Downloadable content done right, with excellent value for money and a high standard of new tracks that seem even more consistent than the main game.

A more noble failure than most Kinect games, but a failure all the same. And even beneath the control issues not a particularly good on-the-rails shooter.

Not just one of the best strategy games of all-time but one of the best video games of any kind – and one that excites your emotions just as much as your brain matter.

In pure gameplay terms this is one of Suda51's most accessible and entertaining games for years, but it's badly devalued by its extreme brevity.

Bravely uncompromising in terms of the freedom it offers the player and its willingness to go against current trends in gaming, Dishonored is adult video-gaming at its best.

There are some fun ideas here, and Arkedo are clearly a very talented team, but this action platformer is neither as amusing nor as fun as it likes to think.

A decent sequel, with some fun new features, and proof once again that motion controls are the great leveller in terms of truly inclusive interactive entertainment.

An admirable effort to make a serious Sherlock Holmes game, but the low production values and needlessly obscure puzzles hinder the ambitious storytelling.

If you've never played a Pokémon game this is an excellent place to jump aboard, and you can add at least one extra point to the score as a result. But for anyone else this is an easy to ignore stopgap.

One of the most pointless sequels ever put to cartridge, and although the core Pokémon gameplay still shines through this is easily the worst version so far.

If Resident Evil wants to be an action game then so be it, but it needs to be a good one – not this linear, patronisingly simplistic time waster.

Ambitious, unpolished, and very demanding – in short an impressively authentic update of the '80s classic and an action strategy hybrid almost without compare in the current generation.

Minimalist gaming at its finest, with graphics and presentation out of the Stone Age but evocative sci-fi action that's tense, tactical and instantly addictive.

It's unlikely to ever outsell Angry Birds, but Bad Piggies certainly outthinks it – with a clever mix of physics-based puzzling and experimentation.

A disappointing port of one of the Wii's best games, although still a clever and entertaining mix of Pikmin and The Settlers.

Considering it's been almost seven years since the last game Dead Or Alive 5 has shamefully few new ideas, and makes you wonder whether the series didn't belong in the big league after all.

One Piece fans will enjoy the novelty but only Dynasty Warriors groupies will be able to bear the typically mindless gameplay.

An evolution of last year's FIFA is enough for EA to win the battle of football games, but it may need to step up its game next year with PES improving.

One of the best smartphone games of the year, with stunning cartoon visuals and gameplay that's as easy to control as it is to become addicted to.

Probably the best dungeon crawler in the world, including Diablo III. And what it lacks in storytelling and originality it makes up with pitch perfect design and pacing.

An evolutionary improvement on the original and by consequence one of the best co-operative first person shooters ever made.

One of the best remakes ever, not because of its loving recreation of the original Half-Life but because it dares to change and improve it.

But despite all that it gets right we do wish that Guild Wars 2 had been bolder with the art style and the setting of its game world. Or that it had pushed its combat system even further and created something genuinely unique. Although the fact that it has no subscription fee is an unqualified positive that needs to be adopted as standard before free-to-play ruins everything.

The best LittleBigPlanet has ever been, and although there are still problems with the platforming mechanics at least it's easy now to build around them.

It may not have changed very much from last year's entry but what small improvements there are still makes this the best F1 racer of the modern era.

We do sometimes, even if it is briefly, get the feeling we're playing a classic PES game from the series. Still rough around the edges though.

Not the silly novelty it might sound like but one of the most enjoyably addictive and cleverly original action stealth games on the PlayStation 3.

It looks and sounds as amazing as it ever did, but even if the control issues are a little more obvious now this is still a fantastically energetic and imaginative arcade game.