Dubai: It’s been an action replay week, with annual releases in for 2K’s NBA sports game and Koei Tecmo’s Samurai Warriors beat ‘em up joined by the Uncharted collection for the PS4 and the Gears of War Ultimate Edition release for the Xbox One.

Basketball is a game that doesn’t interest me at all, so I’ve no real interest in which star has moved to which team or who the new recruits are.

But despite my indifference to the sport, the NBA 2K franchise is my favourite sports series. It’s fast paced, smooth, has a ton of options for playing leagues, creating your own player and following his career, challenge modes. It’s beautifully made and heaps of fun.

Not only that, but 2K make strenuous efforts to push the envelope with each annual release.

One of the new additions to career mode is an in-depth back story, exploring your relationship with your agent, childhood friends, teammates. What’s this? RPG-style storyline in a sports game? It’s rather cheesy, but it’s such good fun that one wonders why no one thought of this before.

As well as MyCareer, you can play leagues in MyTeam or move into management with MyGM — plus the usual run of exhibition matches or playing as your favourite team online or against the AI.

If you love the NBA 2K franchise, you know you’ll be getting this. If you haven’t played before, do so — if you only have one sports title in your game collection, it should be NBA 2K16.

The Gears of War update has been out a few weeks now, but it’s only now I’ve had a chance to really get my teeth into what still ranks as one of the finest third-person shooters of all time.

Let’s not beat around the bush: the original Gears was the 360’s killer app — a game so good that you bought the console just to experience it.

The Ultimate Edition is far more than an HD remastering. It has, frankly, turned Gears of War into Gears of Awe.

It seems as though Microsoft have been through every aspect of the game, reworking it for the new console. There’s new content (around 90 minutes of gameplay if you blitz), reworked controls, new online multiplayer modes, better online matchups, new maps, Gears 3 characters for multiplayer, all the past DLC. Oh, and the new graphics are stunning — far more moody and atmospheric.

Is it worth updating if you still have the old version and your 360? The answer really depends on how much you love Gears. For me, no question: do it. Gears is the best third-person shooter I’ve played, and it just got significantly better.

If you don’t have the original Gears, there is no question: just get it.

The same goes for Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, which gives you the whole Uncharted trilogy with new game modes, better frame rate, HD resolution. The first game, to be honest, is starting to show its age now.

Let’s be fair: 2007 was something of a transitional period in gaming as old school gave way to new, and while Uncharted seemed fresh at that time, time has moved on. Uncharted 2 and 3, however, took advantage of the changing trends and still hold their own in a modern line-up. That’s no criticism of Uncharted as a series — the same happened between Assassin’s Creed and Assassin’s Creed 2, and between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.

Worth the upgrade? Yes, I think so. And, of course, if you’ve never played Uncharted, this is your chance to see what the fuss is about — just don’t judge the series by the first one.

Samurai Warriors 4-II is something of an odder beast. It’s a reworking of last year’s Samurai Warriors 4, with new skill trees and a new playable character. The graphics and gameplay are pretty much the same: you’ll still be facing hordes of mooks to cut down in swathes, with the occasional tougher opponent who’ll force you to switch attack style.

It’s fun for a time, but after a while attraction of hack and slash begins to pale.

Unless you’re a diehard fan, I don’t really see the point in upgrading.

Box: Ratings

NBA 2K16: 9.5/10

Gears of War Ultimate Edition: 9/10

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection: 9/10

Samurai Warriors 4-II: 7/10