This is more or less everything we wanted from a Boom Blox sequel and can't recommend it enough.

Uncharted 2 does so many things right, that its problems (a less than perfect cover system, some frustrating combat and unfortunate glitches) are easy to overlook. The single-player adventure packs in so many incredible moments that you'll be talking about it with friends for months, the multiplayer functionality is superb and rammed with content, and the whole game looks beyond anything you'll have seen before.

A brilliant, near flawless addition to the series and an easy contender for game-of-the-year.

This is a game that can be played alone against the leaderboard and friend high scores, or in large groups, with everyone shouting and hollering at every comedic mishap. It's a game that seems tailor made for Xbox LIVE Arcade and we can't recommend it highly enough.

Race Driver: GRID is tearing up the tarmac this summer without a challenger in site.

And it's also through experimentation that you'll experience the magic moments you'll not find anywhere else.

The simple ideas are often the best, and Portal, quite simply, is one of the best ideas for a game we've ever seen. It's fantastically realised, brilliantly executed, and had me wrapped around its computerised finger for two-and-a-half unforgettable hours. This is gaming in its purest form.

With wonderfully varied levels, colourful, cel-shaded graphics and mind-bending puzzles that'll have you working those little grey cells into the ground, Zack & Wiki triumphantly makes its debut on Nintendo's Wii, the only console it could have appeared on.

The robust and extensive suite of features make for a compelling overall package. It's an incredible campaign, and its less bombastic plot and clear-cut story stop it from getting bogged down in the sense of being overworked.

It's a gorgeous game, and one that runs at a framerate speedy enough to justify why it doesn't support older models of iPhone and iTouch.

With ODST, it often feels as if Bungie desperately wanted to create something different, but, for whatever reason, wasn't able to go as far as it wanted. There are obvious influences from other games, most clearly 2K Games' BioShock, and distinct tweaks in the tried and trusted Halo formula, but ODST is still very much a Halo game that fans will instantly find familiar.

Half-Life fans are going to flip out over what Episode Two has to offer and FPS fans in general should find a finely crafted, lean experience.

This is action gaming at its very best.

In the hands of anyone who's been longing for a true sequel to Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy could well be the game of the year, but for me the latter half struggles to match the creativity and moments of magic experienced during the opening.

The number of options you have to tackle each situation makes for some great unscripted moments, and the visuals and sound help create an atmosphere that wouldn't be possible on older hardware.

I don't think I've ever seen a game do such a great job of catering to its target audience, and at every step Harmonix displays a deep understanding and appreciation for the Beatles license.

CoD4 has all the terrorist activity you'd want, evil leaders, dramatic encounters and plenty of stunning scripted moments that will make your jaw hit the floor.

This is a top-drawer iDevice game that feels perfectly at home on Apple's touch screen, tilt-enabled handhelds. At just £2.99 it's an absolute steal.

Death Stranding 2 manages the rare trick of being both desperately monotonous but profoundly engaging, banking towards one of these two poles depending on how much you’re willing to put in. It’s a game that demands that you meet it half-way and shed expectations, your pace dictated by your stomach for patience and perseverance. But if you do, it’s a wonderfully strange and roaring spectacle.

Complex systems are made simple, by committing their clutter to muscle memory, and play—good play, at any rate—requires that you, like Selene, ride its enigmatic loop.

Where Crimson Alliance could have joined the white noise of dungeon crawlers, Certain Affinity has managed to design a solid and - more impressively - distinctive game, regardless of whether the simple, pick-up-and-play approach turns off a few hardcore fans of the genre.

Prince of Persia does away with one of the most fundamental game design rules and is all the better for it.

Few worlds are as well-realised as the one Rockstar has created for Red Dead Redemption 2. Thanks to some wonderful scripting and stellar performances, the characters you randomly meet in the wild are captured as well as the ones you spend most of your days around camp. How do you follow Red Dead Redemption? You make Red Dead Redemption 2.

If you don't have a big interest in bikes or MotoGP, this isn't for you. There's nothing here for casual bike fans or anyone who might be on the look out for something accessible in the bike racing genre. It's an incredibly solid package, though, and one that fans will get a lot out of.

It's not brave, it's not innovative, but neither should it be casually dismissed as 'more of the same'. That winning formula has been prodded and poked and buffed until it gleams, leaving us with a game that is, at the very least, the finest Mario Kart since the original. For some, it might be even more than that.

DmC Definitive Edition's customisation tools that allow the player to tweak gameplay to suit their own style is what makes this an excellent remaster for newcomers and veterans alike.

