It could be said that MotoGP 13 feels like a cheap downloadable game wrapped in the glittery shell of licensing to sell as AAA, which is all too often the case in gaming, and in some ways this is accurate. However the extreme attention to detail and the strangely paced yet enjoyable career mode up this game above some of the more pedestrian licensed games in the world. It is a game clearly made for motorcycle enthusiasts and for these people it just about does the job.

400 Microsoft points for an hour’s play might seem steep but is fully justified when the product is this good; a promising indication of Telltale’s increasing confidence in the genre and an assurance that we can look forward to season 2 with genuine relish.

Jack Keane 2 will do nothing to convert people to the adventure genre and it's difficult to recommend it to adventure fans. It appears to be designed to appeal more to casual players given the relative lack of depth to the whole experience, and the colourful but cardboard-cutout characters aimed at a younger audience.

Le Tour de France 2013 100th Edition is aimed squarely at fans of cycling road racing. There is no way it can be recommended to anyone else as it’s far too complex and despite some efforts by the developers the game will not explain enough in the right way to allow for actual improvement and success in-game (all the information is there but it would be nice to have been presented as a tutorial, or on the fly help rather than a separate part of the game and all text-based).

Chronicles of Mystara will appeal to D&D enthusiasts, beat-‘em-up fans, and anyone feeling misty-eyed about the disappearance of arcades from our towns.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf is the best entry in the series yet.

This landed on us as a little bit of a curiosity but it has genuinely surprised us with the quality of the content on show, and once again we must reiterate that this is the work of just two people. If you like your games challenging but fair then you could do worse than to check this.

Relic have played it safe here, it has to be said. With an admittedly beautiful graphical overhaul and solid mechanics Company of Heroes 2 was never going to be anything less than good. But there are few real developments in terms of gameplay and innovation which may feel like a missed opportunity for ardent fans.

Sanctum 2 is a jack of some trades, and while it doesn't master them it makes them a lot of fun.

Whether you're a seasoned Warhammer vet with figure-paint on your fingernails, or just taking your first steps into classic turn-based fantasy, you won't be disappointed. Besides, it's always a pleasure to slay a bunch of creeps for a brand-spanking new +6 axe.

Rent or pick it up when the price inevitably drops. Nowhere near as awesome as Deadpool would have you believe.

Despite the extremely ropey visuals and general low production values, State of Decay is a compelling alternative to the linear, plot-driven zombie tales that roam the current gaming landscape.

If you can get past the rough visuals, repetitive (but skippable) cutscenes, untidy commentary and a lack of real-world authenticity from some areas, you’ll find a fair bit to enjoy in Rugby Challenge 2. It’s accessible, fast-moving and probably the best rugby game available on the current consoles; with a bit of extra care and investment though, it could have been so much better.

Fuse is so poor by Insomniac’s usually high standards that it’s hard to believe Insomniac actually made it.

You’d think with it being a free-to-play game, it would be easy to forgive Dust 514 for not fulfilling all of its potential or sticking to its big promises. Putting aside the dull backdrops, dusty palette and glitch riddled gameplay, the biggest disappointment lies with the cross platform functionality between it and EVE Online.

Remember Me is ambitious, often gorgeous and for the most part intriguing but is a game badly let down by design decisions and lacklustre gameplay.

A decade ago Arcania would be a pretty decent RPG. Time has not been friendly to this game and repackaging something that was never a classic to begin with is a misguided move.

There is something near perfect at work here as gameplay, story, visuals, controls and audio all compliment and enhance each other. It feels like a cliche, or lazy writing, to call Hotline Miami a ‘pure’ gaming experience but that is very much what it is.

If you’re a fan of JRPGs and have a Nintendo 3DS this is a game you’ll want to play.

Even with the allure of the movie license younger gamers probably aren’t going to stick with the game for too long as this game has been done many times before, and much better.

Anyone just looking for an MMO will enjoy the levelling and questing, and even if you never pay-to-play you’ll still get to experience many of the game’s best features.

Like wandering through a theme park dedicated to the excess of 80s blockbuster entertainment, Blood Dragon takes Far Cry’s proven gameplay formula and adds humour, a new coat of paint and a script free from qualms of narrative dissonance.

It may lack the sprawling epic world of Red Dead Redemption, but this is your next best choice for a Western fix that satisfies.

Like its predecessor, Grid 2 offers a pleasing mix of driving sim and arcade racer and is accessible to seasoned veterans and tarmac newbies alike. It’s an evolution which doesn’t take many risks, instead opting to refine and polish the original game to a glistening sheen, but doesn’t do it to the game’s detriment.

After a couple of mis-steps, between Revelations and RE6, the franchise is firmly back on track.

