Ah the X series, how do we love thee? Let us count the ways... Every game reviewer has one of these, a game or series that touches them on a personal, intimate and downright naughty level, so enamoring them with their depth, breadth and endorphin-releasing wiles that he will hear no bad word said against them, no minor criticism that won’t be met with a flurry of pre-rehearsed counter points and face punches. ...

Ayumi is a petulant manga-style treasure hunter, exploring third-person hack-’n’-slash ruins. We’ll spare you the details of the pretty, jumbled cutscenes which entirely fail to explain what’s going on, because this is about as generic an action game as you could imagine; the story only there to string together a series of temples and ruins in which you hit lots of things with a sword or some bullets. ...

In the interminable wait for the announcement of a new breed of X-Com games, there’s no reason for you not to revel in this most grand royalty of PC gaming. The X-Com games work like Thunderbirds: your teams are being called out to various hotspots throughout the world from a central equipping station (like Tracey Island) where tech upgrades are researched. ...

Jim Ansell, the father of Total War, falls out with Creative Assembly’s new owners Sega and leaves to form an indie outfit. His studio’s first release is a thrilling thirteenth century wargame that runs Cantabrian rings round Medieval II. Reviewers love it. Punters love it. Even people that don’t like it love it. A fierce and fruitful rivalry is born. Ah, if only. In truth this doppelganger was made by a gang of Russians, ...

For the first five hours Wolverine is brilliant. There’s nothing particularly original or inspiring about it – it’s just loads of vicious, bloody, stupid fun. It craps all over recent travesties such as Iron Man, Watchmen and The Incredible Hulk and proves that film spin-offs can be decent if the developers put the effort in. But then it starts repeating itself. ...