A case of diminishing returns, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 is certainly ambitious in terms of scale and playable character numbers, while the story is entertaining. Yet it fails to deliver anything really new or interesting, making this a case of been there, done that. The first LEGO Marvel game is better.

A fine twin-stick shooter, Tachyon Project is good, solid entertainment that's worth whiling away a few hours with.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is a fun enough way to pass a few hours, and is a lot more enjoyable when you get a few friends involved. But as a cinematic story, it's far too forgettable, with writing that's never better than 'fine' with performances to match.

LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham sweeps away any doubts we might have had about TT Games' well-established template growing tiresome. It might start a little slow, yet the game is nothing but an absolute pleasure to play throughout.

Original Life is Strange protagonist Max Caulfield makes a welcome return in what is an immensely compelling and enjoyable sequel to her 2015 introduction. Unravelling Life is Strange: Double Exposure's murder mystery, using its timeline-hopping mechanic, is remarkably good fun.

Only the rather bland nature of some missions, ever present loading screens and the sometimes murky plot - at least for newcomers - stop Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 from being up there with the greats. As it is, the game is wonderful to look at, brilliant fun to play and is easily the best anime related title out there.

It's abundantly clear that 2K Czech put an emphasis on story and ambience over gameplay in Mafia II and it really shows. With a repetitive mission structure, long arduous drives across a limited open-world and a bog standard shooter mechanic, Mafia II as a game rarely delivers. As a Mafia experience though, it delivers in spades. There are few open-worlds in video games that show this much depth, this much character and this much charm.

A wonderful throwback to the 90s shooter, Shadow Warrior is a fine remake that doesn't purport to offer anything more than a rip-roaring blast through hordes of demons. Shadow Warrior is bloody, wilfully daft and rather brilliant.

A handsome remake that loses some of the original’s power.

Starbreeze's Syndicate isn't the RTS you may all remember, but it's certainly an FPS you won't forget any time soon.

Dying Light is a cavalcade of zombie ultra-violence that's hard to put down.

While Jurassic World Evolution marked a rock-solid dry run for Frontier's prehistoric theme park management sim, Jurassic World Evolution 2 is a meaningful, erm, evolution, with the new Chaos Theory mode providing engaging scenarios in which you can attempt to set things right. A diverse suite of modes and slick interfaces ensures Jurassic World Evolution 2's status as an excellent sequel.

LEGO The Incredibles is a fun, focused LEGO game that ditches a lot of the extra fripperies, and is all the better for it.

An enjoyable and addictive survivors-like bullet-heaven auto-shooter, Let Them Come: Onslaught will eat up a good few hours, but with only two characters and four levels, you will be desperate for more.

Combining strategy, action and roguelike permadeath, Bomber Crew is thoroughly enjoyable, and well worth a look.

Whilst it is refreshing to see the challenge put back into the Prince of Persia franchise and the return of the excellent – and testing – platforming is a breath of fresh air, the rest of the game seems to have not been given the same love and attention. The combat is nothing short of woeful – and glitchy – and the story is so flat and uneventful that is makes Bayonetta’s plot seem like a wonderful hand-crafted masterpiece spawned from the mind of a sane person.

A robust and engaging dungeon-crawling action-RPG with depth to spare, Minecraft Dungeons might not have the wealth of stats and loot that Diablo and its ilk have, but it's an enormously impressive take on the genre, regardless.

In one word: disappointing.

A fine remaster of a good 3D Sonic game, Sonic Colours: Ultimate delivers speedy thrills aplenty, with its rainbow of Wisps injecting a smart twist to platforming. With more than enough replay value to keep you coming back, Sonic Colours: Ultimate will last far beyond its initial 4-5 hour runtime and slake your thirst for speed.

Outriders is a looter-shooter built upon solid enough foundations, and its blend of gunplay and powers can prove intermittently enjoyable. But it's also a game lacking an engaging narrative heart, characters that you'll care about, and any sort of exciting long-term content. The quest for loot will only sustain you for so long.

A series in serious danger of outstaying its welcome, Call of Duty is once again a victim of its own success, unable to change the winning formula too much. And yet, Infinity Ward has still managed to craft a first-person shooter that is exciting, engaging and unreservedly fun.

