. Plays October 26, 2013

Simon Miller, Editor-In-Chief, Batman: Arkham Origins, Xbox 360

My favourite thing about VGPlays is that I can take my critic hat off and put my fanboy cap on. I love Batman: Arkham Origins. All the criticism it's taken is more than fair, but just being able to return to a franchise which is quickly becoming one of my most beloved throughout games is a treat.

Warner Bros. Montreal deserves credit, too. This may feel like an extentsion of Arkham City, but there's still a lot of work needed in order to make these games work. Even with the tools handed over to them it's not as simple as pasting whatever it deemed necessary in. The end result is a title that's worthy of its place in the trilogy.

Of course, it does come off as the worst of the three, but, as I mentioned in my review, the 'worst' before this was Rise Of Sin Tzu. Or Batman: Vengeance. Or EA's Batman Begins*. We're all very lucky people.

*I may or may not have bought and/or oddly enjoyed this.

Steve Burns, Reviews and Features Editor, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, PS4

I spent last week holed up at a publisher's office to review its new game. Which publisher? Well, I can't say, but it specialises in big-budget games with open worlds and lots of combat.

Which, in fairness, could be any of them, so you'll just have to wait until Tuesday to see what I thought of Historical Man-Stabber IV: Pirates of the West Indies. Wait…

Brett Phipps, Staff Writer at Sportra.com, Football Manager 2014, PC

I've just finished my first season as Manchester United manager (finished fifth in the league, but won the Champions League), and have made a schoolboy error. After receiving and accepting a whopping £32 million bid for Rafael - the offer was too good to turn down - I'm now left without an established full-back and no money to replace him, having spent all my budget on Alexandre Pato after being terribly short of firepower last season.

Nobody wants to buy Ashley Young or Danny Welbeck, so I'm left without quality at full back and too many players on the wing, and the transfer window is days away from closing. I'm in trouble, and have already ticked off the board by leaking their lack of financial support to the press. I can feel the axe hovering dangerously over my neck.