Sunken King is a promising start to Dark Souls 2’s DLC: if From Software can build on it, and address the traversal issues of this pack, we could see some of the best moments in the series to date.

If you're excited about the movie and think dropping a few pounds is worth it to keep that fury at a fever pitch… then it probably makes more sense to just hold off and use the cash to see the film twice. The usual 'if you're a fan' nonsense obviously applies, but there are far better ways to live up to that idea than play this. Acceptable, but forgettable.

The brain behind (Bojan Brbora) 4PM deserves a lot of credit for what he has attempted to achieve, but when all is said and done, this feels more like a proof of concept than a fully realised game.

Civilization Revolution 2 brings with it a visual overhaul, new leaders and some new units, but ultimately, it’s largely the same game that suffers with the same issues of older Civ games.

Valiant Hearts doesn't make the most of what it's got: the four playable protagonists (the dog is essentially a tool for fetching things) each offer different perspectives on the war, but their stories are predictable and too dependent on coincidence to really engage...No matter. Valiant Hearts may be confused, but it's also brave.

Sniper Elite 3 has its moments, but they are too few and far between. Every so often you'll find yourself enjoying it, but that soon fades as you enter a pattern of shooting hundreds of dudes until you can move forward and snipe again.

The all-important thing is that the racing is great and a swift return to form for the GRID series. In spite of my qualms, the variety and intensity of racing on offer is enough to keep players coming back.

EA Sports UFC is simply ok when it should have been great. Considering how long it's been in development, and the breadth of content at EA's disposal, I can’t help but be disappointed by what’s on offer.

A perfectly serviceable DLC offering.

Although the basic gameplay is serviceable, Murdered barely moves past standard point-and-click fare.

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.

Listen, it’s a Worms game. It’s the same as every other Worms game. It has exploding sheep and comedy regional accents. That’s the joke, take it or leave it.

It's a game that reaches a baseline of enjoyment – and that baseline is fairly high – and doesn't raise it further. The mission loop is too samey – drive here, hack a few things, sneak/shoot out – and multiplayer is too throwaway to really affect much. You'll undoubtedly enjoy your time with it, but it won't linger long in the memory.

In short bursts, it's everything you'd assume it would be, and if your expectations don't go any further than that you won't be disappointed. Ignore the (awful) narrative, shoot some fools and enjoy...As a total package, though, Wolfenstein continually feels disjointed and doesn't know exactly what it wants to be - the overall experience is jarring. And the boss fights suck...

Another fine, fine episode that I wish more people were talking about.

Mario Kart's Wii U debut ticks all the necessary boxes. Drifting, weapons, the simple to learn yet hard to master handling, expletives your mother would be ashamed of, some of the best local multiplayer imaginable: all return. Taking an inspired approach from the DS iterations, the eighth entry in the series is easily among the best yet.

It's a brilliant concept, executed well, and the variety in the stages and characters is excellent. It can feel overly attritional, with minor control issues (diagonal shooting is a pain) and seemingly-wonky collision detection causing annoyance. That said, Super Time Force is still worth checking out.

Bound By Flame is an embarrassment on all fronts.

Apparently existing only to serve as a strawman for future arguments against the whole genre, Elder Scrolls Online is a game of exposed weaknesses and failed potential. If you’re hankering for Scrolls, I recommend modded Skyrim. If you’re after an MMO, I recommend any other.

Throw in some truly dreadful writing (the newspaper clippings that tell the story are so nakedly expositional and poorly delivered as to be laughable) and an enemy that actually runs away from you at times and you've got a stinker.

In truth, the gameplay has begun to tire slightly – certainly the stealth sections feel strained due to a lack of options – but this is still a strong piece of content and a genuinely pleasant surprise. Rocksteady will always be the true Dark Knight, but Cold, Cold Heart proves Warner Bros. Montreal is a decent Dick Grayson after all.

It is one to enjoy, to soak in, to escape into and enjoy every moment you have with it.

It won’t blow anyone away, but it’s another decent Kirby game, with smart levels, puzzles and unlockables that’ll keep the Kirby Hardcore happy. If the Kirby Hardcore exists. Don’t Google that.

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.