The game then is still exactly the same as it was before – a beautiful, frustrating, perfectly long gem of a platformer with some slight pacing issues. If you’ve got a Vita, and even if you’ve played Limbo before, then you owe it to yourself to download this game and marvel at how good games can actually be, how good they can look.

Unless you must play every Pokemon title you’re probably better off simply waiting for the release of X and Y later in the year.

For now, however, Poker Night 2 puts a very different spin on the flooded poker sim scene by placing all it’s chips on character interaction and being able to listen to some hilarious smack talk with an interesting, albeit fictional group of competitors.

Come for the puzzles, enjoy the odd bit of exposition and do all you can to ignore the ‘supporting’ mechanics then and you’ll probably have a great time – just try to keep a handle on your willpower and stop yourself from ruining the game yourself with all those easily accessible solutions.

It cannot be overstated that there is something exceptional at work here as masterful storytelling marries wonderfully with interactive experience, the high expectations that have built for this release are met and exceeded with consummate ease.

This is a great adventure series which has chosen to focus on the narrative side of things and is all the better for it. This third chapter is the best so far.

Despite its classic metaphoric coming of age storyline, despite its lovingly drawn backgrounds that seem to have sprung to life from the pages of children’s stories and despite the innocuous language and childish humour, the incongruous nature of the frustrating puzzles will thwart children unfamiliar with the ancient lore of point and click adventures.

Its poor visuals and dreadful animations along with its expensive price tag means Black Rock Shooter: The Game is a title not worth your time and effort.

It’s successful on so many fronts; a new entry in the genre that stands aside long-term franchise veterans, deftly combining a worthy story with the fighter structure and painting believable characters that don’t overstay their welcome or pander to fanservice. All of these points and more make Persona 4 Arena a balanced, thoroughly enjoyable fighter. Even though it does school you from time to time.

Overall probably the greatest success of A Bump in the Night is taking Jacob and ensuring that his character is likable, rather than simply presenting him as one of those annoying know-it-all kids that you enjoyed not being friends with when you were younger. The storytelling may be linear but as we’ve seen with Telltale’s The Walking Dead that’s no obstacle for a good yarn.

Time will tell, for now Metro: Last Light is a solid gorgeous shooter which presents something a little different from the norm, if not as different as the first game in the series.

Being a budget indie game, at under half the price of a standard release, we can certainly give The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing far more slack than is possible to give to those cold giants at Blizzard, however that being said it is a shame that Neocore have not used their indie freedom to create a game with a touch more originality.

Soul Sacrifice can stand on its own feet proudly, but it’s the potential of the birth of a franchise that should get gamers everywhere smiling into their Mountain Dew. With a few tweaks and additions Keiji Inafune’s baby could well come back to rule the roost – until then, dive in and experience it but try not to lose your soul to the game...

Luigi’s Mansion 2 is exactly what a great sequel should be. It’s a much bigger game than its predecessor but retains its creaky charms.

As it is we have something that is good for little more than use as an interactive movie.

This all adds up to a mixed bag of a conclusion. The quality of the action, the design of the maps and the addition of novelties for Daud is top-notch and deserves credit. Arkane themselves earn great respect for supporting the title with narrative-based DLC ensuring fans are sated. But in so doing they perhaps dilute what’s gone before.

All the things that were wrong with the first island: the repetitive action, the bugs, the embarrassing voices and the mind rotting story raise their head here too.

This is an improvement over The Hangman despite the shorter length meaning you get less bang for your buck. Everything feels a little bit more settled and confident and it moves quickly.

The two-three hours spent with this third and closing episode in the mini-series offshoot from the third game proper, and the similar amount of time spent playing the first and second episodes, has been well spent when in the moment. That is it’s been intriguing and different enough to warrant playing and if you chose to do so you’d find yourself moving onwards pretty quickly to get to the next bit.

The PlayStation Vita for too long has relied on spin-offs and ports from its older brother but with focus continuously shifting towards directly downloading from the PlayStation Network, small developers are now getting the chance to flex their creative muscles. Considering that the game is basically one big homage to the Metroid-Vania sub-genre, DrinkBox Studios have reinvented a classic style of gameplay and given it a much needed, high definition polish.

Motocross Madness achieves its aims all in all – it's an enjoyable racer with a range of features put together well that makes for a compelling and sometimes even addictive experience.

Injustice: Gods Among Us was a pleasant, if not grammatically correct, surprise that evidently holds great admiration for the source material. DC fans can count this as close to a Justice League game or movie as we’ll see for a good while and there are plenty of incidental details for aficionados to spot.

Arguably this may result in a more watered down experience than PC gamers are used to, but it rarely hinders the gamer in any way. Yes, It does not have the extreme finicky depth of Frozen Synapse, yet it does not really need it.

