This is a decent online shooter with a fairly bland and mildly repetitive single-player component added on.

The boss fights showcase the game's weapons-based puzzle solving well, and no more so than the final boss.

A wonderful title that invokes the very best of both the RPG and adventure genres, incorporating exploration, puzzles, narrative and platforming into a extensive and splendidly formed package.

In attempting to ape the triumphs of another medium, it overlooks the triumphs of its own. The result is disappointing game, but an impressive interactive experience.

I always new that it would never live up to expectations but I had hoped for something that would have a bit more character than just being an average shooter with Duke's face and humour plastered over it. Still, I can't bring myself to hate it or bash it vociferously. It could never be anything other than what it has been and actually, that's fine.

Right now, DiRT 3 is one of the best racing titles you can buy.

For the most part though, Alice: Madness Returns bazaar setting and imaginative design does a great job of immersing you, and whilst the repetition can grate slightly, its still a unique experience that is well worth your time.

A great fighting game that proves the same excellent home console experience can be translated to handhelds. And whilst the 3D aspect is lacking and even compromises the experience at times and the narrative is flawed in delivery and presentation, the fighting is exemplary.

Steel Diver fails to offer a lasting and enjoyable experience.

Ultimately, you have to admire Red River for at least attempting something with such a unique sense of character.

A joy to play. There is no other way to describe it.

A decent package, only let down a little by its lack of ambition.

PES 2011 3D is a great first attempt on the 3DS, with the slick controls carrying over swimmingly. For next year's inevitable release, we're hoping to see some online features, single-cart local play, some stat-tracking and a few extra modes that use the 3D capabilities to their fullest.

The changes certainly shape a more comprehensive golfing experience and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters lives up to its name sake and delivers the best version so far but it does raise the question of where the series will go next.

Boxing may be more of a niche market than it used to be but Fight Night Champion is still a glistening jewel in EA Sport's championship belt.

For the best part of seventeen years consoles have been trying to emulate the unparalleled experience of playing first person shooters on the PC. For the first time Crysis 2 shows console gamers that they can have the PC experience without the massively expensive gaming rig.

There's also the point that you'll need to put the disc in every single time you play, whereas if you grab each game from the Marketplace, it sits on your hard drive and can be booted sans-disc.

Yet for all the hours I've enjoyed putting into the multiplayer, I still feel insulted by the thoughtlessness of the single-player.

Dragon Age II is a bit of a contradiction. It is both open and linear, limiting and filled with choice but these all combine together to produce another very compelling adventure. Some of the battles may be drawn out but there is always ample reward for perseverance. Dragon Age II is yet more proof of Bioware's dominance in RPG development and long may it continue.

Bulletstorm may be a sick, filthy game that you may not want to show to everyone, but at least it knows it is and simply doesn't care. It's much more interested in whether or not you can slam three shotgun shots into that guy you just flung into the air.

As a game to stick into your DS and play from time to time, Mini-Land Mayhem will not disappoint. It really does the basics right - very right in fact. Keen puzzle-goers, though, may feel that if it had the charm of Mario and the simple touch controls stripped away, then the game would be a bit too forgettable.

It doesn't skimp on the imagination or level design, and while it might feel a little patronising to some in terms of constantly telling you what buttons to press, it still offers some very enjoyable fun.

It's the most complete Pokemon title yet and a very appropriate way to say goodbye to your DS before the ever tantalising 3DS emerges.

Kirby's Epic Yarn has a wonderful, charming tale to tell with a friend, a boyfriend or girlfriend, or a son or daughter. Whether it's your first game or your hundredth, there'll be something in its world of patterned yarn to plant a big silly smile on your face.

It's a game, then, that so far stops just short of being excellent.

It has issues, sure, but it's an ambitious game with a character all of its own. My only hope is that next time Eden put a little more thought into that tasteless narrative.

GoldenEye doesn't tarnish the original and doesn't try to be a carbon copy either, but it is hindered by problems which were always going to be hard to surmount. If you're panging for a bit of Bond and something to play with friends round, you could do a lot worse than what is a fine revival of a classic.

