The default end-to-end camera is still a massive pain when it switches for an intercept. Players, most notably the FRF and 2RF, love to drift out of position and hang out on the wings. Also, while expanded controls are welcomed, the game mishandles them – you'll punch walls when any tackle before an intercept gets interpreted as a grubber kick after you gain possession. [December 2012, p75]

What the avid propeller-head wants is realism, depth and tactics – all of which Damage Inc. does not deliver. There's no dynamic damage, your cockpit gauges may as well be crayoned on, and while the controls are responsive, this game cares not for your Earth-air physics. [December 2012, p74]

Gone are the wide beams and lovely safety fences around the edges of levels that we'd grown used to. They're replaced with a brand of fiendishness that'll have you tearing your hair out, punching objects and hurling your Vita across the room. Only to pick it up and have another, begrudging, go. [December 2012, p74]

This is easily the sexiest looking, smoothest running and features packed open-world game on a portable. Yes, Liberation may not boast as many side-diversions as ACIII, but more than enough DNA from that GOTY contender has made the leap. PS Vita technical limitations are offset by the fact that we think Aveline's tale is slightly superior to the PS3 adventure. [December 2012, p72]

SFxT for Vita is a maddeningly brilliant obsession that will burn holes in your mitts. If you're looking for a fighter to permanently fuse to your hip, or want to save yourself having to spend $30 just to unlock the DLC of your PS3 copy, punch a hole in your piggy bank and go pick this up. You won't regret it. [December 2012, p71]

Yeah, the puzzles are moderately difficult, and (we think) the levels are linear, but there's simply no denying childlike wonder Unfinished Swan engenders, nor the indelible mark it leaves upon your heart. [December 2012, p70]

Ubisoft has suggested some plot threads may end in this iteration, but we don't think the end is anywhere in sight. Thanks to the sizeable engine update and an era shift in Assassin's Creed III, this withering franchise has been allowed to bloom once more. [December 2012, p62]

Hitman: Absolution absolutely nails the modern gaming trope of presenting oodles of gameplay choice. It would be an insult to polarise Absolution into 'stealth' or 'action', where the real beauty of the game is found in the fertile grey area in between. [December 2012, p66]

The rhythm genre isn't dead, it just got better with lasers. [November 2012, p79]

Expected features like continuing from the middle of the stage are absent, probably to expand the slender content as much as it can, but it clearly has a heart of gold and lashings of style. You'll like it more with a co-op partner, but Scott Pilgrim is much better. [November 2012, p79]

Smartphone owners may be familiar with the basic premise, but it's been remixed and added to, essentially making the PS3 release a different game that's worth buying. [November 2012, p79]

Taking your hands off the traditional controls to manipulate a touchscreen wider than the Nullabor isn't fun. And yet a lot of puzzles in LBP, timed and otherwise, revolve around doing exactly that. You're forever tapping blue blocks to create solid ground, or you're dragging them to solve environmental puzzles. At best, it's disruptive to classic platforming, at worst it'll be the bane of any no-deaths run. [November 2012, p78]

We love that Way of the Samurai 4 is batshit insane, and about as Japanese as a toilet that sings and shoots rainbows. Even still, that quirkiness quickly gives way to seriously rough edges. Clunky, repetitive combat isn't helped by comically bad animations, and when the visuals aren't bland, they're shredded to pieces by screen tearing. [November 2012, p78]

Truth is, Tokyo Jungle is addictive as hell, and there's a heap of pride to be felt from outwitting enemies like a Solid Snake gazelle. And you'll positively beam when you defy commonsense by using a beagle to tear the throat out of a sleeping lion. Throw in rad co-op multiplayer, and this simple-looking PSN title will have you shagging, mauling, or "graduating from bovine university" for ages to come. [November 2012, p76]

The game captures the excitement of the sport, forces you to concentrate for laps on end, and can be as much of a time-sink as you choose, either with a full career or bite-sized challenges, and a smart middle ground where you need to beat a roster of chosen rivals for their contracts. [November 2012, p72]

The presentation still bites. Players and stadiums look drab, and PES 2013's overall physics can't compete with EA's replication of momentum, but at least Konami's offering is doing some things differently than FIFA, and doing them bloody well. [November 2012, p72]

DOA 5 is a slick, beautiful mash of fighting polish and icky sleaze. There's a mountain of fun to be had with its characters, combos, and counter system, but it often degenerates into a confusing high-speed mess. [November 2012, p71]

TTT2 succeeds on a number of levels. It innovates within the series itself, the genre as a whole, while simultaneously appealing to hardcore fans and those who have only casually played Tekken since it debuted in the mid '90s. The game you get on your PS3 is based on the 'Ultimate' version of the arcade game with a few added characters thrown in, making the already chunky roster even plumper with 50-odd fighters. [November 2012, p70]

Any PlayStation gamer looking to broaden his horizons really ought to take a chance on this. If you're like us, and you figured 'turn-based' was longhand for 'boring', you'll be shocked when your 1000th (sissy) save reads: 40 hours played. [November 2012, p68]

The bulk of Resident Evil 6 is highly polished, AAA blockbuster stuff. Capcom has bet big here and delivered a tonne of content that not only delivers extreme value for money, but also gameplay to suit every Resident Evil fan type. As impressive as that feat is, one can't help but feel that this sequel is more of a catch-up to other games, rather than a bold zombie into bold new territory. [November 2012, p66]

On the surface it may look the same but underneath and in your hands this is complex and wonderful. With a wealth of updates and the impressive inclusion of the training mini-games, FIFA 13 is for anyone who either wants a friendly kick-about or be completely and utterly immersed in the world of football. [November 2012, p64]

Borderlands 2 is smarter, sharper, bigger and funnier than the game it supersedes. Everything that made the 2009 title so memorable has been improved upon, designed for you to sink your life into. These coming months are going to be packed with excellent titles, but Borderlands 2 has enough potential and sheer stuff to keep you going well into 2013. You need this. [November 2012, p62]

While the world may be a tad derivative, Corvo's powers more than make up for it. Blink becomes second nature, and it's obviously informed the level design's go-anywhere approach. There's just enough inventiveness here to elevate Dishonored above its numerous competitors, and it's quite hard to imagine going back to games where you can't teleport to the rooftops, or possess fish to access buildings' cellars. [November 2012, p74]

If you like Terry Gilliam's work you'll love the art aesthetic here as you romp through art history, visiting historical figures as you go. It's quite funny if you can appreciate its sense of humour, too. [October 2012, p79]

This four-player top-down shooter is a one-note type of game, an ear-shattering drone of gunfire punctuated with occasional soundbites. You're on the ground, shooting guys. Then you're in a chopper, shooting guys. The repetition and lack of character kills any hope the XP system had for making this brown square of a game engaging. Play alone and suffer the AI. Play with mates and... actually, don't. [October 2012, p79]

Its inventiveness means there's a lot to like, and the price is definitely right. [October 2012, p79]

Attacks are doled out with three face buttons and although there's a tights fistful of combos to learn and modifiers on the shoulder buttons for variety and occasional defensive manoeuvres, we literally took down a clutch of enemies by bashing the controller against our butt. No joke. [October 2012, p78]

While it feels a bit old fashioned with a lot of story to get through, Tales of Graces f is a decent translation. If you've shied away from JRPGs in the past this is as good a point of re-entry as any. [October 2012, p78]