IGN

The simple unit relationships and straightforward mechanics can be fun, though some of the gameplay elements beyond your control hinder the experience more than they should. The flawed story mode can be safely passed by, but if you're able to find an opponent online or skirmish against the AI it's easier to appreciate Oil Rush's strengths.

Soulcalibur V is at its absolute best with friends, when it's testing your skill, reaction times and trash talking ability. The combat is still great and the graphics are still beautiful. Outside of that, it's a slight disappointment, as this is the weakest single player experience in the series yet. The game just never attempts to give us something we haven't seen before.

Puddle is dirt-simple by design, but its simplicity betrays a high degree of challenge. When you start to get into the game's later stages, you'll find yourself stuck in some situations that require not just a high degree of perseverance and a steady hand, but also a lot of patience.

NeverDead sways between boring, frustrating and painful. It serves to remind us why fun-to-play heroes in video games keep their head and limbs intact. It is the video game equivalent of those trashy drug store action movies starring nobody actors, the five dollar sort that you only buy to give away as gag gifts. Do not be fooled: NeverDead represents the bottom of the barrel in video gaming. Do not buy it.

Kingdom Rush is an instant classic and is guaranteed to turn up on 2012 "best of" lists. Anyone remotely interested in either tower defense or strategy should consider it a most-own. Gamers that think they don't enjoy the genre should give Kingdom Rush a shot anyway – it might just win you over.

Sol: Exodus may be a step in the right direction to bring back space combat games, but it certainly won't be the title that inspires a generation to demand more. Any gamer, and especially PC gamer, over 25 probably wants the genre to flourish like it used to, but a game like Sol, with all its bugs, repetitive levels and lackluster narrative, won't be what brings it back. Still, at least someone out there is trying.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 proves itself the better game, but it lacks the same focused storytelling employed in the original. It benefits from an improved battle system, open environments, and an overall level of polish that deserves a nod of respect.

Dustforce easily merits the low, $10 barrier to entry. Some better in-game explanation concerning Dustforce's content and mechanics would really help, but this addictive platformer succeeds nonetheless. The artful way the characters' abilities allow you to move through the environment are entrancing, and the meticulously crafted levels create moments that made me look and feel awesome.

You need a clear, unified vision to shape a game into something that makes sense and compels the player to see it through to the end But scares and gameplay in Afterfall fall flat as scene after scene repeat the same notes, turning what could have been a spine-chilling adventure into a treadmill to an unsatisfying finish

I don’t take bashing any game lightly. Obviously, people put hard work into making the game. But Amy is about as big of a miss as I’ve seen in I don’t know how long. Amy purports itself to be survival horror, but the only surviving you’ll be doing is trying to make sense of the muddled gameplay mess laid before you as you’re “scared” by the same gimmicky frights, like bursting gas pipes and falling portraits, over and over again.