By virtue of the control system it's the best console RTS available. There are problems of course - the campaign is a bit of a slog, the multiplayer lacks variety and PC RTS players will no doubt dismiss the game, saying it would have been better on the PC (there's a degree of truth to that) - but those issues don't prevent Halo Wars from being as good as RTS games get on console.

The team at Telltale Games have done an incredible job keeping the series fresh, and they don't look like they're going to rest on their laurels anytime soon.

This novel mix of cinematic direction, episodic storytelling, and player choice defies convention and the result is an extraordinarily accomplished piece of interactive fiction.

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.

While the main narrative drags a little, wonderfully crafted characters that deal with real-life issues, fill this beautiful Saturday morning cartoon show where the mundanity of life is the backdrop for some wonderful exchanges between Mae and her friends.

Eat Them! taps in to what makes mindless destruction addictively fun.

Alone in the Dark is a considerate reimagining of a pioneering classic, weaving together nifty puzzles, edge-of-your-sofa combat, and clever scares.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is unequivocally the best way to play Metal Gear Solid 3 if you’re all about modern comforts and higher frame rates. But under all the modernising gloss, it’s the same silly, daft game full of world-saving babble, over-the-top performances, surprise-stuffing, and a confounding script that’s very much a product of its time, for better or for worse.

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.

The strength of Star Fox's aesthetic counts for a lot, as it distracts you from the rather simplistic rail shooter that lies underneath. Juxtaposed with the recent resurrection of Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64 3D is no masterpiece. All the same, it's one of the best-looking games on the platform, and a respectful restoration that will please the fans.

The troubled launch and the shoddy state of the last-gen versions will hurt nobody more intensely than the artists and developers, who may well have come to resemble the characters of their own creation—frazzled, fused to their computers, and wired into the limbo of non-stop work.

Jagged Alliance 3 is a worthy successor to the franchise that brings modern graphics and characters to life in engaging turn-based tactical combat. Its world is well-built and its supporting elements add much. But the game remains rough around the edges here and there, with a fairly standard storyline and a learning curve that could be more accessible.

A point and click adventure for the now, Thimbleweed Park takes everything great about classic Lucasfilm games and leaves out the flaws. You might not love all the central characters, but this is as weird and compelling a town as Twin Peaks.

Crash Course isn't likely to win any awards for its visuals, looking like a smart version of an Xbox LIVE Indie game, but it does the job and no fancy effects get in the way of the requisite precision jumping.

Overall it's a missed opportunity to provide an already working formula with new ideas.

While it may not be the refined, leisurely paced kill-'em-up many eager landlubbers might have signed up for, The Ship does quickly prove itself a subtly addictive, relentless nail biter that will only get better as those already aboard learn to rule the bloody waves. Notch this one up as another killer for Steam.

The new game world looks great, and the omnipresent vegetation is a real change from the barren rock and destroyed highways that we’re used to. At times the frame rate seemed to take a bit of a hit, but this issue never became serious enough to affect gameplay - the action was just a bit less smooth than usual.

It's good fun with mates and has a surprising amount of depth, but lacks the magic that would have elevated it to a must own title.

The core driving is never anything but exhilarating, visually it's almost flawless and the Autolog features are genre leading. There's still something missing, though. While the high-speed pursuits are up there with the best gaming experiences of the year, the game needs more than that: car tuning, a resemblance of a story - complete with cheesy acting - and a reason to explore the open world.

Hopefully somewhere inside Ubisoft there's a team working on a proper sequel to Zombi(U), but for now this is a reasonably priced port that is definitely recommended to anyone who doesn't own a Wii U. Given the lack of meaningful changes for the better, the original game still delivers the best experience, even if the new-gen game looks and performs marginally better.

In terms of gameplay mechanics it's incredibly simple, but that works in the its favour, leaving you to become fully engrossed in the thrilling and malleable storyline. If you fancy a gory treat that hits plenty of high notes, Until Dawn is highly recommended.

It's a cohesive party experience with a plethora of activities tied together in a fantastic hub world. While there's not a whole lot of depth to it, it does what it does very well.

UT3 really is a stunning-looking game that's only really surpassed in terms of visuals by recent PC-killer Crysis.

If you own a Wii you owe it to yourself to give LostWinds a whirl, even though you'll be finished before you've really began.

The gun-play is excellent, the production values are top notch and the multiplayer game modes will keep you coming back months down the line. As long as you're not expecting a complete overhaul of the gameplay seen in the original, Vegas 2 will provide plenty of terrorist hunting fun.

Let's face it: it's unlikely you're going to pick this up instead of FIFA 11, but as an alternative to play when football isn't on your brain, this does the job very well indeed.

Even with its problems, Dead Rising is a ton of fun to play, offers a respectable narrative, and come on, you can use a lawnmower for cryin' out load. Enough said.

It's clear that the TBC really just serves one purpose. That purpose isn't particularly subtle, nor is it a masterstroke from developers Blizzard. But the important thing is that this purpose is achieved with a kind of wonderful self assurance you only really get from a developer confident in the knowledge it is responsible for the most popular MMO in history. If it 'aint broke, don't fix it.