Torment is a game for anyone who's a fan of a good book, an epic tale, or that simply wants a fresh take on RPGs that consoles have never seen. It may not be a great novel, but it's certainly a very good one.

Ghost Blade HD is exactly what it appears to be: a bullet hell shmup emulating the pinnacle of the genre in the mid-nineties. It's visually chaotic and over before you know it, but this is to be expected from an homage to a much loved niche. Some display customisation options, 2-player local co-op and a slightly easier Easy mode give the more casual gamer a chance to at least see out the game's short campaign, but ultimately Ghost Blade knows and delivers to its core audience: arcade addicts looking for a hit of nostalgia.

With throwback games being all the rage in independent development, many developers have chosen to go the 8/16-bit, pixelated, "ain't this cute?" route to tap into nostalgia while bringing along more modern systems and mechanics. Chime Sharp goes the opposite route; it may look like a modern game, but it feels like an older game in the best ways possible. With its highly accessible gameplay style and a difficult-to-master level of play, Chime Sharp is an easy endorsement for virtually all gamers.

For Honor's learning curve can be punishing at first, but if you're willing to stay the course and invest some time into understanding the nuances of its deep combat system, you will begin to appreciate how exciting and truly addictive the "Art of Battle" can be.

Riptide GP: Renegade is a masterclass in how to take a good concept and execute it well. While nothing the game does is exceptional in any way, its faults are few and minimal.

The central concept is as mindlessly addictive as ever, while the audiovisual update is pleasing to the eyes and ears. Unfortunately the game is let down by being too short and too easy, while some unnecessary platforming gimmicks frustrate more often than they entertain.

A fun stroll through a computer that can be quite challenging at times. The story is engaging and the different characters that you meet along the way are both interesting and original (even if they were inspired by past games). There's a good mix of platforming and questing aspects here, with collectibles and challenge rooms to keep you playing long after the story has finished.

Creative Assembly has taken the groundwork set out by Ensemble’s Halo Wars and improved on some of the areas that were lacking in the original, all while still keeping the game accessible and easily playable using a controller. It feels as if the campaign has been released in an unfinished state, but it still offers a decent amount of action and a compelling story. The relatively low number of missions, the unsatisfying conclusion and the fact that 343 Industries and Creative Assembly have already announced that campaign DLC will be coming in the near future can't help but leave a bitter taste in the mouth. The new Blitz mode adds a different approach to the RTS combat to which we have become accustomed, and the shorter, more action-oriented, matches give newcomers and veterans alike something into which to sink their teeth.

Minimal story, frustrating design, and a revival of all the bad things of which survival horror washed its hands years ago — these all crop up in Vaccine and combine to have the game miss its mark. Instead of a love letter to bygone scares, what we get is a tiresome endeavor for anyone but the most diehard fans for old school horror. What's worse, even such fans might be turned away by Vaccine's blatant ripping off of Capcom's renowned franchise.

Zombie Vikings takes an interesting premise and a beautiful art style and squanders them alongside a bulk of other issues. Bugs that should've long ago been patched out before migrating to Xbox, a sense of humor that only induces cringe, and a campaign that overstays its welcome and rewards button-mashing come together to form something fittingly brainless. Minimal simple pleasures might be found here if you and a few friends are looking for just another co-op game, but even then there must be others you haven't yet played that more often reward you in nearly every way.

The game is held back by poor balancing that renders the silenced pistol the most effective weapon, the truly awful AI that seems to actively try to not detect you even if you run in front of them, and a lack of worthwhile activities to play outside of the main campaign.

In a sea of ID@Xbox games, Typoman: Revised stands on its own thanks to its solid gameplay and unique use of words and puzzles. The platforming simply feels good and the usage of letters, words and antonyms add another layer to it.

The brightest spot in the whole game is Lola's flaming pink hair.

What's there in the game is quite good, the issue is that there isn't very much of it. Once you've had your fill of the challenges in the main game, there's nothing else to do except speed run those same levels again. That on top of a complete and utter lack of production value of any kind leaves the game feeling more like a prototype of a cool idea than a full game.