Your Shape is truly Fitness Evolved in not only name, but in nature as well, and it presents a great opportunity for people to workout in their own homes with their own fitness tracker and personal trainer. I find it hard to believe that it will replace gyms and your general workout regime for anyone who is currently active already in these fields, but it makes a perfect supplement, and for those who want to do more, this is the perfect tool.

Army of Two: The 40th Day is a huge improvement over its predecessor and EA Montreal should be commended for the work they’ve done. Unfortunately the praise will be short lived as you’re constantly bombarded with bugs and minor annoyances that are with you from start to finish. Not enough to break the game, but enough to hamper the experience. The 40th Day is a fun co-op shooter with a great cover mechanic, but it’s as frustrating as it is fun. So just be warned.

There’s no doubting that The Saboteur is a barrel of fun and a pretty addictive game that will keep you wanting to do just one more mission, but the simple fact is, it lacks that extra layer of polish and a few ideas are missing to make it a great title.

While FC IQ has elevated the on-pitch experience somewhat, off the pitch FC 25 hasn't really changed at al since last yearl. It's all a bit stagnant, in truth. If EA Sports FC 25 were a football stadium, it'd be Old Trafford - a once majestic beast that’s now in need of some serious work.

A departure from its open world roots doesn't mean Mafia: The Old Country is any less grand in narrative scope than its predecessors. Not only does Hangar 13 tell a good story, it also delivers solid action and stealth, in an impressively detailed and evocative 1900s Sicily setting.

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean is a great kids game, with a well realised story and fun characters, but it's also more of the same. In terms of the LEGO series to date then this is probably one of the better incarnations, but you just can't help but wonder where things could go from here.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is an independent game, in the truest meaning of the term, and, beyond the hook of its mysteries, you may be drawn to it by virtue of being tired of other things.

I did enjoy my time rolling with Circle during his journey to complete himself. The story was great, the graphics matched the simple premise of the game, and rolling through the game's beautiful scenes while listening to its relaxing music was a great experience. But with its high peaks, there are also low valleys that I just cannot get past. Tough to follow dialog bubbles really disconnected me from the story at times, and frustrating sequences like the magnetic fields and cloud hopping really hurt the entire experience overall.

While DIRT 5 and F1 2021 remain Codemasters' best racing games to date, GRID Legends runs a very close second, with an enjoyably daft Story mode, absorbing Career, and a wealth of options to fiddle with. Driven to Glory, indeed.

An intriguing sci-fi adventure with some neat concepts at its core, State of Mind's visual style and the prescribed nature of its action can be off-putting, but dig in for the ride, and you'll enjoy a smart narrative that eventually pays off. Definitely worth sticking with.

Saints Row IV: Re-elected may score low in terms of its visual overhaul, but the game’s ability to amuse and thrill is undiminished.

While I may not have extensive experience with monster truck racing games, I'm pretty confident that Monster Jam Showdown is a good one, delivering knockabout physics and pleasing Unreal Engine 5 visuals, as well as accessible and immediate gameplay that places the onus squarely on fun.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is passable at best. In answer to my original question of whether Vicarious Visions could handle the big stage? Well, I wouldn't say I booed them off, but I was definitely checking my watch for when the main act would be on.

An exemplary slice of fan service once again, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 also succeeds in being a rewarding game that even non-DBZ fans will find enjoyable. Obviously, fans will lap up every last bit, even if the combat does persist in being a bit of a button-mashing exercise. That aside, DBX 2 is a marked improvement over its predecessor.

A solid remaster job, Sniper Elite V2 Remastered offers ample reason to go back and prowl the streets of Nazi Germany, popping heads with impunity. There's a good suite of modes and extras on offer, and while the game itself is flawed, you'll still have fun with it.

It might not be as good as Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed, but Team Sonic Racing is a joyous and remarkably fun kart racer with a smart team-based twist. Gotta go fast, and that.

Developer Milestone lives up to its name by reaching one with MotoGP 23, providing the most accessible entry in the series to date, with fancy Neural Aids helping to ease in new players. MotoGP 23 also happens to be a polished, authentic motorcycle racing game that will also please even the most hardcore of motorcycle nuts.

