It's a turbo-powered drifty racer with a loveably fractured premise and a world that's full of challenges and stunts. It's better than it has any right to be.

Such a painfully dry business - especially with the new lack of multiplayer - that you'd be better off just getting on a bike. [Sept 2011, p.102]

Not enough going on up there. [Sept 2011, p.102]

A surprise - a likeable and entertaining family game that throws up the occasional tough challenge. [Sept 2011, p.102]

Not very welcoming but presented well. [Sept 2011, p.101]

A grind in more ways than one. [Sept 2011, p.101]

Perfectly pitched pink platforming. [Sept 2011, p.98]

Human Revolution stands proudly alongside the best in cyberpunk fiction, in any medium let alone just games... So few games allow you to carve a subtly unique path through every single encounter and, while major plot points remain the same, you'll feel like your journey was your own. [Sept 2011, p.80]

Hardcore fight fans are going to love it, but Arcana Heart 3 makes no real concessions to more casual players.

Hit The Mitts shows you what Zuffa could have done - a mini-game that reacts well to your punches.

It's a brilliant use of Kinect, and it's the game they should use on shopfloors to show how responsive and intuitive the kit can be. But it's also 800MP for what amounts to a single motor function in a single mini-game. Even with leaderboard appeal, it's hard to whole-heartedly recommend.

A magical evening in, and makes you think in a way that's novel and immensely rewarding. But be warned: the limited camera, the fineness of the controls and the tribal AI will occasionally annoy you, and it leaves you positively starving for more.

Beneath the visuals and the voice-over, Bastion is actually a fairly standard action RPG, but the abundance of different challenges and puzzles, combined with that beguiling narration, makes it something rather special.

The wobbly plot and hateful characterisation could be forgiven were The Cartel's shooting superlative. It's not. Guns feel flimsy, and enemies stick fastidiously to cover, hopping up and down and waiting to die.

Kung Fu fun that quickly wears thin. [Aug 2011, p.101]

Five hours of playing this game will kill the entire genre for you, too. [Aug 2011, p.99]

Cracking twin stick mech attack. [Aug 2011, p.99]

Marred only by its own unreached potential. [Aug 2011, p.98]

Too short to be worthwhile. [Aug 2011, p.97]

Tracks are boring. [Aug 2011, p.96]

Tweaks and changes have successfully fixed most of EDF 2017's problems without damaging any of the dodgy aspects that made it so wonderfully wonky. If you're in the market for some mindless co-op nonsense, Insect Armageddon's comes highly recommended.

Another rock-solid performance from Treyarch.

They've proved themselves capable of better than this.

Won't give you shivers, but will make your thumbs itch.

This one's already ground to a halt. [July 2011, p.103]

A well deserved hammering. [July 2011, p.103]

An ambient platforming essential. [July 2011, p.102]

A game that may tickle your fancy. [July 2011, p.101]

Not entirely welcoming, but worth exploring. [July 2011, p.101]

Enjoyably frenetic war zone action. [July 2011, p.100]

Ropey adventure with semi-redemptive co-op. [July 2011, p.96]

Ideal for beginners and intermediate, but probably not advanced.

We genuinely can't help but feel sorry for the art team, who've done a fantastic job of bringing the world and characters to life. These guys have clearly poured a lot of love into Lucha Fury, and it's a great shame to see amateur game design decisions kick this bucket of charm so ruthlessly down the gutter.

Unexpectedly good stuff, despite its flaws.

Unique, entertaining but over all too quickly.

Obsidian does try new things out and the Onyx engine looks great, despite a slightly claustrophobic camera. But the actual game is... well, it's either dated or classique, depending on your willingness to use words like classique. Dungeon Siege III comes with a moderate recommendation - but you'll have a lot more fun discussing strategies with a friend.

This genuinely engaging experience is soured not so much by the ropier aspects of the visuals, nor even the fact that the frame-rate plunges into the toilet from time to time, but by the writing, which plays a clear second fiddle to the mishmash of different mechanics.

It's a furry platformer with combat that suffers through repetition. Just like the first game, Alice doesn't quite match up to its own grand ambitions - let alone the classic stature of the source material. After 11 years, they should have got it right by now.

