God is a Geek

Need For Speed: Rivals is a must have for fans of racing games with a friends list full of similar gamers; everyone else should weigh up their options. There's plenty to do, but be prepared for some mild annoyance.

It may no longer be essential, but Trine 2: Complete Story is excellent nonetheless.

Overall, Dead Rising 3 is a lot of fun, with a 13-16 hour campaign enhanced by replayability due to the sheer amount of ways you can approach your time in Los Perdidos. From the very outset there are different play-styles offered up, including co-op if you fancy it: Capcom Vancouver want this to be your experience, and while it does stutter from time to time, this is a game well worth playing, so long as you can stomach the B-movie acting and gore.

It's a shame that some modes haven't made the cut for the next-gen version, but you'll only miss them if you played them a lot. Career Mode and FUT still offer incredibly high value for money, and this is probably the best version of FIFA to date. There's room for improvement, though, especially with defensive AI, but for now, FIFA is still the best football game out there.

You can take a certain hypnotic bliss from simply working along calmly and peacefully, making sure that your park is running as smoothly as it can and improving the conditions for your ever-growing menagerie of creatures. This game was never going to be he bombastic launch title that blows the minds of gamers. Zoo Tycoon is a different pace of game for a different type of player. With the Xbox One Microsoft are looking to create a device that provides all forms of entertainment, for everyone, and a game like Zoo Tycoon certainly shows their commitment to creating a broad base. It may ultimately be a little shallow, but it has bags of charm and there is more than enough on offer here to provide hours of animal magic.

Madden NFL 25 is certainly a good foundation for EA to build upon, but some work needs to be done on the player models, the gameplay visuals and the collision physics before a future Madden title can become a true and realistic simulation.

Fighter Within could have had potential, if more work had gone into the gesture recognition and making the Kinect actions translate into the game world, but as it stands it feels like a lazy game that's been rushed out to hit the Xbox One's launch date. The multiplayer is fun, but a lot of that is due to the fact that you're playing with another person in the same space. Any attempt at online multiplayer would have failed as miserably as the single player campaign, especially as you can't see the look of disappointment on their faces as they fall – yet again – to your flying fists. I can only hope that something else comes along soon to show us what Kinect 2.0 is truly capable of, because if this is it, we're in for another generation of shockingly disappointing movement-controlled video games.

For those wanting to show off their new console, Killzone: Shadow Fall is the game to do it with. A reasonable, lengthy but frustrating single player campaign paves the way for a compelling multiplayer experience the likes of which you've never seen before – visually speaking, anyway. Select easy-mode and you'll have more fun overall, but if Guerrilla are to continue with the Killzone series, they need to come up with some fresh ideas for the set pieces, and try to create a more streamlined difficulty. Otherwise, this is more Killzone, but looking better than ever before – and that's saying something.

If you can disengage your brain and just plough through the endless array of same-faced enemies, you'll enjoy the glorious visuals and well designed audio – but this is a game destined to be forgotten fairly quickly, even if it does help prove the Xbox One has more power than we first thought.

The biggest issue with Knack is that it delivers on a completely different experience than you would expect: a tricky yet rewarding old-school game brought kicking and screaming into a brand new generation was always going to confuse people. But it's a lot of fun, and despite frustration through poor checkpointing, Knack is far from a bad game. In fact, there's potential for this to become a cult favourite among gamers. It looks like a family-friendly game, but this one is aimed at the hardcore players, and when you consider it's a new IP for a new console, that's kind of brave.

It's a shame there are only five levels, but what is here is eye-wateringly good. The indie revolution continues on Sony's PS4, and Housemarque prove their qualities yet again. With the triple-A titles like Killzone: Shadow Fall also launching with the PS4, don't let this one slip you buy: it's addictive and absolutely brilliant.

It’s a brave (geddit?) move on Square-Enix’s part to not stamp Bravely Default with a more popular title, because ironically, Bravely Default is one of the best Final Fantasies in years. Taking the very best of 8/16-bit entries of the series, and bringing them up to date with some beautiful graphics, clever features and engaging gameplay, this is a must for someone looking for a more traditional JRPG. On a system that has been lacking some meaty RPG action, this is a superb combination of old school gameplay with modern day additions that makes for an adventure you don’t want to miss.

Mario Party: Island Tour is far from being a bad game, it’s just a part of a series that seems to have run out of ideas to an extent, lacking any aspects that really excite or pleasantly surprise you. There is still plenty of fun to be had when taking on some of the more successful mini games with a group of friends locally, but the game as a whole does come across as more of a re-tread of something we have played time and time again. As such, there is little about Island Tour to recommend above past portable versions of the game. If this is your first experience with the series, it is certainly one of the best versions, I’m just not entirely sure that it’s a necessary one.

It's refreshing to play a racing game that doesn't feel stale when played alone, and that's all thanks to Drivatar keeping things fresh every time you race. Forza 5 looks absolutely gorgeous, which makes the lack of weather and night races even more glaring. But other than the terrible music, there's very little to complain about.

For the entire duration of my time with Tearaway, I was beaming from ear-to-ear at the magnificence taking place in the palm of my hands. It has taken quite a while, but at long last the Vita has an original IP that it can truly call a killer app. Apparently, we’re currently ushering in a new generation of home consoles, at the moment, but I was too busy revelling in the breathtaking world of Tearaway to take notice.

Next up for this treatment: Zelda, right?

Still, despite the short length of the DLC, and the pretty hefty price tag, you're getting an amazing single-player experience with characters we've come to adore, and there's no doubt that the ending of Episode One will leave you frothing at the mouth for the second outing.

The voice acting is decent, though. Some excellent performances really hammer home the setting and mood, matched by the theme tune, which is beautifully sung, and genuinely feels like a reward when the credits roll. There's not a huge amount to come back for, as there aren't many collectibles overall. However, some of them are rewards for solving optional puzzles, which is a nice touch.

It rewards those of us who know A Link to the Past’s version of Hyrule like the back of our hand, but makes enough concessions for those who didn’t play the original the first time around. It may be a shorter and less challenging adventure than many would expect for a modern Zelda game, but when that journey is so incredibly satisfying, you won’t feel short changed. I can’t think of a better way to end a brilliant year for the Nintendo 3DS than by playing one of the best games released on the system so far.

Bringing forward all of what made Wii Fit so great in the first place, then adding new features and the Wii Fit Meter means that Wii Fit U is an excellent package designed to get friends and family playing games while getting fitter. How can that be a bad thing? It can be a bit pricey if you don't already own some of the hardware (Wii U, Balance Board), but this is an example of something succeeding in exactly what it sets out to do, and sometimes that's enough. Bare in mind, however, this is not a full substitute for a real exercise routine and gym workout.