A number of features aim for the stars (sorry) but don’t always reach the target. So if you’re risk averse and want to settle into something mainstream, you’d best look elsewhere as you’re likely to see the rough edges instead of the potential for growth.

It’s very nearly a very good game, and certainly the best introduction to the series for new starters, but it just misses out on feeling like a must have gem.

The fantastic touches such as bizarre monoliths swinging around to your movement, or crazy bridges taking shape as you step across them or entire buildings being summoned before your eyes ensure Kairo is strangely uncomfortable, creepily crazy and ultimately highly memorable.

Games have been around long enough to poke fun at themselves and their cinematic predecessors, and while other titles like Viewtiful Joe and Saints Row: The Third have both got their fair share of jollies from doing this, it's arguable that no game until now as done so with such vigour as Battleblock Theater.

It’s an interesting title if only for a few hours and with a hefty price tag it doesn't help itself in getting off the subs bench.

Overall, the game is a wonderfully presented experience and the best game that the 3DS has to offer.

Despite the ropey opening few hours Defiance settles into its rhythm very nicely and becomes a game that is so easily picked up and played you cannot help but fall for it a little. Yes for every positive there are at least two negatives but ultimately it’s light, fun and most of all an experience that console players currently do not have.

Wander of the Dragons is a disgrace; an unfinished, untested, unenjoyably wretched excuse for a gaming experience. There is literally nothing to recommend here.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate is a game that tries to take the best of both new and old Castlevania but ultimately comes up short all round.

There lies within Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory the core of a great franchise. Unfortunately, everything surrounding the satirical premise serves to dilute it to the same level as the fluffy nothingness that makes up most of the game.

Gears of War may have its detractors, but whilst it opted for over-the-top machismo and a sci-fi setting, The Devil’s Cartel offers an approximation of banter between its two leads and a plot that is squandered after a promising start. Worse still, ludicrous plot twists are thrown into the mix late on which will both confuse and annoy Army of Two veterans.

Easily the best third party title currently available on the Wii U and the best version of the game to grace any console. As a nice bonus you also get the DLC included which was seen on other consoles, entitled Speed Pack. A must buy to show off the Wii U’s graphical capabilities and for anyone who loves racing games. If you want the best Need for Speed experience, play it on the Wii U.

If you’re looking for Vita Ninja Gaiden then pick up the first Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus. It’s a much more solid purchase.

Hungry Giraffe is an addictive, colourful game that will provide some entertainment for those looking for a quick gaming fix, rather than settling in for an epic story-driven HD experience. However, the novelty factor won’t last long with both the gameplay and the game’s quirky nature becoming repetitive and frustrating fairly quickly.

Coming as it does then at the end of a the PlayStation 3’s lifecycle God of War: Ascension is a stunning technological achievement which will always satisfy but rarely wow given the ever-decreasing gains as you move from a launch window to year seven of a particular hardware setup.

Best avoided by anyone seeking a real challenge or keen to get their teeth into some serious multiplayer gaming!

Sniping fans who are done with the recent Sniper Elite V2 and crave more sharpshooting action will probably get some mileage out of this budget title, but lowering the scope reveals a game that could have used a little more polish and attention before release.

For those unfamiliar with baseball MLB 13: The Show is probably a curiosity at most. The fact that the game is also PlayStation exclusive further segregates its European audience so that it occupies a limited niche at best. Still, for those looking for a baseball game there is nothing better on the market.

Tiger Woods 14 continues the EA Sports trend of iterating a winning formula, presenting a solid package which people will flock to buy, just like last year and the year before that. EA have made the right move by downplaying the Tiger part of Tigers Woods 14 but sadly we still see an awful lot of DLC and very little in the way of pushing the franchise forward to new heights. If you are a fan of the franchise then you know what you are getting with a new version and if you are a newbie then this is as good a place as any to start.

The loading times and frequency that the game needs to load is immediately and consistently depressing too and for these reasons it all becomes hard to recommend. The thing is though does that really matter? Probably not because you know, it’s for kids.

Blizzard have excelled once again at combining drama, eye-opening art design and finely honed gameplay to create another unmissable experience.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is an abomination on every level: a dull, cynical and irreparably flawed mess which is as mindless and soulless as its antagonists.

If you like science fiction Infinite is one of the best stories ever told via a game. Without question it represents one of the most ambitious set of ideas developed for a mainstream multi-million dollar release.

Whilst this episodic story as a whole has seen a midway slump, it’s exciting to see the change in the game surrounding it as we move to the next generation and beyond.

The game opening is especially powerful and it manages to keep that momentum for a while before feeling like it's slowed down too much. It ramps things up for a fun interrogation sequence and an exciting ending.

Persona 4 Golden is so much more than just a mere game, it’s a wonderful experience that grabs you by the beard hairs and drags you in, dominating your spare time and idle thoughts until you have reached that ending.

