It’s incredibly difficult to actually criticize Portal 2. At its heart it’s a very simple game, its premise a basic exercise in navigating from A-B, yet everything it attempts, it does so perfectly. Its puzzles are always ingenious, and their difficulty always excellently balanced. What starts out as relatively basic, though still brain-bafflingly solid tests built around portal placement and spatial awareness, gradually evolves into multifaceted, momentum-based, time-sensitive tasks, something utterly intimidating in concept, yet surprisingly feasible when you reach that point in the game. Considering all the different layers often involved, some of the puzzle design here is unbelievably good, and quite how Valve conceived some of the more challenging levels on show here is completely beyond us. If you thought some of Portal 1’s tests were complex, you really ain’t seen nothing yet.

Yet despite the puzzles growing increasingly intricate throughout – particularly in the game’s co-op mode where two portal guns allow for some especially incomprehensible scenarios (and later on, when gels that modify your speed and jump height become introduced) they always avoid becoming overly frustrating; that breakthrough eureka moment somehow always hitting at just the right time.

It’s all thanks to Valve’s pitch-perfect pacing, natural difficulty progression, and the method in which the developer introduces new mechanics. Rather than throwing you in at the deep end, Valve does a brilliantly subtle job at teaching the player by doing, eventually to the point where using gels, manipulating lasers or directing tractor beams feels instinctive – as ridiculous as that may sound. Subtle tweaks, too, like switching Portal 1’s energy balls for lasers, makes the game feel more instantaneous, so that when you do finally figure out the answer to the puzzle, there’s no waiting around for the elements to fall into place.

Besides the puzzles themselves, it’s Portal 2’s frankly brilliant dialogue that will leave players hooked. Portal 2 is the funniest game of the year, with an award-worthy script that manages to put every other game to shame.

It’s arguable that TV funny man Stephen Merchant – who voices the game’s lovable bot Wheatley – is actually too good, regularly leaving us in fits of laughter with his hilarious quips and brilliant one-liners. Just like GLaDOS in the original, he’s what makes the game, astonishingly threatening to outshine J.K. Simmons’ show-stopping work as Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson, and even the cold-hearted, acutely funny robo-bitch herself, a character whose input in Portal 2 we want to avoid discussing completely for fear of revealing any spoilers.

The single-player campaign is stronger than the co-op though, with the total lack of story in the co-op game making it feel more like something tacked on later in development than a well-considered addition. It’s still utterly brilliant, mind, and though it’s restricted to a series of Portal 1-esque challenge rooms, some fantastic design decisions (like the ping tool, for example, which helps partners communicate where to place puzzles is genius), make it one of the better co-op experiences we’ve had to date.

After Valve’s ‘tainted’ history with Sony’s console, we had been expecting to see the PS3 version of Portal 2 suffer in comparison to its counterparts. But thankfully it doesn’t, running at a smooth 30fps and without barely a hiccup. The load times are perhaps too frequent and occasionally a little too lengthy (the 10-15 second load after some of the smaller test chambers can begin to grate), but other than that, there’s really nothing you can point the finger at. And with some excellent Steam features, the PS3 version is easily the better option when it comes to choosing between the console version on offer.

Portal 2 is one of those sequels that outdoes the original by such a margin that it makes its predecessor seem almost irrelevant. The tweaks, dialogue and structure put it on a level with Valve’s, heck, the medium’s very best, easily being the best game we’ve played so far this year, and deserving of being remembered alongside the Half-Lifes, GTAs and Icos of the world. This was a triumph.

The game takes place in the same universe but centuries in the future, and Tyria is a much-changed place. Following from the events of the Eye of the North expansion, when players saved the world from a Dwarven menace, five ancient dragons, masters and mistresses of specific elements and even undeath itself, have woken up and created chaos in their wake. Their re-emergence has ripped apart the continents and sent many species spiraling towards extinction. Post-Searing, the dragons have chased old races from their homes and great cities have fallen into ashes. Human civilization had been most effected but now races stand much more united and with a common language. But, when one door closes a window is always left open. Guild Wars 2 also introduces new ones but it has turned Tyria into a much more dangerous and bewitching place.

