With a comprehensive class-based multiplayer rounding off the package, Bound in Blood is an altogether more polished prospect than its predecessor. At the very least it’s a hugely enjoyable parade of satisfying shooting galleries. But when it finds its stride, it’s a thrilling, wild ride down a road that remains surprisingly less traveled.

From the beautiful storyboard cut-scenes, to the outstanding voice-work, to the stunning soundtrack (courtesy of the highly talented Amon Tobin), to the compelling plot, the classic gameplay, the incredible environment; you start to become overloaded by the praiseworthy content. It is by no means flawless, but inFamous is a compelling, incredibly enjoyable video game and an essential addition to any PS3 owner's game library.

While grown-up gaming is dominated by dark and brooding fantasies, Kirby makes the case for sweetness and light among families.

The oddest thing, however, is how a game that's so breathlessly paced for a good 12 hours succumbs to bloat. As Dead Space 3 creaks towards its denouement, you get the feeling that Visceral packed the first three quarters of the game with such incident, they ran out of stuff to include in the final stretch. It's never dull, but never as consistently engaging either.

There'll always be limitations on console, and it's highly unlikely the game will ever compare to it's PC counterpart, but this is an impressive port and a brilliant game regardless. It's made even more of an ominous time-glutton by having you sprawled out on the sofa, pad in hand, mind, so be careful.

Perhaps the biggest innovation here is also the most controversial. Making good on their ‘The world’s game’ tagline and pre-release promise that this would be their most inclusive iteration yet, EA Sports have now extended their integration of women’s football to Ultimate Team, the series’ most popular – and lucrative – mode which sees gamers collectively spending billions of real-world pounds buying virtual Panini-like packs of players to assemble the best teams possible.

Where a great narrative drives forward a game with beautiful crafting and insightful detail, occasional repeat conversations and low-lit confusion make it a little disjointed in places and can break the otherwise powerful immersion.

The plot’s exceptionally strong too, albeit with one rather jarring bit of progression that didn’t feel hugely believable to me, mainly due to the game’s brevity. It’s enough to stop it being up there at the pinnacle of game storytelling, but only by a hair’s breath. Otherwise, the dialogue is believable, sensitive, thoughtful, the plot surprisingly gripping, and the potential deviations and outcomes are all equally satisfying. It’s £2.79 on Steam, 2-3 hours long, and I absolutely highly recommend this little gem.

Like any commercial videogame Skylanders Giants asks for a substantial investment from its players, but it rewards this with an experience to match.

A world with a sense of humour and fun that will appeal to children and adults alike. A bit like a Pixar film, then. How about that?

Video game narratives can be great, but nothing will surpass the stories we create in collaboration with a game – emergent, unscripted moments that pop up unplanned and create lasting impressions, and that’s where Mankind Divided excels.

This take on Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy puts a premium on character and storytelling, with surprisingly impressive results.

I also really appreciated the fact that there’s a mini-games menu outside of the main quest which offers a more Wii Fit-like experience, allowing you to hand the Ring Con to friends test your skills against them.

The atmosphere is, in a word, anxious - and it’s impossible not to internalize it. Particularly when faced with Quick-Time Events (QTE) which, more often than not, lead to a horrifying death.

A fascinating, if somewhat incomplete package, then. Modern Warfare is a game looking to re-carve its identity as the world’s most evocative and recognisable shooter. A tough feat, despite all the resources clearly thrown at its inception. There are clear missteps along the way as Infinity Ward walks its line, but the direction is an exciting one.

Essentially, Point Lookout feels more like an organic extension of Fallout 3 rather than a collection of missions bolted onto a new environment. A couple of technical glitches aside, this DLC is sure delight players who want to test their mettle in a great new locale.

A great package. While not all of it will suit everyone’s taste, it is worth the price of admission for Final Fantasy X alone. However, if you already picked it up on Vita or PS3, the jump in visuals isn’t quite worth the gil.

Some of the best multiplayer action money can buy. In fact, it's a testament to how good the multiplayer mode is that this title scores as high as it does, given that Killzone 3's campaign plot is undercooked to the point that it's actually still bleeding.

Where it counts, F1 22 is right on track.

It's a game which is fun to play simply for the joy of playing, and when you throw in the ability to play through the story with a second person, along with some additional challenge areas designed exclusively for co-op play, Outland is highly appealing, highly enjoyable downloadable title.

