Writing a review of Minecraft seems almost pointless. By now this behemoth of a game (35 million copies sold across all formats) will either have captured your imagination or you just can’t see what all the fuss is about.

It is the ultimate sandbox game. You’re given an open landscape and some building tools and left, essentially, to your own devices. This absence of a plot or any apparent objectives is what can make this game tricky to get into.

InFamous: Second Son (PS4)

Perhaps unsurprisingly the first thing you notice about this title is how darn good it looks. The power of the PS4 is really pimped out with spectacular lighting effects and beautiful destruction. But the visuals don’t hide a weak story or characters – both of these aspects of the game are fully fleshed out and although it’s not the longest title ever (you’ll probably finish it in 10-12 hours) there is some replay value.

If we had to sum up gaming in 2009 in one word, that word would be ‘sequels’. Looking back at my reviews we notice that there were only three games that were not the latest instalment in a more-or-less long-running franchise. This is not necessarily a bad thing. These follow-ups tend to improve on their precursors as the developers take on board criticism from consumers and are able to use improved technology. Plus, it’s a lot cheaper to make a sequel than start a new game from scratch.