The physics-based fighting is simply brilliant, the career mode will last you an age and the online functionality is solid. If you're not into boxing Round 4 is simple to learn, so you could still become the next Mike Tyson or Muhammad Ali with a little practice. It's not perfect, mainly down to a slightly soulless career mode, but it's still a significant step up over Round 3.

Make no mistake, this is Gran Turismo as you remember it but on a handheld, and done in a way that betters what I imagined was possible.

You’ll need knowledge, skill, and a smidge of spider-sense. Friends to learn with are a must, and don’t be deceived by the lack of a pricetag: Dota 2 will cost you hundreds of hours.

If you're short on patience or have a nervous disorder, then you should approach Rearmed with caution. If, however, you love the genre and harbor fond memories of the original, then this game will seem like a gift from the Eighties God of Shooty Bang-Bang.

If you've never played the PS2 Prince of Persia trilogy before, this is the perfect opportunity to do so. If you have, play it again; reliving the experience in HD is a glorious reminder of just what great games these are.

The new tracks are excellent, but it's the game modes that offer the real value for money here - they're so good it's no surprise Sony Liverpool was keen to get them into gamers' hands in an expansion rather than having to wait until the release of a completely new game.

Sports Interactive has built on last year's game to produce the best version yet (we must say this every year), so it's easy to recommend FM 2010 to anyone with an interest in taking their team to league and cup glory. If you can't get into the wonder that is Football Manager Live or just prefer the more solitary experience standard FM offers, this will keep you hooked to your PC monitor for months.

The multiplayer and campaign go to great lengths to make themselves more inclusive for new players, and yet the requirement that you already own Wings of Liberty ensures that very few of these people will play it. For a campaign this excellent that’s a huge shame, but the damage is more substantial when you look at the competitive multiplayer.

It's got new game modes, enhanced visuals and multiplayer support. If you love Geometry Wars you'll love this.

Definitely an improvement on its predecessor. The additions from last year have been worked on and sit far more comfortably this time. Developed physicality and complete unpredictability mature proceedings on the pitch.

Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice is one of the best PSP games I've played.

Hotline Miami is a fair game, as much as it is hard, and you always know why you're dead, even if it was a fickle turn of the controls.

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing has all the best qualities that Mario Kart initiated years ago and features controls tailored to the portable iOS devices. As such, this is certainly one of the best iDevice racers you'll play this year.

For now, what we can say unequivocally is that FIFA 10 is the best FIFA ever created. And, maybe, the best football game ever created.

Combine a thoroughly entertaining single-player campaign with a stunning and challenging time trial mode and you'll soon forget that you managed to run through the story in six hours or less. There's depth here that you'll only discover hours into time trialling a single stage, and as we said, no other game released this year comes close to being as cool.

The simple ideas are often the best, and Portal, quite simply, is one of the best ideas for a game we've ever seen. It's fantastically realised, brilliantly executed, and had me wrapped around its computerised finger for two-and-a-half unforgettable hours.

I booted up FIFA 11 to gauge just how much has changed and the differences really are quite striking.

I booted up FIFA 11 to gauge just how much has changed and the differences really are quite striking.

If you love FPS gaming you owe it to yourself to get The Orange Box. Hell, if you love gaming, you owe it to yourself to get it.

Fast, satisfying combat and the most ambitious single player for a fighting game yet, Injustice 2 is a great game elevated further by its attention to detail and Cavill-esque good looks.

If I was wearing a hat, I'd doff it to the DS development team at Nintendo, who for me can do no wrong... or rather I would, except that I need both hands to control DK, so maybe it's best that I'm not wearing one. This is though, another definite winner from the big N.

Easily one of the better mobile games in recent memory, Shadowblade is a shining beacon and a stinging lesson to other developers. This is the bar. Now you try and raise it.

Infinite Wealth honours its dying dragon and rising star with a Hawaiian platter of side stories, memoirs, and dynamic combat.

You know when you were a kid, in the summer, you used to have huge pretend adventures in the back garden with all your mates? Where the shed was a castle and the hedge was a jungle? And it was like really having an adventure? This is sort of like that.

Put simply, if you like GTA, you'll like this. It's the core GTA experience condensed, re-purposed, but astonishingly well preserved.

This is the crux of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It is fascinated by the way that games lurk at the soft verges of life, vesting our days with dreams.

Veterans and newbies alike will be impressed with how sumptuous the game looks. It's easily the best looking fighter on a console.

Even on easy mode, FTL is another capital-D Difficult game and its random nature means even the most careful of explorers might find themselves unexpectedly asphyxiated.

It's got the looks, the style, the superb sense of speed, and spot-on handling model that blurs the line between sim and arcade. It also introduces Gymkhana and with it excellent potential for players becoming addicted to going for new high scores. What it doesn't do is innovate in the racing game genre, generally making refinements where needed rather than redefining what's expected in a modern racer.

