ZombiU is an atmospheric game that can be very tense and even sometimes scary. You just have to be willing to over look its flaws.

Today this game acts as a historical piece. It lets you see where the franchise came from, and why the revision that Resident Evil 4 brought to the series was so necessary.

It has all the right characters, tons of style and amazing imagery, and a fast-paced fighting engine unlike anything ever seen in a 2D fighter. However, the uninspired arcade and customization modes leave little to be liked, with only a decent beat’em up minigame to salvage them.

Gamers looking for a solid shooter on the next gen consoles could do a lot worse than Timeshift, but as cruel as it may be, Timeshift will simply not be remembered in any way shape or form in the not so distant future.

Something special for a select audience who's able to fully embrace its peculiar nature. That it doesn't appeal to everyone will likely only strengthen this appeal.

Full Auto 2 is an incredibly shallow, mildly entertaining experience.

Destructopus's bright, 16-bit vibe works well and is fun. But like Rampage before it, there's little variation or much reason to go back once you've played through.

Sadly, the ego is about the only somewhat original idea present in Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project. The stages reek of incredibly generic design. Is there an icy stage? Check! A level in a sewer? Plenty of them! A level in space, an abandoned factory and some underground lairs? Check, check and check.

If you're into having your tears tugged at, this will definitely be a change from nights spent curling up on the couch spectating those romance flicks that no one else gets. If you're someone who winds up stuck with the aforementioned individual, originally promised beer and tricked into the awkward Kleenex duty, no guilt will be harbored from missing out.

A lazy port of a fairly good game with no effort put into making it work better on a console. Slapping a party system onto it doesn't magically make it something special, and there are so many other things I can think of that could have been done that weren't, such as bringing over the best community maps, the previously mentioned dedicated server option, and making the controls more console-centric.

But if you’re a retro fighting game fan and willing to support SNK’s release of their anthologies, then give this a go. Nostalgia has its limits, but at least you’ll be guaranteed one quality game overall.

They Bleed Pixels is a monument of pain and frustration packaged in nostalgia and wrapped in a pretty red bow. Every moment of relief is overcast by ten of anxiety. At least the soundtrack was awesome.

If this game was being judged purely on potential it would be certainly critically acclaimed. However the flaws certainly have to be considered and in this case they keep Confrontation from being in the upper echelon of tactical shooters.

An above-average eye(s)-trainer.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 is a fairly enjoyable game, with a really attractive and striking visual style and presentation. It’s brought down by undeveloped town sections and cheap fighting tactics, but if you are a fan of the animé then this is worth a look.

While Space Siege is by no means bad, it is a very typical and uninspired video game.

Because of the unrealistic physics, you don’t feel vulnerable. There’s no risk involved running around the jungle wearing only y-fronts with a knife between your teeth, because you’re invulnerable to lengthy drops and those notorious life-enders called bullets. It’s this lack of fear that makes the save system almost neglectable – why bother saving my progress when the missions are all the same? Why bother saving when it’s almost impossible to die?

SimCity Societies feels familiar, but the change is clearly a move in the wrong direction for long-time fans.

It’s not that SSX On Tour is a bad game. It’s just that the game attempts to improve upon a gameplay formula that doesn’t necessarily need it.

The story, albeit brief, is involving but also stiffly delivered. Half of the puzzles are well designed, while the other half serves little purpose other than testing your patience. You’ll also wander around Provence as both yourself and your brother, but you’ll discover there really isn’t much point to it all.

It's too bad that everything outside of the sniping is so mediocre.

It’s just a shame that the solid fundamentals laid out by the original Army of Two couldn’t be built on in this sequel.

A middling outcome.

While I did get some enjoyment from playing it, especially the first 20 hours or so, I’m left craving something more substantial, probably something that invloves the words "Fantasy" and "Final".

The game controls quite sluggishly. It often seems that there is a delay between what you are pressing on the controller and what is occurring on-screen. I was a relative novice to 3D fighting games back in those days, but now I know that such poor responsiveness can kill a fighting game.

Though the lack of very original gameplay ideas hurts Area 51, it does have a lot of good things going for it, including a very cool graphics engine and a cool infection mode, which, combined with a low price tag, do justify a purchase of this game.

While it features an excellent overall presentation, the actual gameplay comes off dull and uninspired.

There simply isn’t enough of anything new and revolutionary to warrant years of dedicated play filling the same catalogues of collectables and earning awards that no-one except yourself will ever care about.

However, look past the briefness of what’s on offer and there’s a richly entertaining game to be had.

Saints Row IV doesn’t play like a sequel so much as an expansion pack, substituting huge quantities of diversions and weaponry for an engaging campaign. With Steelport recycled and the lack of challenge, it doesn’t offer much beyond short-lived thrills through wanton destruction and the occasionally humorous moment wrapped in science fiction tropes.

