Winter Sports 2009 simply does the job. It is easy to play and offers a fair amount of entertainment – and at a welcome bargain price that will appeal to many sports fans. However, with poor presentation values and only a handful of really fun or challenging events, it’s a game you’ll be unlikely to dig out on a regular basis unless you’ve an unquenchable thirst for competition or a few mates up for some multiplayer action.

As a first-person experience, it’s wonderful. As an engine, it’s well above par. Yet as a whole game, it runs a hell of a lot but doesn’t really go anywhere. A disappointment maybe, but a unique starting point for a franchise that only leaves us hopeful for what DICE can do with the next instalment.

When it works, it’s glorious. But rather poorly, it doesn’t work with enough consistency or regularity to reward the kind of extended play most users would expect to get from a new PES title. FIFA is better this year in almost every way possible and while it may grate on long-standing ISS fanboys to go into a shop and buy a FIFA game, there’s no shame whatsoever in simply wanting the best you can get for your money.

Relentlessly packed full of gunfire as well as requiring duck-and-cover defensive play Quantum of Solace blends a balls-out shooter with modern sensibilities to create a game that’s refreshingly fast paced and therefore swift to complete. If played on its highest settings you’d be better served by Rainbow Six and if played on lower you’re paying for just a few hours of entertainment. Thankfully multiplayer promises much, and we’ll tell you how it delivers once we’re all online and you’ve seen Mr Bond die several times.

Midnight Club: Los Angeles is a solid and hugely enjoyable racing game but almost every inch of it covers ground we’ve seen several times already. There’s not a lot more to it than a checklist of gameplay and features we’ve seen in the series before or in the likes of Burnout, Juiced and Need for Speed. We haven’t had a street racing game for a while, though, so we’ve no problem recommending this to anyone look for those ‘high-octane/adrenaline fuelled’ clichés. Just don’t expect a new benchmark to be set for its successors to follow.

The physics that enable you to make the earth move certainly work and will provide laughs in abundance for the first hour or so. However, when everything else about Fracture is a retread of shooters past, it’s hard to feel anything else but disappointment that the brilliant gimmick has been squandered on a brief, just above average shooter.

Yeah, it’s alright, especially if you’re new to the series or just want to play something that spreads on your bread like ‘I-Can’t Believe-It’s-Not-Silent-Hill-2.’ The monsters are great, the combat is workable and the mystery is intriguing. But if you’ve ever played a survival horror game then chances are you’ve already played this, down to the last ‘put strange object in bizarre vaginal slot’ puzzle. As with Hollywood’s trend for remaking J-horror movies, fans may well prefer to fondly remember the original instead.

The more you appreciate Star Wars in general the more you’ll get from this occasionally inspiring run-and-slasher. True, the touted technology is never really used to do more than put on a fine electric show, but what a show it is. But as for Anti-Force Fields? Well, they’re one way of making Jedi and Sith characters somewhat redundant, and just one example of how Force Unleashed goes against 30 years of lore in order to shoehorn a game together.

Chunky, colourful and smooth it may be but Rearmed is about as retro as modern games get. With new challenges and pickups to spice up the action and round off the package nicely, it exudes an air of quality seldom seen in remakes.

The difficulty of events varies wildly and it’s hard to accept that inconsistency, but if you absolutely must know if you can ‘virtually’ run faster than your mates it can prove a reasonable diversion, and a fair way of spending a few summer evenings slumped on the couch.

Aerosmith’s presence works impressively well with a decent mix of GH-friendly tunes and some great animations but without the band this is simply a scaled-down version of Guitar Hero III with fewer tracks and no option for DLC to add some of your own favourite anthems to the playlist.

Although significantly streamlined compared to the last wave of DBZ titles and perilously confusing at times, Burst Limit looks and feels at home on today’s meaty hardware. Mechanics are generally tight and far more intricate than you might expect from a game like this so while more traditional fighters may still have the edge for all but the most devout anime fans, this is a surprising treat for those with the patience to get to grips with it and the good nature to overlook its relative lack of content.

Bullets and punch-ups flow together with a level of zeal and if you accept that you are in for a dumb action movie of an experience you’ll be served with something special. This is easily the most exciting tie-in title for a long time but some may find its constant action tiring and repetitive.

Iron Man only just scrapes itself above being a typical movie tie-in title by virtue of some nifty flight controls and the excellent suit. The missions are fun but repetitive and with a lack of a proper checkpoint system and muddy backgrounds, this fails to take off into the stratosphere of a top-quality 360 experience.

No RTS fan could fail to be impressed by the massive choice in tactics and strategy as well as the intuitive and fast control system. A lacklustre story and limited story mode only slightly mar an otherwise excellent strategy game.

Although initially slovenly and unresponsive there’s some fun to be had taking on multiple opponents and enjoying the resulting spurts of viscera. There’s some fun in sneaking around watchtowers and exploring caves, too, but Viking’s problem is that what fun it provides is heavily watered down to give it a fake epic feel.

As winter fades away and blues skies appear, Sega Superstars Tennis will brighten up even the most miserable of days with solid gameplay, fun characters and great courts to play on.

There are far worse games out there, sure, but few that tackle such big issues in such a blinkered and cringeworthy manner.

And while it’s a solid enough shooter that’ll largely cure the itch for frag-heads, it just fails to do anything to particularly excite.

It’s good, harmless fun and the strategy side of things is still pretty tight, albeit without the wonderful management of the Empires games.

Despite the undeniable popularity of the series, this third game would do well to take time off to reinvent itself for the inevitable sequel next year. While it doesn’t shirk on the number of game modes available, the actual substance of these offerings doesn’t add up to much.

The multiplayer seems to work well enough and we hope for some tasty downloadable content to coax us back in later in 2008. However, it’s a tough market out there right now for average fantasy fayre and as a single player game, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements just doesn’t quite have the spark to stand out.

Turok isn’t just another below average shooter. It’s slightly better than that. While it may seem a little short and over-familiar come the end, its positive points are at times excellent and it does come with an extra layer of polish that's often lacking in other games. Plus, you can stab dinosaurs in the neck. And that’s awesome.

If only Blueside had maintained the game's strategy element, rather than trying to make this too action-heavy. It's definitely a missed opportunity, but at least the developer is trying to do something different for a change, we suppose.

This could be a standard Xbox release.

Kane & Lynch promises much more than it actually delivers. It’s still a fine game, but is let down far too frequently by a number of minor issues that could have been corrected with more development time. It’s got some great elements, just not enough of them.

Combat is largely optional, as is fitting an assassination game. But then so is actual assassination. It’s as entertaining as having a balcony with a beautiful view, hence the score.

It’s a perfectly sound release but with so many top-notch shooters to choose from already, this is barely going to factor on the radars of many people. The shame.