All of the changes, all of the tweaks, all of the graphical upgrades, remixed music and refinements to the online experience make SSF2THDR one of the best remakes of a classic game in recent memory.

Whether you fancy skulking in the shadows, smashing slow motion fists in into a goon's skull, or simply using some cool gadgets, you can do no wrong with what is Eidos' best game in years.

It's got the looks, the style, the superb sense of speed, and spot-on handling model that blurs the line between sim and arcade. It also introduces Gymkhana and with it excellent potential for players becoming addicted to going for new high scores. What it doesn't do is innovate in the racing game genre, generally making refinements where needed rather than redefining what's expected in a modern racer.

I might not have enjoyed it quite as perfectly as Dishonored 2, but Death of the Outsider is a fittingly melancholy way to wrap up a story arc I've loved. The Empire of the Isles is a strange and exquisitely horrible world, and this entry is no different.

Considering what's gone into the conversion from Vita to PS4, Unfolded ranks as one of the best remasters released, exhibiting a clear sense of love of the property that simply isn't seen when many older games arrive on new systems.

Devil May Cry 5 revels in its own gleeful stupidity, presenting a world in which the most valuable commodity is style.

The Sly Collection is a top-notch compilation of some of the most beautiful platformers ever made. Would somebody in the UK please buy it this time around?

Limbo does what few games of any genre can do, which is trial and error without any of the actual tedium. It's a puzzle game that is littered with ideas and an artistic eye, but more importantly it understands the frustrations of repetition and makes failure enjoyable.

State Of Decay is an amazing videogame, albeit one hiding beneath one of the ugliest, creakiest engines we’ve seen in some time. It’s a complex, inaccessible beast, but one of the most rewarding and compelling open-world games in years. This is The Walking Dead: The Simulator. And it’s every bit as good as that sounds.

Crucially, though, that intangible PES magic remains and expands with the potential of the new engine; matches take on their own personalities (helped by new player emotions – perform well and your play will visibly improve during the game) and you’ll discuss great goals for years, especially now that shooting and heading are weightier, more natural feeling. Even Master League is better.

With its spectacular design, dazzling polish and ever-compulsive gameplay, World of Warcraft seems destined to remain the everyman's pick of PvE-focussed MMO for the foreseeable future, and with the implementation of new PvP mechanics, Blizzard is no doubt looking to tempt back players who jumped ship to Warhammer Online and Age of Conan as well.

The developer, SIE Japan Studio, has forged a platformer from the same blend of delirium and precision that blows through Super Mario, and then filled it with fossils.

A stunning game that doesn't miss a beat from start to finish and includes one of the most feature packed multiplayer components of any game released this year.

The Final Shape is Destiny 2 firing on all cylinders, balancing a story of overwhelming odds with expertly paced combat and puzzles, all set in stunning environments. Much of the earlier complaints about the barrier to entry have been addressed, making for a seamless entry into the latest campaign.

Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals feels like an evolution of its predecessor. It presents us with a new perspective of both Edward’s Island and Camena that both add to the overall mystery of the paranormal world they reside in but also keep to the series’ down-to-earth storytelling.

The story gets more mature with the solving of each puzzle, the puzzles themselves will have even the brainiest flummoxed and the art design is up there with anything, and I mean anything, on the console. It's the perfect DS game, it's the perfect puzzle game, it's what everyone should be playing on the tube instead of Brain Training, or some generic Sudoku clone.

Shift 2 is technically very impressive, but like Hot Pursuit, it's the social features surrounding the game that define it as an experience. If you're a serious fan of the genre, know that Shift 2 does several things better than anything else on the market right now, which makes it an essential purchase.

If you're short on patience or have a nervous disorder, then you should approach Rearmed with caution. If, however, you love the genre and harbor fond memories of the original, then this game will seem like a gift from the Eighties God of Shooty Bang-Bang.

It really is a modern take on the Mario Kart formula, done in a way that feels incredibly cool and refreshing. It's a game anyone could pick up and enjoy, yet there's depth here that only the very best players will appreciate.

PES 2008's gameplay is a big improvement on last year's effort. PES fans can forgive the poor graphics, the God-awful music, the embarrassing presentation and lack of licensed teams because the core of the game is so mind-bogglingly brilliant.

Shift 2 is technically very impressive, but like Hot Pursuit, it's the social features surrounding the game that define it as an experience. If you're a serious fan of the genre, know that Shift 2 does several things better than anything else on the market right now, which makes it an essential purchase.