Race-wise, we can expect the return of humans, Charr and Asura, as well as the introduction of the gigantic Norn and the strange Dream-born Sylvari, the children of the Pale Tree. Similarly, the playable classes has also changed to reflect the different world. As of writing, ArenaNet have begun having themed race weeks – the first two focusing on humans and the Norn, allowing for more information specific to each race to be released. It’s not a great leap of the imagination to think it won’t be long before we have weeks focusing on the Charr, the Asura and the Sylvari.

After races, the next thing people want to know about are the classes you’re going to get to play. Five professions – as they are being called – have been announced so far: the Elementalist, the Warrior, the Ranger, the Necromancer and – most recently revealed – the Guardian. Each has its own pros, cons and play styles which echo the classic MMO archetypes but also give them a little twist which makes them new and inviting. That said, veterans will recognise the Tank, the Healer, the Mage and the long-range DPSer, even if all are dressed up with their own unique skills and abilities.

The Guardian, for example, is a master tactician, while the Necromancer can summon undead minions to do their bidding and feed on the lifeforce of others. The Ranger is excellent at long-range combat and comes with animal companions who can fight at their side. Then there’s the classic Tank, the powerful Warrior who relies on brute strength and armor to keep them alive during the harshest of battles. Finally there’s the magic-welding Elementalist, who uses the four elemental to devastate, which more than makes up for their squishy exterior.

Given how long Guild Wars 2 has been in development, ArenaNet has been working on updating the official wiki with information as well as slowly revealing new game and class information to the Guild Wars community. The official site is regularly updated with essays and posts on specific subjects, and the wiki is continually updated to reflect the post-Searing world. Will finally get their hands on the biggest release since Aion.

The game promises to offer much more, including dynamic events and choices which will leave marks upon Tyria and its people. Indeed, it feels like a single-player game, more like Oblivion or Dragon Age, than a traditional MMO in these moments. That said, the ability to not need to rely on other player characters in order to do quests, raid and progress was one of Guild Wars’ success stories, and it’ll be interesting to see how this addition of choice changes each player’s personal game experience.

Yet because of the slow build and the ever-increasing level of hype, Guild Wars 2 promises to be a revolutionary MMO, mixing the best of the original with new and exciting zones, fun classes and old and new races. The game promises so much but is also setting a precedent for MMO sequels. After all, this isn’t just a new expansion to a much-loved game, it’s a whole new stage in Guild Wars’ evolution. This means it’s a dangerous and exciting time for players, and anyone else who is keen to walk through Tyria with their friends. Here’s hoping it will deliver when Guild Wars 2 is eventually released – hopefully sometime before the end of this year.

Batman is back in Gotham City and hot on the trail of The Joker, who he’s told has feline favorite Catwoman tied up and hovering precariously over a vat of bubbling acid. Sounds like an all-too familiar scenario, but Bats can’t ignore it. It’s his duty.

This time, instead of being trapped in the confines of Arkham Asylum, Batman is free to really show off. He can now glide across the rooftops of the city, checking out the madness below. Just seeing him perched on the corner of a skyscraper while the jet-black grime of Gotham sprawls out in front of him echoes Batman at his cinematic and literary finest.

Rocksteady has shown an innate understanding of what makes Batman unique both as a character and a universe before, and this commitment to the Dark Knight spreads to every facet of Arkham City’s gameplay. Like the genre-redefining combat.

As in Arkham Asylum, hand-to-hand fisticuffs are all about counters and combos. It’s now possible, thanks to double the number of animations, for Bats to swoop into a huge crowd of goons, and through timing and concentration, dispatch the lot without taking a hit. You’ll need to use your wits in the same way Batman would – identifying the most dangerous adversaries (gun toters, stick holders) and take them out before dealing with the rest. It’s phenomenally satisfying. If you don’t let a gravelly ‘I’m Batman’ out after doing it, you have no soul.

Arkham City is promising more scope than its predecessor. The environment is purportedly five times the size of the Asylum, and although not an open-world in the traditional sense, it will give Batman the freedom to travel large areas as he wishes. There are even overhead helicopters that Bats can grapple onto for a sky-borne taxi ride over the rooftops.