It's such a shame Blood Stone is so average and lacking impact because it does do some things right.

This is a brutally gory and entirely oppressive survival horror title. Dead Space 2 is a truly terrifying and claustrophobic experience and it sets a high bar for all the subsequent triple-A releases due out in 2011.

Bizarrely Mass Effect 2 on the PS3 seems more unstable than its Xbox counterpart with it actually crashing the normally well-behaved PS3 when the Xbox 360 version would keep on going.

Donkey Kong Country Returns definitely has its faults, and we'd wager that the majority of players will never see it all the way through to the end. Yet while the difficulty curve is ridiculous and the multiplayer is quite broken, the game's charm and mystery prevails, giving us some of the same feelings that the original releases did. If you're looking for a serious challenge and don't get frustrated too easily, Donkey Kong Country Returns is worth a look.

In the end though, who would pass up the chance to be like Mike?

Alien Breed 3: Descent is a frantic and entertaining conclusion to the series.

The truth is that as a result of Splatterhouse design, its real strength is the combat and the humour lose their appeal with repetition. And the platforming sections... well, it's hard to be kind about them. Not without appeal, Splatterhouse is a disappointment.

Time Crisis Razing storm provides a brief throwaway thrill before its true colours are laid bare. It's not utterly terrible but it's not far off.

Accessibility is SingStar Dance's biggest drawback, in fact it's arguable its only one, as it's an otherwise fun and engaging package and at the very least it offers additional songs for SingStar fans.

In the end The Shoot provides the occasional bout of enjoyment for a single player but almost none for multi. It's not all bad but its design choices get in the way and forsaken the experience. It gets some use out of your Move controllers at least but don't expect anything of any substance.

Shaun White Skateboarding attempts to do something fresh and interesting with the skate genre, but ultimately fails with fudged controls and glacially-paced gameplay.

Cataclysm is perhaps not quite as awe inspiring as previous expansion packs considering this is all refinement and a reworking of original content but there's no denying the sense of sheer joy you feel rediscovering old yet familiar areas of Azeroth.

Overlook Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom and you risk missing out on a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

This is a ride you don't want to miss.

If there's one thing that pisses me off without exception it's a full-price retail tag slapped shamelessly onto a distinctly half-arsed product. Now there's a quote for the box.

There's no doubting that EA Sports MMA is a contender, but is it better than UFC Undisputed? Yes indeed, ladies and gentlemen, we have a new champion!

And thanks to Autolog, you'll definitely be attempting events over and over. Autolog tracks your friend's achievements and lets you know what times they've set. They can even add pictures and text to your in-game wall, cajoling you into beating them by setting challenges.

Gran Turismo 5 is a love letter to racing fanatics, but also the perfect entry point for more casual players. It plays like a dream, and as long as you can forgive the occasional hiccup here and there, you'll find yourself completely enthralled.

It feels rushed and poorly thought through and a distinct lack of identity is coursing through the game from start to finish.

Every bit as essential as it's forebear, an outstanding achievement and a magnificent game in its own right.

Undead Nightmare is an immensely enjoyable and compelling alternate story set within the Red Dead universe, that succeeds in making the open-world feel fresh and different. The story is entertaining and engaging, and just as well-written and produced as the main game.

It would have been nice to see consistency in the detail, and the big ideas supported by more well thought out design. Nonetheless, genuinely funny games remain few and far between these days, and the laughs Fable III will inevitably bring you are worth the flaws and failings.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a fantastic journey that you'll be exploring for weeks on end. With tens of hours of content and challenges to overcome, this may well be the epic saga you've been waiting for. If only the experience was slightly condensed down and given just that little bit more focus, we'd be recommending it outright.

Just Dance 2 extends the original's well pitched functionality and style to create another compelling dance experience.

The game still feels a bit light on content at $10, but Sonic fans will still find it a worthy investment.

More than just being a family friendly puzzle game, there is something of considerable substance and style here for any gamer. In fact the quality of the story telling and difficulty of some puzzles felt more like playing Uncharted than something on a Nintendo console.