Exploring the facility and discovering the nuances of the plot are certainly the highlights of this game, but the lack of direction is a double-edged sword, giving players the opportunity to discover as much as they can but often leaving them unsure of what exactly they are supposed to be doing. The survival elements of this survival-horror also aren't as fully realised as they could have been and only appear during the short second half of the story. With a length of only one to two hours, it’s easy to finish a single playthrough in one sitting and still have plenty of time to go back in for more, but once you have discovered what secrets are lurking in the basement, there is very little to entice you back other than finishing up any missed achievements, of course.

The heart of MX Nitro is fast, fluid, and exciting. Many levels provide a tough but fair challenge with a physics model on which you can rely — crucial to the game's merits. Unfortunately, it's bogged down by some strange design decisions, lackluster customization, and sparse online modes that ultimately add up to something uneven. Getting on the bike and trying again and again can be fun for a while, but eventually you may find it's best to put it back in the garage and find something that doesn't break your spirit as much as your avatar's body.

Pix The Cat offers some truly frenetic gameplay and finds modest success in being the Snake/Pac-Man crossover as which it's billed. Sometimes the game presents itself as too busy to allow for focus on what you're actually meant to be doing, and when you are focusing, the controls don't always respond how you'd want.

Considering the combination of the two genres that make up the game, Crypt Of The NecroDancer will certainly not be for everyone. With a great and varied soundtrack, there's at least one choice to suit your tastes. The gratifying gameplay offers a real feeling that it is the player's skill that has persevered over all obstacles and there are plenty of modes to occupy your time. The punishing difficulty may put off newcomers to the genre, but those who enjoy rhythm games or roguelikes may well find a new obsession here... just be ready to die a lot.

Very little player interaction is involved, but conversation options can allow players to shape the characters so that it feels like they are creating their own story. Unfortunately, that feeling is short lived when all choices lead to the same story conclusion and characters are left underdeveloped. The puzzles that are intended to add extra gameplay end up falling flat because they're too easy. The result is an experience that is satisfactory for a single playthrough but becomes repetitive and boring across multiple playthroughs, which is something that the achievements encourage.

Aqua Kitty is a fun shoot-em-up that presents a fair challenge with a decent soundtrack, but it won't hold your attention in the long run.

What works in Pixel Heroes is a successful blending of that classic, turn-based RPG gameplay with a modern, rogue-like twist. The shoddy UI, lack of a "stash" feature, and general lack of polish hold it back from being a resounding recommendation, but those who look back fondly on the realms of Alefgard and Corneria should definitely check it out.

Candleman is a great platformer with beautifully rendered graphics and wonderful attention to detail.

Whilst initially amusing, killing the bad guy soon starts to feel like a chore. The killing is originally hilarious, becomes annoying in the middle and seems to pick up again towards the end. The deaths and the animations are amusing, as are the bonus levels, and the story of each bad guy is funny and unique. Unfortunately, the game is let down by some jerky controls and the fact that, essentially, you are just doing the same thing over and over.

TowerFall Ascension is an addictive archery-based multiplayer death-match with a simple concept and competent design. An absence of gameplay differences between characters is frustrating and the solo campaign mode is far too insubstantial, but the versus arena is engagingly chaotic, if short-lived. Online multiplayer would have elevated this game to another level, but local play is still a lot of fun if you and your friends like to duke it out once in a while.

Doodle God: Ultimate Edition is the most complete version of the title to be released to date but compared to some of it predecessors that are available on other formats, not much has changed.

No one said survival would be easy, but since it's still a game, it should ultimately be more fun than it is.

The Sun and Moon has great mechanics and very creative level design, but the game is hamstrung by a brutal difficulty curve. When the game is so difficult you need to stop playing, it better have something else to back it up like a story; The Sun and Moon doesn't have that.

While the game sorely lacks a decent story to match its competitors, METRICO+ is still a decent puzzle platformer at its core. Fans of Braid will feel at home with its complexity and innovation, often requiring a similar level of spatial awareness and movement conservation to get through a stage. It manages to balance on the fine line between being too simple and too difficult, only occasionally driving players to frustration due to a lack of contextual instructions.