A solid game with a typically twisted story underneath all of the pretence. Still the gameplay mechanics are starting to show their age and there is a lack of genuine shocks and intrigue, it feels like familiar ground, albeit fairly well made familiar ground.

Zoo Tycoon’s biggest crime is its lack of ambition.

Stoked isn't for everyone. You'll either love it for the ability to freely explore five huge mountains, or hate it for the lack of variety in career mode and the rather steep learning curve. If you find yourself in the first group, Stoked has more than enough content to merit its $40 asking price.

Taking on some heavy subject matter, Black The Fall has moments that will live in the memory once it's all over. And while Sand Sailor's game might be on the brief side and occasionally frustrating, it's also perfectly fine. But that's about the long and short of it.

Not really a sterling representation of the Disney-Pixar alliance, but Kinect Rush will keep kids happy for a while – as long as they have the patience to put up with frustrating movement and handling. With a few tweaks this could have been a much smoother experience, but as it is there is just too little fun and too much effort involved.

Very simple controls, good tutorials and strategies that are easy to pick up. The AI doesn't ramp up the intensity like it used to in the old Blitz games which is nice as you can get a lead and keep it.

It took a while to come to consoles (over a year), but Cuisineer was worth the wait. As RPG roguelite social sim genre mashups go, this is about as good as it gets. It's lovely and colourful, too. Cuisineer is a tasty little morsel.

Billed as a game that will blur the line between single-player, co-op and multiplayer, Brink actually does the opposite and reaffirms the general consensus on Xbox Live that multiplayer is king. Frankly put, unless you're playing Brink with and against human players, the game is mediocre at best. Get into a game with players that want to co-ordinate as a team against a group of like-minded foes, and Brink will almost certainly satisfy on every level.

Destroy All Humans! is never better than when you're carrying out the remit of the game's title. When you're doing stealth missions, it's not nearly as fun. As far as its remake credentials are concerned, meanwhile, this is a perfectly solid, serviceable piece of entertainment, if somewhat unremarkable. That said, if you lapped up Destroy All Humans! fifteen years ago, you'll no doubt be more than happy to do it all over again.

You ought to play Slitterhead if for no other reason than its mood. It’s one of this year’s strangest and most striking games.

A lack of genuine innovation and the presence of persisting issues from the first game is unforgivable and frankly, we expected more.

HAWX 2 is such a letdown after the brilliant original and, if anything, feels like it has gone back a few steps rather than making any kind of progression. There is still plenty of fun to be had, especially in co-op or on the survival maps, but the first game has the edge in almost every regard. Bottom line: get your flight kicks there.

An impressive game that provides one of the greatest gaming experiences I’ve had in a while, producing some of the goriest bloodbaths featured in a game to date.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is not completely awful. It’s just not very good. Sure, it does have some good ideas and some interesting mechanics, but for every good idea, there are ten that are just bloody bewildering. Warhorse seems to have valued realism over fun and enjoyment with Deliverance, but to be honest, it’s not even that realistic. It’s just a bloody boring buggy mess of a game, but one that isn’t completely terrible. Every cloud and all that.

If I were rating it purely on its artistic merits, I'd give it 100. As a game, its unique qualities mark it out as something that deserves to be played and experienced, but if you're hoping for something action-packed, you're barking up the wrong tree. Dear Esther: Landmark Edition is a great game that transcends what a video game can be as a medium; a perfect marriage of artistry and ideas that you absolutely need to delve into.

Eden Games has successfully built upon the solid foundations laid by the first TDU for Test Drive Unlimited 2, creating a genuinely inviting and gratifying racing title, online or offline. It surpasses its predecessor with fantastic visuals, hundreds of extra miles of roads to speed along and more cars and races than you can shake a gearstick at.

A grim, dystopian future shock, The Ascent is an action-packed ARPG brimming with guns and ultra-violence. It's enormous fun, especially in co-op, but bothersome bugs and repetitive quests unfortunately put a dampener on things.

Chinatown Detective Agency is a disappointing miss, that, with just a little more time in the oven, could so easily have been a compelling hit.

While you have to give credit where credit’s due to developer Big Bad Wolf for not compromising in the complexity of its puzzles, it also means that Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss won’t be for everyone. It’s a challenging, flawed investigative puzzler that will drive all but the most patient to the brink of madness.

Turning its back on the options that made WRC 5 accessible to casual players and hardened rally fans alike means WRC 6 simply won't appeal to many people. It's a title resolutely aimed at the hardcore racer, with a stupid penalty system, twitchy handling and as steep a difficulty curve as you can get in a racing game. It's especially galling, as you can see some clear improvements here. I've played plenty of sim racers in the past and enjoyed myself, but playing WRC 6 feels like a thankless chore. Die-hard rallysport fans/masochists need only apply.

A little short on polish it might be, but there's no doubting Atlas Fallen's credentials as a decent slice of good (but not great) open-world fantasy action.

Golf With Your Friends is good for a laugh, and the more people you can get involved, the more fun you'll have. The concept is fantastic, but the execution is a little lackluster, resulting in a title that just about makes the par.

Yes, there are better co-op shooters out there, and many of those provide similar levels of relentless violence, but Killing Floor 3 deftly manages to conjure some pretty unique, gory thrills of its own.

A great opportunity to revisit the origins of a leading Xbox series, Fable Anniversary is an enjoyable trip down memory lane. Brought up to date with new visuals, extra content and a brilliant achievement list, its charms just about overpower its ageing, decade-old gameplay. A must for fans.

Derivative, repetitive and QTE heavy – yet still amazingly good fun. This game is more like Dynasty Warriors than Ninja Gaiden in terms of combat as you can eschew learning stupidly tricky combos in favour of button mashing good times.

Rango is a perfectly pleasant and enjoyable game that replicates the animated movie's style brilliantly. Younglings will love it to bits and won't notice its shortcomings or the fact that some of its voices sound ever-so-slightly off. Nor will they care that it's all over in the blink of an eye and there's no reason whatsoever to play it again ever.

A neat anime-style metroidvania with some well-realised ideas, Yars Rising is a smart homage to an '80s Atari arcade classic, and a perfectly fine way to while away a good few hours.

Biomutant is a scrappy and charming open world RPG, but despite its many systems and gameplay mechanics, there isn't enough depth and direction to make this game truly great.