Whether OlliOlli World charms you or chafes at your patience will depend on your appetite for such whimsy.

Predictably, Proving Ground falls into the 'more of the same category'. When that means more of the same of something brilliant and proven, there's reason for both contentment and disappointment, but if you know you like Tony Hawk, though you'll not be blown away you should certainly feel comfortable here.

Telling Lies expands on the concept Sam Barlow created with Her Story, with a web of intriguing characters and mysteries, but the more overblown aspects of its plot detract from the personal drama.

On one side you've got some brilliantly designed platforming, with Ubisoft able to breathe new life into what could have been quite stale gameplay. Sadly, the combat, of which there is a lot, fails to do anything interesting. It's too basic and as a result dull and repetitive.

Aliens Vs Predator is a great deal of fun, but there's no getting away from the fact that it feels somewhat dated and that the marine campaign is head and shoulders above the other two.

Afterburner Climax is a great, and reasonably priced way to play the arcade game in the comfort of your own home, but it's a remarkably simple game that will leave some people wanting a lot more.

Beijing 2008 isn't doing anything all that new, but there's just something undeniably addictive about going for high scores and fastest times. If you've got an urge to twiddle an analogue stick faster than any human knew was possible you can do a lot worse.

With a bit more ingenuity in the puzzles, more made of the time travel and a little more graphical "oomph", Raven and Activision could have had a real gem on their hands. It's still well worth a look though.

Despite the niggles the main thing to say about Rivals 2 is that it's great fun. And fun, lest we forget, is what it's all about. The whoring of Sonic the Hedgehog continues of course, but the Sonic Rivals series continues to do its best to stem the flow of blue-skinned cow dung.

Given The Broken Bond's quite dazzling presentation it's easy to overlook its main fetch-quest focused flaw, so it's well worth a look. Just be aware that to non-fans some of the storyline will be quite hard to follow.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker isn't the most taxing puzzle game in the world, but it's well-paced and enjoyable all the same.

It's slightly disappointing, but I found myself returning to Blood Dragon after I'd finished it. The compulsive appeal of the parent game carries over, and it's nice to play a sci-fi shooter that's not trying to tell a so-called 'epic' story. Here you shoot people, a lot, and for most of its short running time that's good fun.

I enjoyed my time battling foes alongside wizard friends new and old, but Magicka 2 takes more effort than most games, and it's tiring.

Split/Second is so close to being great; so much so that in short bursts it really is a spectacular arcade racer. It just doesn't have any legs.

Series fans will love it – indeed, series fans would probably love it if a Capcom came to their house and punched their mothers – but Episode 2 not only provides a motivation to pick up Ep 3, it also neatly brings overarching backstory into play.

For hardcore shooter fans, Galaga Legions is an essential purchase, and can rightly be considered the definitive Galaga game. For everyone else, we can't recommend it over Retro Evolved 2, which remains the Xbox 360's best shooter by a country mile.

World Tour does nothing to advance golf games to wherever it is they need to go next – I think we can all admit the genre has become incredibly stale – but it still manages to entertain. And that, my friends, is no bad thing.

Blair Witch is great at building tension and letting you get lost in its unforgiving forest, but sometimes it takes that too literally. It mostly overcomes that, however, thanks to your magic camcorder and superb pooch.

As a spin-off from the Zelda franchise Hyrule Warriors does the job. It’s fun, pays decent fan service, and uses the Dynasty Warriors template well.

A well-rounded spectacle that serves up something for most wrestling fans.

Speaking of destruction, every building in the game can be destroyed - something which was quite a surprise at first, after a stray missile missed its target and downed a building a few hundred metres in the distance. This combined with the complete bombardment of enemies makes for a game that constantly brings a smile to the face of players.

And yet, despite these glaring, obvious faults, Destiny is utterly capable of draining the hours away, via its excellent combat and its PvP. Flawed, yes. Fun? Certainly. A total failure? Not really.

Then there's stuff that's just completely baffling, like the game's complete inability to match players into games that have already started - those kind of matchmaking particulars might work for a game the size of Halo, but here it just causes untold problems and a lengthy wait on the lobby screen.

Despite these signs of a slight rush job and the mixed presentation, I couldn't help but have a good time with Captain America.

If mainstream releases are leaving you feeling a little uninspired, Omega Five should be just the kind of boost your daily intake needs.

