The Second Encounter was (and is) arguably the best entry into the Serious Sam series, juggling the right balance between flippant colourful whimsy and pelleting grubby monsters so hard they turn into a crimson paste.

It's a big game, and one that requires a serious amount of dedication and commitment. You can't just dabble in Street Fighter, but you shouldn't really want to: spend a few hours trying to learn it and you'll be hooked for life. This is the epitome of hardcore gaming, a masterclass of competition that demands the u[t]most in technical proficiency and mental clarity.

2010 FIFA World Cup is a brilliant football game and a perfect example of how to build a proper game around a one-off tournament. It's hands-down the best football game out there at the moment until FIFA 11 at least.

This is a glorious, wonderful world to explore, a painterly land bristling with character and emotion. It pains me that I can't recommend it wholeheartedly.

Monster Hunter isn't the most difficult game of all time, of course, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a contemporary title that places such rigorous demands on its players' dedication and skill. In the same respect, it tends to either terrify its audience off within a couple of hours or engulf them completely.

A game that more than makes up for the protracted wait, with both a fantastic single player campaign and brilliantly worthwhile multiplayer component to boot.

When the only reason you're compelled to continue playing a game is to point and laugh at how badly the entire thing has been thrown together, you know that it has major problems.

Such a regressive, unexciting game deserves nothing but our collective scorn: it insults the medium and its audience. The greatest kick in the teeth, though? Every website and magazine will go to the effort of writing a review because it's guaranteed to provide a steady stream of traffic. Look - I'm doing one right now! Sex sells no matter how loathsome and uninspired the tacked-on game proves to be, and everyone at Tecmo obviously knows it.

It accomplishes what it sets out to do, but the Stimulus Package feels closer to a shot of caffeine than it does adrenaline.

More than most games your personal level of satisfaction with WarioWare DIY will be directly proportional to what you expect out of it.

You're effectively getting two games for the price of one with Just Cause 2. The first is a creative but flaky action game with a criminally stupid story. But the second is a budget-priced holiday to the most remarkable and culturally diverse nations in the world, one where hilarious cartoon violence is just a part of everyday life.

Red Steel 2 is a series of hugely entertaining combat skirmishes linked by some slightly formulaic level design. It's a lot of fun to play, with the steady rhythm of combat proving hugely satisfying, and it's great to see the Wii MotionPlus being used outside of Wii Sports Resort.

Settlers 7, may not be to everyone's taste but it does offer a great opportunity to settle down, kick back and enjoy a more cerebral and regally-paced gaming experience.

Some might still feel that this is severely lacking in the challenge department though, so approach with caution.

It's clear that EA are onto something with their new-age C&C formula but, as it stands, the core needs a little work. The series, once the most explosive game of the medium, looks like it's going out with a whimper.

On a very basic level it's little more than a conventional corridor shooter, however, it's draped in such atmospheric finery you'll hardly notice.

Some of the most engrossing combat and visceral action the PS3 has to offer - presented expertly.

Quite simply one of the best games you'll never play.

If you are a fan of this genre then you will love Shatter to bits (bad joke, I know), but even if you don't like these 'break out' type affairs, giving Shatter a go would really be worth your time.

Starcraft II might be looming on the horizon, but for now I'm more than satisfied - both online and off - with my troop of grisly Space Marines. I'll also be very surprised if even Blizzard can manage to top Relic at single-player.

Yakuza 3 excels thanks to an irresistibly likeable hero, a world pulsing with life, brutally fulfilling battles, and a good 30 hours of core story missions and secondary character tasks.

It's a gigantic, beautiful game, but it's one that irreparably hurts itself with an unforgivably slow introduction.

These minor shortcomings aside however, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is pure gaming gold and as such has more than a fair shout in eclipsing Modern Warfare 2.

Despite the undeniable quality of the games themselves, for everyone else who's probably played these exact games various times before, the motivation to put your hand in your pocket is probably a lot weaker.

The additional material in Venice gives the impression that it should have been part of really great enhancement patch, rather than a fully featured and fully priced expansion.

