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.

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.

Is it new? Not really. Does it run, look and control like a drunk forklift truck ? Yes. Will it make you question your sanity due to its repetitive nature? Undoubtedly. But is it fun? Yes.

As an Xbox 360 RPG, even as an Xbox 360 fantasy RPG, it's so unpolished, so devoid of the oomph demanded by current gen games, so inaccessible and needlessly punishing, that it's offensive.

While the core mechanics of Order of the Phoenix are verging on excellent, the game that's been built around them is basically a series of chores in disguise.

You'll get moments of fun simply from being Hulk, but this isn't enough to carry the whole game. The incredibly disappointing presentation is sadly the final nail in Hulk's coffin.

In short bursts it’s a lot easier to get on with too, as prolonged play leaves it feeling very tedious. It’s atmospheric, although oddly nowhere near to the extent of the first game, and there’s no place as unique as that game’s holiday resort.

Toren's cryptic storytelling and focus on signs, superstitions, ancient beliefs and systems is often close to being too self-indulgent, but its aforementioned style is enough to see it over the line.

Knack 2 doesn't have exactly the same problems as Knack, it's just moved things into different places and ended up mostly the same. Which is at least emblematic of Knack himself, I suppose.

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.

Occasionally you'll witness flashes of brilliance, glimpses that suggest Io could yet salvage something from this wreckage for its next Hitman game. And then you finish a stage with a tedious quick-time event, snapping the neck of a morbidly obese Danny Trejo-alike in a wrestling match watched by hundreds - astonishingly earning yourself a Silent Assassin rating in the process - and you shake your head sadly and wonder how it all went so badly wrong.

Spider-man: Friend or Foe is another title that clearly isn't made for experienced gamers, and certainly won't please anyone aged in their teens or older.

An ambitious failure that sounds great on paper but proves to be a tediously slow, uninvolving experience for anyone less than a hardcore giant robot fan.

Overall, Space Siege is a game with a catalogue of both major and minor flaws, sloppy, derivative or rushed design, which is uncharacteristic of a developer with this pedigree. Whether you judge it as an RPG or as a third-person action game, Space Siege fails to pass muster, yet despite all the flaws, the game is hard to utterly condemn.

Despite fun combat and characters, Agents of Mayhem becomes repetitive and grinding. In trying to chase the popularity of Saints Row, it misses having an identity of its own.

This is the last of the map packs, and that's undoubtedly a good thing.

WWE 2K15 has made a lot of sacrifices for little gain. The depleted roster, stripped-back creation suite and restrictive wrestling all in the name of a visual upgrade fail to capture the most important aspects of the real-world franchise: excitement and entertainment.

Three very worthwhile games then, in a package sadly marred by poor decision making from the publisher. With a bit more care this could have been essential. As it is, there's a load of nonsense waiting for players to wade through before they get to the good stuff. Which seems to be a fitting description of the franchise as a whole these days.

Where the action comes alive is in the leaving behind of bodies altogether. Most missions involve breaking and entering, and the thrill lies in the absence of any breaking.

Heatseeker's final insult to players comes when it requires that you land. Though not a prerequisite of many missions, when you do need to touch down it is an infuriating and clumsy battle, mostly resulting in your plane exploding just above the surface beneath you.

The dull, repetitive gameplay is what hurts it the most, leaving some merely average visuals to pick up the pieces.

It might be strange to criticise a mini-game collection for a lack of depth, but that's Wii Degree's biggest problem. Without 50+ games to play and none of the long-term appeal of Brain Training, what you've got is a game that will please you for a week and then rarely leave its case.

You only have to see the opening cutscene to realise that Pac-Man World 3 isn't a game for adults. As a children's game it's not bad at all, with some 3D platforming gameplay that treads a familiar path, and plenty of variety to keep things interesting.

It has a lot going for it, from its superb visuals and style to the rather excellent character creation tool, but the button-mashing gameplay and easy exploits ruin all the good work.

If you want a short return to Pandora and don’t mind a bit of irritation while you’re there, this is the DLC for you. Everyone else should be wary that this is cheap in more ways than one.

This is a case of an MMO that will inevitably evolve within nine months time, but not before it spoils its first impression like an unwieldy teenager trying to impress a Compton street gang.

The lack of challenge in The Artful Escape, not just in its play but in its emotional texture, somewhat shreds the odyssey.

This is a bland, buggy and often boring title, one that belies the intentions of its developers and leaves the much-maligned modern shooter looking worse as a result.