There are so many beautiful touches to the game, and it’s so different to what’s come before, that it will keep blowing you away, surprising you, and delighting you. It’s clear how much the team behind Sun and Moon care about their players and their experiences, and it really makes a difference.

Even if Rare never hit the heights of their heyday again, this collection is a fine celebration of past glories and a timely cause for optimism.

There are so many beautiful touches to the game, and it’s so different to what’s come before, that it will keep blowing you away, surprising you, and delighting you. It’s clear how much the team behind Sun and Moon care about their players and their experiences, and it really makes a difference.

Not A Hero thrives in its messy, hedonistic chaos.

Decent shooting enabled by those twin sticks impress, if perhaps lacking in range, while Vita specific features such as using the touchscreen to pinpoint grenade throws and tilting the device to fine tune your headshots should become Vita shooter staples.

The fact a project of this thundering size gets finished at all – let alone once every 12 months – is of course a minor miracle of hard work and management, but it can only be lauded for greatness if that's what it's reaching for. FIFA 14 seems content with better rather than best.

Insomniac’s take on Spider-Man has its caveats, with its raft of distractions following a little too closely to what has gone before. But its dedication to and understanding of its leading man make for a thrilling and satisfying slice of comic-book entertainment. Because, ultimately, Spider-Man, I like the way you move.

There's nothing quite like EDF's insane thrills. Simple, old-school, but oh so very good at what it does, Insect Armageddon is well worth a look. As long as you don't mind a bit of ant vomit, of course.

The cliffhanger The Dark Room finishes on opens a whole new can of worms, so to speak, while the more surreal questions remain unaddressed (what’s with the whales on the beach? The crazy weather? The nefarious Prescott family?). Finales can make or break a series and Life is Strange is precariously balanced.

I can’t help admiring its purity and focus. Gran Turismo 7 seemingly has one mission: to espouse and share its love of cars and their place in wider culture. Its curated catalogue, pretty history books and gleaming showrooms are presented with dutiful care and attention. So much so that it is easy to find yourself lost in the history of the Volkswagen or Aston Martin before you know it. And once you get those cars out on the track? That’s the best part of all.

Essential for those who haven’t experienced Butcher Bay, it’s also well worth a repeat visit for those familiar with the hulking prison. The new campaign, on the other hand, doesn’t have the same velocity or finesse but at its best, will still be one of the smartest, and most satisfying, games you’ll play this year.

It's cowboys and zombies; what could go wrong? Answer; very little, and while Mr Bleszinski's tweet contains a kernel of truth that the undead can be a "go-to" for lazy developers, the quality of Undead Nightmare puts it out of the firing range of such criticism.

A gleefully amoral riot of a game shot through with a devilish sense of humour. It's not perfect, and it's certainly not as immoral as it pretends to be, but it is consistently enjoyable throughout and more than guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Ultimately, Hitman’s current mileage is going to vary depending on your openness to experimentation. But as a statement of IO’s intent with this reboot, this is a confident first episode that invites you into the flashy world of murder with one of the most sumptuous, devilishly delightful levels ever seen in a Hitman game. Time will tell whether the subsequent packs will allow Hitman to regain its once-revered status, but this is a fantastic start.

Dragon's Dogma is one of those rare games which is brilliant, broken, amazing, infuriating, and one you absolutely, unquestionably have to play.

It's all highly unsettling, and the most important things about the game -- its mood of fumbling desperation, its clapped-out London settings, its focus on exhaustion and disempowerment -- remain startlingly unchanged after the transition in platform and the stripping of the Wii U's clever propwork.

Incredibly simple to pick up and play, but with the potential for plenty of tactical approaches, Videoball is a great multiplayer game and I’d love to see it hit the esports scene in a big way.

The final twenty minutes of the game are sublime.

True, its slower pace may mean it’s more fun to play as Pirlo than Messi these days, but if PES has lost a little of its former flamboyance, it’s a more robust, complete game as a result.

It is a shame that FIFA 17, for all of its definite gains, still has familiar problems on the pitch. There, PES remains champion, but off it, FIFA is unrivalled. And it certainly plays well enough that the unique pleasures of The Journey and the rest of its footballing suite remain a treat.

Crucially, it left me wanting more. If Telltale can mix their own identity in with the old Monkey Island magic they've conjured up, we're going to be in for a real treat over the coming months.