While we would have liked to see the Gex Trilogy scale up the resolution and bring the gameplay more up to date, it's nice to be able to play Gex, Gex: Enter the Gecko, and Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko on modern platforms, with some neat refinements for good measure.

British horror games are having a moment just now, and Rebellion has served up a witty, fun slice of apocalypse.

Controversy aside, Atomic Heart is a robust first-person affair, albeit one that revels in glorified Soviet iconography and Wolfenstein-esque alternate history weirdness. The difference is, there's no ambiguity in shooting Nazis – here, however, you can’t help but have a sense of unease while playing.

Whether there's quite enough intrigue to make you desperate for next week's instalment is debatable, but Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is off to a decent enough start.

Retaining the look and feel of the original tower defence classic, Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted remains an unbridled joy sixteen years on – the colourful visuals are crisp and appealing, and the bonus content will keep you hooked for hours on end.

A bold and interesting Inception-inspired crack at delivering a twisty turny story, Get Even succeeds in making exploration and collectibles enjoyable, while the later combat engagements prove to be a grind. Overall, however, Get Even is a fun, if somewhat convoluted, first-person yarn.

As a modern fighting game, it manages to hold its own against more seasoned stablemates, thanks to its accessibility and hidden depths.

The audio is fantastic, and the graphics will impress more often than not. The fun combat system and epic story are moderately spoiled by a poor targeting system, bad enemy AI, and some glitches.

Yooka-Laylee is not a bad game, but by God does it have its problems. If you’re hankering for a 3D platformer in the vein of Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro, Mario or Crash, I’d still say this is worth a bit of your time if you’re willing to chew on the game in short sections. But if you want to marathon the game, or don’t mind waiting until later in the year to have your genre itch scratched, you’re probably better off passing on this.

If Blades of Fire manages to strike a chord, it won't be for its narrative, nor its world, but its violence.

Made in a warzone, Sherlock Holmes The Awakened is a solid remake that covers all of the bases you'd normally expect from Frogwares' Sherlock series, delivering an absorbing mystery and a procession of nicely executed puzzles. It's a perfect stop-gap before Chapter Two comes along.

Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes takes the first game, bolsters the Toy Box, crams in a bunch of new stuff and introduces some of Marvel Comics' finest characters into the fray. Any self-respecting Marvel fan is going to get a kick out of it, and the figures are fantastic, but repetition and slightly shoddy mechanics make the game a bit of a chore.

There are so many clips and questions packed into this game that you’ll likely still be having fun long after your first game. The game also saves which questions each player has seen, making it much more difficult for a repeat question until well after seeing the majority.

My Time At Portia is one of the most wholesome, relaxing and chilled experiences of this generation. It’s the perfect post-Sekiro experience, with a cast of wonderful characters, and a beautifully picturesque world with tons of activities to occupy your time. Sure, it’s very much like Stardew Valley, but the emphasis on engineering over farming makes it its own beast. The loops might not be as alluring as Stardew’s, but it’s game that you won’t regret playing, and will satisfy your inner soul.

This is a good game, make no mistake about it, but it suffers from being far too short and easy. After one playthrough you will have seen everything the game has to offer barring the arena mode, which itself, only lasts about an hour once you are leveled up to the max.

Kinect Sports as a launch title though is extremely promising and it does show that Kinect could very well have a future in every living room – big living rooms that is. As it stands now though, Kinect Sports is perfect for short bursts with friends and is certainly unique, but there are a few annoyances that regrettably hamper the whole experience.

Ambitious in scope and scale, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is an enormously ambitious and remarkably deep Oblivion-inspired RPG. But in shooting for such a high bar, its technical shortcomings unfortunately hamper the overall experience.

World War Z has its flaws especially with its throwaway PvPvZ mode and repetitive campaign, but it’s genuinely a pretty fun zombie shooter akin to Left 4 Dead. It’s a fun title to just pick up and play with a few pals when you’re bored or have run out of games to play. It’s even enjoyable solo with AI companions. World War Z is worth a go, then, at least until Back 4 Blood makes its debut.