Both single and multiplayer offerings giving you enough reason to spend hours upon hours simply collecting new uniforms and trophies. The 3DS-exclusive Smash Run offers something different from the rest, too, adding a five minute side-scrolling spree before a four-man brawl.

Shift 2 is technically very impressive, but like Hot Pursuit, it's the social features surrounding the game that define it as an experience. If you're a serious fan of the genre, know that Shift 2 does several things better than anything else on the market right now, which makes it an essential purchase.

Home to some of the most immersive experiences, detailed graphics, and engaging features in the sports game industry, NBA 2K23 has set the bar of excellence for what a world class sports game is truly made of. Though its clear-cut inconsistencies across the next and current generation editions diminishes its overall potential, NBA 2K23 has still risen to the top as one of the best sports games of the year.

Do you like first-person shooters? If the answer is yes, buy Battlefield: Bad Company 2. If there's a weakness it lies in the slightly brief single-player campaign, but the brilliant, potentially Modern Warfare 2 beating multiplayer more than picks up the slack.

This isn't really WipEout's PS3 debut, being a collection of things we've seen before, but as a teaser to what is surely to come it's a highly polished and tremendously exciting game.

The extreme highs carry Ori and the Blind Forest through to greatness if not quite flawlessness. Rarely is a game able to be so devilish in its gameplay yet so touching in its story.

The best thing that Yuke's has made in years. It's stylish, fresh and deeply engaging. It is, in short, a bruising powerhouse of a game.

Whether you're a platformer fan or fancy some frenetic blasting action, Tools of Destruction fits the bill. Combine the enjoyable gameplay (that's fun for all ages) with some of the best visuals the PS3 has seen and you have a game that every PS3 owner should own.

I had a great time with The Pitt, and it single-handedly reinvigorated my interest in Bethesda's masterpiece. It's what DLC should be: good value, interesting, exciting and a concentration of what is best about the game it's expanding upon.

The size and sheer verticality of the environment is key to the experience, and you're simply given the tools to explore and have fun.

A beautiful Britain, an exuberant driving engine, and generosity of spirit make Forza Horizon 4 a masterclass.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is beautiful, discomforting, and compelling. It might challenge what you like about games, but challenge is good. You're doing yourself a disservice if you don't try it.

Finally, given how subversive CD Projekt’s strategy has been, how they’ve managed to outclass the big dogs by simply doing the best job they could do with The Witcher 3 after years of honing their craft, Blood & Wine is a triumphant slam-dunk from a team at the top of their game. There is no better way for Geralt to sign off than to do it while whispering ‘get fu.ked’ at a bloated and out-of-touch set of flatulent shitebags. Play his last adventure, it’s his best.

Behind the f-bombs and dick-tits are some incredibly mature and well thought out mechanics. Not only does the Skillshot system invite a completely new approach to shooting in single-player, it uses scores and leaderboards to inspire competition in a completely different vein to the amalgamate of contemporary shooters.

Silent Hill f is a visually striking evolution of Konami’s beloved horror series, packed with cryptic lore that’s a treat to unpack. While the pace of combat struggles to feel sleek amidst the atmospheric story, macabre enemy designs, and a spine-chilling soundtrack more than make up for what it lacks.

One of the best Star Wars games of all time, Jedi Survivor delivers on everything Fallen Order set up and then some. A space-faring epic full of twists and turns, with rock-solid combat, and a gorgeous universe holding numerous secrets mean the Jedi games are unmissable for any Star Wars fan.

Add in the two-player Wi-Fi option and what you've got here is a brilliant game, and one that is an absolute must for all DS owners. Quite simply: if you've got a DS, get this!

The core gameplay mechanics are as good as ever, the presentation has been toned down for the better, there are some brilliant new multiplayer options, and everything feels more streamlined than before. Well worth adding to your playlist.

Behind the f-bombs and dick-t.ts are some incredibly mature and well thought out mechanics. Not only does the Skillshot system invite a completely new approach to shooting in single-player, it uses scores and leaderboards to inspire competition in a completely different vein to the amalgamate of contemporary shooters.

Playing Ninja Gaiden 2 is a very different experience to playing the majority of games. Whether it's for simply beating a wave of blood-thirsty bats or for finally slaying a boss you've been tearing your hair out over for more than an hour, the sense of reward and gratification is practically unrivaled.

This is an XCOM refresh – resetting the rules of the game you once knew, and encouraging you to play it in ways you’d never tried to. In my mind I’ve merely dabbled with these changes, and still have so many ideas I’d like to try. I’ve played it for 27 hours.

Kojima's oeuvre is as bold as it is hokey, and for all its faults this is an engaging universe that is never dull except for when it is.