Even with "Halo 3" and "Bioshock" adding to my 360 game collection, Assassin’s Creed has stepped in and stopped me worrying about what to choose for our ‘Game Of The Year’ article this year. Clear enough for you?

Metro 2033 is a stunningly atmospheric survival shooter that deserves a high chart position.

No-one’s going to argue over a couple of quid really, and if you’re looking for a lateral thinking puzzler, there can be no doubt that Sony has brought another unique product to the ever diversifying PlayStation Network. Just try not to fall off the edge.

Just Cause 2 is silly, action-packed, funny and a huge time-sink. Avalanche Studios has created a wonderful game here and if it can solve those control/finesse issues for a third release we'll be seeing a game of the year contender next time around.

Napoleon: Total War shimmers with genius at times. The series is still the undisputed king of strategy games, but this latest expansion takes two steps forward and one step back. The numerous improvements are greatly welcomed, but the core element that is the AI still remains broken and until CA fix it the game remains a flawed diamond.

Control niggles aside this is a great game. There's imagination in the storyline, context and setting, humour throughout and plenty of fun to be had.

As such, the game has to be recommended but with certain caveats. Be aware of the skill levels needed to do well in both single player and multiplayer and if I’ve done my job correctly, you have now been well warned. If you have the mettle for the game, you’ll be delighted at what Rockstar has done and you’ll no doubt go on to great things on Xbox Live.

One hell of an addictive golfing game. If you played any of its incarnations on the PS2, you will know what to expect here.

When you look at KUF:TC objectively, it seems to be very much more than a sum of its parts. The audio is flawed, the graphics can be dodgy, the plot is thin and the controls are iffy, yet it still proves to be a very compelling and accomplished little action/strategy game.

A pleasure to experience from start to finish. It’s thorough, pretty, sometimes challenging and downright fun to play.

The songs from the radio are nothing short of brilliant; they sound exactly like actual songs without being recognizable but they are of course in “Sim-ish”.

Maybe not for the hardcore gamer, Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble will really only appeal to niche market, but it is a wonderfully crafted game that rewards those who just want to sit back and be enthralled by a simple yet clever game that is completely unique in many ways.

It's scrubbed up good, it's smarter and it's more varied, but it's fundamentally the same as the first Kohan game. Fortunately for Timegate, that means they've still produced an entertaining, rather individual game.

If you do decide to pick it up you’re unlikely to be disappointed, but it’s also unlikely to set your gaming world on fire.

As for actual challenge or feeling of gaming accomplishment it doesn’t always succeed in making its mark and it falls all too readily into genre clichés that are already beginning to look stale. A finger across the lens really.

It’s horribly unbalanced (you can walk out of one boss fight straight into another with no save ability in-between). It’s still a goof game on a purely destructive level – where the hacking and slashing is as good as the series has to offer.

The phrase fan-service has never been so apt.

With solid Xbox Live play, NBA 2K6 is a professionally rounded off package. Special enough to be the best out there and satisfy the fans, but not friendly enough to encourage most newcomers to take up the challenge, which is a shame as this game deserves all the attention it gets.

The game plays very smoothly. The controls are a little sluggish but the frame rate is smooth and it feels right. Perfect Dark Zero isn't a killer reason to buy the new console but it does stand out amongst the launch titles as a good game.

Violence is what makes the game so enjoyable in the first place. It's a little disappointing just how much the game looks and feels like every other Rockstar has released recently, but the shining story and brutality of it all make it all a worthwhile endeavour.

By no means a classic, and the online multiplayer modes aren't quite as instantly gratifying for Halo 2. But it's a very good solid game that offers value for money and a chance to get involved with a prolonged war online.

Not only will you be giving yourself the chance to sample some of the best driving title delights in recent memory, but you’ll be encouraging all those other publishers and developers to keep on tweaking those much-loved, but ridiculously over-looked classics and offer up more of the same.

It's a casual approach to the genre, but that doesn't hurt gameplay at all. If anything it improves it.

