Things like the lack of online co-op are undoubtedly more prevalent with each iteration, but Lego Lord of the Rings is still a huge success that's wonderfully adorable and an absolute delight to play.

There's plenty here to do alone, but as with the original Wii Sports, Resort is far better when played with a friend.

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.

It's easy to appreciate From Dust, but harder to enjoy it.

Minor gripes aside, Homecourt is a deliciously addictive baller and a commendable next-gen Street effort on EA's part.

Where Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy proves most winsome, however, is in its twining of the intergalactic and the terrestrial.

We can't help but feel that PES 2008 PSP puts the more illustrious versions of the game to shame, a bit like Barnsley knocking Chelsea out of the FA Cup.

A brief hit of retro goodness that loses its enchantment all too soon. If you're looking for a demanding blast from the past, Renegade Ops will sort you out for a week or two; just don't expect to be playing it for much longer than that.

It's a promising start, but the game's commendable mechanics are matched by numerous wonky moments, an awkward cast of characters and some wearying repetition. The Darkness II has plenty of heart, but it needs more soul.

If Dragon Age didn't float your boat, neither will Awakening. Dragon Age enthusiasts, however, should consider it an essential purchase. It offers more of the same - no bad thing - in a great value package.

Pokémon Sword and Shield is a bold move into a new generation. There are technical hiccups, but those pale in comparison to the bustling Wild Area and the charming Gen 8 additions.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s campaign is more throwaway blockbuster than challenging look at conflict, but its mission variety makes for an enjoyable few hours. And even with the disappointing Spec Ops, a wealth of entertaining multiplayer modes makes this a worthwhile addition to any Call of Duty fan’s collection.

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.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is an engrossing, dense, and hard-fought slog, but nevertheless a slog weighed down by some heavy recycling and inconsistent difficulty.

The campaign is simultaneously more of the same and less of the same, being marginally shorter than God of War III’s story, yet lacking that game’s ferocity and pacing. It arguably has the lowest ‘wow’ factor of the four mainline games to date, and in a series that trades on spectacle, that’s not the best sign. Yet the multiplayer component is as fresh as the single-player is familiar.

Had the course count been on par with the current-gen releases there'd be no question over which version you should buy, but even with nine less courses, I'd still recommend you go with Tiger's next-gen offering.

Buzz! Quiz TV isn't quite the brilliant PS3 debut we wanted it to be, but it's still one of the best quiz games on the market. Its superb production values and impressive online functionality, including user created quizzes, make it a must own for anyone who watches quiz shows on a regular basis or anyone who fancies themselves as a bit of an egghead.

LEGO Dimensions is the most fun I've had with a LEGO video game since the whole idea was new back on the PS2. It's full of cool new ideas and a story rammed with iconic references and witty humour - something that adults will enjoy perhaps even more than young children.

It's exhausting, it's cruel and the control system could have done with some tweaking - the lack of in-air mobility really seems unfair. But there are also a lot of things it does right: it's truly original; it's got buckets of style; it allows three players to work together at once. Best of all, it's got a built-in video recorder that helps you film your acrobatics and upload them to YouTube.

If you miss the old days, before games of this ilk got streamlined and simplified, give this a whirl before you read too much about it. It's well worth the small outlay.

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.

If you’ve been looking for a SWAT simulator for console—and judging by the game’s popularity on the PlayStation Store, a lot of people have—Ready or Not really is as good as they come. It could do with some more polished controls across the board, but VOID Interactive has done a great job bringing the game to a lot more players, even if PC gamers must suffer some very minor consequences.

Refining most of the series' hallmarks make Black and White 2 top of their class, but they highlight as many ageing qualities as they do endearing ones.

Pokémon Sword and Shield is a bold move into a new generation. There are technical hiccups, but those pale in comparison to the bustling Wild Area and the charming Gen 8 additions.

Skate 3, to be blunt, doesn't offer a great deal that's different to the previous two games in the series, with the added team, online and sharing functionality being the key additions.

Puppeteer is Sony's best pure platformer on the PS3, delivering the kind of tight mechanics and pin-point controls usually only found in games starring plumbers or apes.

Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC owners certainly get better value for money, but the Xbox 360 version signals a strong next-gen future for Lara.

A visually stunning, epic adventure that continues Crystal Dynamics' excellent run. We reckon it's the best completely original Tomb Raider (Anniversary was, of course, a remake) we've had in years, and is only let down by the odd control quirk and camera issue.