Safe to say though that as commendable an effort as People Can Fly have made here it is getting a bit stale. We are at the stage now where we are seeing tweaks and iterations as opposed to must have fundamental changes and it will be interesting to see where the franchise goes from here.

Seriously, the only way this could be any better were if it ended on a freeze-frame of Shepard punching the air, accompanied by Simple Minds’ ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’.

It is a shame that the direction that Rebellion have taken the series is an ill-advised one and a direction that is a puzzling as it is pointless.

Someone far more astute than I pointed out that the game feels like a Facebook game and it was at that moment that everything that is wrong with SimCity clicked into place. The always online requirement, the pleasantness, the restrictions, the simplicity, the overwhelming emphasis on community over the individual. SimCity is a game that seems ripe for the casual social networking infrastructure, but has instead found itself unfortunately released onto the mainstream market.

In addition, the games are over fifteen years old, and no amount of HD polish can hide the fact that they simply haven’t dated well, (particularly Night Warriors). Darkstalkers is in the unfortunate position of being less accessible than both Street Fighter II and IV, and outclassed by Third Strike.

The appeal of the series has always been in its graphics and Crysis 3 still stands tall as one of the best looking console games of this generation. As many first person shooters shrivel up in the shadow of Call of Duty, Crysis 3’s tactical gameplay and the introduction of the predator bow help it stand apart from the usual suspects of the genre. However, seen as a series that pushed graphics and gameplay to the limits, the third installment’s lack of innovation is perhaps its only weakness.

A last generation concept spruced up in higher definition, given a bit of spit and polish and sent out with a couple of new mechanics.

Dungeonland is ultimately pointless when it comes down to it. Yet it is the good kind of pointless, the kind that still produces entertainment with friends and fills a void. Dungeonland knows it does not amount to much, in fact it revels in it, wilfully mocking itself throughout.

Ken’s Rage 2 is a passable, sporadically enjoyable game that’s undermined by drab visuals and a campaign with a padded second-half.

The remarkable thing here is that Crystal Dynamics have rebooted the Tomb Raider series, told an origin story of how the globe-trotting archaeological action figure came to be, all wrapped up in a contemporised package delivering examples of all that is good about games today, all whilst making it feel like a Lara Croft game.

Sixty missions to conquer on five difficulty levels with two completely different characters adds up to potentially more than one hundred hours of game bundled in this portable package. But would you want to stick with it that long? With little in the way of plot, and repetitive foes and level design, this is a game that can hardly claim to have depth.

Overall a very shallow game although I wouldn’t really have expected anything else from a game made to cash in on the latest line of dolls.

What episode one of the Tyranny storyline allows then is something which brings that which worked before, scales back that which failed and starts a fresh story more immediate than the main one became towards the end. It’s over as quickly as it started and leaves you wanting more - both for the immediate quenching of the tale to hand but also as an opening into the possible futures.

Like a lot of various other media and art, I can appreciate the technical skill involved in its creation, but find it a tad too vexing for my own personal enjoyment. Maybe this dog’s too old to be taught new tricks; players more able of mind may fare better. But don’t count on it.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is a poor game made worse by the extensive hype that the game mustered over its six year development.

Agent 47’s exploits may not have aged well but his past experiences are as devilishly violent and ingenious as they always were. That is why they are timeless and that is why you should own this.

Finishing a trilogy was always going to need bigger explosions and greater stakes – unfortunately this has come at the sacrifice of true horror.

Eschewing the reams of statistics and options that can often burden similar games, Skulls of the Shogun focuses on combat and fun which means it is the ideal introduction to turn-based gaming and, making no bones about it, is something we can heartily recommend.

On one hand it’s a wonderful conceptual take on rhythm action, blending in elements of RTS and score attack along with a thumping soundtrack. Its problem is that on the other hand it’s a flawed delivery, a game where the overriding artistic concept and desire to produce something different has resulted in a game that far too often isn’t actually fun to play.

Sadly lacking in depth, so much so in fact that you can literally play most of it with your eyes closed.

Ninja Theory have against all odds created something fresh; a creatively superb and in places fantastic action adventure game. It will not be for everyone and is certainly more mainstream than previous efforts but DMC is a rip roaring start to 2013.

It’s just potentially too hardcore for the curious, despite the multitude of pick-and-mix routines and athletics tests masquerading as minigames.

A game that does have charm and a kookiness in its presentation, however the puzzles and exploration aren’t particularly gripping.

Age may have formed a few cracks in its legendary skin, and perhaps the over reliance on randomness from the Dungeons and Dragons’ ruleset seems rather archaic, but within this slumbering ancient beast lies a mighty heart waiting to be awakened once more.