As before too, Arkham City promises a harmonious marriage of story and gameplay. Writer Paul Dini returns after his stellar work on the original, and along with The Joker, Bats and Catwoman, we’ll see Two Face and Hugo Strange join the ensemble cast. Dini didn’t miss a beat last time, with memorable dialogue and a compelling story that only let itself down towards the end. He captures the darkness and stoic melancholy of the character beautifully, so you would be wise to expect more of the same here.

Batman Arkham City truly has the potential to lead where others follow. It’s already shaping up to be a marked improvement in both scope and detail over Asylum, a game that garnered its fair share of Game of the Year awards itself. If only other superhero games could match the ambition and craft of Rocksteady’s Caped Crusader, then the world would be a better place. As it is, though, it’s a dark, tortured and pestilent hole that can only be policed by one person. The god-damn Batman.

Electing for the everyman option when you’ve got Space Marine, Ork, Eldar and Chaos factions to choose from may seem like a wasteful option, but thankfully every faction is selectable in Retribution, both in multiplayer and single-player, and each with their own skewed 16-mission campaign to work their way through.

Set in the traumatic sub sector of Aurelia, the plot is set 10 years after the resolution of Chaos Rising and involves each race rushing to escape a coming armageddon delivered by an Inquisition fleet that has declared Exterminatus against an unfortunate part of the galaxy. Every being will be annihilated by massive atomic orbital bombardments which can turn a once green planet into a mass so unstable that it eventually explodes leaving only dust in its wake.

Players are placed right in the middle of it all and are asked to guide their chosen faction to either challenge or avoid the impervious threat. There is a witch-hunter inquisitor to work with those who wish to avoid the destruction, but in time-honoured fashion there will be branching options for players to explore with special loot and gear to earn on the way, as well as different plot options to determine the end of your race’s mini-story.

This doomsday backdrop is beautifully communicated with dramatic FMVs and heavily scripted missions which dial up the drama nicely. We sampled two different missions which featured the Imperial Guard fleeing from a giant Space Marine Land Raider, and another where one of the planets in the Aurelia system had succumbed to volleys of orbital cannons and was only minutes away from annihilation.

The addition which will really get strategy heads excited is the ability to build units. This was an option which was removed in Dawn of War II, but thankfully Retribution won’t be lacking in that much sought after area, with resources that can be spent on unit production via specific points on the map or channeled into upgrades for heroes and standard units. In addition, each faction will now have Super Heavy units which require massive amounts of resources to produce and have the power to almost single-handedly turn the tide of battle. Watching an Ork Battlewagon bulldoze over enemy forces or seeing a Super Marine Land Raider Redeemer toast large sways of forces instantaneously provided immediate gratification, even if your guys were the ones being rolled over. We’re happy to report that the missions still had that devilish mix of humor, destruction and delight, especially when coming across trashtalking Orks.

Content-wise, Retribution should please existing fans of Dawn of War and new players alike, as newbies are given an approachable experience, thanks to the lower difficulty levels. Multiplayer has also been given a spruce up, with new units for each faction, with a new lava-puddled map and additional Last Stand options.

For all the new inclusions, the biggest revelation we took away from seeing the game was how every type of gamer is catered for. Each race should provide enough variation to encourage plenty of experimentation in both the campaign and multiplayer modes, which should result in greater value for players. We admire Relic’s kitchen sink approach to this add-on, and if it is the last hurrah for Dawn of War II, it’s shaping up to be a good one.

The game starts, as you would expect from a Square-Enix game, with a beautifully created and dramatic FMV sequence. This introduces the story perfectly, as giant tentacled beasts (named the Twisted) attack a busy Manhattan that’s packed full of Christmas shoppers.

Get into the gameplay itself, and Aya is soon thrust into the action. With monsters rapidly decimating New York, you and a squad of SWAT soldiers have to systematically work your way through the city, destroying anything in your path that’s not human.

