Purists and veterans will probably dismiss Halo Wars due to its lack of depth, but Halo fans and the uninitiated should jump right in. It's probably the strongest RTS game that's ever been released for a console, and as an entry point into the genre, it's pretty much unbeatable.

It was great being given the chance to play something a little different than your more prevalent shooters involving muscle-bound marines. With the ERS system and forgiving flight controls giving an accessible edge to a niche genre, it’s an enjoyable and recommended introduction.

Killzone 2 is not a revolution. It was never intended to be. However, it would be folly to disregard its importance, both to the PS3 and the console FPS. It’s a refinement of the genre, distilled to its purest and polished to a glittering shine.

A brilliant touch is the option to turn on a feature that allows Live/PSN players to challenge you even when you’re playing the singleplayer modes. In this era of home entertainment, it’s the closest you can get to someone coming up to challenging you in an arcade. The competition is likely to be ferocious and the fight for online supremacy is likely to continue for many, many years.

It's probably the most brilliantly conceived and well-executed expansion pack of its type and it sets the bar amazingly high for all future DLC. The sheer volume of content is staggering, and while cynics may argue about whether it was worth $50 million, we are delighted to report that it's a steal at the paltry 1600 (£13.60) points required to download it from Xbox Live.

Like its predecessors, Another Code: R might occasionally wallow in sentimentality, but that’s easy to excuse given how unafraid it is to tackle topics like loss and regret head-on, its distinctly untraditional subject matter making it feel like a breath of fresh air in an industry dominated by physical rather than emotional conflict.

It’s gorgeous, wonderfully polished and a fascinating cast of misfits drag you through a mire of gameplay foibles that make that off switch look ever so tempting. There is some fun and satisfaction to be had in the beautiful and bloody combat, too, but we wish the gameplay was lavished with as much care and attention as the presentation.

It’s uglier than Gollum and twice as annoying as that whiny Frodo chap. Even brutalising fat hobbitses as Sauron himself can do little to alleviate the feeling that Conquest is a cheap, lazy and regressive game that is the very worst kind of franchise cash-in.

Eventually, Bolt uses up its charm and can slip into repetition. there are a few attempts to mix things up at the climax which produce mixed results, but there's a fair chance that even young players will lose interest before the denouement. With that said, Bolt is a more than serviceable movie tie-in.

All the charm in the world can’t hide the fact that Nuts & Bolts is a wasted opportunity. In the building there is the seed of a classic title here, but skittish handling and tedious tasks means that , disappointingly, Nuts & Bolts fails to blossom as it should have.

Sure it's uncouth at times, but it stands tall as an example of just how heart-poundingly exciting games can be.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Fallout 3 is how effortlessly it combines so many gameplay mechanics, storylines, characters, expansive environments and complex in-game intricacies into one fluid package.

You see, the best thing about Fable II is the stories you will have to tell, whether they are of love, money, murder or sacrifice. And every hero's is different.

For pure chilling atmosphere, Silent Hill still succeeds with strong plotting and disturbing art direction. Few games can creep you out and leave you thinking about their story after the credits have rolled as much as Silent Hill can and the latest title is no exception. It’s a good game, there’s no doubt, but you just feel this Homecoming is perhaps a few years too late.