While perhaps not a vintage, 2017 was certainly an interesting and entertaining year in the world of videogames. A clutch of fresh ideas, combined with a few beautifully crafted sequels and franchise follow-ups made sure the quality still floated to the surface of a genre that was, at times, saturated with distracting titles.

This sequel to the reasonably well-received 2015 game has attempted to address the initial criticisms of the first title lacking offline gameplay by incorporating a new single player campaign, with mixed results.

Lego games are legion; the blockbuster licenses, ranging from comicbook cross-overs to TV show adaptations and, of course, the Lego Movie behemoth, dominate the family-friendly gaming space.

Like an incoming artillery shell, nothing screams “Christmas is coming!” like another Call of Duty game crash landing on the shelves. The mega-budget war franchise makes more money than Santa at this time of year and just to add to the annual festivities, we’re treated to a grim recreation of World War II, courtesy of Activision's latest blockbuster.

As predictable as night following day, you can almost sense the transitional change from summer to autumn by the onset of a new football season accompanied by the latest FIFA instalment. Football needs context for it to grab the armchair midfield general.

The first Destiny game cost an eye-watering $500 million to produce and promptly banked $500 million from first-week sales. It was the biggest new franchise launch of all time. Following the lead from Hollywood, the equation of big budget equals even bigger business rang loud from the cash tills.

We’ve been here before, May last year to be exact. The lead characters are different but the locations look much the same. We’re still swinging on ropes, jumping into duck-and-cover gunplay, searching for lost treasures and solving rudimentary puzzles. But there’s no resentment for this premature trip down memory lane. This is, after all, an Uncharted game, a bulletproof, platinum-plated franchise that, just like a Strictly finalist, tries its hardest not to put a foot wrong.

Once upon a time there was a game called Grand Theft Auto that opened the door to free-roaming open-world games. It spawned a whole load of "me too" offspring, mostly bad, some good. Among the more promising relatives were the Saints Row titles, a more cartoon-esque version of GTA, but still resplendent with anti-hero crime drama and the visceral thrill of running or driving around the mean streets, looking for trouble.

Appreciating art involves applauding experimentation, but when you break new ground you don’t always land on your feet. Case in point: Get Even, a game that tells an old story in a new way, and at times, pays a high price for attempting innovation.

In 2013, NetherRealm Studios, the creative force behind the multi-million-selling Mortal Kombat franchise, got their hands on the DC Comics character roster and created a highly polished game where superheroes were at war with each other. Lois Lane lay dead amongst the ruins of a post-nuclear Metropolis, where broken city streets hosted pitched battles between a tyrannical Superman administration and a Batman-led insurgency.