Those of you willing to concede a degree of control, and embrace the game world, its characters, its ambience, will find that Heavy Rain is a slice of entertainment that stays with you between plays and compels you forward. It isn't perfect, but there's no questioning the gripping endeavour here. Meanwhile outside, in the night, the rain keeps falling, and time is of the essence get to it.

New features help give the game a little extra spice. I especially like being able to force other nations into becoming protectorate states and demand they fight in my wars with everyone else.

The most impressive thing here is the restraint shown in the amount of Sega branded bedlam and power-ups. What results is a kart racer that offers something unique on 360 and PS3 and a strong alternative to Mario fatigued Wii players.

Only the truly dedicated RPG player will persist through to the bitter end of Risen, as there's a great deal of perseverance required to even make it through the first section without tearing your hair out. The combat really lets the side down and the 360 visuals leave a lot to be desired, but stick with it and Risen will eventually suck you inexorably into its uniquely absorbing fantasy world.

It's definitely worth a look, if only to have something on the shelf that's gently mesmerising and a very nice break from the norm.

The bottom line with Aliens vs. Predator is that its worth as a dependable first-person shooter is inexplicably linked to the fear and foreboding running through its Marine campaign, which leaves the Alien and Predator missions as surprisingly flat additions that quickly drain the fun meter by granting the player far too much power.

As a package Darwinia+ is darned near perfect. It packages addictive original gameplay in a charmingly retro aesthetic, making me both wonder why the game took so long to make it to XBLA and glad that Introversion took the time to make it work the way it does.

It may lack the narrative impact of its predecessor - BioShock's jaw-loosening plot twist is one of gaming's finest - and the art deco wonder of Rapture may have lost some of its artistic wow factor, but there's still plenty to applaud here. Instilled with the same graphical beauty, eerie atmosphere and depth of character that made the first visit to Rapture such a discomforting yet immersive pleasure, it's the fluid dual-wielding gameplay, tense tactical set-piece battles, and the truly terrifying shriek of the Big Sisters that convincingly propel BioShock 2 towards greatness.

It's clear this is Visceral's first jab at the genre, though, and with a bit more confidence (or time and money, perhaps) they could have definitely made more of their excellent core mechanics and the well-implemented license. It might be an unashamed God of War clone, but there are certainly worse games to try and imitate.

The fact remains that, as cutely appealing as Step & Roll can be, it essentially equates to yet another Wii offering that works in some ways but fails to make the grade because of an inability to fulfil the promise of the console's innovative controls.

Good science fiction looks past the wondrous and makes you care about its characters. Star Ocean: The Last Hope completely fails in this regard.

No other titles weave their magic in quite the same way, and you almost suspect Call of Pripyat's foibles are an integral part of how that magic works. This is a brave, brutal and often beautiful experience - not quite FPS, not quite RPG, not quite survival horror. It is Stalker. Importantly, few other games are.

Pretty visuals and in-depth character evolution fail to gloss over the disappointment caused by a hackneyed story, an annoyingly flawed real-time battle system, and a shocking lack of difficulty.

Mass Effect 2 is a work of unreserved genius that not only surpasses its predecessor in almost every conceivable department, but also deserves to be listed alongside the greatest science-fiction properties in any medium. The perfect blend of rich, lustrous visuals, an evocative soundtrack and pure gameplay quality make Mass Effect 2 without question one of the best games of this or any generation, and anyone who believes otherwise, is just plain wrong.

It's a boon to Nintendo's device.

The control system might misfire and it might whiff of 'been there, done that', but when the FPS action is as accomplished and solid as MAG's is, there's plenty of enjoyment to be had especially if you're fortunate enough to assemble a crack team of mates to play with. 255 mates though? That's a bit of a stretch. Better get on Facebook now.

What Airtight Games needed was more confidence: their pedigree with the flight sim genre would have probably been better served if they'd kept their game in the skies. Gears of War might be a popular game, but a sloppy imitation with tacked-on flight bits isn't going to win anybody over. Dark Void might want to soar, but it never finds a way to get its feet permanently off the ground.

Silent Hill Shattered Memories will probably feel like a shallow version of the series to veteran players. But as a standalone title it represents a niche that is intelligent, thoughtful and meaningful.

