The sound, animation, story and enemy AI are all lacking to some extent. This causes the game to be a lot less fun than it should be. The lack of story means that you're running around without a purpose and the lack of enemy AI really make this a rather flat feeling title.

PoPoLoCrois’ main downfall is that it really doesn’t bring anything new or original to the RPG arena.

With over 40 characters to master, there’s a fair lot of classic brawling to be had here. Had it actually included a more substantial experience, rather than feeling so empty, it’d definitely be worth recommending to both fighting fanatics and casual goers alike. Instead, it feels more like a relic of a past age, thrown together to into an exceedingly demo-like affair.

That is perhaps what is largely wrong with FEAR 2: as quintessential a First-Person-Shooter as it is, it doesn't have the heart and soul of games like, for example, Half-Life 2; your character is merely existing in the world rather than living in it, and that's a departure from which even the new quick-time events cannot save it.

The gameplay itself is pretty average for the genre, and the graphics do make it a bit difficult to spot some of the objects you are looking for, but it's plus points more than compensate. The games storyline holds the average gameplay together well, the overall presentation is pretty good, and to top it all off is the games budget price.

It’s difficult to avoid recommending the game, when I honestly had fun, but £30 to £40 is too much to pay for such a short game.

So, £25 or thereabouts for some reasonably entertaining times (and a few real stand-out sequences) over about 10 hours, 500 or so easy Achievement Points, and that’s about it. If that seems worthwhile to you, then go for it.

It’s all so utterly forgettable so, I guess, just forget it.

Madballs in... Babo: Invasion isn't going to blow anyone away. The name is fairly ridiculous and the whole Madballs fad is long-gone, but there beats an enjoyable shooter underneath the bland, uninspired exterior.

It doesn’t provide an experience – it merely provides the tools with which to make an experience. Therefore your enjoyment is really dependant on whether you’re the type of person who is likely to seek out and become a member of an existing clan, or have enough online friends to create your own. If you’re not, then you’re much better off sticking to the more user friendly Battlefield, or COD: MW2.

When you're making a game that's purely designed for online play, you have to make sure the basics are in place, and the frame rate is the fundamental factor in all shooters, but in Quake Wars it's all over the place, which is a shame.

A lazy effort.

Manhunt 2 isn’t a bad game as such, and had a lot going for it, if it had been released in the PS2’s heyday. It wasn’t, and a year later, those polygons aren’t looking any smoother.

The most frustrating thing I found with it was an autosave that occurred just as I destroyed the engine on my plane right at the end of the first mission.

The game is good, the editor not so good, but there doesn’t seem to have been any real development from the original. The game hasn’t taken a step forward; it’s where it was when it was first released.

It seems to borrow too much, and doesn’t really deliver in terms of an immersive story, hoping that the gameplay itself will be addictive enough to keep an audience captive and paying extra per month.

It looks and sounds ok, but one play through and you’ve seen all you need to see. Mindless blasting can be fun, but this is soulless blasting.

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.

So Sabre Squadron is preaching to the converted, playing on the strengths of its predecessor but without trying too hard to smooth its rough edges, edges that are starting to look a little rusty now.

Demon Stone may entertain in its straightforward nature as a button basher with cinematic pretensions and presentation, yet it?s also let down by a camera that often obscures the action and by the repetitiveness.

Mostly resembles a "Dead or Alive" version for the poor.

A funny little gimmick and quite a good party game, but that is all. In itself, it quickly wears out its welcome, even if multiplayer does stand the test of time somewhat better.

The game does, basically, offer lots of variety, a flat learning curve and a decent story mode for those that aren’t just looking for the latest in car physics.

It's a noble failure with much to admire, but it is still a failure. All very well harping on about the handling then have to contend will really terrible damage modelling.

I can’t help but think that if Microsoft had worried less about putting PC gamers on Xbox Live and more about giving us 360 owners a complete game we could have had something special here, but it just hasn’t happened.

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

The ending is abysmal, although it is nice to see that the crew decide to have a party to ensure that they feel that enough has been accomplished for one day.

Under the Ashes is immediately framed as being little more than build up to Tomb Raider Underworld: Lara’s Shadow. With spokespersons from Crystal Dynamics clearly more excited by Shadow than by Ashes, you’re maybe going to be left with a sour taste. Did you just spend seven quid for a quite enjoyable jog to a cutscene? Quite possibly.