This is loooooong term fun. This is rich in character and beauty. This is an ode to an author who started something huge.

A real victory for blue skies in games and the very welcome return of a great franchise.

There’s a good game here, with at least twenty hours of gameplay to keep you occupied, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before, even if this wasn’t essentially just a re-release with a few added extras.

The changes made could have easily spelt a disaster in the GR series, but they've been skilfully handled and form the basis of a good, solid shooter that's entertaining and tough without being overly difficult.

As it is Tekken 6 comes highly recommended to those who can play it regularly with friends, or to those that are prepared to wait to see if the soon-to-be-released patch really does sort out all of the online issues. Just stay away from the Scenario Campaign mode. It’s six hours of your life you’ll never see again if you don’t.

If you're the type of gamer who wants depth and complexity to their games then Rocket Riot won't be to your liking, but if you fancy a great multiplayer game that demands no more of you than two functioning thumbs, you're sure to have a blast.

The historical period is beautifully realised, and the included onscreen encyclopaedia is great reading. If you have an interest in this period, pirates, the age of sail - you'll find lots to enjoy, especially if you're a fan of the works of Patrick O'Brian or Alexander Kent.

The main issue I have with the game is that the units, even with their team colours, lack individuality.

There is very little to fault Metal Slug: Anthology. Big guns, big vehicles and some colossal enemies is a combination that seldom comes under serious scrutiny, and of all the big platforming shooters out there, Metal Slug owns the field.

The continued concentration on stat-grinding rather than creating a game where player skill matters and the lack of real change in the sport really does make me believe that the Tiger Woods franchise needs to take a vacation next year while the whole basis of the franchise is rethought.

If your nerves are shot to pieces with the glut of zombie gore 'em ups out there Osmos will do a sterling job of rubbing those aching temples and making the nightmares go away.

Despite being about one of the great composers, music is not an integral part of the game.

Judged on its own merits, Invisible War is a great example of a game that offers meaningful freedom of choice, that rewards different approaches and that creates a coherent, intelligent world wrapped up in a very well paced and expertly written plot.

It can’t possibly sustain its ardour, but nevertheless, purely for reasons of bringing Spider-Man to life in the best way possible, this is a spectacular experience.

Even the fast turning speed with beautiful motion blur seems to add to the sometimes frantic feel of the game.

To be honest this is pretty much a no brainer if you like Wii Sports, and that's most people really, the selection of sports is nice and varied, as are the methods of playing.

If you don't own Madden and you're keen to get into the NFL games then this is the one to get.

No matter what you decide, Hearts of Iron II and Doomsday represent some of the best turn-based strategy you’ll ever play.

Apart from the game giving our PC a bit of a rough time the story is the only other area where we have to mark it down. The story is there to guide you through the intense carnage however, and it doesn’t plead to be taken seriously. Which is a good thing because it clearly isn’t.

Relentless, exhausting and unique, although Full Spectrum Warrior is certainly one of the most innovative strategy games we’ve played for some time, it’s not always a wholly satisfying one- it often feels too much like hard work. Good, but not quite the classic it could have been.

It won’t set your gaming world on fire, and FIFA might even be the better option (it’s a close call, much closer than on the PS3/360) but if you do have the PS2 version and fancy carrying on with your Master League on the move (and are prepared to put up with the control foibles), or just have to have the latest version, PES 2008 is unlikely to disappoint.

Sepulveda has so lovingly created? No, absolutely, unequivocally not. Darwinia+ deserves to be experienced by as many people as possible. It’s not going to be for everyone, that’s for certain. Some won’t even give it longer than the first couple of levels (which are painstakingly slow and confusing to boot) or be able to forgive it its frailties.

Expertly crafted resourcing and development tools prevent stagnation of the game's simple conquest objective, and the sheer scope of ships, maps and difficulty levels – not to mention co-op – is likely to keep this gem afloat for some time. RTS fans rejoice.

Square have tried to give us a chance to tell our own stories through this game, but their rules and prerequisites are often too restricting and the rewards not always enough.