A bit of a departure from Saints Row (though not really a massive one), Agents of Mayhem is an entertaining spin-off shooter laced with RPG elements that enhance an otherwise uncomplicated game. There's fun to be had here, providing you can get past the repetitive action.

Anarchy Reigns is good, clean fun while the appeal lasts, and demonstrates that online fighting games needn't be restricted to just versus fare. There's clearly room for something a little more... anarchic.

While not necessarily a great example of how a remaster should be done, Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered still serves as a reminder of how enjoyable it is to bash buildings to rubble with a big sledgehammer. We recommend you get your ass back to Mars sharpish.

A perfect game for the kids but with enough fun to keep the adults entertained as well. You will never feel too taxed or too engrossed for that matter but the cute charm of the game shines through and means there is plenty of entertainment to be had.

If you've ever dreamt of owning your own farm, or simply ploughing, fertilising, spraying, and cultivating someone else's land, then Farming Simulator 22 will cater to your every whim and want. Newcomers beware, though – the barrier to entry is quite high.

The real strengths of this game are the dynamic OFF mode, the superb challenges and ranking system which give the game a superb long term appeal. Take to the skies with HAWX and you will not be disappointed.

Mad Max is a solid, if slightly unremarkable open-world game that does a good job in replicating the atmosphere and tone of the movies, and the character's essence, but fails to provide any real excitement beyond its vehicle-based combat.

A stylish side-scrolling samurai epic, Trek to Yomi combines cinematic influences and sharp combat to great effect, but descends into frustration towards the end. Nonetheless, this is a journey worth sticking with.

Dead Rising 4 is undoubtedly a great zombie game, with Capcom Vancouver nailing the open-world and tone once more, but the lack of true psychos in the world does detract from the overall experience. It’s no Dead Rising 3, but it’s still a bloody good game.

A bright and vibrant world filled with dull combat and a plodding story.

An unbridled joy to play, RAGE 2 is something that puts an onus on having fun and has no pretenses of being anything else beyond that.

The driving mechanics are solid enough but that is about as good as it gets as the rest of the game feels surprisingly out of date.

Tilting Point's game is a great indie platformer that's a bit on the short side, but for $7, it's a steal. Challenging and enjoyable while it lasts, Leo's Fortune is well worth a punt. It's the best game starring a furry green testicle with a moustache that you're ever likely to play.

A neat continuation of the LEGO DC series, Super-Villains offers a neat twist in casting your custom character and a range of iconic faces from the comic books as the protagonists in a raucously fun story. Yes, it's the same old LEGO game that you'll have played several times before, but damn it, it's still good. And indeed, good to be bad.

As a racing game for kids this is ideal, with easy to pick up and play controls and a variety of fun modes. However, with the removal of the sandbox style areas there is not much depth on offer here and just playing the same missions or multiplayer modes over and over again will rapidly lose its appeal. As a movie tie-in this game is certainly fun while it lasts but do not expect it to hold your attention, or that of your kids if you deign to give them a go, for long. Cars 2 is more Ka-chow than Ka-ching, but not by much.

Huge fun with friends and enjoyable on your own, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is a strong follow-up to Guardian of Light. It might retread a lot of old ground from its predecessor, but it also offers enough twists and interesting puzzles to keep you playing for a good few hours, making it well worth excavating and dusting off.

The Thing: Remastered is worthwhile and no mistake. Nightdive's lovingly made revamp might not paper over the cracks of the 2002 original, but it preserves what made it a cult classic, while applying subtle, albeit meaningful, improvements.

If I had to sum Mercenaries up in one word, I would say “fun.” If I had to sum it up in five, I would say “fun but glitchy as hell!”

Toxic Commando is a perfectly serviceable co-op shooter with flashes of real spectacle.

An impeccably made multiplayer dino shooter, Exoprimal has all of the right stuff, but, with only a single mode to play over and over again, it can quite get repetitive rather quickly.

The game was definitely odd, but it wasn't a pathetic fail as some may have expected. It was different for sure, but it was still fun and still brought me back to the days I played Mortal Kombat on my Sega for hours on end.

Proving once more that there's life yet in its killer sniping mechanics and expansive sandbox missions, Sniper Elite: Resistance is another cracking series entry, even if it's not much of an evolution over Sniper Elite 5. No doubt, Rebellion is saving the big guns for Sniper Elite 6.

