A race against time with a whole lot of charm. [Christmas 2012, p.93]

Fun for none of the family, sadly. [Christmas 2012, p.93]

Feels empty and faintly depressing. [Christmas 2012, p.93]

Hindsight be damned, these games are still fantastic.

The asking price is a little too steep, but long-term Mass Effect fans will appreciate this return visit. Small-scale stories are what Bioware does best, and we're hoping we'll see more stuff like Omega in the next Mass Effect game.

A light-hearted take on heavy-duty subject matter is no more than what we've come to expect from Travellers' Tales. In adding RPG features without shattering the returning mechanics, however, the LEGO team have arguably outdone themselves. You shall not pass this one up.

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.

The Walking Dead offers a level of narrative quality that outshines anything else currently available in gaming. It makes the TV series of the same name look dull, poorly paced, and insignificant. These are the most important games released this year, and we simply can't recommend them enough.

Mickey's world-shaping brush is slightly sexier than Oswald's electro-ray, but both cause Goofy an equal amount of pain, so it's hard to complain. Niche then, but nice.

Fine combat, badly balanced. [Dec 2012, p.103]

Dull-witted and directionless. [Dec 2012, p.103]

Still strong, but starting to show its age. [Dec 2012, p.103]

Frustrating and counter intuitive. [Dec 2012, p.101]

About as basic as a wrestling game can get. [Dec 2012, p.101]

A game so scary, even it doesn't know what it is. [Dec 2012, p.101]

Lobsters should be invited to every party. [Dec 2012, p.7]

We can't wait to see what next year holds. [Dec 2012, p.97]

Enough to make Blackbeard retire. [Dec 2012, p.97]

As a box set it's just over-packaged and over-priced nostalgia. [Dec 2012, p.97]

You'd be mad to buy an electric guitar and not fork out for Rocksmith as well. [Dec 2012, p.95]

More time-travel sci-fi needs heel kicks. [Dec 2012, p.87]

Indie fun that jumps through all our hoops. [Dec 2012, p.79]

A game that celebrates the HD-era Sega rather than the old, forgotten one. Good job it's such a blast to play, then.

Everything about the world revolves around entertaining you, whether it's the wide scope of murder-options or the amazing dialogue in between. Whatever kind of killer you decide you want to be, Absolution is an unmissable hit. [Dec 2012, p.68]

A title that feels like it's gripped by identity crisis, unable to let go of its F1 origins to the degree required to be a great karting game. Instead, we get a curious hybrid that's fun, but not essential for either end of the market.

As a multiplayer game, Black Ops 2 is one of the best shooters around - sprawling and sagging under the weight of interesting systems. Offline, however, it's merely adequate. Despite some commendable ambition, Black Ops 2 isn't quite the match-stealing assault on Infinity Ward's turf we hoped it would be.

Angry Birds Trilogy just feels like simple cash-raking from a franchise that's displayed little-to-no creativity since the first bird was fired.

343's attempts at endowing this carefully constructed husk of a protagonist with psychological depth are predictably timid.