Haunting, amazing, but not for everybody.

If Red Faction: Guerilla felt like a series approaching greatness, Armageddon has ceased that approach, and started apprehensively circling greatness. It's good, but it should have been better.

Hunted's big failing stems less from what it brings to the table as what it leaves in Diablo's bat-infested cellar. The level editor packs each and every one of the campaign's big tricks into one tidy grid-based package, but it lacks the single player's beguiling sense of mystery.

Stylistically bland and clearly confused, the game's initially slick descent quickly twists into a belly flop. Floundering in a mush in ill-advised ideas, Moon Diver drowns itself in a paddling pool of tedium.

The ending lets it down. The most intriguing story arc ends midway through, leaving a grander but less interesting twist to play out in an endgame that ties off the story in a clumsy and unsatisfying fashion. It's an ignoble end to a game that works so hard to keep you involved, but it doesn't stop the journey being a fascinating one, and something that manages to feel like an entirely fresh experience.

If flipping through digital pages of text doesn't float your boat though, then look elsewhere. Shallow plot aside, you're looking at four hours of getting jumped by giant animals in a dusty canyon.

Pleasant as it is to run amock through four new studies in ruined concrete, scuffed glass and gouged bedrock, we doubt the content injection will rouse this stumbling titan.

Puts the "ass" in NASCAR. [June 2011, p.105]

Eventually fun, if you can stand the grind. [June 2011, p.105]

Like being trapped in a barrel of monkeys. [June 2011, p.103]

A mercifully brief battle. [June 2011, p.103]

Perfect if you can't afford a real dragon. [June 2011, p.103]

A distinctly sludgy shooter. [June 2011, p.102]

DiRT 3 is one of those rare games that delivers both quality and quantity. Everything is laser-engineered to improve on the brilliant previous game. The only misstep is the anodyne Career mode interface - lots of people will be baffled by the decision to replace the bustling 3D service area with something stylish yet hollow.

Traveller's Tales could use a magic compass, we suspect - there's a definite sense of diminishing returns here, a worry that for all the franchise's simple amusements and dumbshow gags, LEGO is sailing close to the rocks.

A meticulously designed Live shooter...Few multiplayer FPS games furnish you with unique anecdotes about valiant last stands and over-the-trench assaults but Brink is full of them.

Escalation feels less like a map pack as a theme park for Vietnam veterans, not just contested territory but an environment you'll want to explore - rooting under the crust for the inevitable Easter eggs. Black Ops has never felt fresher.

Kinect aside, it's genuinely smashing.

While it's worth replaying to catch the dialogue you missed the first time round - a spectacular rarity in any game - and to hunt out the hidden Rat Man rooms, there isn't enough variety in the way you solve puzzles to sustain repeat runthroughs. We're going to need DLC, and plenty of it, to keep our co-op partnership going.

It's a blood-soaked love letter to the original series but hauls everything else up to date, making it a tasty treat for newcomers and a nine-course medieval banquet for fans.

Imperfect but surprisingly pleasant. [May 2011, p.103]

Immediately intense, but no long-term appeal. [May 2011, p.101]

Charming but flawed, and lacks ambition. [May 2011, p.101]

Red River certainly has its moments - especially when it's played with friends - but the clumsy attempt to gain acceptance from the trash-talking masses leaves it inadvertently feeling like an advertisement for pacifism. [May 2011, p.88]

So this isn't Dance Central and it certainly isn't Lips, but if you're firing it up for a party, Michael Jackson: The Experience is definitely enough to keep a gang of, preferably drunk, mates entertained - even if it is absolutely propped up by the undeniably stellar music and iconic dance routines.

A faithful upgrade of a handheld classic.

More than ever, Dynasty Warriors feels like an uncomfortable timefart.

Vampire Smile is the product of just one man. Everything, from the slick lo-fi graphics layered with intense lighting effects, to the urgent, industrial music, is by James Silva....Don't be too quick to be jealous.

A disappointing interim chapter.

