Functional, uninspiring tie-in. [Christmas 2011, p.109]

Enjoyable sim that we've seen before. [Christmas 2011, p.109]

If you've got the space, get involved. [Christmas 2011, p.107]

It's all a bit on the Mickey Mouse side. [Christmas 2011, p.107]

Unsophisticated but effective fun. [Christmas 2011, p.105]

Very good, for the few who can take the pace. [Christmas 2011, p.105]

"it's for fans" isn't a good enough excuse. [Christmas 2011, p.105]

As a single-player experience, it's every bit the quality of a full-priced shooter. [Christmas 2011, p.97]

Eurocom's recycled but robust offering might have been worth it if Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 weren't stealing the limelight this Christmas. Golden Eye Reloaded is fun, but fails to square up to the FPS big boys.

In its natural habitat, with two players sitting on a sofa together, this evokes the best of the '90s 2D fighting boom. It may lack the glossy finish of recent Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Tekken releases, but it still feels slick and rapid enough to stand by its polygonal brethren. If you like your fighting games with a dash of nostalgia, this fits the bill beautifully.

To paraphrase Bret Hart, it's the best there is, the best there was, but next year's will probably be a little bit better again.

While New Game+ lets you restart the adventure with all of your gear and experience, there's not much variation to the storyline, and the light RPG conversations add little in the grand scheme of things. That said, if you're aching for a solid, fun co-op game, War in the North might be worth a stab.

It's Trials HD, but it's also rubbish. [Dec 2011, p.105]

Mostly just crashes and burns. [Dec 2011, p.105]

Nicely filling, but could do with some relish. [Dec 2011, p.103]

It has the wind beneath its wings. [Dec 2011, p.103]

Added depth doesn't add much. [Dec 2011, p.101]

Brilliant, bite-sized entertainment. [Dec 2011, p.101]

So cheap our small complaints are trivial. [Dec 2011, p.101]

With practice, intelligence, and a steady aim, you'll find your own satisfying path to greenskin genocide. [Dec 2011, p.99]

A fast, fun varied MMA fighter. [Dec 2011, p.92]

As it stands, we've rarely been so bored when travelling at 150 miles per hour, less inspired by a police chase or less interested in the plot of a videogame. In the end, the game's only held together by staples of the series, namely a huge complement of cars and no-nonsense grippy physics. That's just enough to elevate it to the status of competent racer, but definitely not enough to earn a recommendation.

A glorious example of how much fun there is to be had when you let rip with both barrels. Screw reality - ridiculous overblown madness like this is exactly why video games are so great. Thanks for justifying our pastime, Volition.

Bulk can work to a game's disadvantage if there's nothing drastically new on offer, however, and Revelations' later stages are a bit of a slog. It's just as well this is Ezio's final hour, because enjoyable as the game undoubtedly is, the base mechanics were showing their age in Assassin's Creed 2. Recommended, then, providing you're not expecting a massive overhaul.

The love that's gone into this HD remake makes it more than worth its budget price. If you've never checked out this series, don't get bogged down by details: Halo is about a big bloke shooting cool guns at cool aliens in cool places. Ten years later, that's still enough.

There's no downside, save an easily-forgiven sense of familiarity and the absence of online co-op. You can't even resort to the usual retro-gaming caveat of high difficulty - the learning curve is perfectly judged, the checkpoints agreeably spaced. This is the year's best platformer without the faintest shadow of a doubt.

Skyrim may frustrate you at times, but it will work its way inside your skin and replace the marrow of your bones. It never gives you an opportunity to neatly stop playing. Even if you manage to tear yourself away, the locations and the people will rattle around in your head. It'll give you stories to tell your friends, (although you should remember that many people simply won't be interested), and it'll give you an entire region to bend, beautifully slowly, to your will.

Without question a better game than the previous three CoD games and easily the most spectacular in the series.