Flawed as it is, Heavy Rain is a game that anyone with even the vaguest interest in its intentions should experience for themselves. While it’s not quite the revolution for storytelling in video games, its accomplishments should prove it a worthy vanguard. And its ambition should be rewarded.

Don't make the mistake of confusing the near-future setting and the attempts at branching narrative for innovation. It's more like Treyarch has had a spring clean and got the decorators round: Black Ops II is still ostensibly built on the same foundations that powered 2008's Call of Duty 4 and every annual instalment of the series thereafter. The thrill of Call of Duty's rollercoaster ride is starting to diminish, then, but few will feel too short-changed by buying this year's ticket.

There's no doubt that Konami need to rip out the entire front end of PES for essential modernisation, but the best menu system and career mode in the world mean nothing without a fabulous game of football at its heart. That's what Konami have focused on this year, getting it right on the pitch. That focus and a new-found determination to not be left behind is stamped all over PES 2013, an excellent and long-overdue return to form.

The Evil Within could be leaner and more technically sound, but the blemishes on its blood-stained carapace fade against its thick atmosphere and the frantic thrill of battling its monsters in the dark.

FM15’s changes tend to contribute to gentle improvement rather than startling disruption, but should do enough to tempt you into starting that managerial journey all over again.

It's by no means a cynical cash-in and casual gamers and rabid FIFA fans alike will probably find it decent value for money. For the rest, it's a worthwhile stop-gap between FIFA titles, provided you have the funds.

FIFA 22 has focussed squarely on the on-pitch action and has succeeded in creating the best pure football game from the series in quite some time. For me, at least, there is no better measure.

By turns exciting, disturbing and maniacally enjoyable, Hotline Miami is a true pleasure. Whether it’s a guity one or not is on your conscience.

Those who don't check their preconceptions at the door are missing the point. Novices and veterans be warned; Final Fantasy XIII demands your complete and utter surrender. Those willing to comply will be rewarded with a unique and compelling gaming experience accompanied by visuals that can only be described as completely out of this world.

Approached with an open mind, and accepted for what it is rather than what it isn't, a guided tour of Albion proves surprisingly appealing.

No, it’s not the best Call of Duty ever made, but the sheer volume of content on display largely makes up for its weaknesses in specific areas. A worthwhile story would have added enormous value to the overall package, but its absence doesn’t undermine what is another solid release.

Although far from perfect, Prototype offers an action-filled experience that few games can match, and the array of attacks on offer is almost unparalleled in both its variety and its easy accessibility. The pure adrenaline-boosting entertainment value of the finished product is enough to push most visual and gameplay niggles far enough into the background so as to eradicate them as concerns in all but the most snobbish of gamers.

it’s a touching and satisfying finale, with a lovely coda that brings a smile to the face. It’s that type of game, a warm-hearted collaboration’s of the DS’s most moral, smart and determined heroes. On this evidence, no-one could object if their paths crossed again.

If you have no interest in the anime or manga and simply want a musou game, there are better, more fleshed out options out there, but for Berserk fans it’s rich with cutscenes lifted from the latest anime, faithful to the story, and gives you a chance to hack folk apart as Guts. In other words, it’s a lot of silly, fan-pleasing fun with plenty of scope to improve in a potential sequel.

If Brink grabs you, it'll grab you hard. Even though the lack of polish is at times a disappointment, beneath the occasional annoyance is a fantastic and refreshing shooter that offers something different to the norm. It's standing on the precipice of true brilliance.

Nothing wrong with excelling at one thing. And when it comes to cathartic, gore-fuelled gunplay, there is none better.

Players that have sploshed around in Splatoon may find this sequel a little too reserved and iterative, particularly when some of its less endearing idiosyncracies remain. But Splatoon 2 is also a more complete version of a game not enough people played. An intoxicating splash of colour and invention in a genre usually reserved for grit.

It's a difficult, slow burning game that never strays far into the whimsical and overblown. Understanding the mechanics, let alone mastering them, is a slow, difficult, painful crawl from gnarly amateur to diamond champion.

It is a game that will make you happy whenever you think back to it, one where frustration is almost immediately replaced by a smile, and most importantly, it's a game that thrives on having fun.

No Man’s Sky is a fundamentally simple game; one that’s flawed, slow, and where the moment-to-moment activities are sometimes even... boring. But its intoxicatingly rare attitude towards pure discovery create a game that’s captivating unlike any other.

The most notable downsides to the game are its technical wobbles, with the camera jolting out of place, the odd audio glitch and rare instances of item hotspots not appearing and requiring a restart. These are a shame -and one hopes eminently fixable in upcoming patches- but are not enough to take the shine off a smart, funny and handsome slice of classic adventuring with a modern sensibility.

Respawn's Star Wars sequel builds on its promising predecessor, even if it suffers from the same lack of focus.

Tribes: Ascend is a worthy successor to its forebears, bringing the same inimitable, hectic play style married to graphics that will stretch even the most capable machine.

It's a startlingly relevant piece of work, marred by the most benign and unnecessary of flaws. But in this age of scripted rollercoasters and linear bug hunts, the thinking man's freedom of Deus Ex provides a fabulous example of interactive entertainment, if not quite the revolution the title promises.

It only remains to be said that when it comes to adventure games of this type, the God Of War series towers above other offerings in its genre.

Games often reach for this kind of digital dopamine hit of course, and many succeed, but the reason Mirror’s Edge is so good at it is due to developer DICE’s knack of having you inhabit the body of your avatar so fully.

Battlefield 1 is a fantastic game. If you want a shooter that replicates the epic scale of two armies at war, or one that prioritises tactical thought over twitchy trigger fingers, this is the FPS for you.

It's refinement rather than revolution for F1 2011, then. But Codemasters have made a plethora of improvements under the bonnet, polishing an engine that should prove a fantastic basis for the planned yearly iterations of their F1 franchise.