Disney Universe is a sweet game, as you'd expect from the saccharin mouse. But it's not an ambitious game, and after playing for a couple of hours, the illusion of the dense level design wears off, and you might feel it's a little bit thin. With more going on, and more reasons to go back to conquered levels, this could have been brilliant.

A clear improvement on its already-excellent predecessor and is now absolutely the dance game that Kinect deserves. Those who can't stomach the more narrow selection of musical genres will be upset, but this is still the slickest, sexiest dance game around.

It's very much one of the year's best shooters, but for all Frostbite 2's volcanic achievements, it's more a triumph of consolidation, blending elements from past games and popular competitors, than a triumph in its own right.

Our favourite addition is the brilliantly insane Karaoke mode, which enables you to sing along to instrumental versions of the famous theme music. Less hilariously, but more usefully, there's support for eight players over Xbox Live to replicate the legendary showdowns that occurred at amusement arcades around the world in the mid-'90s.

Better is good, but it isn't great. [Nov 2011, p.110]

That's some good footballing sir. [Nov 2011, p.110]

Ugly and complex, but still worth a flutter. [Nov 2011, p.110]

The lack of Xbox Live play kills it dead. [Nov 2011, p.107]

It'd make a great TV show, though. [Nov 2011, p.107]

There are still a few cracks, but this still rocks. [Nov 2011, p.101]

The Missing Link is an elegant, self-contained campaign-in-miniature that packs almost as many options and exactly as much atmosphere into a third of the space.

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 a colourful toy that'll distract young children long enough to give you precious hours in the kitchen drinking fortified wine.

Whether you're haring along some cliffside road, desperately trying to keep yourself from sailing to a painful death, or just fiddling with your sponsor challenges for maximum return, WRC 2 is an involving and rewarding racer. It's still not as great as the DiRT games, but it's not as far off as you might think.

If you enjoyed Dead Rising 2, then you'll enjoy Dead Rising 2: Off the Record - but that's because they're identical.

The problem is the pacing of the game. Missions are too long and repetitive, which causes the drama of the dogfight mode to wear out. The problem is worse in helicopter missions, where the strategy of the dogfight mode is replaced by panic rolls when missiles are close and some rude checkpointing.

Developer Kylotonn has crafted the least appealing fantasy brawler imaginable, its stillborn mechanics drenched in over-compensatory cutscene-driven storytelling, its charms limited to the lure of unlockable combos and abilities.

Forza Motorsport 4 is a racing game that tries to be all things to all people, and you know what? It actually pulls it off.

For ten hours, longer than many entire games, RAGE feels massive, open and beautiful. It's crushing to discover that it's all smoke and mirrors, but while the illusion lasts, it's brilliant.

If you can swallow the pad-mashing mechanics and wince your way through Silicon Knights' ham-fisted attempts at delivering back-story, there's a certain satisfaction to be had replaying to unlock new suits and powers.

For a game that's sometimes frighteningly unfair, it's shocking just how compelling Dark Souls is. While the first game was merely ruthless, its successor feels like full-on psychological warfare - we've played difficult games before, but this is the first we've seen that actively seems to be conspiring against you.

While the core game is arguably as fun as FIFA's it just lacks the depth to sustain the challenge. The gap has closed. Can PES regroup and build again to really challenge for the top honours next year?

When you consider the revised physics engine and fine-tuned player AI, this year's FIFA steps up as one of the best updates in a long time. A goal machine of a game and a compulsive purchase that not even Arsene Wenger could resist.

Enjoyable anime nonsense robot attack. [Oct 2011, p.103]

Rubbish. [Oct 2011, p.103]

A faded Arkham Asylum facsimile. [Oct 2011, p.103]

Fails to convert its potential. [Oct 2011, p.101]

A scrum-ptious morsel for Rugby nuts. [Oct 2011, p.100]