Hitting a difficulty sweet spot, Top Spin 4 is deep enough to let you spend hours mastering the perfect volley, but won't turn its nose up at you if you don't fancy anything more than an occasional late-night session of backhanding with Federer.

A fun party game with limited appeal.

Accessible arcade fun with oodles of depth.

A good-looking and therapeutic dose of bird-tweeting, ripples of applause and gasps of mild horror. If you're happy paying the price of admission for a more streamlined experience and the Augusta National, don't let us stop you.

The personalities are great, and brilliantly caricatured. The matches are as much fun to watch as they are to play. The attempts to add variety don't always work - four-player tag teams are fun, but the rest is fairly uninspired - so it might not last too long without DLC.

Throwing accessibility out of the window like a misjudged motorway Ginsters, Shift 2 is an unashamedly stoic love-letter to hardcore driving fans. For casual fans of the genre, though, it's the kind of correspondence that leads to restraining orders.

The great and the rubbish at a price that's definitely not right.

The Clone Wars is no bold new chapter for the evergreen franchise, but give it five minutes and you'll soon succumb. The Force is still strong.

If you hate online multiplayer, avoid Homefront like you would a naked laughing man, waving his own severed leg in the air. If you're in it for the multiplayer, then it offers a clean, coherent and genuinely entertaining experience.

One complaint - why make the unlocking process so drawn out? [Apr 2011, p.111]

If only the combat matched the visuals. [Apr 2011, p.111]

Looks generic, but plays fresh. [Apr 2011, p.109]

Gains legs but loses charm. [Apr 2011, p.108]

Champion Mode's story makes you care more about the fights. [Apr 2011, p.102]

Absolutely standard seasonal update. [Apr 2011, p.95]

Crysis 2 skates on the thin ice of its own excellence. There are weaknesses, that might - if the mode-swapping suitplay hadn't been so strong - have dragged the game down. But the story and combat [are] strong enough to carry you through, and if you've got the stomach for competitive multiplayer, the Nanosuit will bring a new world of sneaky, high-jumping tactics to your online game. [Apr 2011, p.84 MC]

As it stands, the interface is slick, the presentation is pleasantly simplified and chunky, and the unlocks will keep rewards flowing for a long time. It's one of the best poker games we've ever played - but until prizes are added into the mix it doesn't stop the whole concept of risk-free poker from feeling fundamentally pointless.

de Blob 2 feels like an amiable, almost therapeutic game, so one decision leaves us bewildered. For no plot-related reason whatsoever, every world is governed by an overarching countdown timer that spans all of the many missions.

The passion that BG&E inspires makes it too easy to gloss over the flaws - it'll take you a while to get used to the hyper-sensitive camera, the acting is choppy, and Jade's fighting style is uninspired. But this is a game in which killing comes second to the story, puzzles, the world, and the characters - it's 10-15 hours of genuinely compelling pleasure.

An early contender for game of the year. It really is that spectacular. While the hand of Epic is evident, as the team that did the bulk of the work this catapults People Can Fly onto our list of the most exciting shooter devs on the Xbox 360. Brilliant writing, unparalleled production values and thunderous action: this deserves to be number one with a bullet.

Temporarily interesting.

Original, beautiful, and one of a kind.

Not so easy to learn, even harder to master. [Mar 2011, p.107]

Pleasure and pain in a single package. [Mar 2011, p.105]

Same game, bigger map. [Mar 2011, p.103]

Panorama-baitingly addictive. [Mar 2011, p.103]

Strong, simple concept, executed beautifully. [Mar 2011, p.102]

Too punishing to recommend. [Mar 2011, p.100]

Wildly chaotic but obscenely enjoyable. [Mar 2011, p.91]

There's plenty to do, two whole islands to explore and, if you can persuade the game to connect you with a mate or two, hours of pleasingly aimless road tripping to do. But when a game built for release in 2011 on a foundation of socialising has such an obtuse system for connecting with other players it's something a teaspoon of sugar in our petrol tank.

There's no online play, use of the camera is minimal, the only things you unlock are extra difficulty levels for the mini-games that already exist, and it just feels a little bare. Maybe wait until it drops to the £15 mark, then by all means give it a whirl.