Make no mistake: this is the big one, in every sense. No less than 15 different disciplines are melded together via an extensive career path, each brimming with Codemasters' trademark high production values and attention to detail.

Painkiller abounds with sublime touches, such as the boxes full of postcards that flutter down around you when shot and the fireworks that send multi-coloured sparks whizzing in all directions. I've said it once, and I'll say it again - there's nothing wrong at all with violent videogames. Disagree, and I'll send you to hell with a wooden stake through your eye socket.

A game where you have to kill a seriously stupid amount of vicious creatures, who lack the brains to do much other than charge straight at you. It's an absolute apocalypse and in terms of body count makes "TimeSplitters 2" look like Songs of Praise.

Despite boasting a wholesome choice of 16 lead characters as well as spells, melee weapons and guns, in reality the combat element of the game is weak.

If there were a decent multiplayer mode it would perhaps be more worthwhile, but sadly there isn't even a shit one. And since the AI opponent spouts the same dialogue over and over, the whole game gets tiresome very quickly. [PC Zone]

FN2004's brilliant analog stick punching system gives boxing its own genre - this is much more than just a beat 'em up with big red gloves and silly shorts on.

FN2004's brilliant analog stick punching system gives boxing its own genre - this is much more than just a beat 'em up with big red gloves and silly shorts on.

Once upon a time there was a boy called Colin who liked cars. He liked them so much that when he grew up he drove them at high speed under strict competition conditions. Perhaps driven by rage at his unfortunate choice of name, he drove so fast that he was crowned Champion of the World.

It's a very good thing the combat is so enjoyable, because that's pretty much all there is. [PC Zone]

It's dull, mistranslated, claustrophobic (in a bad way) and thoroughly aimless. No amount of naked women adorning the walls can disguise the fact that Midnight Nowhere simply isn't much fun.

Made less accessible by its flagrant lack of polish. A cursory manual, a poor tutorial, terrible animations, weak voiceovers and an unsightly interface immediately count against it.

It actually plays out like a very simplistic alternative to Legend Of Zelda, with doors opening once certain enemies are killed, or special keys found to open doors.

Although Sam looks cool while monkey swinging and rolling from cover to cover, grabbing guards by the neck and knocking them unconscious, the whole thing feels a bit like a technical demonstration, rather than entertainment.

A bona-fide classic: a technological marvel that's as rewarding as it is beautiful. For the time being at least, it's the beating heart of the first-person shooter. [PC Zone]

But perhaps the most significant letdown is the AI. While it hasn't actually got any less advanced since the previous game, it does give that impression, having been watered down in response to criticism that the original game was too difficult.

This pair of butt-bashing bints may be big in Japan, but we don't see the game taking off here. Some nice touches, but we've seen it all already.

If you're enough of a fan to forgive its frustrating moments, Dark Motives' five cases will give you a few evenings' worth of semi-interactive intrigue, but not much more.

You could say it's all just a fancy game of hide and seek, but the tactical element off and online adds so much depth and tension that the concept becomes genius.

If you can make head or tail of the multitude of minor rules and spell/trap combinations, or already enjoy the cartoon, check this out. Anyone over 12, dig out that old algebra textbook for some more interesting bafflement.

There's no multiplayer action and with a fairly short playing time, this is much more suited to a rental.

Its main problem lies in offering nothing that you haven't seen a thousand times before and falls short in just about every department.

God knows what happened to LOTR3, but the usually dependable Impressions Games has lost the plot on this one. Even if you're a long-standing fan of the series - no, especially if you are one - avoid this like a bearded, Black Death-infected Saxon whore.

An unoriginal and slightly dull survival horror in the Resident Evil mould, the brilliant X-Files atmosphere and 20 price tag will save it for fans of the show.

It's the new team-centred gameplay modes - the return of an old favourite particularly - and the introduction of driveable vehicles that make this such an exciting and important addition to the Unreal lineage...It offers just about all you could ever want in a first-person shooter - and just a smidge more. [PC Zone]

There are lots of buttons, doors, and items to interact with in Breakdown so you can understand how this gets frustrating. Yet, you take this all on the chin because the level design and overall artistic quality of alien beings and their worlds is high.

DICE has done enough to justify the status of sequel rather than expansion pack. It looks great, sounds funky and plays superbly. [PC Zone]

A deeply disappointing experience that barely appeals to hack 'n' slash nuts and fans of Kurosawa's masterpiece.

Unfortunately, this ninja dream too often becomes a nightmare of infuriating control issues, camera problems and soul-destroying restart points.

It's entertaining in all the right ways, but just like Gates and Price, it's all a bit too predictable.

A truly terrifying adventure that, while certainly not perfect, still brings a real sense of panic and dread back to the weary survival horror genre.

As with all pure action games, FD18 has its annoyances and limitations. It plays like an arcade game, with unfair surprises taking you down at least once, forcing you to play each area to perfection.

This brand-new version takes the gripping plot of Metal Gear Solid and splices it with the new gameplay systems from the sequel. You really are getting the best of both worlds here.

Lamely rolled out on the back of the film, it's one of those strategy games where you have an overwhelming urge to stop playing after three or four near-identical missions.

The city in the game just doesn't feel alive. There are plenty of pedestrians milling about, but it's only the enemy and the police that you can meaningfully interact with. [PC Zone]

It boasts so many new gameplay modes that any review is in danger of reading like a press release.

Place Battle Chips into your Deck. Hit "A" 'til the battle is done. The end.

Regardless of the decent handling, there's no escaping one of MTX's most annoying flaws: heaps of the objectives are startlingly samey.

We couldn't help being drawn in by the plot, and enjoyed finding enemy weak-spots and shouting them out for Rio to shoot. And while you feel like a dork shouting stuff at the TV, the action is so engrossing that you stop caring.

While overall you have a typically slick Square-Enix production, fighting is too simplistic, with only one button to perform most attacks. Also, despite the enemies themselves looking terrific throughout, the backdrops for the aerial battles are no match for "Panzer Dragoon Orta."

Everything is of the traditionally high IL-2 standards and is comparable qualitywise to what was in Forgotten Battles, even if there isn't all that much of it.

A welcome return to the no nonsense do-or-die school of games. You have to battle for every inch, but around every corner there's something amazing!

This is a craply-plotted sci-fi novel meets a game of chess meets Industrial Light & Magic meets Yu-Gi-Oh!. Fanboys: silence.

From the cheesy plot and dialogue, to the levels that are set out as individual episodes of the show, even the constant snacking - it's all in there.

The kind of game where you'll be on the phone for your mates to come round and see the next amazing scene. It's all very linear, but sometimes you have to realise this is a good thing.

It may be linear and occasionally repetitive, but the spectacular set pieces will surely rock your world as hard as any Hong Kong classic.

Games are something you play, films are something you watch. Unfortunately for EoN there are too many films and not enough game.

If you can put up with acting which is more wooden than Pinocchio with a semi, and want a simple but entertaining strategy game to help pass the long winter nights, then SpellForce may be your vial of poison.

Sounds like a good idea in premise, then, except it's during these combat sections that the game emerges flatter than a blind hedgehog on a motorway. Limited fighting moves, weedy spells, monotonous pace - it could hardly be any less entertaining.

The lack of design nous displayed here makes it feel as though it was knocked out by two guys over a weekend.

Battle side alone is worth the price of admission.

If you haven't bought Gates yet, look into the mirror and ask yourself: "How many times do I want to die today?" Seriously, only the insane need apply.

The brief playtime and lack of innovation might put you off. Still, