The dark, gritty atmosphere is captured perfectly. I can’t get over how great texturing looks on the Xbox 360. Tile looks dirty. Graffiti on walls looks genuine. The texturing effects in this game are beyond awesome. The lighting is also incredibly detailed.

In the end, though, what really carries The Stick of Truth along is its innocence, something that may surprise people who have read the stories about Euro censorship but is unlikely to come as a shock to fans of the show itself, which has always offset its raunchiness with an odd sweetness. This is, simply put, pleasant to play.

An entertaining romp.

Technic Beat also provides some of the best two-player action around.

For fans of mobster movies, Mafia II is the ultimate toybox. It has period clothes, music, and architecture that perfectly evoke pre and post-war Americana, and a gritty script to boot.

It’s a supernova of colour, particularly on a HD setup.

For all of you Castlevania followers out there, be prepared for yet another intriguing story of vampires, the undead, and the supernatural.

A four-player wireless multiplayer mode is just icing on the cake for this game. Loading up the game with some friends and fighting scores of foes is even more fun than the single-player mode, but even without a group of buddies this is still a game worth owning.

It brings back a style of platforming that hasn't been seen in over a decade, and it pulls it off with a great assortment of well-designed levels.

It’s not perfect and there are a few things which could do with a bit more care for the next game - largely the lack of co-op and fairly dull story and characters - but nonetheless, this is one of the most beautiful, explosive and entertaining shooters of the console generation so far. Bring on Killzone 3.

Fez is quite a game, especially for people who look for interesting atmosphere and setting in their games.

The shoddy script will annoy and disappoint everyone, but luckily, the rest of the game is solid, and even impressive.

An entertaining FPS experience. It isn’t perfect; it’s not going to leave an impression on you like Half-Life 2 or FarCry did, but at the same time it will entertain you and keep you glued to your seat.

I had tremendous fun with Arena Wars; its fast paced action and tactical warfare proving to be a godsend after endless struggles and yawns on various RPGs.

It's best not to go into the game expecting a true Final Fantasy experience, but diehard RPG fans won't be disappointed.

GRID isn't a hugely deep game, but it has an impressive array of small features and presentation pieces that serve to make it feel bigger than it really is.

While the ridiculous amount of options may be appealing, the bland and lifeless presentation kind of takes away from the experience. It's kind of ironic that a game that places so much emphasis on realism, yet utterly lacks it in terms of both visuals and audio. If that's your kind of thing, you might want to opt for the PS3 version instead. It doesn't matter, though; MLB 11 is about baseball, and it's got it where it counts.

For 800 points, this is near essential.

The game would have benefited from a bit more freedom. Don't let that stop you, though. Super Scribblenauts is a fine game. Give it a chance and see what your imagination can do.

The vastly improved graphics offer a kind of detail you normally wouldn't find on the DS.

Even though many of these titles can be hunted down for free online or downloaded for a small wedge of cash, Sega have rounded up their proudest moments and presented them to a willing audience who can now appreciate the glory days of the mega-company.

Defeated levels give you points to use in the mall, a shop for unlocking everything from concept art to an exclusive theme of the game. Did you succeed in acquiring the hidden pair of shoes? More points to spend!

Carrying the influence of several ex-Blizzard executives, some having oversight in the development of the first couple Diablo titles, Torchlight comes into its own as a recommended purchase and a good placeholder for Diablo III.

If you're part of the majority of fans who just want to skip straight into the online modes, there's no question: Battlefield 3 is stellar. The same can't be said for the rest of the package, so people uninterested in internet warfare would be best advised to stay away.

Regardless if you choose to make the jump to the Arcade Edition or not, Street Fighter IV is always worth playing.

The poor net code is a disappointment that drags the score down a touch, but as a complete package this is the ultimate recreation of Mixed Martial Arts. EA's very own MMA game has some tough competition.

The heavy micromanagement necessary in The Movies may not be for everyone, but it’s easy to see that this is a good game. There are enough unique touches so it never feels stale or derivative, even though parts of it may seem familiar to some gamers.

There's plenty of content and a certain charming novelty about You Monster that necessitates a download both for fans of Portal and Defense Grid. At an attractive 240 Microsoft Points, there's really no good reason to skip this conjoined celebration of top of the line fan service and quality PC gaming culture.

It's difficult to draw a distinction between the qualities of Hot Springs Story and Game Dev Story. The latter will be inherently more interesting for gamers and as such, probably fares worse on the iPhone, while Hot Springs Story is more casually slanted but skews for a unique cultural niche.

Chaos Legion is one of the great unsung brawlers of the PS2. So the story is cliched beyond belief. So the characters are forgettable. Maybe its presentation could have been executed better. Big deal. The game is overflowing with some of the toughest brawling action you’ll ever face.

Something of a classic.

Skate 2 is still a blast. If you’ve done all you can in Skate, then it’s worth picking up to extend your adventure.

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and I feel like it could be forgotten in the winter rush, but Nuts & Bolts is an excellent game - and original as well, even for a sequel.

It should appeal to anyone who enjoyed the "Burnout" games, or people who want the closest thing to a 'spiritual' update of "Destruction Derby."

If you take yourself and your RPGs too seriously, then chances are you’re not going to get much out of this game. If, however, you just want to hang out with a bunch of hot anime chicks and kick some butt on the way to nowhere, Endless Frontier is your game.

These faults aside, Armageddon takes the core elements that attracted all of us to the series in the first place and combines them to create a solid game that series fans can't afford to miss.

Certainly a huge step up from Honest Hearts.

For better or worse, The Evil Within is essentially Mikami’s survival horror greatest hits.

Its premise of acrobatic janitors versus the forces of dust and debris is ridiculous, barely managing to tie together a series of levels that demand complete mastery to overcome. Only the strongest of will can hope to see their way to the end of this game.

Despite my frustrations with the crashes and glitches, I still enjoyed Point Lookout more than any of the DLC so far. The whole map is an awesome place to explore, the new enemies are a real treat and the quests are some of the best yet.

Sometimes it's frustrating and sometimes it puts you on edge.

It may not stand out massively in the RPG world, but Star Ocean: Second Evolution deserves a lot of recognition for simply being an enjoyable, well scripted and interesting RPG.

A fantastic shooter that combines strategic combat, excellent level design and some genuinely (and maybe too much so) challenging gameplay.

It's a great MMORPG, and while it begins as a fairly overwhelming experience, it soon evolves into an almost casual game.

The Long Road Ahead continues The Walking Dead's fantastic storyline and presents a real case for episodic gaming on consoles via digital means.

Disgaea 3 is a fantastic addition to both the PS3’s consistently improving catalogue and the strategy JRPG genre. With a lengthy story mode and a near enough endless number of abilities and characters to level up this game may just about take over your gaming life altogether.

It is a challenging game that demands precision and patience to master and in exchange it delivers tense, thrilling racing. It isn't perfect, but it's a step in a great direction for the franchise.

Katamari Forever has some of the best gameplay you’ll ever find in the series. So if you’ve never played any of the other games, give this a go. Katamari is on the roll again.

It may have slightly deviated from its original design to welcome the uninitiated to the genre – the many, many knowing references reveal a game that’s meant for the fighting game community more than anyone else – but the added depth proves welcome, even if it requires a little more understanding.

Each choice feels incredibly meaningful because it affects everything.

It's got fan service where it counts, too - familiar character themes appear in the soundtrack, win quotes will often comment on specificities of other characters, and there are even some custom introductions for certain pairs of characters.

Without much competition right now, Bad Company is a surprisingly fun and well designed effort.

This game is truly as happy as I make it out to be, and the peppy musical gibberish serves as a perfect audio backdrop to the joyful scene.

If you're a fan of 2D fighting games then you will definitely enjoy this game.

Umbrella Chronicles is a must-purchase for Wii owners. While it isn't a killer app on the level of Mario Galaxy, it's probably the best multiplayer game on the system.

It is a great time killer but the mental challenge of the game makes me feel like I’m actually doing something, a feeling I don’t get from many other games.

While short, I really loved Sly Cooper. As soon as I finished it, I went out to the store and quickly bought the sequel.

Truly a different game, and it’s different enough to warrant a spot in your collection.

The plot and combat could’ve been better, but its mode of storytelling demands your attention nonetheless as there’s no other experience like it and, for a good many, that means a lot of return trips to come.

Add in an epic, bombastic orchestral score by Kevin Riepl (he also worked on Gears of War) and a surprisingly robust and easy-to-use level creation tool and you have one of the better games to be released so far in 2011. Highly Recommended.

It has a much better sense of itself than previous entries, and instead of shoving touted features in your face, it simply presents them to the player and lets them loose.

It was never going to be perfect but it hits a spot that's been left unappreciated for an awfully long time. While the likes of Call of Duty and Crysis continue down the road to absolute realism, Duke Nukem Forever takes gamers back to remind about how to have fun; surely that's why people play games?

The great presentation - especially the audio effects - makes superb use of the handheld’s capabilities.

Thanks to the handiwork of Ubisoft Shanghai, the small but passionate cult following and the burning sting of its original commercial failure, we all have a second chance to reconcile our differences with this flawed masterpiece – I'm glad I did.

It's another Mario Kart game, through and through. The formula remains unchanged with Nintendo hesitant on adding anything more than minor details. Luckily, the formula's a good one.

It's also arguable that by emphasizing the ladies love pillows to the extent they have in this and the two sequels they have undermined their claim that the Dead or Alive series can offer a rewarding fighting experience and not just plenty of virtual bosoms to ogle.

Regardless of any latent, potentially ethically inquiring core, however, this is a strategy title that triumphantly captures the essence of oppressive and authoritarian leadership in conflict, in the process achieving - on the surface and indeed for most players - exactly what it sets out to do.

For the short time that the game does last it is an example of how Live Arcade titles should be done and how an old game can be refurbished, yet still retain a nostalgic edge to please all types of players.

It’s retro comebacks at its finest.

In the end, it’s a little disappointing that Butcher Bay is the better game included in the package. Dark Athena is by no means bad, but it’s a bit like coming on after Bill Hicks at an open mic; no matter how good your set was, the performance in front of you set the standard.

But at the end of the day, taking down a handful of terrorists through meticulous planning with the snake cam and order issuing is as rewarding as ever.

The type of game the PSP needs. Its light, fast-paced gameplay is great for just picking up and playing. With over forty levels, it’s got just the right amount of depth to be a top-shelf PSP game.

Surprisingly for a game with such a strong comic book feel, it sometimes feels like the world and characters lack personality, but if in future installments the developers can address these few flaws and perhaps develop the narrative in a more evocative environment, they could easily have one of the best games in the genre on their hands.

And with this highly interactive, jiggling way to play - clearly the portable precursor to the modern innovative wonder known as the Wii - Wario serves up yet another delicious feast that gamers who are never satisfied with their high scores, or who prefer games that revolve around plenty of action and reaction, will no doubt enjoy digging into.

There is just something incredibly satisfying about a great 2D shooter. Metal Slug 3 may be a few years old and minus a dimension, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the best action games currently on the Xbox.

It's rare to see a movie game that is enjoyable in its own right. Even without the Bourne license, Conspiracy would be a great action game. It blends two totally different gameplay styles together and delivers them in quick, intense bursts.

A great game for fans and on the whole, but a handful of the features it boasts come accompanied by disappointing sacrifices that are particularly painful to those who have come to love and expect so much from the series.

Despite the lumbering campaign mode, Halo Wars is a brilliant addition to the series and, more importantly, to the RTS genre.

It's no-hold barred old-school shmup action. If stripped of its additional content, Deathsmiles could have been an XBLA title. Instead Rising Star Games have created a niche product – a well presented old-school shmup with plenty of additional material to bring you back.

It's not perfect, though. The camera controls are terrible; navigating the mission is a frequently annoying experience. The lack of other additional features and gameplay modes doesn't help, either. Despite its shortcomings, Snake Eater 3D is well worth playing.

Even if you’re discounting any additional future content (and the developers are already hinting at follow-up campaigns post-release), this is a game that deserves your attention right now. A.M.F, chummer, see you in the sprawl.

While other games coming out might be flashier and bigger and badder and all that crap, what it really comes down to is good strategy and in that aspect Kohan II really nails it.

Is it still one of the greatest games on the DS, and one of the best handheld puzzlers currently out? Absolutely. This game takes everything we love about puzzle games, tweaks it, and serves it to us on a silver platter.

With refinements in some core areas, particularly the controls, this could be a near perfect downloadable title.

The main story can be completed in a fraction of the time you'll actually end up devoting to the world, and ironically, it's one of the few sandbox games whose sidequests offer substantial rewards. Thus, don't be put off by Sleeping Dogs' troubled development for it's a meaty package you'll struggle to put down. And best of all, it's darn good fun.

Sleeping Dogs is a great action game with a compellingly melodramatic story and an atmosphere thick enough to cut with a knife. Control issues aside, it's a great PC port, too - on a beefy gaming PC, Sleeping Dogs looks far better than its console counterparts. For fans of Hong Kong cinema and/or open-world games, it's a must.

Shooting yourself in the head never looked better.

I’m not talking about overcomplicated leveling systems, highly technical handling, hardware connectivity, or any of that other crap that’s being pushed on us. We already have everything we need: Our ears, creativity and sense of rhythm. Case in point: Electroplankton.

The gameplay’s been tightened up, graphically it looks great, the Captain Your Country mode is great fun and most club and international teams are omitted.

It’s not cerebral and it’s not subtle, but it’s bloody good fun, and exactly the sort of quick blast one might expect from downloadable games.

Despite Paradox’s best efforts, it’s still not a game that everyone will be able to love, but for those that can, it’s a juggernaut of a title that will keep them occupied for the duration of the Hundred Years War.

While it can’t compare to living with an abusive parent, you do get an insight into what it’s like, and you get to experience a sliver of the emotions the creator went through. And that’s the unique strength games have. You understand those emotions a little better by feeling them yourself.

Unexpectedly brilliant, then, Motorstorm: Arctic Edge is an extremely likeable addition to the Motorstorm family, which provides a hectic racing experience that will get the blood pumping through your veins.

If you own a DS, and you agree that touching is good, then The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is for you, and anyone looking to embark on a casual quest that looks and feels good will feel right at home here.

Virtua Tennis 2009 is probably the best tennis game on the Wii.

Better than "Grand Theft Auto"? From what I’ve experienced, both games focus on entirely different concepts of crime, so much so it’s almost a treat to flick backwards and forwards between each series. GTA is far more high flying, with huge drug raids and mafia troubles and I found Saints Row to be more down to earth, focusing on petty crimes and taking over gang turf.

End Game provides a more than fitting conclusion to Battlefield 3. The fifth expansion is on par with, if not surpassing, the other offerings.

Whatever her motives, 400 Days and indeed The Walking Dead are remarkable achievements simply because they prove that games are capable at spawning thoughts of fundamental debates such as the meaning of life and death.