Unravel never entirely shakes that aura of niceness over its five hours or so. It is both its strength and weakness. The background tale of Yarny searching through a family’s memories is a bit mawkish, but the little fella’s determination to trek through the challenges Coldwood chucks at him is adorable and endearing.

But even if Forza Horizon 4 has the hallmarks of a victory lap; its flair, fun and sense of driving pleasure make it one that is richly deserved.

Essentially, Point Lookout feels more like an organic extension of Fallout 3 rather than a collection of missions bolted onto a new environment. A couple of technical glitches aside, this DLC is sure delight players who want to test their mettle in a great new locale.

While there are off-field problems that go beyond unavoidable licensing issues; on the pitch, PES remains peerless.

Bohemian Killing is, despite some problems in execution, one of the most alluring games I’ve ever played on a conceptual level.

It’s an absolutely fascinating, atmospheric take on the horror genre that plays on the mechanical strengths of its various genres to create an utterly unforgettable experience.

The most ingenious/insidious (delete according to taste) addition is the confusingly titled Season Objectives, which have nothing to do with the football calendar and instead are a version of Fortnite’s Battle Pass. Pretty much every action in the mode, from playing games to listing items on the transfer market, now accrues XP which in turn unlocks rewards, ranging from new stadium decorations to coins, packs and, ultimately limited edition players.

There’s no doubting the quality on offer here, then, but if you already own the PS4 versions then you might struggle to justify the outlay for the upgrades on offer – particularly when the original iteration of A Thief’s End is also available to PS5 owners with an online subscription for free as part of the PlayStation Plus Collection. One gets the sense it’s the kind of buying decision consumers will need to get used to making over the course of the coming console generation.

It might seem short and simple, and there is perhaps more I’d like the concept to explore, but this fantastic little example of crowd-sourced morality is deftly handled, super evocative and one of those games you absolutely should experience.

Immortality certainly gives you that leeway for your own interpretation and enough compelling mystery that its puzzle can get under your skin and spill out of the game itself. There are already some fascinating readings of the game out there and much of the fun will come in discussion and dissection. I still don’t think I have a perfect handle on what it all means, despite reaching the game’s ‘conclusion’, but I have some ideas. What I do know is that this is a brilliantly clever, disturbing and singular piece of work.

Make no bones about it, this is Rocky retold in digital form. But however familiar the punches, it's how they are thrown that makes the difference between victory and defeat. Champion executes its game-plan with a skilful touch, weaving the enjoyable yarn around a deep and tactical boxing sim.

The third Motorstorm may have stripped away some of the class of its predecessors and replaced it with noise and bluster, but it has done so with a technical bravado that is, at times, astonishing.

Fiddly bits notwithstanding, Thomas Was Alone is a game crafted with real love and attention. It shines through most prominently in its neurotic set of blocks, a cast so delightful you'd give them a cuddle if they weren't all sharp edges. Mind you, I'm not sure Chris would like that too much. But even that grumpy old square would admit that spending time with Thomas is, actually, a whole lot of fun.

While the quirky details aren't as well formed compared to its predecessor, Desperate Struggle's broad strokes are still joyously insane. Far from perfect, infuriating at times, but uproarious and unforgettable all the same.

It doesn’t bring anything new to gaming, or even the South Park series of RPGs. It refines and improves, changes and updates, but generally speaking it just gets things right, plays a fun game and keeps you engaged from start to finish. The fact it made me laugh a surprising amount throughout is just a bonus.

Battle Royale isn't the most original of games, then, but it's far more accessible than most fighters, rich in fan-service and PlayStation history, and a fun party game to boot. It may never particularly surprise or break any moulds, but it's a seriously fun, well-crafted brawler, and well worth a look, particularly for fans of the franchises it houses.

It is a game that is interested in one thing and one thing only: turning enemies into bloody smears and hopefully finding some new shoes. And, thankfully, it is very good at it. If you are one of those people-who-like-this-kind-of thing, of course.

It took the best part of two decades to find room for innovation in so elegant a formula, but Hot Pursuit does it – bending it as far as it would go without breaking what made it great in the first place.