The iPhone port is far from perfect, but it's Secret of Mana. You can do much worse.

This could have been an inspired game, and it certainly contains some original touches and good ideas. However, just when it should be hitting top gear it is knocked back into neutral by inconsistencies and average execution.

It's an example of how and why Lara fell behind the likes of today's occult warriors, anti-hero gangsters, and the God of War himself.

Anarchy Reigns may be the first retail release of 2013 but it's a strong contender for dumbest fun of the year.

It’s just a shame it’s all over so quickly as a more epic adventure with Po and friends would have been most welcome.

Hardline is the archetypal spin-off, then; the victim of a franchise treading water until the next big advancement.

LostWinds reeks of wasted potential.

As an online game my apprehension is that if friends can't play together without hassle then soon they won't bother.

As a huge fan of the series it was disheartening that much of what was loved has been removed.

Battlestations: Midway isn’t bad, but its ambitious mixture of action and real-time strategy doesn’t translate into an exciting and engaging game.

Fans of the franchise probably won't be too disappointed if they pick this up, but people looking for a series point-and-click adventure game are probably going to want to go elsewhere.

Rain’s emotional potency is progressively diluted by tiresome design, but there’s no one particular grievance that completely ruins the experience.

It's just disrupted by some tedious combat and shaky presentation that do little to alleviate the familiarity of a Sands of Time "side story".

Style over substance rings true once again.

So without relevant characters, we’re left with a tennis game that’s dysfunctional and a list of superb mini-games.

The menus are needlessly tedious to use.

The game demonstrates a solid understanding of point-and-click fundamentals that work, but don't exactly set the genre on fire, and what players end up with is an adventure title that has the elements it needs to be intriguing but can't quite seem to fit all the pieces together yet.

Traal is a fine example when it all falls into place of the home coding, floppy-disk mentality that once reigned during the Amiga days. Download it, squeeze your phone in frustration and come away surprised. I certainly did.

It's levels and puzzles have little if any appeal. Its continual emphasis on completing tasks and finding items seems more of a tedious job than some fun gaming.

It's still worth buying UT3, for those who enjoy modding and hacking. For everyone else: there have been far better PC games this season.

It's only too bad this series can't get out of its own way at times, because there are moments when it's pure fun and others that feel at odds with the rest of the package.

But if you’re craving for some naval based warfare you can’t go wrong here, it’s just too slow and monotonous to recommend on a larger scale.

Riviera distances itself well from the mainstream RPG fare, but this is both a blessing as well as its curse.

With a mixed bag of quality, humor, and creativity to work with, gamers will likely find themselves split over the game’s appeal. It’s not a bad game; it simply lacks a decent execution.

If you like golf, I think you should buy this, but keep in mind, it might not have all the features you’re looking for.

Hilarious cameos aside, Sacred 2 is a solid action RPG that is a lot more interesting when played with a partner.

The fundamental issue with Reverie is that it never lives up to the epic feeling of Lords of Shadow.

It’s a shame those moments aren’t more frequent, though, because I really wanted to like Dying Light more than I did. I still wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it if you’re in need of some schlocky fun, there are just some caveats clutching on to this recommendation that even a bloody hatchet won’t fix.

Though the campaign will pit you against clusters of foes at every turn, the games’ less than stellar combat mechanics will greatly dull the experience.

An enjoyable strategy game which needs more depth and variety to be truly arresting. It does what it does well, however developer 4J Studios have succeeded in making the game perhaps too simplistic, and definitely lacking any narrative pull or long-term appeal.

Even the presentation pales in comparison to the likes of Golden Sun and the other handheld RPGs we've grown to love or hate over the years.

The gameplay at times feels regressive and uninspired, just things that you have to do to get to the next hilarious dialogue exchange. The story very effectively pushes you along through it, and I can't say that the gameplay is terrible by any stretch. It just never tries to be as innovative as the rest of the package and comes across as underwhelming by the end of its five hour campaign.

The whole game feels like a bland and unambitious platformer with a Crash Bandicoot skin stuck over the top to increase sales. It’s shamelessly repetitive and predicable and collecting mojo feels even more pointless than Wumpa fruit did, but none of that truly matters when playing.

Due to its comical demeanor, childish puzzles, brief length, and its absence of violence and crude language, Puzzle Agent 2 would be best enjoyed by the adolescent demographic, or by those looking for pure casual fun. For the more seasoned puzzle fanatic, or those who would expect more from a name like 'Puzzle Agent', may do well to spend their ten bucks elsewhere.

I can recommend Shrek 2 enthusiastically to kids and novice gamers, and marginally to all other fans of the movie. But to true action game aficionados, the game will surely be too simplistic to be sufficiently rewarding or compelling.

A very average fighting game in a market cluttered with good alternatives, so I can't really recommend it.