An imaginative, slightly quirky platform puzzler which will be great for the kids but doesn't hold a whole lot of challenge for adult gamers.

Despite these signs of a slight rush job and the mixed presentation, I couldn't help but have a good time with Captain America.

If you really want to play online though, or the game modes are important to you, the PlayStation 2 game is by far the better choice. This year Konami can just about be forgiven for short-changing Xbox 360 owners, but next year's game better be next-gen.

I can't deny that I'm disappointed by Scribblenauts' shortcomings, but I will certainly continue to play after this review is done - and I hope with all my heart that 5th Cell decide to make a sequel.

The fun of playing these games, especially these days, lies in the director, Ryuchi Nishizawa, whose approach to genre was one of precise and genial disregard.

Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues was always going to feel a bit desperate, making the most out of a small amount of new content, but Traveller's Tales has done a decent job.

Everything a downloadable title should be: simple, addictive and well priced. Those still in a strop that it isn't the 'proper' Crash mode that we've seen in Burnout games previously are missing the point. It is what it is, and it is jolly good fun.

There remains about Pokémon Brilliant Diamond the glint of something far gone, and there is something warmly reassuring about the place.

Everything a downloadable title should be: simple, addictive and well priced. Those still in a strop that it isn't the 'proper' Crash mode that we've seen in Burnout games previously are missing the point. It is what it is, and it is jolly good fun.

Though held back from greatness by gameplay flaws and performance issues, System Shock still presents a fascinating world and interesting story that'll be more than worth the effort for dedicated players.

As an example of the kind of control Move is going to allow in future titles, Sports Champions is easily the best of the launch line-up, but compared to the obvious competition (Wii Sports Resort) it's lacking content.

Does it succeed? Well, I don’t know—I’m not an astronaut—but I can report that it has a pleasing gravity.

Gameplay still lags behind the mighty Pro Evolution Soccer in a few areas, but the 'first touch' and 'off the ball' systems continue to impress. Presentation is great as expected, making this the perfect title to celebrate the World Cup with, even if it's not the perfect footy game.

There remains about Pokémon Brilliant Diamond the glint of something far gone, and there is something warmly reassuring about the place.

For a next-gen price tag you expect to get a next-gen product, and sadly MotoGP '06 hasn't quite made a successful leap to the next-generation.

Fun, but a little shallow.

Its depth is fairly lacking by modern standards, so genre veterans may want to stay clear, but management sim newcomers will find a well designed and fun little game.

The football is shoddy, avatars glitch out and every now and again and the responsiveness of the game is occasionally brought into question - but none of this stops the experience being enjoyable. To conclude then, the answer to a question that has been on everybody's lips: is Kinect Sports better than Wii Sports?... Without a doubt.

NASCAR 09 isn't going to set tills on fire in the UK, but it's a solid racing game that offers something a little different to the likes of GT, Forza, PGR and GRID. It's not the most exciting of games to look at, but in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a race you need to be on your game if you're going to succeed.

Grasshopper jumbles together the conventions of the hack and slash with a slew of other ideas, and, if it all hangs together, it’s precisely because of the Hang: the relaxed air of logorrhea and pop cultural reference that wafts through it.

Don't expect ico crossed with the mind bending puzzles of Professor Layton, but do expect a well produced adventure game with puzzles that don't make you feel dumb.

If you can get past the fact that it isn’t the best looker, you’ll have a good time with Styx. It’s particularly recommended for hardcore sneak-em-up fans looking for a genuine challenge: a stealth-action game in which the emphasis is unapologetically on the stealth, and not the action.

Metro Exodus injects life and light into the series, but its mechanics are still starting to creak; it’s a good end to Artyom’s journey, even if the story seems muffled.

A game that comes frustratingly close to excellence without ever justifying such a tag. Though the gameplay has depth and simplicity, it often feels more like a multiplayer game with single-player tacked on, than a genuine single-player title in its own right.

Drakensang's best not when it's being played, but when it's being tinkered with. It's an old-fashioned, sometimes archaic, other times deeply engrossing game that rewards and satisfies according to how much effort you're willing to put in.

The Ball won't lure many people away from the triple-A hits of the year, but if you're in the market for a spot of first-person puzzling, it's well worth the entry fee.

Night call is thick with moody atmosphere and noir style; its writing is hit and miss, but it's tough not to be entranced by the central concept.