With a smart learning curve - it's still throwing new ideas at you well over 30 levels in - and an absolute barrel-load of content, I could call Hitman GO the surprise of the year. I'd only be doing that for hyperbole purposes, though. It's still pretty damn good.

Fusion lives up to its name. Perhaps it wasn’t intended, but as a melding of the established template and something just new enough, RedLynx’s creation is a wonderful thing.

On-pitch action is fast and frantic. It may be to simulate the pressures of knock-out football, but end-to-end contests seem much more frequent, with chances at either goal. Players are able to get the ball out of their feet quicker to make passes, but still suffer when it comes to intricate dribbles.

From its calming audio, uplifting imagery, clever conundrums and everything in between, Monument Valley feels like the realisation of a holistic vision; each aspect working together and complementing the whole.

Football Manager Classic is anything but. It’s simply made me want to go back and play the PC version rather than sit around bored for what feels like ages waiting for a single Vita match to end. A great simulation might still be running behind the scenes, but the Vita doesn’t present it in a way that you’ll want to experience.

And it feels empty; fetch quests are all well and good but after the impressive voice acting and general spectacle of the main adventure starts to fade, you’re left with an altogether dull world in which to roam.

Frontier ultimately stands as a fun, polished motorcycle game bloated by its own free-to-play filler. It has plenty to offer – including some brilliantly spectacular visuals. Things are a little too repetitive, however, and something special is lost through Frontier’s particular capitalist make-up.

Strike Suit Zero is a wonderful reintroduction. Though its obviously-not-AAA budget is betrayed by the lo-fi storytelling device of dishing out exposition via radio chatter, and it has an obsession with making you take out turrets on things, it’s pretty fantastic, and one of the best titles on next-gen right now.

KSR is fun in short bursts. Any session beyond 20 minutes and you’ll be frustrated by the long load times, feel self-conscious because you look like a pillock, and get bored by the lack of challenge. The tech is there. Sadly, the game isn’t yet.

So, as with the last round of DLC, it's the Extinction episode that stands out. Players have to make their way through the depths of a large boat, fighting off alien hordes and the aforementioned kraken as they do so. Far more enjoyable than the other maps, it's a bright spot on an otherwise uninspired pack.

I stopped getting involved in the bulk of the fighting after a only a few short hours, instead choosing to simply ran to each cannon. Then I did the five-minute puzzle bit at the end and got a ‘well done’ screen for my efforts. For all its promise, then, sadly Platformines is a deflating balloon of a game.

With five extra achievements and 11 new assignments to chip away at, there is enough for experienced players to sink their teeth into, but you can’t help but feel that it’s simply more of the same, and it's still blighted by technical issues.

Go and see the film, dress up like your favourite superhero and, hell, cry like a baby if you ever see Chris Evans in the street. If you happen to run into anyone from Gameloft, however, maybe give them a piece of your mind instead. Or ask for your moola back.

In a genre resplendent with elegantly refined scoring systems and mechanics, Luftrausers lands a little short of brilliance.

It’s a somehow even darker world, brought to life death by incredible music and superb use of light and colour.

It's just...so...boring. Go here. Get this. Wait a while. Come back. And when it's not being dull, it's being infuriatingly imprecise.

The novelty alone is worth a punt.

It could have done with more franchise crossover moments, but Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is wonderful, warm and fantastic at making you feel clever. Cleverer than you actually are anyway.

It's not Ninja Gaiden. It's not what anyone was hoping for. It's not worth your time.

There's a pleasing weight and solidity to the world, anchoring players into the experience: everything behaves as it should, leaving you to get on with the business of enjoying, rather than fighting, the game...It's clearly playtested to death, utterly enjoyable, and a bit mad. Is it worth your cash? Yes.

These games still hold up, and this remaster is worth a go if you’re willing to put up with the potentially fatal combination of unskippable cutscenes and that Tidus laugh bit.

Never a challenge, never that exciting, and never really that good, Yoshi's New Island is the first blip on the 3DS' radar for some time.

Dark Souls 2 is a refined, slicker version of what I consider to be the greatest video game ever made, and it is a title we’ll be finding more and more about post-release as its genius is fully uncovered.

