The second DLC pack is definitely the strongest, and with the recent updates you should be loading this up if it's fallen off the rotation. Tell your mates, too - you'll need someone to play with.

It's short but engaging, with some fiendish platforming segments, and introduces enough new concepts as you snake up the Solar System to keep you spinning on your axis. [Feb 2016, p.87]

Small Arms is pretty blatant about copying the gameplay of Nintendo's "Smash Bros," but it's exactly the kind of frantic action suited for online play. [Jan 2007, p.97]

Another great slice of comic book action.

A genuinely atmospheric and often disturbing yarn that Ripper and Creed fans shouldn't miss. [Feb 2016, p.88]

400 Days is by no means an essential purchase - it unfolds so quickly that you don't have that much needed time to mull everything over. But for 400MP, it's a perfectly decent-sized bite that should whet your appetite for Season Two, adding welcome layers of intrigue and complexity to an already exceptional series.

A Bowie-esque reinvention. [Christmas 2015, p.75]

It doesn't bring many new tricks to the table, but Origins is still thoroughly entertaining.

F1 2010 is a brilliant recreation of the sport, but as a complete package it can't quite top the dizzy heights achieved by DiRT 2. [Oct 2010, p.96]

Scratch beneath the surface and there's a deep game that gives out as much as you're willing to put in. [Christmas 2015, p.79]

Fast, realistic, and cool as ice. [Nov 2007, p.98]

Transformers have a great line in banter, and the dialogue is perfect - Saturday morning black and white cartoon morality.

Magic Sword is merely a peculiar bonus: another side-scroller from 1990 that takes a swing at the fantasy genre. Its button-bashing core contains a few RPG fragments, as you can collect protective shields and rescue imprisoned allies who then serve as a support character, and it's a decent, if limited affair.

A delicious experience, containing some of the sweetest moments in any console game. The astonishing environment alone is enough reason to give it a shot. However, it's not quite compelling enough as an adventure to make you want to see the set missions through. [Oct 2006, p.82]

A very balanced, very precise game: you can see how it's managed to endure for 12 years. It's also a basic game, and one that offers no reward beyond the inner glow of self-improvement.

Forza 5 is often simulation racing at its best, but Turn 10 hasn't quite rendered all its previous work obsolete. Given the reduced track and car count, and the present wobbliness of Drivatars, the game sometimes feels like it hasn't quite burst out of its shell. As a launch game, though, it's a wonderful achievement.

Your Shape provides decent replacements for both of these things, with all the arbitrary but absorbing nonsense of levelling up, medals and badges. This might be the first fitness game we'll use after reviewing it.

By turns breathless, brilliant and fist-chewingly demanding, Velocity 2X might allow its tempo to drop too often, but it approaches excellence often enough to recommend - you might just fall in love.

Rewarding and engrossing, it's a fine F1 game. Fix that framerate and it's perfect. [Nov 2017, p.76]

Even on Normal mode, you'll find yourself overwhelmed until the combination of dodge rolls, grabs, pounces, and combos becomes second nature. It's a testament to Shank's new-found competence that this does, eventually happen. Shank 2 has that satisfying feeling of re-mastering a forgotten motor function.

It's not as technically demanding as Street Fighter IV, and feels like a more free-flowing, mobile, nimble fighter in comparison. [Issue#66, p.99]

An accomplished intertwining of robust mechanics, beautiful aesthetics and delicate storytelling make this a game not to be missed, but a slight shallowness stops it just short of brilliance.

If you want more of the same but shinier, and slightly more serious Tony Hawk action, this is the best skate game for some years.

Vocally and visually brilliant, but lacks story.

A great action-RPG - a few slight tweaks to the formula could see it become utterly essential. [Nov 2017, p.78]

Retro City Rampage has all the charm, scattershot wit and entertainment value of a drunk, gabbling child. It's shallow, mindless and simple - that's the point.

Temporary frustrations aside, Runner2 is a simple, lovely jog to the right that slowly builds into a manageably hectic rightward run. The easy difficulty might speed your passage through the world, but it's less fun. So don't rob yourself of a new and entirely needless motor skill. Put it on Rather Hard, and stick at it until the skills lodge in your fingers. It's worth it.

This Middle Eastern adventure is one of the most beautiful cinematic games ever devised, but not one of the most rewarding to play. It's also one of the most mature, thoughtful games of recent years, challenging you with ideas and concepts that are far from clear cut. But where is the freedom of choice? Unless you count the difference between the dagger or the sword, there really isn't any.