A lack of a local multiplayer mode is a shocking omission, the audio is instantly forgettable (it's a predictable military score), and the single-player mode is boring as hell. But the online component, when you get a game with real people, provides great fun and the Team Fortress 2-style weapons and art style should appeal to most. Better than a kick in the groin.

Although it is never great to aim low, I can't help but think the reaction to Return to Arkham would have been better had both games simply been 1080p, locked frame rate versions of the originals, running on Unreal Engine 3.

With only two themes you'll soon grow tired of blasting knights and pirates, and the two-player modes will only be of interest to a small number of people. Most definitely worth a look, but not quite up there with the best available on the PSN.

These are another batch of consistently entertaining maps built on the solid bedrock of sprawling architectural foundations.

For all its stumbling blocks, much of the core Operation Flashpoint experience has survived the transition from PC to console. For this achievement alone, Codemasters deserves our respect.

Stay’s compelling lead character and gripping dialogue ensures you’ll want to see Quinn’s journey through to the end. It’s just a shame it spends a bit too much time testing your patience with irksome puzzles and some needless waffling.

It’s worth pointing out that few other studios have the confidence to take this approach to horror: not to jolt you with sudden frights or to ration your ammunition, but to probe and puncture your emotional ease by putting foulness in such close proximity to the childish.

A word of warning though: this game has the most annoying background music EVER, a jazz-style soundtrack that completely destroys the languid atmosphere of the gameplay. Play it with the sound off, or you'll find yourself being driven slowly mad.

You have to hand it to Square Enix for trying to move things forward - better that than yet another rehash of the tried and tested Final Fantasy formula (the less said about Infinite Undiscovery the better). But it does so along a path so narrow and straight that you long for the days of old.

For nostalgia alone, die-hard fans will get a lot out of this HD remake, but gamers who have been spoilt by current genre favourites may well find Serious Sam HD a bit too simple for its own good.

It's a tidy little package, all in all - probably the closest thing the App Store has to Super Meat Boy, which is high praise indeed.

It lacks polish, but Dead by Daylight is a genuinely tense ode to 80s slasher movies.

While the campaign, UI and added value of betas and TV shows give Halo: MCC a lot to shout about, shoddy matchmaking means one of the biggest talking points for fans is being discussed for all the wrong reasons.

The additions and changes might not be a complete success, but the game's gentle rhythm and solid fundamentals are just as oddly compelling as they ever were.

Imagine Contra meets Kid Chameleon via Super Meat Boy, with a touch of Sensible Software's irreverence, and you're there. One the most enjoyable couch multiplayer games I've played in quite a while.

Yager should be admired for its bravery and effort in building something different - this could so easily have been an entirely generic shooter - but it just doesn't have the fundamentals to back up its grand ideas or the confidence to go completely off the wall and truly stand out from the crowd.

Stray Gods is at times a heartwarming and expertly crafted musical experience. However, certain narrative choices, along with some minor audio and performance issues, leave the game feeling like it could have spent a little more time in the oven.

While not offering anything groundbreaking as such, this tranquil, simplistic puzzler is a joyous distraction in a medium that can sometimes pride itself on pomp and circumstance.

A challenging and at times flawed experience - one that serves up plenty of frustration along with the rampant good times. Because no matter how hard you try or how carefully you plan your outings, you're almost certain to hit some kind of wall.

If you're hungry for an old-fashioned platformer, one with a tongue in its cheek and a spring in its step, you could do far worse.

It's a breath of fresh air to the racing genre and features some of the best online integration to date, although you'll be better off getting hold of the far superior Xbox 360 or PC versions.

It's also a marked improvement on the 360 version of the first game. But it falls down in some crucial areas: the single-player campaign, ever more crucial to an RTS' appeal, fails to sparkle, and the online experience, while fun, lacks an essential feature. We're delighted the 360 port exists, but Gas Powered Games could have tried harder.

Dead Nation adds a lot to the standard twin-stick shooting affair, with welcome dungeon crawler mechanics, co-op play and social features that are likely to attract a solid little community. For anybody whose patience hasn't been gnawed to pieces by zombies this past year or so, Dead Nation is easy to recommend.

If you're hungry for an old-fashioned platformer, one with a tongue in its cheek and a spring in its step, you could do far worse.

