Settlers 7 is a fabulous game. It's unique, challenging, refreshing, and all sorts of beautiful.

F1 2013 is the franchise’s most complete, versatile and thoughtful iteration yet. Fans of the sport will lap up what is an extremely rewarding product. For everyone else, Codemasters’ lone residency atop the podium ensures the upgrade over last year’s game is minimal, especially if you don’t know the difference between Gerhard Berger and the Nurburgring’s fast-food stand.

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.

I can't recommend Final Fight enough. It's the perfect port of a retro classic; the original game buckles under the pressure of the fan service that's been added to it. But it's also got online co-op, making it a hugely enjoyable beat-em-up even by modern day standards.

If you approach the game with the mentality that Charged Football is going to be football in the Mario universe you'll find a game that is hard to get on with. If you accept that the emphasis is on flashy moves and fun over skill and precision, you'll find a game that has a place in your collection, even if it's only brought out every now and again.

Digimon Story Time Stranger is a spirited, if occasionally ropey, JRPG adventure with buckets of heart and a sinewy monster taming system. Fans of the franchise will feel right at home amongst its luscious environments and intense set-piece battles. However, those wary of simplistic, earnest anime melodrama may find the narrative grating.

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

The additions and changes might not be a complete success, but the game's gentle rhythm and solid fundamentals are just as oddly compelling as they ever were.

It's often gorgeous to look at and the story is worth experiencing, but the multiplayer is nothing more than a slight distraction and the lack of co-op is a missed opportunity. Bound in Blood is worth a look, but as a sequel it doesn't take the series on enough.

Detroit: Become Human wants to move you. It wants to elicit an emotional response through its story. The thing is, it really doesn't. The flowchart is a nice inclusion and adds some variance, but when the narrative is as cringey and ham-fisted as it is you won't want to play through it multiple times.

On the Wii, Shadow of the Templars: Director's Cut was a great game slightly marred by a few minor flaws; on the DS it's a great game that makes the best of its platform.

Doesn't quite live up to its Star Wars cousins, mainly due to the fact that Star Wars is simply a more memorable series, but it's still a brilliant adventure and great fun.

Sims 3 for console is the first time the franchise has been presented as a near-match to its PC counterpart.

Excellent occasionally, good in parts and downright dull in others, Yoshi's Woolly World is a disappointment.

As long as you're not offended by strong language and an extreme amount of blood (trust us, there's been nothing like this on any console before) Overkill should be added to your collection as soon as possible. For a lightgun shooter you'll get a great deal of time from the main campaigns, and there are plenty of unlockables and multiplayer modes to keep you coming back.

If anything can be said against the Battle Mode, it is that by modern standards, it feels a little slight.

The shmup is a genre that's struggled to find a place in gaming's mainstream, and we doubt Big Bang Mini on the DS will change that fact. But it's an impressive effort with an interesting control scheme that, for the most part, works well.

WWE 13 is far more fun than its predecessor, but this is largely down to some slight improvements to the core mechanics and the addition of hero-era nostalgia.

PES 2010 is simply not good enough to challenge FIFA's dominance. It's an improvement on last year's effort, and fans of the more arcadey virtual football will find plenty to enjoy, but as a simulation it pales in comparison. PES 2010 is a return to form, but it is not a return to past glories.

Some would say the puzzles are a touch easy at times, though there certainly are some corkers. If you are looking for action then try elsewhere, but if you fancy the old-fashioned pleasures of a great point 'n' click, then snap this up now, and enjoy one of the sharpest, coolest worlds seen in gaming for a long time.

There's plenty to do, with the core story missions and plenty of optional side activities making Prototype a game that you won't clock in a few sessions, and the upgrades and abilities are plentiful, but it just doesn't quite come together well enough to create a really great game.

Best enjoyed at a breezy remove, Borderlands 3 provides a punchy shooting experience, a massive open world, and some eye-rolling, adolescent humour.

As this is the last episode in the season, it does feel like you’re finally being given some freedom to make impactful decisions.

If you've never fought with The End, eaten a rotting crab or climbed the tallest ladder in gaming, and if the 3DS is the only console you own, you really should acquire this game as soon as you can. When everyone said that you'd love it, they really weren't lying.

With simple controls and an easy to understand premise, anyone can turn their hand to it with ease, then partake in some truly stressful yet fun multiplayer cooking action.

If you're a fan of the X-Men Legends games that have appeared over the last few years you'll know what to expect from Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, but you'll probably still be surprised at how polished and lengthy the game is.

For Honor's multiplayer is special, but as a whole it's let down by the less good single player, sometimes dodgy matchmaking, and a surfeit of microtransactions. The combat, though, is fantastic — it's gutsy and weighty, and you feel like a badass.

Though held back from greatness by gameplay flaws and performance issues, System Shock still presents a fascinating world and interesting story that'll be more than worth the effort for dedicated players.