The God of War games are legendary action adventure titles that specialise in the slaying of giant mythical beasts via intuitive brutal combat. The hugely popular series was developed by US studios in response to the overwhelming success of Japanese-based publishers releasing titles like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. The GoW games dialled down the combat complexity and made the story more coherent, resulting in more plaudits and awards than you could throw an enchanted axe at.

Civilisation is under threat from a bunch of religious rednecks, and it’s your job as the new Deputy Sheriff of fictional Hope County to right the wrongs of a year-long silent coup initiated by Eden’s Gate, a fanatical doomsday cult, intent on purging sinners and imposing their law on the land. There's a Brexit gag in there somewhere.

Survival is hard work. If you’re not desperately trying to hunt and forage food you’re dying of thirst or trying to scavenge materials to make the most basic weapons and tools. Who needs Netflix and Deliveroo when you can roast a gerbil and wash it down with a rusty bucket of dirty water?

Cage fighting summons up images of the most brutal hand-to-hand combat. Two fighters, an octagon cage, punches, kicks, submission holds, and the trademark "ground and pound" when an opponent drops to the floor and his rival goes in to finish him off. Not very tasteful, is it?

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.

At a festive ceremony on Tuesday night at The Hospital Club in central London, the winners were announced for this year's h.Club 100 Awards. The distinguished broacaster John Simpson (pictured below) gave an impassioned keynote address about the value of the UK's creative industries which concluded with amusing advice on the wisdom of eating kedgeree. The comedian Stuart Goldsmith compered with wit, flair and sangfroid.

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.