This is a brave, thrilling and fun-packed game that sets out to entertain us with recreations of daring do from the last century. It really achieves those aims, but in also doing so while giving us a say in how we play it, it makes the game all the greater.

Simply put, EA has genuinely raised the bar in the world of golfing games and Tiger Woods 07 will become the benchmark game that all others will be compared to for some time to come.

There’s a great game underneath the gimmickery.

Regardless of the often frantic pace, there’s bountiful strategic potential here, which should keep potential Sun Tzu’s happy.

If there is to be a sequel, and I join the rising chorus of voices demanding one, it is going to have to properly develop the core (design) gameplay that Tomb Raider: Legend gets back to.

In spite of the odd struggle with the controls, this is a good adventure through and through, and that’s what makes the game worth playing.

As good as Trine is it left me slightly wanting due in part to its length-at about 6 hours maximum it’s very short for its price tag. If it’s a higher price, it should be full length.

It plays superbly, the management mode is certainly addictive in the extreme, the AI is great, the graphics detailed and crisp and there are so many modes to enjoy. So it all comes down to those stutters, which seem to affect some gamers more than others.

There are very few games on Wii that are this good, and it's nice to see that someone other than Nintendo are making full use of the Motionplus, rather than just making it an optional extra.

If you can get past the problems or are fortunate enough not to care you are going to find a great biking sim with amazing depth and longevity. It’s one of the best loved games on Live, and this release shouldn’t do too much to change that.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is a system selling game, it's too beautiful in adverts and demo mode not to. But it marks a failure of evolution in a series that was once groundbreaking and is now becoming a little stale.

Valve's insistence on quality over quantity has paid off – this is a small but perfectly polished package.

Those with an interest in White Wolf's property may find that it remains truer to its inspiration than the first game, and as an example of the action RPG sub genre it's definitely one of the finer titles to emerge in recent years.

Fantastic stuff. It’s the sort of game non-sports fans can pick up and love. Not only is it the best SSX to date, it also features Apply Some Pressure by Maximo Park.

Where we are now, no matter how great it seems, if the ending is lacklustre then we’ll all be disappointed. Given Telltale Games’ last four chapters however, I think we’re in for something great.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 is by no means perfect, and we'd expect something of an engine overhaul for the next version, but this is no mere cynical yearly update. Recommended.

It’s the sort of game that even the most ardent tactical shooter fans are going to find frustrating.

And when atmosphere is the only new thing that you bring to the table, it had better be damn near perfect to make a good impression. Hitman: Contracts is just short of that, but is more than enough if you haven’t played Hitman 2.

A really terrific game of football. The pace of play, the ball physics and the AI combine to make a top notch simulation of the sport. On the higher difficultly levels there's a very strong challenge ahead of you.

It's a foundational package, far from threatening the professional music development studios, but it's a gateway piece of software, bound to inspire aspiring musicians to pursue the real deal.

Electronic Arts have delivered a pretty good package here for the fans, it looks the part, plays well, and has a good selection of game modes to keep most people happy.

Geo Wars offers you the same, basic and fun gameplay but with the added twist of a level structure. However, it really is all about shooting and avoiding getting shot. After a few hours play I found I was just stuck in the same groove and the game doesn’t offer much in the way of variety.

As a videogame it's no great shakes really. But as a way of adding some interesting and fun exercise into your life it works very well indeed.

A very gritty game, full of foreboding and a sense of deep hopelessness that's more than the sum of its parts. It sucks you in and manipulates that little element of your brain that never seems quite sure what's going on. Fans and newcomers alike will react with awe and fear in equal amounts if they dare step once more into the Zone.

Flatout Ultimate Carnage is a very solid racing game, it’s fast, it’s fun, has an extensive single player side to it with plenty of variety, which is carried over to a decent online multiplayer, doesn’t hurt that it looks great too. Sadly though that just isn’t enough in this day and age for it to be successful, in a market that is flooded with similar games and coming in hot on the heels of more publicized games it is unlikely that this will get the recognition it deserves.

