Redeems Infinity Ward, but is uninspiring. In the face of DICE’s efforts over the fence, this wasn’t the year to stick to the old formula. [Christmas 2016, p69]

Fast, refreshing and full of tactical nuance; these are the ingredients in the Twisted Metal cocktail, but it isn't without an odd aftertaste. Disappointingly, the single-player covers three fiends, rather than a bunch of dedicated mini-campaigns for the full menagerie of maniacs. It's live-action mixed with CGI stuff that gets a bit cheeseball in spots, but is quite engaging. The solo is decent aside from a few checkpointing oddities, but if you're a soloist we'd suggest the budget buy. [April 2012, p67]

While its visual splendours cannot be denied, a few fumbled design decisions hold this back from true greatness. [May 2014, p73]

A technical bell ringer, FC2 is set to be a cult favourite. [Christmas 2008, p.72]

Thankfully, PlayStation VR Worlds is a crowd-pleaser solution. It’s essentially the Wii Sports of Sony’s PS VR. [Christmas 2016, p73]

It's not perfect, but Dying Light is last, brutal and most importantly, fun. [April 2015, p74]

If you’ve never played a golfing game before this would be a great place to start. It’s packed with a great introduction to the sport, dozens of hours of content, and there’s few things more satisfying than rocking up to the 18th one stroke behind, only to sink an astounding 35-metre chip for the tournament win. [June 2013, p79]

One of the most memorable indie games of the past decade. Best played with friends. [June 2013, p76]

Solid but also a HD collection that has no remarkable improvements. [June 2014, p83]

A compelling companion piece for the Arkham franchise, and an impressive PS VR proof of concept. Held back by a high asking price for not a lot of content. [Christmas 2016, p74]

It lacks the bells and whistles, but give Blacklight a chance and you'll be pleasantly surprised. [January 2014, p79]

Monstrous fun, tactical and ludicrously replayable online with the right crew. Single-player provides you with great practice, but wants for narrative and reliable team AI. [April 2015, p76]

Is (currently) free, looks better, and you can now be messed with by stream-watching gamers. What's not to love? [May 2014, p76]

When the dust from the dirty bomb settles, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier looks noticeably grimy and raw in a few spots, but its mission has still been achieved. The visuals can be iffy, but the feeling of being an elite soldier of the future has been faithfully rendered in other ways. The pace is fast, the gadgets are empowering, and your job can shift from shrewd predator puzzles, to battles of attrition fought on a knife's edge. [July 2012 p.72]

All combined, it’s enough to elevate Virginia above PS4’s typical story-led fare, divisive bow-out and all. [December 2016, p74]

Want a robust, strategic, deep VR game? Grab this, but be prepared to digest it in small chunks over time. [Christmas 2016, p77]

Kudos to Santa Monica for the online code as it's top-notch. We were rarely looking for a match, and although there's only a handful of modes (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Zones and Capture The Flag, with the latter responsible for many late nights) they're all tried and tested. If you're not online there's a pleasing if short-lived single player campaign and a co-op mode where you'll battle waves of enemies. While the purpose of the campaign is to make you familiar with each of the units in the IKEA-in-the-sky, it's still fun if ultimately forgettable. There's a tale of sibling rivalry, friendship and love lost, but we'd have to hit Google to find the name of the main character. [July 2012, p74]

Basically, the same great PS3 title we reviewed a while back, but portable and with exemplary CrossPlay functionality. Being able to whip out your Vita and pick up from where you left off (by downloading a Cloud save) is an absolute godsend and the synching process is flawless. [June 2013, p80]

A slow burn that (eventually) picks up into a decent DLC. Standing between you and the good stuff: a load of deja vu. Make with the Destiny 2 already. [December 2016, p76]

While it won’t change your life it is full of surprises, and clever too. [April 2013, p78]

Short, but reasonably priced. Ground Zeroes is a striking entry in an evolving franchise. [May 2014, p78]

A novel, friend-filled angle from which to freshly experience what must be one of PS4’s finest and most artisanally crafted survival adventures. [December 2016, p77]

Not worth the upgrade if you already own it on PS3. Definitely worth a next-gen late-adoption. [January 2014, p83]

In the end, the most meaningful change to FIFA 17 is The Journey. It, along with the increased big-match atmosphere provided by the Frostbite engine, make very compelling reasons to trade up. [December 2016, p78]

No mulligans here – this is the real deal. [April 2015, p81]

As any standup will tell you, the key to a successful joke is the execution – and Jazzpunk tees up its titters masterfully. [December 2016, p80]

Not much effort has gone into this 'remastering' but Grim's an Adventure genre all-star. Test your noodle in this netherworld now. [April 2015, p82]

It's incredibly fast-paced and responsive. Nailing some of the intense combos may twist your fingers off as there are no touchscreen specials except for the X-ray moves that can be initiated once you have a full meter, but fatalities can be executed with finger swipes that match the d-pad inputs. Most of the extra modes, such as Test Your Slice, are gimmicks that either borrow heavily from smartphone games (let's just say you'll slice fruit whilst playing as a ninja) or rely on 'been there, done that' mechanics that use the Vita's hardware. Balancing a man on a beam is old hat, even if he's perilously dangling above a pit. [July 2012, p82]