Polygon

While the last half hour doesn't ruin Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, it is a disappointing coda to a game struggling to find a reason to exist. There are glimmers of Red Storm's previous dedication to authenticity and feel, but in a quest for a wider audience, Future Soldier loses sight of the series' earlier appeal, and struggles to find a new role. Wherever the future lies for Future Soldier, Ubisoft has left its past behind.

Medal of Honor Warfighter’s multiplayer failings underline its real problem — it feels thrown together, with little consideration for why its parts should fit. While the multiplayer's obtuse design decisions are preferable to the campaign's lack of artificial intelligence, decent mechanics, or interesting level design, it's still difficult to find much reason to recommend Medal of Honor Warfighter over the shooters it wants so desperately to resemble.

It's not that Starhawk is a bad game. It's not offensive, and it demonstrates a surprisingly broad range of influences in its attempts to be something different in the online shooter space. But Starhawk feels half-there, like its pieces don't quite fit together, and it can't keep pace with other, better multiplayer titles out there.

In a sea of friendly, focus-tested titles from big publishers, it operates without much compromise. While that lack of compromise or looking back causes a fair amount of frustration and hassle throughout The Witcher 2's 30 hours-or-so campaign, it's impossible not to respect what CD Projekt Red has achieved: an adult action-RPG that doesn't talk down to its players – even when they're tripping over the scenery.

Make no mistake: Telltale has done some amazing things with The Walking Dead, and one episode away from the end it's already a landmark moment in interactive storytelling. I'm just hopeful that with the next series of episodes, the studio is able escape the corners that its experiment with malleable narrative has painted it into.

If the developers had just added the new fluid dynamics and classes, but kept the environments the same, Worms: Revolution would be an enjoyable, if uninspired, entry in the series. But, with the 3D environments, Worms: Revolution becomes something far worse. It's noble to try to bring some changes to this long-running franchise, but only if they're well-thought out, patient, and beneficial to the strategy at the heart of the series. The rewrites in Worms: Revolution are not.

But even the shame of the Macarena can't detract from Dance Central 3's infinite joy. Everything about the game — its preposterous storyline, its madcap multiplayer modes — peels away at the inherent, inextricable humiliation of dancing in front of your peers. To start a dance battle in one of those modes, you have to high-five your opponent in real life. Rest assured, you are in very, very good hands.

Since NBA 2K13 remains the only basketball sim on the market, I'm glad that it's another great entry in the franchise. It's not just a joy to play; the surrounding elements elevate it to something that's clearly aware of its place in the context of the NBA itself. NBA 2K13 sits at the intersection of basketball and hip-hop culture, and Jay-Z's production sensibilities marry the two beautifully.

Forza Horizon is never fleshed out enough to reach its potential. There’s value to the idea of making a more outwardly accessible entry in a series that’s normally targeted at hardcore car nuts. But Horizon’s accessibility gives way to a lack of foresight. Its open world feels empty, its economic model is questionable, and its armada of cars are powerless against arbitrary AI escalation.

Maybe some good will come of this. Maybe, like the cautionary tale of Scrooge's long-dead partner, developers will learn from Lionhead's stumble, accept Kinect's weaknesses and stop trying to manipulate it into mechanics it will never do justice to. Sadly, for Fable: The Journey, that change of heart will be too little, too late.