If you enjoy mini-games with a focus upon beating previous high scores and unlocking mostly pointless extras for your character then you can't go far wrong with this.

If you let it, Sword of the Stars will consume your life. You'll forget you have a girlfriend or a job, you'll rush home from school (or simply not go) to carry on playing and that's exactly what a great sim should do.

It's essential in a time when online leaderboards and frag counters are very much in style.

Compelling, engrossing and thrilling.

Red Steel 2 has been carefully crafted from top to bottom, and with the exception of a few balancing issues and a weak storyline, it manages to excel, both as a game in its own right and as a showcase for what can be achieved with the Wii MotionPlus hardware.

Skilled players can probably blow through Story mode in a day or so, but the multiplayer modes make up for the brevity of that part of the game.

Open a fine wine, break out the stinky cheese, and dig deep into this rewarding and challenging game.

A perfect example of turning something underrated into a great game. Its also embarrasses "Pokemon Colosseum" and its fuddy-duddy turn based approach, flaunting a more hands on approach.

A stylish RPG that authentically represents Middle Earth from the book and the film trilogy. Whilst the gameplay is both enjoyable and addictive, it is also very traditional in style and does nothing at all to further the genre.

Still, in light of this NBA Live 10 remains a solid title bursting with features and graphical elegance that may blow your mind.

Beaterator is one of the most interesting PSP titles in the last few months.

Despite being simple to pick up and play, Magical Starsign hides a complex game underneath. No doubt part of this simplicity is intentional in order to entice the younger audience that this title seemingly wants to attract. However, there is more than enough here to keep RPG enthusiasts of all ages entertained.

If you need a party, and you own a PS3, then SingStar is a great choice and, thanks to the ever-growing online library of tracks, will be even better a year from now.

Except for a few subtle-but-effective additions, Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War doesn't do much else but marginally evolve the series from its last effort, and in the end that leads to a familiar feeling of 'been there, done that'.

What makes Sid Meier's Pirates! a game that every PSP owner should at least seriously consider purchasing is its sheer depth and replay value.

Quite honestly, it doesn't have anything on the pioneering Dark Chronicle or the flawless Final Fantasy VII, but then you'd have to do something pretty special to outdo those two.

The number of gameplay modes is sufficient to keep you going for months and the controls are nicely implemented.

Silent Hill: Homecoming is no queen, then, but there's more than enough about Double Helix's first go-around with the series that I can heartily recommend it to any gamer with an appetite for a genuinely creepy hybrid of survival horror old and new.

The package gave me hours of enjoyment and nail biting engagement; it even made me sweat with suspense and convinced me that I was actually in a battle!

The Godfather II doesn't quite live up to the film upon which it is based, but the experience it delivers is much more enjoyable than I expected.

If you like stealth oriented games that require more thought and patience than machine-gun mouse clicking, Manhunt is a strong contender for your games collection. If good-natured heroes and strong morals are important to you however, you'd probably be better off renting "The Silence of the Lambs" from the video store.

People who are looking for a fast sports game can't go wrong with this, but those wanting to upgrade might want to rent it first to see if it's worth their hard earned pennies.

At the end of the day though, you have to applaud THQ for going so wholeheartedly after such a specific demographic; SvR players probably won't like it but that doesn't matter, because they don't need it. They have their wrestling game, and now, thanks to THQ, us oldies have ours. It may be far from perfect but I'll be damned if it isn't fun.

An excellent beginning to what could be an incredible franchise.

Loki is very much like "Neverwinter Nights 2" crossed with "Diablo II," with a dash of gods and mythology thrown in for good measure. If you liked these games, or other hack 'n' slash action RPGs, then you should find Loki an enjoyable experience.

The differences from last year might only sound incremental on paper, but FIFA 08 provides all the polish of last year with some excellent new features with some additional flair and panache.

Fight Night Round 3 delivers in all the areas that are important in a boxing sim; it brings the big names to life with luscious graphics and gives them form and ability, with a well-made control system and decent game mechanics.

It is undeniably the best of the series and it has more than enough content to offer. However, the problem is that the difference in price between the 06 and the 07 edition of the game does not correspond favourably with the number of improvements that have been made.