It's a harrowing tale of ambition which far exceeds its boundaries, of broken promises and broken game mechanics.

Creating such beautiful chaos isn't easy, especially in a racing game, but forming some kind of order out of it is even harder. In marrying the simulation sensibilities of a hard-core driving game with the ferocious combat of a kart-racer, Bizarre has done both. And in doing so, brought us the most exciting new racer in years.

Undeniably the finest UFC experience on any console to date. Graphical glitches aside, UFC 2010 captures the brutality and epic nature of the sport like nothing else, providing the perfect game to display its deep and satisfying fighting system.

For a game that runs so wild with imagination, it's remarkable to witness everything executed with such elegance... Nintendo has drawn a giant, gleeful gallery of magnificent pictures and painted within the lines, all intoxicating detail and colour. It's a toy box full of childlike wonder, but with a grown-up sensibility, where the pieces all fit.

Remedy has created a superb video game that uses one of the best written characters in the medium all year to tie its plot, themes and gameplay together seamlessly. Thrilling, frightening and genuinely compelling, Alan Wake is a nightmare players will not soon to forget.

An awe-inspiring game. The gameplay and structure may be beginning to show their age a little, but the storytelling, characters and world-building is on a par with the best the medium has to offer. It's a sprawling and engrossing experience, epic in scope and size and offering a gigantic amount of playing time. With their latest open-world game, Rockstar have produced nothing less than the finest recreation of the Wild West on a console, and one of the best video games of this year.

This is a game best enjoyed in short bursts, or in the multiplayer. At its best, it's an intoxicating cocktail of high-speed thrills and explosive action. It may feel slightly shallow after several hours of play, but give it a brief window of your time and you're looking at some of the most intense and gleefully maniacal racing available.

As a game in the here and now, The Forgotten Sands can feel dated, its hero outshone by glossy new kids on the block like Nathan Drake.

It's not quite pumping lead into their glowing orange weak spots, but it's not far off the mark.

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.

We all need a Die Hard every now and then, and that’s exactly the kind of spirit Retribution evokes.

Nier is a twisting, turning journey of erratic quality. It's one of the best, worst, most broken, most perfect games I've ever played.

Learning, improving, mastering. Three tenets Super Street Fighter IV is built on, its greatest strengths and the reason for its existence. Without them, it’s a game that would have never been made. Without them the games industry would stand still. Super Street Fighter IV embodies that ethos. Another defining moment for Capcom’s world warriors.

Learning, improving, mastering. Three tenets Super Street Fighter IV is built on, its greatest strengths and the reason for its existence. Without them, it’s a game that would have never been made. Without them the games industry would stand still. Super Street Fighter IV embodies that ethos. Another defining moment for Capcom’s world warriors.

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.

Of course, a totally linear game is nothing without its plot, and The Whispered World doesn't disappoint in that respect. It's a relatively unique take on the 'reluctant hero saves the world' tale, with the kind of memorable ending that'll divide opinion straight down the middle.

The criminally short solo-player campaign... can be beaten in around five to six hours. However, for all its shocking brevity, the campaign’s story is utterly engrossing; it may be completely preposterous, but the story hits harder and resonates more than those of previous Splinter Cell titles.

No matter how big a Prison Break fan you are, no matter how forgiving you can be, The Conspiracy is an abject failure on all counts.

Just Cause 2 is not without its flaws, but it offers a highly satisfying, if hardly unique, open-world adventure in which players are encouraged to indulge in as much mayhem as possible.

Effortlessly likeable.

But despite God of War III being afraid of flying too close to the sun -lest those carefully crafted wings should melt- the journey is relentlessly exciting; a blistering spectacle told in blood and thunder. Truly epic, then. And I defy anyone to argue with the definition this time around.

Those who can look past such things and embrace Yakuza's very Japanese brand of oddity will find a game to make them laugh, make them cry.

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.

The game's technical presentation is fantastic; aside from the aforementioned excellent voice-work, the soundtrack and music are top-notch and the visuals are varied, detailed and well rendered.

A quirky, delightful title. Calling it one of the best movie tie-in games we've ever played sounds a little like we're damning it with faint praise. So instead we're just going to go ahead and say it's one of the best games we've seen on the Nintendo DSi in quite a while.

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.

The racing experience is zippy and robust, while its gleeful celebration of all things SEGA is wonderfully endearing.

Its good-natured feel and simple controls make it ideal for families, and though some of the wonder of discovering a new species will be lost on those who played the original, there’s plenty of new content to keep everyone occupied.