Looks like a mish-mash of retro graphics, dated gameplay and a thumping dance soundtrack, but it combines to be something brilliant. The gameplay is deceptively deep, the high score chasing is dangerously addictive, and the presentation is just as about as stylish as Space Invaders could possibly be. This is a must own for DS-owning arcade gamers.

It's the audio that steals the show though.

Depth way beyond that of any other action game released this year, sleek presentation and some of the best levels ever created in a video game.

It's undoubtedly a fun game, packed full with humour (although this does tail off towards the end), metal references, amazing encounters and memorable characters. It's the RTS sections that really let the game down for me, feeling like a good idea that hasn't quite been implemented well enough to gel with the rest of the game.

Despite the numerous bugs, New Vegas is a magnificent RPG, one that stands head and shoulders above its predecessor. More importantly, it's also the game that Fallout fans have been waiting for.

With two great games that will take somewhere in the region of 15-20 hours to complete, superb presentation and a sense that you're playing something different to the norm, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena comes highly recommended. If it weren't for a few unfortunate bugs and the odd strange design decision that score below this paragraph might even have been a notch higher.

Most players probably able to breeze through in less than eight hours, but there's never a dull moment.

The sharp difficulty and rough edges of Dirt Rally 2.0 give way to a rewarding racing model, with a surfeit of meaningful options for the obsessed.

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.

There just isn’t enough juice in the combat, the cover shooting, or the endless hoovering of collectibles.

Capcom’s called it “the best fighting game net code ever created for consoles”. We’re inclined to agree. When all is said and done, if you’re a fighting game fan MvC2 is an essential purchase.

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.

When the credits rolled, I felt better, gunning for action, as if life were a thing to rage through with a smile on your face. How often does that happen?

Put simply, if you love Fallout 3, Broken Steel is an essential purchase.

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.

It might be a predominantly linear path shooter, but who cares? When the atmosphere and level of action on offer is this great, the fact that I can't wander off to see what's behind a tree half a mile to the East really doesn't bother me.

An excellent return to form for the series and tremendous fun when played with friends in split-screen or online. The often infuriating Grand Prix mode is likely to polarise gamers though, with some loving the unpredictability of it while others will simply give up after being taken down at the last minute by yet another Spiny Blue Shell.

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.

An interesting and fun roguelike, albeit one which doesn't capitalise on its potential.

With gorgeous next-gen visuals, spine-wringing combos, and new Kameo fighters, Mortal Kombat 1 is less a reboot and more an accessible yet fulfilling return to form.

Bungie's iconic title was clearly an ambitious project, and this modern remastering sufficiently highlights what it was that made the original Halo: Combat Evolved such a landmark gaming moment to begin with.

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

The whole package is undeniably ambitious and for the most part Zipper Interactive has pulled it off, but the complex controls combined with the dumbed down aiming make it less impressive as a game than its PlayStation 2 cousins.

In many ways, it actually outshines its console counterparts. Bar a few niggling control issues, the battle system could well be the best in the series yet, and at times I actually felt it looked better than its PS2 cousins.

For some The Last Guardian's iffy controls, awkward camera, and glitches might be hard to overcome. Others won't care as they experience one of the most incredible relationships in video game history.

PES 2013 manages to do something only the best arcade experiences achieve. It offers playability to those who want to dip their toes in and hardcore techniques for the serious gamer.

It delivers on every front, with great action, deceptive strategic depth, stunning visuals and incredible multiplayer support.

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.