Until K2 pull their finger out and bring the game engine into the 21st Century, Tenchu will be remembered as a Playstation classic with a load of all too similar sequels.

I felt generally accomplished, yet the weight of disappointment in my gut could not be ignored.

FIFA Street is a fun game and will keep you entertained, but the overbearing problems it brings with it prevent it from taking its place alongside its 11-a-side cousin.

Fans will be happy with its fairly large roster of classic Guilty Gear characters, but gamers savvy with Jump Superstars and Bleach DS may not be impressed.

The problem is that such controls aren’t finely tuned enough for the task at hand; the sluggish response times, awkward camera angles, and limited movements kill much of the potential fun.

It's a shame Global Star didn't spend more energy on the single-player experience, or perhaps even drop the Story mode completely in favor for still more multiplayer modes and/or maps.

The Baconing's witty, daft and fun, but also doesn't do enough to improve on the faults of the previous entries in the series, and in some cases pushes those issues to the forefront. The bacon is now well cooked and about to burn.

SOCOM 4 is a light and breezy third-person shooter that's pretty good by genre standards, but perhaps a bit lacking in comparison to SOCOM 2.

Nothing more than just another shooter. While its map maker is excellent, the rest of the game lags behind in mediocrity. The singleplayer is hampered by poor attention to detail and a story which confuses the player right from the beginning.

I'll say it again, if the game had had the guts to end after the first ending it would have been great.

Before it was called Battalion Wars, this game was slated to be named Advance Wars: Under Fire. I'm glad they changed the name. Fans of the Advance Wars series would have blindly picked this game up, and found out how badly executed this console wartime strategy turned out.

Dead Island: Riptide is simply more of the same dumb fun, and while it still might not be the game it could be, I’ve learned to embrace it for what it is, absurd.

The controls are a bit fuggly, but all in all, it’s the same game that was released for the major consoles, so if you’re really dying to play this, this is a version to consider.

Although the depth of the gameplay is barely knee-deep making Super Rub-a-dub not quite the splashing debut as was hoped, it’s still rollicking, simple fun while it lasts and quite possibly the best way to play with vinyl-plastic rubber ducks without getting yourself soaking wet.

It makes a brilliant case of “show, don’t tell”, but unfortunately, it just doesn’t show a heck of a lot.

Ultimately though, what makes Magrunner a mediocre experience is that it feels padded. Halfway through the game, the magnetism mechanics stop being entertaining, but there’s still half a story to tell.

Ultimately Raam's Shadow provides all the things the series has been about from the beginning, mixing the most up-to-date mechanics with a known origins story that's simultaneously disposable and perhaps crucial for the hardcore fans. What it doesn't provide, however, is anything that'll change your mind either way.

It's such a shame that Raskulls is brought down by weak level design.

This is a title that jumps back and forth from great to average and back again, and though it's far from perfect, it's worth experiencing.

Never does it come close to touching Sands of Time in terms of majesty, and what you’re left with is a beautiful looking piece of art, masking a depressingly above average adventure.

Wolfenstein RPG suffers severely from repetition. Fortunately, the light-hearted humour and weapon variation helps to keep this feeling fresh during shorter sessions. If you're looking for an RPG with a twist to play during your travels you'd do well to download this title.

This is by no means a must-have title, but one that can take care of a boring weekend ahead and still have room to venture back through either for achievements or some risky, gun-toting action.

And that's the problem with Atari Anthology - it just gets boring really quickly, which is no surprise considering how old the games are.

If you’re a zombie freak and really like the sub-genre then this might be worth an investment, but for the rest of us there’s not really a great deal here that will pull us away from Super Stardust HD, Flower or PixelJunk.

It isn’t as impressive as the original games were, but overall Crash seems to be making titanic steps in the right direction.

DC Comics fans, take the plunge if you must, but realize that you will be paying money for a not-quite-finished product that will only partially satisfy your spandex-wearing, world-saving fantasies.

Even at budget price there’s not much that any self respecting Xbox 360 owner will be missing other than a few pretty explosions and half a day spent marveling at spring from building to building, the novelty of which rubs off pretty damn quickly.

There is nothing inherently wrong with LifeSigns, but the ratio of hospital soap opera to actual gameplay is insanely high, making most of the experience a wordy one that will fail to draw in those who couldn’t care less about which bone is connected that bone.

If only the game had more challenging foes and made better use of the randomly generated levels, things may have turned out differently. But hey, at least you’ll have plenty of eye candy to ogle. That’s got to count for something.

Even before I really understood why the things on screen were doing the things that they were doing, it was clear that the developers had done a fine job of coupling the visuals with just the right sound.

While it’s unattractive and a bit awkward on the PS2, if you don’t own a PSP and you’re a survival horror fan, Silent Hill Origins still comes recommended.

When the World Cup does come to an end, I can't envision playing this game aside from the rarest of occasions. Not even the implementation of vuvuzelas would change that.