Enslaved is a worthy adventure title that overcomes its own minor shortcomings with an excellent narrative and glorious visuals.

But what it does have it wears on its sleeve - hundreds of hand crafted miniature challenges - and that's what I keep coming back for.

Player likenesses, meanwhile, have received a significant bump in quality. In the more star-studded leagues, at least. Top stars such as Rooney and cover-star Messi measure up to anything FIFA can offer, though in truth, as with many sports titles, there is a touch of the grotesque about some of the models.

Unfortunately, despite many good bits, the idea behind Invizimals promises more than the reality delivers.

Medal of Honor certainly has some great elements and ideas but they aren't brought together in the most convincing way. The campaign lacks widespread appeal due to aspects of its realistic setup and narrative, and the multiplayer is too focused to draw a substantial crowd from the established shooters already out there.

Manage to grab it on the cheap though and you may find it becoming something of a guilty pleasure, a game to be popped into the Wii when all you really want to do is disengage your brain and kill thousands of bad guys while mutilating your own fingers in the process.

It feels and handles unlike any other football game currently available and it's about as close to the beautiful game as you can get.

In bringing Formula One back to HD consoles, the racing veterans have created a robust and at times thrilling game that effortlessly slips into pole position ahead of this generation's other F1 efforts.

Final Fantasy XIV offers the potential but for now, it's lacking in too many areas to recommend.

Horse racing and Stronghold take some perseverance, but if you're able to get pin down the gameplay, then you'll get more out of the new modes. Get a posse together meanwhile, and you'll find more than enough to enjoy in Liars & Cheats.

Halo: Reach manages to out-deliver Halo 3 - which was itself one of the most over-delivered game's in history. The updated visuals and AI engine combine with the ever more nuanced and varied gameplay, not to mention online modes and other new gadgets, to make this a game not to be missed.

Playing HAWX 2 is still as accessible and arcade-centric as ever, meaning that it's uncomplicated, if slightly throwaway fun. Settling in for a long session with the game can be interminable stuff though, so we'd recommend tackling HAWX 2 in small sittings.

While the World War II setting has been done to death in countless games, RUSE's version is a strangely fresh take, although perhaps the game's biggest success is in crafting an RTS for the console that hasn't been diluted in any apparent way, elegantly transferring all of the PC's complicated commands to just a few buttons.

It's a good few hours of decent, lighthearted action-adventuring, and some of the most brilliant Marvel fan-service you could hope for.

For all the enhanced visuals, it's the activities that really make use of Move's location technology that make sense and are the most fun to play.

Worms Reloaded is a pretty and engaging game that, while light on the single player replayability will charm and endear with its quirky weaponry and unique brand of multiplayer carnage. There is no other game series like it and the gaming world would be diminished without the presence of the endless warfare of Worms.

The setting is what really defines Mafia II, providing a genuinely immersive sense of time and place with an impeccable attention to detail in its architecture, sartorial style and superlative soundtrack.

The replayability is immense and after spending a whole weekend blasting through both single and co-op campaigns, I still went back to perfect my speed and score runs as well as collect up missing upgrades and items.

Ultimately, IO Interactive deserves a big pat on the pack for recognising the shortcomings of the first Kane & Lynch, going back to the drawing board to create something that's not only infinitely better, but also hugely entertaining and enjoyable in spite of its flaws.

Packed with a never-ending stream of variety across 30 single-player missions, StarCraft II certainly ticks all the boxes for those looking to ease themselves into the action against an A.I. opponent.

Extraordinary. It's as if the word were invented for it.

There is only one way to really do justice to DeathSpank and that is to quote one of the game's characters. In the words of Annie the Orphan: "I love you Daddy DeathSpank."

The triple-A quality graphics and slick, speedy multiplayer action brings a new level of polish to Xbox Live Arcade.

Still, it feels like there's something's missing, and that's because Ruffian has opted to produce the safest of safe sequels. It's the exact same city, for a start, and if I was to take off my glasses and squint I could probably fool myself into thinking I was playing the original. But its problems run deeper than just the environment: it often feels like exactly the same game, albeit with dilapidated buildings and a greater reliance on orange and blue hues.

