God is a Geek

There's so much content on offer in Call of Duty: Ghosts that everyone will get their money's worth, and then some. Infinity Ward could quite easily have rested on their laurels, stayed in their comfort zone to release Modern Warfare 4 this year with little negative critical reception. Instead, they've done something bold with the franchise they gave life to, and as a result have created the best Call of Duty game since Modern Warfare 2. Big, brash and absolutely stunning.

Motion control has its detractors and its advocates, but both parties should be able to see that Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games is not one to fly the proverbial waggle flag. The awkwardness of waving a large GamePad around and unresponsive controls make this one of the less enjoyable party offerings available on the system.

Swing Swing Submarine should be very proud of what they have achieved here, an excellent and fairly unique puzzler that is addictive, fun and rewarding. While the plot and bloat may be a drawback, they are the only complaints with Tetrobot & Co. If you're looking for a great brain workout that you can dive in and out of, then these are the droids you're looking for.

On the flipside, for those that are completists, who want to eke every drop out of their Layton, there is a staggering amount of depth here, not just from the multiple puzzles,but from the way all of the mini-games are directly tied into the main adventure, and the Treasure Hunt mode can actually provide a beneficial reason to keep your idling 3DS in your pocket, lest you have a cheeky StreetPass encounter that will unlock a juicy reward. The 3DS has certainly come of age this year, and this is another sterling effort that combines expert design with frankly gorgeous looks and sounds.

There's no doubt that, in a time where horror fans are crying out for titles that resemble a more considered and spooky approach, Lone Survivor sits near the top, along with the plethora of games of this ilk from the past 18 months.  Curve Studios have helped adapt Jasper Byrne's effort perfectly for both PS3 and Vita, giving console gamers a chance to witness one of the creepier and more unsettling examples of the genre in quite some time. Map issues notwithstanding, Lone Survivor continues Sony's desire to make the PlayStation brand synonymous with indie games.

Legends is still a wonderful game, and the tight controls work incredibly well on the Vita – I am particularly fond of the sticks. With the challenge mode present and a good amount of content to get through (including the Back to Origins levels), this is still an excellent game, if ever so slightly inferior to the versions that have come before it.

There is no question: this is the version of Spelunky that you should purchase. Even though the game was released on Xbox 360 over a year ago, the cross save and cross buy interaction between PS3 and Vita – along with the Vita's ability to deliver instantaneous spelunking – make this the ultimate port of a superb game.

As a difficult second album, Rayman Legends is just one of those things that, no matter how hard you try, it remains a true and pure good. You can scrutinise it to the nth degree, but its charms will always overcome everything in the end, and with enough fresh ideas (whilst borrowing from Origins), Rayman Legends is an absolute must-own game, if only for the wonderful asynchronous multiplayer and incredible music levels.