Players waiting for their shot at the throne can watch fights in the theatre, with the lovely touch of having your Xbox avatar cheer along and even mark the winner out of ten at the end of a bout. Unfortunately King of the Hill can suffer from appalling lag at times, reducing its quirky appeal in comparison to the smoother one-on-one fights.

Ripe for exposure to a wider audience, X is a splendid sequel/remake of the original, serving up 60 new levels of precise platforming to go with the original 40 legacy level

Don’t venture into the Frozen Wilds expecting clues as to the nature of Horizon Zero Dawn 2, then - in truth this is barely HZD v1.2. Instead, revel in a sizeable single-player, story-driven expansion that harks back to a time before season passes, loot boxes and downloadable dress-up kits, and which also provides an excellent excuse to revisit one of the year’s most enjoyable games.

It’s a great game in a slightly flimsy initial package, then, but Popcap has stated that it plans to release free bi-monthly DLC to thicken the crop of modes.

Chime as a whole is utterly mesmerising in the way that only puzzlers of its kind are. An aural treat for the mind.

Here you feel like you are put on both sides of the divide, manipulated by fsociety to manipulate others. That you might start to enjoy and crave the power that the latter affords is a disturbing and fascinating thing.

If you've felt that Call of Duty has been getting more than a little tedious in recent years, as I certainly have, then Advanced Warfare might just convince that it's something worth taking notice of once again.

My word, this is very, very good horror. It is perhaps understandable that Capcom have held back as it ensures that, as Takeuchi ordered, Resident Evil is returned to its core. In that, 7 is a success, providing a rich, atmospheric and reverent chiller that is just silly enough to make sure we are all having fun.

With an excellent time-management mechanic, some great dungeon design and an emotive love story at its heart, Pandora's Tower is an action-RPG well worth checking out.

There's perhaps a little too much repetition of particular rhythm tasks --and some are certainly more successful than others-- but Rhythm Thief is a joy from start to finish. And with a huge amount of collectibles and post game content, provides a package that should form part of any 3DS owners library.

Video gaming is an extraordinary medium capable of so many things; transporting you to other worlds, challenging your mettle and your beliefs, telling stories and fuelling creativity. Sometimes, it lets you get together with your mates and shoot zombie Nazis in the nuts. Consider the bar raised.

Trials Evolution is a must-have for Trials die-hards, and a perfect, comprehensive starting point for the uninitiated.

There's a haunting elegance to Oxenfree that's there because each of its constituent parts are working together to create it.

For Honor’s fighting mechanics are weighty and gratifying, communicating the violence and impact of medieval combat through handsome visuals and animation. Your heavily armoured warrior (of which there are 12 different classes) has a plethora of stances, light and heavy combo attacks, guard breaks, dodges and parries that are governed by a quickly depleting stamina bar.

There are still problems when it comes to balancing realism with spectacle, but Madden NFL 16 manages to get the mix mostly right. Certainly, when compared to previous releases, there's a far greater sense that what you're playing tallies with what you see on Sundays.

It's an incremental jump over NHL11, then, and NHL12's newest periphery additions perhaps don't fire as they should. However, it's an incremental jump over a game that was ruddy marvellous in its own right.

There always seems to be a caveat with Nintendo, but for me the quality of the game outweighs the concerns. In play, this is Super Mario making himself at home on mobile, and few can match our favourite plumber when he gets into the groove.

"Committed" sums up Super Street Fighter IV 3D rather well. Ok, so it's yet another update of a two year old game, and there's no way it could ever be the definitive version, but it's a conversion built with such skill and pride it's hard not to fall for it all over again.

MachineGames haven’t exactly reinvented the FPS or even Wolfenstein here, but they have put together a consistently enjoyable, well-crafted action game and given you the motivation to blast your way through its stringier bits. If this is the New Order for Wolfenstein, then this is a promising start.

At launch, in the here and now, it's a satisfying celebration of Ridge Racer's breezy ubiquity at getting the best out of shiny, new hardware.

Tonally it is all over the place, never seeming quite sure what type of game it wants to be and audience it wants to court. At times it as sweet, warm and sharply enjoyable as any family film. May and Cody’s jibes at each other swerve from affectionate to cutting in a believable and often touching way as they pick at the rifts in their relationship. You may even start to root for them, until the game swerves into a task involving the excruciatingly drawn-out murder of a toy elephant to make their daughter cry.