The real bonus for this version of the sim comes from pilot immersion. The focus on high quality 3D cockpits instead of 2D panels combined with some excellent new default aircraft with convincing flight dynamics makes for a wonderfully engaging experience. [Deluxe Edition]

It’s not groundbreaking in any way, but what it does offer is a solid MMORPG that can be just as engaging as the likes of WOW and yet is completely free. This game has quashed the age old myth that free games lack quality.

Far from disappointing, it’s just not the best in its series and not the innovation that some people might have hoped for.

I don’t want to give the impression this is just another lazy Star Wars game, because it’s clear a lot of love has gone into the game. But there’s a lack of ambition at the heart of Empire at War that is the ultimate reason for its failure to be a really great strategy game.

As far as an expansion goes, it has to be said, that this felt a little light weight.

A solid third person shooter, the control system could be a bit better, and the multiplayer is decidedly lacking, but it makes up for it in other areas. It is quite possibly one of the best looking games out there, production values all round are high, and the gameplay itself is a lot of fun, despite the flaws, but the short length of the game means the fun is quite short lived.

If you've a love for games such as Civilization and Settlers then this is one PC game you can't do without. While not as high-profile as those titles it should not be missed.

Lots to see and do, although I doubt there’s any replay value there.

MX vs. ATV Unleashed is hardcore racing action. If you can handle it, you’re a god among insects. If not, say goodbye to any sense of feeling you had in your thumbs.

The control system can be labeled as interesting (sweeping the mouse around the screen to guide Guybrush around is one of the worst control schemes I’ve ever encountered) but thankfully this can be swapped for WASD keyboard controls.

Buy it, play it and love it as that’s what the Street Fighter games are all about.

Midnight Club LA Remix is not perfect, the early races are two easy while the harder races can come with a sudden harsh spike in difficulty, the race markers I've already mentioned and draw distances can seems a bit short when traveling at full throttle, but i can forgive it all of this just for the smile it can put on your face when it all comes together and you get lost in the race.

If all you want to do is play football with friends then PES will still provide you with everything you need. Just don’t go expecting miracles as it is still very much another evolution in the series, we might have to wait until next year for the revolution.

Something of a disappointment. One cannot fault EA for trying to bring an intelligent strategy game to the console yet at the same time the removal of the dynamic campaign shows that the publisher wasn't quite convinced the game would fly on the console.

It would be difficult for me to say Mirror's Edge reached its potential as a fresh take on the FPS genre because it's held back by a shallow story and dubious combat mechanics. However, you won't find another game like it.

It’s nice that no feeble attempt was made to force the stylus into the pinball format, but it would have been better to see some more multiplayer options and maybe just a couple more tables. Really, that’s the only thing wrong with this otherwise fantastic title.

The eight or nine hours it will take you to complete the game are hugely enjoyable.

A flawed masterpiece.

There is no denying that it is wonderful, and narratively and graphically speaking perhaps Heavenly, but it falls into the trap of many a young console’s first games, an attempt to show off what the console can do rather than what the player can do.

Tales of Vesperia is a well polished, entertaining and charming adventure. It isn’t anything you haven’t seen before, however.

Personally I'm not a big fan of strategy games, but Greed Corp has made me look at the genre in a different way, if all strategy games had this kind of pacing and fun atmosphere then I think it would be a much more popular type of game right now.

There are times you want to be challenged, made to think, swept away by something unique and brilliant – and there are times where you just want to kick back and be entertained. For the latter, step up Project: Snowblind.

MotorStorm feels like an appropriate entry in the series, and a remarkable feat given the technology.

There has been an enormous development over the past 10 years in the shooter genre and Perfect Dark obviously can not measure up with the latest in this genre . But if you know what you're getting you'll have plenty of fun with this welcome re-release.

Not to be missed, in short. Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s an abyss of self-reproach I should be wallowing in.

I really like Desert of Flames but the new mob lock system really doesn't work.