Not just an Olympics tie-in but a proper sports game, with the majority of events finding a good balance between realism and enjoyment.

One of the most daring marriages of narrative and action game ever seen, and yet still the end result never fully satisfies as either a game or story.

Not an encouraging start for the first Harvest Moon on the 3DS, with a game that struggles to justify not only its own existence but that of the franchise as a whole.

There have been far more than just three Ratchet & Clank games over the years but it's still a franchise worth celebrating, in one of the better HD collections so far.

The new additions are all positive but, apart from the reintroduction of religion, extremely trivial - which makes this an interesting test of the Civilization faithful.

Its similarities to Portal will be obvious to everyone and in terms of puzzles this is very much its equal, but in terms of script and characters… not so much.

Battlefield 3 does a good impression of Call Of Duty, but this isn't an expansion that plays to the series' strengths or offers much value for money.

The multiplayer options are impressively comprehensive and as Diablo clones go this ticks all the necessary boxes, except the ones for imagination and innovation.

It's still not a full reinvention of the Lego template but it is one of the most enjoyable uses of it so far, with an open world Gotham and a cast of characters to rival Arkham City.

Its heroine may be the only thing that's not rough around the edges, but this is another fascinating mess by Suda51 and a great arcade style actioner.

There's a decent a story to be salvaged here, and one that could happily be adapted for the show, but as a video game this fails miserably.

Its flaws are frustratingly obvious, but this has some of the most enjoyably original gameplay and visuals of any game this year - on the PS Vita or otherwise.

More of the same has rarely been so welcome, with this unusually elaborate, if still obviously reheated, download.

First person shooters clearly do work on the PS Vita, but proving that fact is the only real achievement of this otherwise insipid portable experience.

Another failed Doctor Who tie-in, but one that's especially disappointing because of how much it gets right in terms of the dialogue and visuals.

More content than usual for a Call Of Duty map pack and the new Face Off mode is a neat variation on the usual team-based action.

The idea might offend veteran DiRT fans, but the reality of this arcade style racer is hard to hate - especially when you're smashing your best friend off a jump ramp.

An impressively well balanced shooter that manages to deliver a diverse and innovative feature set that should please almost everyone.

The best non-sports game so far for the PlayStation Move, but there still seems to be plenty of magic left untapped on what is an unnecessarily brief experience.

Despite borrowing so much from so many different games Capcom's new Western style role-player is very much its own game - with plenty of interesting ideas of its own.

A disappointing misstep for Harvest Moon's sister series, where neither monster fighting nor crop planting offers any real entertainment or variety.

The details may have changed but this is still fundamentally the same game as the 1996 original. But that's kind of the point. Diablo isn't interested in innovation or subtlety; it's interested in empowerment and cheap thrills. It knows that clicking on monsters to bash their brains in with an axe is fun and its only concern is ensuring it stays that way no matter how, and with whom, you play it.

It plays a great game of tennis, certainly the best on a Nintendo portable, but the feeble range of on and offline game modes sharply reduces its appeal.

As polished a product as Rockstar has ever produced but the action and storytelling are rigidly one note, and neither is sustained for long enough.

It gets most of the mechanics right, and it certainly looks like Sonic, but this new episode doesn't have the heart or the imagination of the originals.

As pre-order bonuses go this is definitely a cut above, but it's also an addictive and rewarding mini-game in its own right.

It sounds, and to a degree looks, like the movies but this run of the mill graphic adventure lacks the soul and excitement of the film franchise.

Another inspired descent into bullet hell from the masters at Cave, and one that has both an unusual amount of tactical depth and yet remains surprisingly accessible.