The Digital Fix

[T]his is a confident return to form with one foot securely in the past and one striding forward to an assured future. They're back doing what they do best, and that's great news for RTS fans.

Based on the story so far, Game of Thrones is very much worthy of your time but has plenty to prove in the space of a handful more episodes to come. It also needs to find its own identity and move away from archetypes already covered in the books. Hopefully this will be the expository episode, with the tension ratcheting up as things continue to fall apart for House Forrester.

The fall of empires has largely been consigned to expansion packs in the Total War series - as in Barbarian Invasion for the original Rome, and Fall of the Samurai for Shogun 2 - so it's a new look for a main instalment to concern itself with the topic. Nevertheless, it is largely successful in its ambitions, and is probably one of the most epic experiences you'll find in the tactical-strategy genre. Despite all the tweaks and improvements, however, it's held back by the lingering problems of the series: in short, long wait times and nonsensical diplomacy. With a little more focus to its early stages, these might have been forgiven; as it is, as fine a game as Attila might be, it stands more as a refinement than a revolution for the series.

If you've never played a Super Stardust game before, then Super Stardust Ultra is an easy sell. You're getting a host of fantastic game modes to explore along with fantastic graphics and a smooth framerate. This is the complete package and there hasn't been a better time to suit up and take a ship for a spin. However if you've already played Super Stardust HD then the extra game modes and visual enhancements may not be worth the asking price. The game will remain to be an arcade classic, but existing fans will find a lot of disappointment here if they're looking for a new experience. In the end, this a good update to an already fantastic game that deserves its place on the PlayStation 4. But next time, let's have a brand new game Sony.

If Double Fine had taken the effort to make Grim Fandango playable without changing the atmosphere of the game: made navigation faster, fixed the inventory, added autosaves and stopped it crashing, then it may have been a worthwhile effort. Instead it is only possible to recommend this to those truly looking for that nostalgia hit.

Techland used to elicit a groan, an expectation of being underwhelmed. The game more than redeems their reputation and is a great step in the right direction. There are new ideas that emerge from the old and it is this attitude could spell greatness for the studio. Like your character, all they need to do is keep moving forward.

Life Is Strange is off to a near flawless start. Its story, characters and world are all incredibly interesting and in combination have built a fascinating plot that we can't wait to continue in the second episode. Max's time travelling ability is an innovation in the interactive story genre that allows us shape the story exactly to our liking and is a compelling plot device in itself. If Dontnod can iron out the lip-syncing problems and continue the quality of Chrysalis in future episodes, then we have something very special on our hands.

Ultimately, Resident Evil is let down by its awkward combat and somewhat barebones plot. If the story were fleshed out a little more, and if it were possible to fight zombies a little less clumsily, it would still be able to hold its own against the very best of this day and age. Thirteen years is a long time in gaming, though, and the game does show its age a bit. The combat and some other elements, of course, hail from even further back in the 1996 original. As it is, it is merely a great horror game brought to the screen in high definition for the first time, and an absolute must for fans of the genre. Most importantly, it still has the power to inspire fear - and that alone makes it worth the price of admission.

The key problem with the expansion is that Saints Row has now become impossible to one up, even by its makers, due in no small part to the fact that it went off the scale bonkers in the main Saints Row IV adventure. Mix this in with the fact that the port is poor, bordering on shoddy, and you are left with a game that looks last gen, plays last gen and offers very little in the way of new content.

The Escapists set out to create a fun and realistic prison escape game, and it has done that with flying colours. The player will immediately sympathize for their inmate as they begrudgingly follow the prison's schedule, but then bask in the excitement as they start to plan their prison desertion. The three-step system of increasing your stats, getting better jobs and then crafting the items you need works wonderfully and creates a smooth and logical experience that anyone could enjoy and appreciate. However there are areas for improvement, one being a story that could tie all six prisons together which could help the player build up a connection with their inmate. Also, the game would benefit from a more in-depth tutorial than the one we see at the beginning of the game. Otherwise, like us, players may be lost at the start of their stint in prison and not entirely sure of how to go about forming some sort of escape. The Escapists doesn't quite reach the heights of The Shawshank Redemption's emotion, relationships between characters or interesting story to tie everything together, but it does create an engaging and noteworthy experience that should be played by all.

Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions is a near perfect game let down only by the demanding mission padding and a soundtrack that represents a slight step backwards from its predecessors. Its very DNA has been refined to amazing clarity, from the precise controls to the neon drenched artwork. Instantly accessible to new players, it quickly compels them to become experts in order to proceed along its asymptotic learning curve. An explosive orgy of light and sound that needs to be experienced to be believed.

The result is a largely enjoyable but far too shallow experience. With plenty of laughs a minute, a fun battle system, and oodles of old-school charm, Citizens of Earth will delight you for a while - and then simply tire you out. There are too many frustrating hours spent wandering around, too many little bits and pieces that haven't been sorted out properly. With no further depth to it than pure satire, it can be difficult to force yourself through these awkward sections and seek what lies on the other side of them. A little refinement could have gone a long way for Citizens of Earth, but without that extra touch, it's not so much EarthBound as it is grounded.

It's clear to see that The Crew had potential, but the promises it made just simply aren't realised in the final product. While the thought of a digital America to drive across is certainly exciting, The Crew does a very bad job of executing on it and building an interesting environment to drive around in and discover. And when the bland world is combined with an easily forgettable storyline and the worst car handling we have ever experienced in a videogame, it's easy to understand why we did not have any fun with the game. The levelling up system and car customisation are the two good things among an otherwise hugely disappointing feature set. The Crew promised so much, but delivered so little.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 is a much better game than Hyperdimension Neptunia, but it's still let down by several failings and issues that probably throw up enough barriers for anyone outside of its niche to feel comfortable enough in staying away from it. And, you know, this is a shame; there's still a great game here somewhere, and if you can avoid the over-levelling pitfalls and deal with all the moe then there's something here that will keep you occupied for at least thirty hours and maybe even longer. In many ways the real issue is that the experienced gamer will find it tough to forgive Re;Birth1 for being so close to getting it right ' maybe the answer is to forget about over-analysing how all the mechanics mesh together and just let Neptune take you along for the grindy ride.

Whether you choose to perceive it through a moral lens or not, there's a great tactical survival mechanic driving this game beneath the didactics.

If you are wanting to blow off some cobwebs and find an enjoyable, and reasonably deep, experience then again it is hard to not recommend this. If games like Guitar Hero were the equivalent of giving a man a fish and him eating for a day, then Rocksmith 2014 is very much teaching that man to fish.

The Talos Principle will make you feel confounded but in that wonderful way that precludes an epiphany. You'll leave each session feeling genuinely smarter - and perhaps a little rebellious to boot.

Ultimately, LittleBigPlanet 3 is a pretty decent effort which lamentably hamstrings itself. It's charming, aesthetically pleasing, and a lot of fun when it works - but various bugs and glitches, long load times, and a lacklustre story mode really drag it down. Fortunately, the level creation and sharing features save it from being mundane, and provide a boatload of additional content to make it worth the money. It might not be as good as the first two games in the series, but LittleBigPlanet 3 still has enough going for it to make it an enjoyable - albeit sometimes shaky - platform game for all ages.

Akiba's Trip is a funny old chestnut; it manages to have a lead mechanic that would make most discerning gamers turn their noses up in air, and yet it delivers that mechanic in a fun story shell that fully understands where the decency line is while working hard throughout to successfully lampoon most tropes and stereotypes of otaku culture that you could probably think of. It's certainly not a joke game, and the writing quality does elevate it for those who have an appreciation of the material that is being targeted, but the whole combat mechanic becomes so tiresome so quickly that you can't help but wish the game could have been shorter, the story more focused, instead of the more positive elements of the game losing some of their sheen from hiding behind the rest of it.

Telltale Games demonstrate the illusion of choice. The focus is always on whether the choices you make have any significant impact or are they just magical distractions. It doesn't really matter. What has been proven with The Walking Dead: Season Two is that Telltale tell great tales. They write fabulous characters. In amongst all of this they have throwaway sequences, disappointments and ridiculous individuals. They define the start and end-points and we get to walk a random path between them. That path we draw is our own and comparing to someone else's shows that impact of choices is irrelevant, but the decision itself is key. If we had to we'd encourage each and every one of you to play Telltale games as a season; to experience more of what Telltale have provided and avoid the chance to spend weeks and months poring over everything and persuading yourself something was wrong when really it was very right. But ultimately whichever you choose you'll get a piece of narrative as strong as anything and it'll be a ball along the way.