IGN

We may have been the last to get this, but PSN owners weren't really crying out for yet another tower defense game. Luckily, 11 Bit Studios has crafted something that feels markedly different from the already diverse offerings PlayStation 3 owners can choose from. The lack of online co-op stings given that it's 2012, but what's here is more than enough to justify the purchase price if you like your tower defense played (mostly) solo.

Torchlight II doesn’t do anything radically new, but does everything incredibly well. It fits all the pieces of varied monster behavior, interesting items, excellent skill design and random surprises together into a near-perfect formula, where the action never stops and rewards are never far away. Every level up, skill boost and item replacement flirts with a sense of invulnerability in a world obsessed with killing you, demanding continued play by teasing eventual omnipotence.

It may look and sound like a game from years past, but it demonstrates that the Roguelike genre still has plenty to offer almost 30 years after its first appearance. FTL’s situations lack some variety and the randomness of the game as a whole can be frustrating, but it largely makes up for these flaws through its intense combat and intuitive and deep micromanagement options.

Super Hexagon is a work of art skillfully combined with monstrous difficulty. The game is both hypnotic and addictive, and unless fast-twitch gameplay entirely alienates you, you’re going to get lost in this sea of shapes.

Machinarium begins and ends without a single word being spoken but is able to elicit feelings of amusement and tenderness for its peculiar cast. Its puzzles are logical enough that they’re never cheap or frustrating, but challenging and varied enough that they’re rewarding. A charming and brilliantly designed point and click adventure; if anything, it’s over too soon.

While Formula One is a racing sport, F1 2012 is far more than just a racing game. Equal parts simulation and re-creation of the real world events, Codemasters Birmingham has done a magnificent job of capturing the precision of the vehicles and the excitement of individual events. It's a title that demands skill and tactics over thoughtless speeding, and as such will likely lose the interest of less committed players.

Borderlands 2 preserves the best parts of the franchise while also making numerous, much needed improvements to areas like narrative and class skill design. Additional visual customization options would make it better, and the occasional technical issue takes away from the experience, but overall this is an excellent shooter no one even remotely curious should overlook.

The original Joe Danger did one thing, and did it perfectly. The sequel does all sorts of crazy things -- many of them very well, but none of them perfectly. All the new vehicles and new environments come at the expense of the satisfying controls and focus of the original. But the bar was set very, very high with the first effort, so Joe Danger 2 remains a lot of fun even if that bar is lowered a bit.

Tokyo Jungle might be bizarre, different and even a little bit whacky, but it’s also a lot of fun. It’s a truly different game; you’ve never played anything like it. And in a gaming industry full of the same old thing, this very fact should intrigue you. The icing on the cake? The fact that it’s a damn good experience with incredible depth and replay value.

LittleBigPlanet PS Vita is the definitive LittleBigPlanet game. It's everything you loved (or possibly didn't) from the past games boiled down into a package you can play anywhere at any time. You can collect prize bubbles while watching TV, download user-created levels at home and then play them on a plane, and sink the hours into learning create mode via 10-minute chunks at the Laundromat.