puzzle genre has ever seen.

More focused than Total War has been in awhile, but still as strategic and deep as the series has ever been.

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

Crysis 2 is an exciting, slick, entertaining experience that puts most recent FPS releases to shame. It may not be the ground breaking experience some were hoping for but it manages to move the series forward enough to just about satisfy any Nano Suit cravings.

An aggressive, untamed racer that delights in depicting carnage as viscerally as possible. Pitched somewhere between 'arcade' and 'sim', Unleashed may lack a clear identity but it certainly doesn't lack excitement and, as a result, is an ultimately rewarding experience.

A fine version of Bejeweled that, as with other games in the series, is a surefire way to see those precious hours tick away.

A lazy, irritating, muddled mess of a package. Despite a degree of enjoyment to be found in the serene arena of Sega Bass Fishing, none of the four games on offer have any right being here.

Clever in oh-so-many ways and almost endlessly replayable but, the level of frustration on offer might pose a health risk to those with blood pressure problems.

What seems promising at first soon devolves into a monotonous chore of timed reversals and little else. All Stars' take on the WWE is a charming one but, it ultimately falls flat thanks to a lack of depth to both the gameplay and the game modes.

Not a game that's best suited to the PSP but, if you can look past its refusal to adapt itself to a handheld console, The 3rd Birthday is a rich, engaging experience.

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.

Great class skill customisation options, the rift element, the game play mechanics, all these make RIFT one of the best fantasy MMOs on the market. Play it.

Fantastic. Probably the finest tennis game ever made - combining flair and accessibility with a level of depth that the competition has come nowhere near matching. Thanks to Top Spin 4, tennis games are relevant again. Very relevant.

An accomplished racer aimed squarely at fans of the sport. Despite the high speeds and death-defying leans into the corners, MotoGP 10/11 is a game that's about precision and technique first, thrills and excitement second. If you've got the patience to master it, there's a deep, satisfying experience to be had.

Two Worlds 2 is disappointingly flawed and frequently clunky but, if you can tough it out, can also be extraordinarily rewarding.

Torchlight is a brilliantly crafted RPG that has survived the PC-to-360 porting process incredibly well. The usual awkward console-RPG menu systems are present and correct but the game's charm, depth and sense of fun more than make up for any such issues.

With some new areas, some new enemies, a great new main quest, and a welcome spike in difficulty, Traitor's Keep provide hope for any Fable III DLC to come.