Anyone who found themselves enjoying the original, or any pair of gamers who fancy another fairly entertaining co-op shooter to get them through the first half of 2010, will find themselves suitably smitten by EA Montreal's competent return to the franchise: it's far more than an ersatz Gears of War, but is hardly an essential purchase.

It's a criminally malnourished set of events that never accomplishes anything more than a series of stale time trials that force the player into frustrating cycles of pause and restart. If that's your bag, it's been done far better elsewhere.

Despite the default motion controls not being quite as wonderful as you'd hope and the question mark over longevity, Sky Crawlers still manages to be a hugely enjoyable ride.

Ultimately, Vigil Games and Joe Madureira have spread themselves too thin with Darksiders, which is, though I'm loathed to say it, largely style and scant little substance.

An unrivalled showcase of imagination and creativity, Bayonetta is potentially 2010's game of the year before 2009 has even ended. [JPN Import]

An endlessly contrived core adventure filled with dislikeable characters, non-existent evolution, and a promising Wii Remote battle mechanic ruined by shoddy camera control combine to send Crystal Bearers to a decidedly deserved demise at the bottom of the bargain bin. Fish it out at your peril.

Pride, squabbling and calamitous design decisions have ultimately left the game a meagre shadow of its potential self. Its biggest problem, outside of its lacklustre design, is that you and the band have to ask yourselves, in the midst of a music game session, "shall we bother fumbling around the shelves looking for that copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen?"

Personally I loved its retro game in modern clothes feel but I can imagine some will find its unashamedly dated design sours their trip down memory lane.

The Saboteur could have been excellent. It has presentation, usually solid mechanics, characters that you are at least interested in if not actually engaged by, and things look pretty when they explode. However, the simply unforgivable control and climbing mechanic is justtoo hard to get past - constantly interfering with your game to the point of swearing and projectile gamepads.

DiRT 2 is a hugely enjoyable and well rounded game. It might not be as sim-like in nature as some hardcore rally fans may have wanted, but what it does offer is thrilling and enjoyable racing.

The bold lines, simple colours and innocent aesthetic emphasises the idealism of the Zelda series at its finest: this tiny, wide-eyed boy can conquer unimaginable evil, and his stoic determination can achieve more than even omnipotent deities could manage. These games might be perfect for children, but they're as fine an example of gaming as any adult could hope to encounter.

Completists might get a kick out of collecting every last item and Pandorapedia article, but everyone else might find themselves getting very bored, very quickly. Still, as far as movie titles go, you could certainly do a lot worse.

There just isn't really much point to Yoga. It doesn't offer anything worthwhile that a yoga DVD wouldn't already offer for less than half the price.

Even with this solid track list, and the sensible step away from Simon Cowell, Karaoke Revolution still fails to answer what makes it unique.

Eight years later, with the modern FPS riddled with faux-military obsessions and regenerating health, the game still feels reassuringly nostalgic. It's just a shame we weren't given a little bit more. With Serious Sam HD, Croteam prove it's possible to remake them just like they used to.

Despite the original Assassin's Creed's less than well hidden inadequacies, we were bowled over by the sheer ambition of the title, the daring of the setting, plot and characterisation. That this sequel goes along way to addressing many of the previous gameplay concerns, while expanding on what made the first release such a wonderful slice of escapism, leaves us convinced that Ubisoft really are building a truly vital franchise that this sequel is a pivotal part of.

Spread across a progressively challenging 10 to 12 hours of game time, Darkside Chronicles is a genuinely decent thrill ride that, if your arms and eyes can suffer the mounting strain, delivers a worthwhile experience that sits somewhere between retro distraction and gory tour de force.

LEGO Indiana Jones 2 is much more than a simple stop-gap, bringing a wealth of content, some tweaks and even open-world concepts to the table, but ultimately I can't help but feel more excited about how these features will be implemented into next year's offering.

The title completely lacks innovation, engagement, or for want of a more empirical term, soul. It does not even have the accolade of being actively bad, it is instead just utterly mediocre.

Whichever way you look at it, Just Dance is one of the most cynical bandwagon jumping game we've seen in a long while.