An evolution of the core Call of Duty concepts rather than a revolution for multiplayer shooters as a whole, Titanfall feels, in a way, like a hyper-budgeted mod that will only truly see its aims realised in the inevitable sequel.

While it won't be for everyone, Ninja does exactly what it set out to, with style and humour to boot.

A superior episode, then, and one that bodes well for the rest of the season.

TSoT is the best, most faithful South Park game to date, but it’s still just an okay game. That said it might also be your only chance to fart on a flaming, used tampon and hurl it at Nazi zombie fetuses, unless they make another Postal.

For the price this is a bigger rip-off than that time I spent a tenner on scanning, and that's saying something.

And therein lies the game’s real issue. Whereas Dishonored (which does feel like Thief’s more charismatic and popular older brother) and Mark of the Ninja have toyed with established hide-and-seek mechanics and shown that there are still ideas to mine in this genre, Thief just sticks to the shadows.

Don't play it, though, obviously. It's rubbish.

It's a unique twist on a familiar idea - it does make the whole back-and-forth card battling concept far more interesting, however.

I’m glad to see a return to the franchise that doesn’t involve a free-to-play model, but as far as multiplayer shooters go this feels like a nice change of pace, rather than a long-term alternative.

The world is both large and intricately detailed, and you'll want to explore it. But there aren't enough interesting set-pieces to assuage the feeling you're merely engaging in attritional combat to see the next environment or get to the next part of the story. A huge shame.

While its frantic gameplay is compelling, and the scoring simple, TxK’s initially a confusing beast. It introduces its modes and nuances with a bewildering lack of clarity, frustrating players at the very point it is debuting some terrific ideas...Ultimately, though, TxK is tremendously enjoyable

There's nothing wrong with The Lego Movie Videogame, but it just doesn't have the same appeal as other entries in the series.

The variety on show is exceptional; one second you're throwing water balloons at burning rope bridges, the next you’re being hounded underwater by a kraken in a mad dash to the surface. The weight of Donkey Kong (accompanied by Diddy, Dixie and Cranky now, who appear in power-up barrels or as a co-op partner) means the pace of the jumping is more deliberate than Mario and less forgiving than Rayman, but this is still a game of flawless control and deliberate design.

The Last Of Us' story was pretty much perfect in terms of what it wanted to achieve. This does nothing to build on or take away from that.

Ultimately, Fallen Angel’s thin narrative and unimaginative mission design does little to justify the £8 asking price, with the best fun coming from the new weapons on offer.

On the surface, it’s a cutesy curio, but underneath all the dressing up and kicking the shit out of cats, there’s a complex and enjoyable JRPG, if not a brilliant one.

It all handles as you'd expect – although it has a tendency to be finickety and difficult when trying to manoeuvre precisely - and being in the Lego mould tries to give as much leeway as possible (in this instance you can 'lose' and have to start a level again, mind). However, it's all so boring.

Stylish aesthetic and cinematic flair still keep the overall experience enjoyable, but my initial spark of love for the series has largely disappeared. After a shoddy narrative decision revealed within the first 15 minutes of Episode 2, my trust in the series has diminished.

While Anniversary may feel like Lionhead is doing a sloppy job in 2014, that isn’t the case; it’s a testament to what an excellent job it did in 2008.

Octodad is an engaging, unique game which crashes the everyday and the uncanny head-on with aplomb, and one particularly enjoyable to onlookers. Simple tasks inevitably degenerate into Buster Keaton-evoking farces – with soundtrack nods to silent film accompanists to boot – and my only gripes with Dadliest Catch are an occasionally wayward camera and a few cruel difficulty spikes necessitating repetition of short sections ad nauseam. Otherwise, it’s a blast.

As a fan of narrative-driven games there’s a lot here to love, but until we have confirmation that part 2 and 3 of Consortium are actually being made, it’s an expensive investment to make in an unfinished story.

On balance, the new Extinction map is probably the best thing here: cohesive and rewarding, it's everything the main game isn't these days.

While all of these positives remain a huge plus, though, Tomb Raider still has plenty of flaws, the story being its biggest misstep. Incredibly obvious and packed full of cliches, you can't help but cringe at some of the dialogue as people speak to each other as if they were reciting a GCSE play. The Last of Us would laugh Tomb Raider out of the playground.