It's also a much more entertaining single-player experience than the other party games available for the Wii, although clearly doesn't offer the depth that a Rayman platformer would have.

A well put together action puzzler, Figment has truly outstanding musical work. It'd be a great game to discover with children, but you'd probably need one to get the most out of it.

Pikmin 4 is an incredibly charming and fun experience for the most part, but its new additions aren't quite revolutionary enough to stave off a feeling of repetitiveness in the later hours.

I advise anybody picking the game up on Xbox One to turn Kinect off in settings before playing it. You can’t switch off Kinect commands in-game, and if you like to chat with friends while playing, you’re in trouble. Many times Rivals mistook my conversation for commands to change view, look behind and look around, leading me to scream obscenities and lose thousands of SP.

A challenging and at times flawed experience - one that serves up plenty of frustration along with the rampant good times. Because no matter how hard you try or how carefully you plan your outings, you're almost certain to hit some kind of wall.

On the one hand it's highly entertaining and almost obscenely violent and crude, but for a next-gen title with a next-gen price tag it doesn't quite deliver.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is, like football, a game of two halves. The actual fighting half, which is arguably the more critical 50% anyway, is fun and exciting. The other half is a bit confusing.

Afterburner Climax is a great, and reasonably priced way to play the arcade game in the comfort of your own home, but it's a remarkably simple game that will leave some people wanting a lot more.

The high-score hunting gameplay makes for an incredibly addictive retro gaming experience, and the sleek presentation gives it a modern appearance and feel. If you can choose between PSP and DS versions then the DS game is clearly the best choice.

Feels like a hardened old-skool title wrapped up in some lavish next-gen visuals. Annoyances with the save system, checkpoints and difficulty spikes are likely to mar the enjoyment for a fair few players, but there's still no question that Lost Planet should be experienced.

A solid, entertaining third-person shooter, best played with a friend, but it's not quite the big advancement over the original it could have been. It's a more cohesive game, thanks to its location and more believable main characters, but the AI still disappoints at times and the new morality system misses far more than it hits. It's also incredibly short, and without a top-tier multiplayer component to turn to, your fun will likely be over very quickly.

Gentle and frustrating in equal parts, on the whole Kororinpa is a worthy addition to any Wii library, presuming that you bought the console as you weren't interested in a constant supply of macho shooters and driving games.

A short, calm exploration of a beautiful island, where the conversations are like talking to real people. As an introduction to the larger world of Eastshade it's great, but Leaving Lyndow doesn't quite manage to stand on its own feet as a separate game.

Even when the trappings are more traditional, as they are in Return to Dreamland Deluxe, Kirby is Kirby. You get to the end with the distinct feeling that the tilts and tumbles haven’t stopped, that you haven’t quite pinned down its charm, and that you will be back, before too long, with an urge for more.

As much as Hitman III was a pleasure to play, it left me longing for the mood of the old games—for that European concoction of sirens and splashing rain, drenched in Jesper Kyd’s cold scores. I’m as excited as anyone for Project 007, but I wonder how long we will be left looking for 47—a wraith in a red tie, who has proven elusive enough to slip IO’s grasp.

There's a lot to like about Syndicate's mechanics and recoil-rich gunplay, and your cache of cybernetic powers elevates the game above most rote corridor shooters. But Syndicate doesn't know what it wants to be at its core, and its dry protagonist blasts through hyper-violent environments with no motivation or desire.

Beijing 2008 isn't doing anything all that new, but there's just something undeniably addictive about going for high scores and fastest times. If you've got an urge to twiddle an analogue stick faster than any human knew was possible you can do a lot worse.

A decent adventure game with lots of ropey bits. Just like the last one, and the one before it.

The blurring is the biggest offender, causing the backgrounds to lose all detail, and the wake left by each car looks considerably worse than in the 360 version.

Unlimited may once again frustratingly fail to reach the potential of Scribblenauts’ terrific core conceit. But if any game this year makes my son and I laugh as much as this has over the past week or so, I’ll be absolutely delighted.

It’s a fine reason to return to State of Decay. If you’re okay with that rhythm, it’s a lot of fun to play soldiers at the end of the world.

Dawnguard is considerably better than most of Bethesda's recent Fallout 3 DLC, but you'll be sorely disappointed if you go in expecting to find Skyrim's version of Bloodmoon or The Shivering Isles.