Its core concept of an ever expanding universe filled with bite-sized platforming chunks dovetails perfectly with the pick-up-and-play nature of handheld gaming to the extent you start to wonder if it was actually always meant to be played this way. Obviously if you loved the original then this fresh slice of near identical pie should delight you once again, if however, you loved the ingredients but were left a little nonplussed by the whole thing last time then this second helping could convert you.

Delivering an effective blend of physical interaction and scalable challenge, More Workouts is an improvement over its predecessor, a vastly superior option to the onrushing crop of perennial celebrity workout DVDs, and easily the most convincing gaming exercise package on the market.

It's better than the first game, then. The biggest achievement, however, is that Valve - who are known to take their time - have managed to put such an enormous wealth of content out in a single year. Left 4 Dead 2 doesn't just add a few new levels and features, it fiddles and increments a formula that few thought needed changing in the first place. The team have managed to infuse their sequel with the exact same kind of nuanced creative energies that usually takes them years, and in doing so they've made last year's accomplished Left 4 Dead look like a simple mod in comparison.

The core mechanics are solid, but the challenges of putting out a licensed product - and starting with a company as fussy as the FIA probably wasn't a good idea - have clearly got the better of them. Though I imagine if you're a devout F1 nut you can add 10% to the score.

Truth be told, I had to blow dust off the Wii before putting New Super Mario Bros Wii into the drive. But only Nintendo's device could ever push a 2D game as their big holiday number - and it's fantastic that they have.

The cinematic appeal of the singleplayer action makes it infectious and hugely memorable in a way few if any other games can manage. That this is bundled with the best multiplayer experience of any game really leaves us in little doubt that this is the complete package.

While I can appreciate the attraction Wii-owning Shaun White fans might feel when faced with the latest entrant in Ubisoft's burgeoning snowboarding franchise, there's simply not enough new and worthwhile content in World Stage to justify me doing anything but twisting consumer shoulders towards last year's offering instead.

It is unmistakably a BioWare game, but nobody makes them quite like they do. I can see myself playing it for hundreds of hours.

While a true sense of 'evolution' may be in short supply, Pro Evolution 2010 remains nothing short of a convincing return to form for Konami thanks to streamlined presentation, unpredictable gameplay, intuitive tactical planning, consistently variable challenge and a much-improved online service.

No matter how you look at it though, FM 2010 is the finest football management sim available today. It's not without its problems but, in the long run, these are far outweighed by new features and gameplay refinements that further the level of immersion and help make you feel more like the gaffer than ever before.

Despite their continued lack of charm the Wii version of Rabbids Go Home is by far the fluffy maniac's best game.

Although the graphics are perhaps a little rough around the edges, the sprawling cityscape is as appealing as it ever was, the NPC population just as lively, and the renowned in-car radio broadcasts swing between a bonanza of musical styles and fabulously written politically incorrect talk shows and discussions that are laugh-out-loud funny.

Tekken 6 is undeniably a solid fighter; it makes for better local versus play than the recent KOFXII, and a very nice change of pace from Street Fighter IV. The arcade port is satisfactory until it dawns on you that, instead of creating a decent online mode, Namco instead chose to make the horrendous scenario mode. And that's a horrible thing for them to do.

Forza 3 is undoubtedly the most comprehensive in the series to date, boasting more cars than you can shake a (gear)stick at and a whole host of fantastic courses to race them on. Slickly presented throughout, Forza 3 has pure quality coursing through its high-performance engine. Make no mistake, this is currently the finest racing sim money can buy.

A great game marred only by a pervading sense of dj vu, then. But when the quality bar is raised this high, deja vu be damned - we couldn't care less. We just sincerely hope that Insomniac see reason and postpone killing off their strongest franchise for a some time yet.

The most depressing game I've played in a long time.

Family Game Night Volume 2 is an awkward one to recommend when bearing in mind the costs of the physical board games.

Still, when it all clicks in place it's quite easily the fluffiest, most lovable experience you're going to get on Sony's black monolith.

What it does do is take the most basely satisfying parts of the whole RPG genre and lay them out in a fast moving buffet of bloodshed and looting. The joy of acquisition and dominance inherent to role-playing games is married to the savage joy of slaughtering entire crowds of victi.. sorry villains, and in conclusion I can heartily recommend it.