If you're already a fan of the RPG genre, this will both disappoint and entice you, but in the end leave you satisfied.

Burst Limit was a poor start for DBZ’s future with the 360, but it could have been worse. The art stays true to the series as do the cutscenes.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst isn’t a bad game and certainly better than the sum of its parts. The open world design weakens everything that made the original great, unfortunately, yet the ability to set your own time trials and run tough pre­made courses saves the day. It’s a solid game as far as playing the story missions are concerned, but ­ like Faith herself ­ it can sometimes fail to find its legs elsewhere.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is certainly starting to show its age, but the game still offers some great combat and a deep, high-fantasy world. If you’re looking for an expansive RPG to get stuck into, you could certainly do worse than Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning, as long as you keep your expectations in check.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is an experimental indie game that through all its issues and idiosyncrasies, can be fun for anyone seeking a survival game with a difference.

State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition is a generously proportioned package (that's not a euphemism), containing a stack of content, a huge open-world packed with ravenous zombies and precious few supplies to see you through.

WWE 2K16 is a better game than last 2K15, largely thanks to the expansive range of options and features that have been reinstated. The 2K Showcase is fantastic, but the core gameplay hasn't changed enough to warrant a hearty recommendation.

A fine game of ice hockey, NHL 24 improves upon last year's instalment, offering some slick new features, and all of the usual modes and other accoutrements you'd expect, all nicely presented.

For what it is, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a charming, yet rather restrictive 2D, puzzle-platformer. Despite its limited scope, lack of replayability and depth, there’s some fun to be had here, if only for a while.

And while Late Shift is well shot and proficiently put together, it's worth noting that the game is essentially just making decisions as the action unfolds before you. There's nothing more to it than that, but as far as delivering an interactive movie goes, this is probably about as good as it gets. I've yet to play an example of an FMV game that's as well made as Late Shift, not that I've played many FMV games, mind you. Still, as a compelling interactive, cinematic experience, it might be flawed, but all in all, Late Shift delivers the goods. It just might not bowl you over completely.

Wolfenstein's Veil powers and the pseudo-sandbox city of Isenstadt make the game an entertaining ride, though poor AI and frustrating bosses hold it back from greatness.

Not much to look at, Butcher is an enjoyable slice of old-fashioned, gratuitously bloody and OTT side-scrolling bullet hell that's worth a pop, if that sounds like your cup of tea. Sorry. Your cup of blood.

Assassin's Creed Unity makes me sad. Boasting moments of excellence, it falls way short of being the new-gen Assassin's Creed game that I wanted.

The story might be convoluted, but it's engaging and the characters are (mostly) likeable. Final Fantasy: Type-0 HD is good fun, and well worth delving into for a few dozen hours.

A fun, familiar experience, Action Henk is a lovely little one-more-go arcade racer that’ll have you attempting levels over and over to shave a few milliseconds off your time. You’ve done it all before, but that won’t stop it putting a smile on your face.

MotoGP 10/11 successfully builds upon the last game in the series with improved visuals, overhauled handling and physics and new modes that make this the most comprehensive in the series yet. However, it still feels like MotoGP has a way to go before it really comes into its own. MotoGP 10/11 is good, but still a few laps away from achieving greatness.

Flawed it may be, but Simulacra is an interesting thriller in which you get to play detective. The found phone concept is a smart hook, while the storytelling delivers a yarn that will keep you engaged from beginning to end.

A gleefully colourful and typically humorous LEGO game, LEGO 2K Drive is an enjoyable open world racer that unfortunately offers an uneven challenge and a Story Mode that can be something of a grind. And yet, throwing a LEGO vehicle around Bricklandia is good, clean fun. Swings and roundabouts.

A cracking little arcade racer from a studio better acquainted with motorcycle sims, Hot Wheels Unleashed is like sticking both hands into a big toy box of die-cast cars, pulling them all out, then thrashing them around a racetrack. And what is there not to like about that?

Cutter Slade's long-awaited return has flashes of jetpack-fuelled brilliance, but tiresome missions and a story that fails to engage ensure that playing Outcast: A New Beginning quickly develops into something of a chore.