GAMES OF 2012

KILLING was high on the agenda in this year's offerings but creativity wasn't. Established franchises ruled and newcomers tried to knock them off their perch.

Julia Beffon

Of the PS3 titles I played, these were the five I enjoyed most.

5. BORDERLANDS 2

A new addition I haven't had space to review fully. It's just daft enough to appeal to end-of-year craziness. The weaponry is amazing, and there's a lightheartedness about it.

4. SSX DEADLY DESCENTS

Snowboarding action in which the locales are a bit beyond belief. Mindless fun.

3. MAX PAYNE 3

It has a good plot and entertaining dialogue, which put it ahead of the FPS pack.

2. DARK SOULS

A classy fantasy game - difficult, but worth the effort.

1. SLEEPING DOGS

A wonderful open sandbox sleeper. It's True Crime: Hong Kong resurrected. There's enough action and side missions to keep you playing for months. - Julia Beffon

Bruce Gorton

THIS year has brought much to gaming: fresh spins on old genres, the release of a new console and a few controversies about video-game journalism.

So it's time to consider which five games struck me as being so much better than the rest. Note, this is a subjective list and doesn't include games I didn't get a shot at playing.

5: POKEMON BLACK AND WHITE II

Though it is mostly an update, this is the most playable generation of the series.

4: TORCHLIGHT II

This is what Diablo III could have been. It's a decent hack-and-slash festival, enjoyable and reasonably priced.

3: RAYMAN ORIGINS

Fun, full of character and a great little platformer set in the land of dreams.

2: KINGDOM HEARTS 3DS: DREAM DROP DISTANCE

I am not much of a fan of Square Enix, or of Disney, but this game was both visually stunning and fun to play. The Kingdom Hearts series bears testament to the fact that a property game doesn't have to be a bore.

1: XCOM: ENEMY UNKNOWN

I loved the original XCom: UFO Defence, and Enemy Unknown was a good reboot to the series. Though it was too buggy for me to give it a good score, this offering demonstrates that a remarkably tough turn-based strategy game can be viable during this century. - Bruce Gorton