The game doesn't benefit from the novelty of Rocksteady's first, pitch-perfect effort, but based on the quality and beauty of Gotham's pair of correctional institutes, we're perfectly happy to be incarcerated again.

It's tough, but also bloody funny.

A masterpiece - one of best games on Xbox. [Dec 2016, p.74]

A game with a beautiful world, meticulously crafted missions, and superb stealth. [Jan 2017, p.77]

Don't be fooled by the identikit visuals: Crimson Alliance is frantic, fresh, and utterly brilliant.

Each world is packed with mysterious treasures and treacheries just waiting to be discovered, and learning how to use them to shape the world to your benefit is enormously satisfying. [Jan 2015, p.89]

Far Cry 3 isn't too much of a departure, once you actually get to grips with the landscape that stretches behind that fidgety, histrionic exterior. It is, however, handily the best game in the series so far, and deserves to hold its head high among this winter's noisy crowd of sandbox offerings. If madness is repetition, this is one reworking of a formula I don't mind losing my mind to.

Consistently brilliant - the best Hitman game, and one of the best games of the year. [Jan 2017, p.84]

From giant pandas to Streets of Rage-inspired brawling, this is the most complete fighting game available to-date.

Fast, beautiful and fully featured, it's not only the best Horizon, but the best Forza, too. [Dec 2016, p.81]

It we had to choose just one Hitman episode to keep and replay, it might well be this. [Dec 2016, p.85]

A funny, thrilling, quietly subversive take on the well-worn Telltale formula - this feels like a genuine step forward for the genre but, more importantly, it’s good fun, almost constantly.

It's aspirational, inspirational, educational, and eminently valuable. It's not only an achievement within its own genre, but a landmark for the entire medium as well.

But these disappointments are dwarfed by the game's vast imagination, ambitious scope, entertaining combat, boss battles, Titan battles, puzzles and power-ups. Lords of Shadow is an epic and slightly unexpected triumph.

The only major disappointment is final boss Seth. Given how imaginative the rest of the crew are, going toe-to-toe with a bald, blue baddie that bears more than a passing resemblance to Bioshock's Fontaine feels like something of an anticlimax.

Trimming off dead-weight as often as it adds something new, this is the strongest LEGO game yet. We've had seven years' worth of iterations, but these cheeky blocks of plastic are still fantastic.

Grows enjoyable source material into the finest mind game available on Xbox One. [Sept 2017, p.90]

And that's L4D2 all over: in every game, the world ends a slightly different way. You'll find a different route to take, you'll hear another dud story from Ellis, you'll try a different weapon combination, or a different tactic in the finale.

Cleverer and more creative than the first, this truly complete Titanfall is a game-changer. [Christmas 2016, p.71]

The combat system is deep, satisfying, and just welcoming enough to let you in, before losing the smile, slapping your face and making you pay attention. Ninja Theory has bottled Danté's soul, and given him an excellent new life.

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.

This is the old-school, full-bore ultra-violence that many people felt was missing from Niko's adventures. It's less a brooding crime epic and more a particularly ludicrous episode of Prison Break.

Still awesome online. [Aug 2009, p.94]

Dishonored is an evocative game. Even without knowing the pedigree of its key developers, you won't fail to spot similarities to the angular black steel of City 17 in Dunwall's quarantine barriers. The European twist on old London is true to the concept art, and what the textures lack in up-close resolution, the world makes up for in grand complexity and generous options.

Sophisticated, unnerving and reliably unforgiving, XCOM: Enemy Unknown isn't just Xbox 360's finest strategy experience - it's also a strategy game which changes how you think about strategy games. Go into it expecting a deadening flow of unlocks and build queues, and you'll get a nasty surprise. Approach the game as you would an odd noise in the basement, and the Earth might just have a fighting chance.

The heart thumping combat you love in a fantastically realised World War I setting. [Christmas 2016, p.81]

If you want your Christmas to be characterised by tears of laughter, this is an essential purchase.

As good as fighting games get, with great mechanics, and visually a knockout. [Issue#225, p.68]