In this more emotional sense FIFA 10 nails football wonderfully, its near technically perfect depiction of the beautiful game presents you with the very best bits of football letting you live the dream better than any previous virtual incarnation of the sport. It does make you wonder what they'll find to improve for next year, though.

The downside to all these positives is that the mini-games, so enjoyable on the DS touch screen, become little more than button tapping affairs here losing most of their charm in the process.

Lips still isn't quite the SingStar beater Microsoft wants it to be, it's simply not slick enough yet and lacks the huge library of songs SingStar fans will be used to. However in terms of fresh ideas and when viewed purely as a game it's edged it's nose ahead with relative ease.

Machinarium wants to tell you a story, it needs you to eek your way through it, and the artists have clearly sweated buckets of WD40 in creating a world originally brilliant for you to absorb, but it isn't 'free'. Your payment (besides the 11 GBP it costs) is the dying brain cells and droplets of blood forming on your forehead as you ponder another conundrum. But pay gladly my friends, because this is a kind of value you'll rarely see in any world, mechanical or otherwise. Savour it too, because Machinarium will pay you back tenfold.

We were hoping for a little more innovation from Brutal Legend beyond the standard sandbox set up and button mashing, axe-wielding action. But then again, if the Gods of Metal are pleased with it, then who are we to complain?

A game that manages to feel like a genuinely significant step forward while retaining everything that was so great about the original. The addition of a stunning multiplayer component and the creative freedom of the Cinema mode are like the enjoyably overindulgent pudding after a wonderfully satisfying main meal that make you thankful for elastic waistbands.

There's bound to be plenty of cynics, but it's a lot better sitting around with your family and playing this than other Christmas staples, especially some dodgy DVD 'game' of Deal or no Deal your Mum picked up two years ago.

Cities XL lacks any notable innovations, though, and those additions it does have are under-developed and certainly over-priced, insufficient to differentiate itself or to make its mark on the genre made by SimCity. Yikes - someone hold her hair, would they?

Quibbles and gripes aside it's safe to say Star Wars fans have had to often put up with worse, with last year's abysmal Lightsaber Duels immediately springing to mind. The biggest flaw of Republic Heroes, other than its generally unlikable source material, is that it feels unfinished. As a result, poor execution mars what could have been a likable child-orientated platformer.

With the exception of the combat nearly every part of Saw the Game works in isolation. The visual styling is an excellent reiteration of the sets, and the recreation of the movie ordeals is handled well, including such classics as bobbing for a key in a toilet full for syringes or going swimming in vats of liquefied pigs guts. However, as soon as the player is forced to repeat the trials and traps over and over, down identical grimy corridors, pestered by identical combat instances, the excellent head start is blown and what started as a smartly made, genuinely scary experience degenerates into unimaginative straight-to-DVD splatter, gorily painting by its own repeated numbers.

Overall NBA Live 10 is a significantly improved title from last year and you could even argue it's the best game in the series so far.

Simultaneously engaging and fun to play, Op Flash 2 will be enjoyed by all but the most staunch realism pedant. Given the slight scaling back of the unremittingly harsh difficulty of the first game, this sequel boasts more than enough authenticity to replicate more than just a modicum of what real war might be like.

Whether you get the most out of GT on the PSP will ultimately depend upon how much you enjoyed the rest of the instalments in the series. If you're not already a fan of the slavishly exhaustive self-confessed Real Driving Simulator, then this will do nothing to change your mind.

Slickly presented and impeccably well put together, Beaterator is an incredibly accomplished piece of music-making software that will keep you occupied for as long as you're invested in creating your own tracks.

Somehow, despite capturing the anarchic racing action of its PS3 sibling pretty well there's still something about Arctic Rift that feels a little underwhelming.

There's certainly enough material in here to keep you occupied for hours on end and the wealth of freshly added ninja-gubbins demonstrates Team Ninja's commitment to providing real value for money. Having said that, the sheer unflinching brutality of Ninja Gaiden 2 on Xbox 360, for us, makes it the definitive version of the game.