The action is viewed via a third-person perspective, with a wide range of weapons to choose from (you can have four on-board at any time), a clever cover system and a new feature that Square are calling ‘Overdive’. Here, you can target a member of the SWAT team and take over his mind, giving you the ability to hop from character to character and allowing you to attack your enemy from all sides. It’s a great feature, and adds real depth and tactical thought to the gameplay.

The 3rd Birthday is shaping up to be a very worthy addition to the Parasite Eve legacy, and with some frantic action, deep atmosphere and stunning graphics, could well be an essential PSP game release for 2011.

The 3rd Birthday – Trailer

Launched in September 2009, Fallen Earth is still a newcomer on the MMO scene, but thankfully most of the issues which plagued the game’s opening months have been rectified with no floating NPCs, unbalanced combat or insufferable lag.

The way Fallen Earth’s world is introduced to players is just as pitch perfect as before and manages to hold players’ hands just long enough as to not insult their intelligence. The prologue set inside the Hoover Dam does a fantastic job of clarifying your origins as a clone created by the mysterious GlobalTech corporation in the year 2156, and includes escaping your would-be prison to save any friendlies still trapped in the facility.

This segment was much more fast paced and guided than we’re used to, but it works, and introduces all of the key concepts necessary to understand your life outside of the compound. It’s here where one of Fallen Earth’s greatest assets is revealed, the first-person combat structure. Split into two parts, players have a choice of either selecting melee- or projectile-based weaponry, with damage against enemies dependent on what part of their body you hit. For gaming as a whole this isn’t new, but in MMOs it’s a rare find and makes skirmishes in Fallen Earth much more satisfying. If you hit a victim in the head, you know you’re going to cause much more damage.

The sheer amount of weaponry on offer is also staggering, with a wide array of rifles, pistols, shotguns, crossbows and even the almighty rocket launcher all making an appearance. There are close-range options too, but smashing an enemy in the face with a handy sledgehammer isn’t anywhere near as satisfying as picking them off from a distance with a sniper rifle.

Crafting is this franchise’s other main attraction, and even though this concept is common in other MMOs, the way Fallen Earth approaches it is genuinely revolutionary. Almost everything from buggies, weapons, armor, potions and poisons can be created from hundreds of different components collected from the wasteland. This is where the survival aspect comes in, because even though most things can be bought from NPCs, it is usually much more satisfying to go and farm resources such as copper, water, steel and iron from the wasteland yourself and craft them using recipes.

The wasteland is littered with thousands of different plants, hives and salvage piles to harvest. It isn’t just about random drops, because as soon as your nature skills are up to the appropriate level, players can predict what they’ll yield from any specific target. Constructing items doesn’t take long and thankfully you can go about your business while the magic is happening. Creating something new from what is effectively a load of junk is very satisfying.

New skills can also be learned via manuals earned during quests or bought from vendors, but everything is governed by the complicated level and AP system. All skills are governed by core character traits such as Intelligence, Perception, Agility, etc. and attributes can also be increased by targeting specific skills. This is an interesting idea; however it can confuse advancement early on, as it’s very hard to tell whether you’re moving your character in the direction you want it to go. The opening 10 hours are also a little overwhelming as the initial quests are so craft heavy, that you are usually tasked with just making items for one vendor after the next. This is necessary as you should at least try every different crafting skill once, nevertheless it can feel like a slog. This is further compounded by a lack of teleport or fast travel points between settlements, and a heavy reliance on mounts to cover the vast distances between towns. The trick is to mix up quests with plenty of exploration while keeping risks to the minimum, as slogging back to the mount retrieval point is a pain. After you get the hang of this balancing act, Fallen Earth becomes a real joy with a fascinating world to explore.

The landscape here may appear somewhat bleak, but beneath the rusted cars and decrepit buildings contained in the initially drab and dreary sector is a very accomplished MMO which has all the functionality required in a modern day MMO – like a waypoint-supported mini-map, clan contests and faction system – as well as three gigantic sectors which get even more interesting as you venture into them.

Now that all the launch kinks have finally been ironed out, this is one wasteland that you’ll surely relish spending many, many hours in, and it’s easy recommendation to any gamer who wants to sample a gaming experience that is truly original.