Roll7 has certainly created something engaging, and I can easily see people completely losing themselves in OlliOlli. Personally, though, it fell more into endless runner territory for me. Definitely entertaining, but not something I can sacrifice hours of my life to.

Worst of all, for an endless runner there’s no sense of momentum – your avatar keeps a constant pace throughout and it lacks a sense of urgency.

A mixed bag, then. The new weapons and vehicles are cool, but no co-op and a uninvolving, short main campaign hampers enjoyment. Let's hope for better in episode 2.

But by attempting to generate its cash by making progression a slow grind, by repeating the same boring levels over and over again until you a) delete the whole thing, b) use real money, or c) die, Glu Games has made sure you'll likely choose the former and latter before you open your wallet.

It feels more like an interactive cartoon than a classic Lucasarts game, but providing you’re aware of that Broken Age delivers a jolly nice time. It’s just lovely. That shouldn’t be enough, but in this case – it really is.

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.

With its most obvious original appeal – 'real' Ass Creed on a handheld – gone, Liberation's appeal is diminished. While it does have some interesting ideas, which the main series itself would benefit from trying to integrate, this is the same old Creed, with the same old problems.

Nidhogg is a game to be enjoyed with friends while in the same room together, and it may be the best title you play that way this year.

It also tries and throws microtransactions in your face, but these should be ignored at all costs. Much like Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project itself.

A strong return for The Walking Dead, and proves that Clementine was a fantastic choice for this season's protagonist.

Sadly, it's just not engaging enough overall.

It’s a pity that such a fun, arcade adventure requires grinding so early on, because it serves no other purpose than to hinder progress. Pirates is an enjoyable jaunt played in short bursts, but one that promises a little more than it actually delivers.

More serious are the numerous bugs: players are often forced out of shadow form for no reason, making the platforming and puzzle-solving a chore, and Dawn frequently gets stuck on boxes, in walls, almost anything. Infuriating, and so common as to be inexcusable.

Gran Turismo 6 ends up feeling stubborn to adapt to modernity. Its myriad landscapes are barren and unexciting, while the music sounds like it’s been ripped straight from a Ron Jeremy compilation VHS.

Killer Instinct possesses the fundamentals to be a crowd-pleasing title, and certainly does a decent job of inviting less experienced players into the genre, but its limited modes and insistence on milking your funds KOs a game with potential.

Comparing it to the real Mega Man X, I'm not sure what's more frustrating: how much it gets wrong, or how much it gets right before falling short. Nevertheless, I'd still recommend this over Capcom's own interpretation of Mega Man X on iOS. It was at least good enough that I wanted to stick with it through the end, warts and all.

It's a game where focus is rewarded, and as such there's a welcome emphasis on using the PS4's hardware to relay information to the player without compromising their concentration, such as the pad-based speaker barking instructions.

Ultimately this is pretty yet uninspired.

The new lick of paint is nice, but it’s the changes under the hood that make the significant difference.

The fighting genre has always been about precision, variation and uppercutting roid-addled maniacs into the sky. Developer Daoka has scooped each of these quintessential components into the bin, leaving behind a spectacularly poor experience.

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.

It'll vanish from your brain as soon as you've finished it, but before that, Ryse is oddly fun.

Every moment is exhilarating, and Drivatar isn't just a buzzword but an example of what the next-gen can do.

Tearaway is a beautiful title. It represents the importance of stories, manages to create friendships, and is capable of exciting and entertaining regardless of its simplicity.

With a secret world so good it'll make long-term fans (and me) squeal with glee, and how easily it oozes personality and skill, Super Mario 3D World is the best entry the series has offered up in years. It may not hit the highest of highs that the plumber has done in the past, but it's awfully close.

In the end it felt a lot like playing Kinectimals, and that was almost three years ago.

If you're looking for a weird update to the likes of Road Rash or Carmageddon then LocoCycle is certainly of that mould. Just don't expect the sheen or polish of the developer's older titles.

From the moment it starts, subdued colour palette aside, this is the series as you know it. By the time you find and build the dildo gun, you'll wonder what the fuss was about.