My one solitary victory in Tetris 99 so far had me dancing around the house with glee, as I twisted blocks into ill-matching holes at the very top of the well in a blind panic until my opponent fell milliseconds before me. I took it though, believe me, right before jumping back in for another round.

OlliOlli is, at its heart, a blissfully simple game. A focus on four wheels and a plank of wood, and not planting your face into tarmac. But for all of its channelled simplicity, it is a markedly clever piece of work, melding the best of trick-based sports games and twitch 2D platforming and executing it with poise.

There are speed runs, challenges and endless survival modes to add longevity, but it takes a special kind of game to provide such a lean playtime with such self-assured verve. That is Superhot all over: stylish, confident and perfectly formed.

While it may occasionally frustrate, Antichamber is a wonderful experience. There are vague hints of a plot, but it's a plot about self-discovery and making progress, about learning how to overcome challenges and find your way through life's confusions.

The sheer scope of possibility is a little daunting, so it’s really to the game’s benefit that it is just so instantly addictive.

While there perhaps isn’t a huge amount of headline features to shout about in FIFA 18, its nip and tucks make for the most-rounded and compelling FIFA in a good few years. Both on and off the pitch.

Wii Fit Plus is a solid entry in the fitness game genre. Despite its shortcomings it's guaranteed to make the act of exercising enjoyable and if you don't already own a game of this type, but are interested in trying one out, Wii Fit Plus is a no-brainer; as an entry into the genre, it is peerless.

MadWorld is one of the most eye-catching, stylish and well-made games to land on the Wii in some time. It's also tremendous fun and for players old enough to enjoy its bloody delights, it lands in the essential category effortlessly.

It contains obvious missteps and a clear reliance on repeating objectives at a time when the open world genre has taken leaps forward, but for all its repetition, it never became boring. For all its barren desolation, I was never without things to do, find or see to continue my satisfying path of progression.

It’s slightly too short, a bit technically ropey in places, and extremely heavily front-loaded with some very dense lore, but once you work your way through the initial overwhelming lack of direction, what you’ll find is an exceptionally rewarding RPG filled with deep systems, a ton of genuine replay value, and a lot of love and care.

Like its cast, it can feel like an unholy jumble of disparate ideas, yet that unpredictability is one of its greatest assets. Code Name S.T.E.A.M. represents a gamble on the part of both developer and player, then, but as long you’re prepared to accept its unconventional terms, there’s a good chance it will repay you quite handsomely.

But each year should offer something slightly different. Partway through my Watford season, having somewhat steadied the ship and learnt more intricacies than I had in previous editions, I had the overwhelming urge to try something different. I began a new game, made myself unemployed, and got a job to start a root-and-branch revolution at Carlisle United; revamping the backroom staff as much as my miniscule budget would allow, building a squad around youth and poring over lesser known opponent’s stats in order to figure out the week’s gameplan. Plenty of other players would have taken a similar path in previous games, for sure. But I think that’s the point with Football Manager. And that it can still inspire different approaches from different players each year is impressive, even if it might not look hugely different on the surface.

Dirt 5 is not a complicated game. And while racing purists may want a game with more meat on its bones, that is to its credit. It is almost old-school in its focus on delivering a breathless parade of rough-and-ready racing. And if you have a next-gen console to show off its extra bells and whistles, then all the better.

While it does occasionally creak under its years, at its heart Shadow of the Templars is an enthralling, sumptuous adventure with wonderful characters and a marvelous sense of wit and charm. The kind of things that just never get old.

While this relationship is a triumph rarely seen in video games, the moment-to-moment storytelling is not as well-crafted. Firewatch sets up a smart bait-and-switch by messing with your assumptions about what’s going on, but doesn’t quite deliver on it. The build-up is tremendous, lacing the air with paranoia and tension by dangling different threads. But by the end doesn’t tie together.

Newcomers should be aware that some of Resident Evil’s old-fashioned style can frustrate, but it is still a creepy, involving slice of bona fide video game history.

Heart of the Swarm sits halfway between an expansion and a sequel, yes, but also halfway between casual and competitive, singleplayer and multi, offering a huge amount and not really all that much at all. It’s bombastic and reserved, overwrought and beautifully finessed.

In the end, that's what'll keep you playing, trying to discover the hidden death-dealing methods, like throwing a group of enemies up into the air and using the flare gun to set them all on fire. That's a freebie, use the knowledge wisely.