While it's conceptually the game we were told it would be, every component is so underdeveloped, the game world so patently artificial. Only the customisation tools stand tall, but even they're of so little consequence that they're almost instantly forgotten.

What a waste of a perfectly decent videogame. Activision should hang its corporate head in shame, directly after it offers the development team at Raven a public apology for so savagely shafting its work on Singularity. If there were any justice in this world, and my opinion amounted to anything more than a whisper lost amid a crowd of screaming maniacs, every shooter fan would promptly purchase Singularity in order to drag it back from the depths of hell to which it has been so unfairly consigned.

It's awful. I'd rather play Rogue Warrior.

Ninety-Nine Nights 2 is dull, tedious, frustrating, and many other negative words.

It delivers a solid gaming experience that will at no point blow you away but will chug along nicely for about ten hours, and so will probably deliver your moneys worth.

As for what was actually made, Transformers: War for Cybertron is a solid but unremarkable effort that occasionally shows glimpses of its true potential. It provides a complete, if a little too short, package of modes and features in a genuinely interesting setting. It just needed a little more spark.

The sheer imagination at work here, and the attention to detail in the presentation and sound of each location, was more than enough to win me over. Sure, the campaign only lasts a few hours, and yes I know that this is all pretty one dimensional gameplay, but in terms of pure fun I had a great time here.

The problem comes when you factor in the strong focus on the pleasant but unrewarding co-op mode, and start realising how the game never really makes up its mind on whether it's a traditional single-player adventure or a serious contender for the next Monster Hunter.

The track list is certainly strong enough to recommend the game for even the most casual of Green Day fans, but Rock Band virgins and those that detest the pop-punk trio will undoubtedly be better served by Rock Band 2 or the forthcoming Rock Band 3 and its keytars, due later in the year.

For serious golfers though, the high fidelity visuals and deeper pool of players online is enough to keep Tiger viable on the Xbox 360.

For the fans, especially the ones who've strayed away in the last couple of months, Infinity Ward's latest collection is more than enough for them to welcome the game back with open arms. Tango sucker!

Alpha Protocol isn't a bad game, it just often happens to feel like one when you're playing it. There's a distinct impression that whenever Obsidian rolled up to a design crossroads during development they ended up invariably choosing the wrong path.

Blur has plenty of the Project Gotham spirit in it, as well as a slew of impressive new ideas. But it all feels quite tame next to the competition.

But fight fans beware - this isn't Street Fighter IV or Tekken. This is as real as it gets.

We'd get rid of power-ups completely, or at least, implement them so they don't murder the flow of each race.

Playing through the game you can't help but be aware of the minds behind this marvel. This is not just ingenious, but also well balanced, always fair and never inconsistent. You know where you are with Super Mario Galaxy 2 because you are spending time with some old friends. Not really the characters themselves - familiar and cute as they are - but the creative talents behind it all.

Alan Wake is a good game. But as well as a recommendation, I'd suggest you take your time with the first play through, because it's a game you can also only really experience once properly. You will most likely play it more than once - but that first time is the real charm of the thing.

Perhaps not only the best game Rockstar has made thus far, but it's one of the best games we've ever played - an unreserved work of genius. It has its flaws and is by no means perfect, but Red Dead Redemption is to the Western what GTA is to the crime genre and should be held up as a definitive example of how open-world games are supposed to be made.

I find myself strangely drawn to its slightly old school re-imagining on the arcade racer. You might be tempted to wait for a fleshed out sequel, but I suspect that in hindsight this will be the version to play - before it feels the need to grow up or add more complexity.

With a fairly engaging storyline and compelling gameplay, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is a worthy addition to the series. It is nonetheless dragged down by short-lived narrative with few extras and the nagging feeling that the franchise is taking a backwards step rather than a stride forward with this instalment.

Ultimately though, Lost Planet 2 leaves a sour taste in the mouth as an immense disappointment, because it really should have been one of the year's biggest blockbuster action titles, yet it sadly falls some way short.