Action

Artsy-smartsy games like Bioshock and Spec Ops: The Line have ruined video games. Nowadays players can't just sit back and enjoy a game. Now they're expected to look for symbolism and all that other tweedy intellectual stuff. LocoCycle is a game about a talking motorcycle that blows stuff up - or it might be an insightful deconstruction of the linear nature of video game narratives. The fine line between stupid and clever gets finer and finerer every year.

The Last of Us’ first and last piece of single-player DLC, Left Behind, is a great piece of additional content that further fleshes out both The Last of Us’ exceptional world, and its equally compelling female protagonist, Ellie. Left Behind works well as a standalone experience and breaks free from being marred by the core game.

SEGA's House of the Dead is a gaming institution, not because it's especially good (although it does what it does very well), but because its purposefully shaky action and dialogue makes it stick in the mind. Being chased by a sumo-sized monster? You can't possibly enter the door marked "No Entry." It's silly and harmless, and Typing of the Dead takes that idea and makes it even more outlandish.

Tomb Raider Definitive Edition fails to offer any sort of substantial additions or changes from the original 2013 release. But its lack of deviation is slightly marred by the better looking next-gen versions of the game. Tomb Raider is still the same thrilling experience jam-packed with satisfying gameplay, fantastical set-pieces, gorgeous visuals, and a likeable main character. It is undoubtedly flawed, most notably with its storytelling and writing, and the multiplayer mode still isn’t worth anyone’s time, but Tomb Raider is a great new beginning for a once ...

The match 3 puzzle genre has been lacking innovation as of late. Thankfully, Futurlab has an extraordinary habit of changing up the ‘norm’ and Surge Deluxe is certainly no exception!!

Assassin's Creed Liberation HD might have been a good idea six months ago. Take a popular, critically successful Vita game and port it to consoles and PC. Why not? There are a lot of people that wanted to see this chunk of the story but weren't willing to by a handheld for it. Sure, six months ago it would have gone down a treat, and would have nicely bridged the gap between Assassin's Creed III and IV. With Black Flag on the market though, Liberation HD feels like a leap of faith gone wrong.

Yearly franchises rarely manage to surprise, but this year Assassin's Creed did just that. The franchise that originally had you climbing up rectangular buildings in the Middle East has now taken to the waves, adding ships, exploration and naval combat aplenty. It wasn't a change that happened over night, but Black Flag shows how far the franchise has come, and, as our view at the top our pirate ship attests, it has come an awfully long way.

Assassins Creed IV Black Flag is Ubisoft’s latest attempt at reinvigorating their flagship franchise. With the disappointment that was Assassins Creed 3, especially considering the massive marketing campaign associated with the title, many questioned whether or not the series can still stay relevant. This new sequel is a direct result of Ubisoft’s awareness with the problems plaguing Assassins Creed 3. AC IV: Black Flag is a stunning and lighthearted action-adventure feast that offers up a gargantuan amount of content.

The developers behind Deadly 30 absolutely have to be zombie game fans. It's a cunning combination of Call of Duty's Zombies, Left 4 Dead and a dozen other supernatural franchises that have defined the last few years of undead-erific fun. It's not a complicated idea: survive. But that's not quite as easy as it sounds, and it'll take every second of your 30 day "holiday" to really make it out alive.

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance sent up some red flags when it was announced; it didn't have Snake as a playable character, it wasn't part of the main Metal Gear storyline, and it was an action game with very little of Metal Gear's genre-defining stealth gameplay. However it was developed by Platinum Games, the studio behind Bayonetta, so it wasn't such a surprise that Revengeance turned out to among the best action games of 2013. Alas, it was only available for consoles, leaving PC Gamers out of the loop until now.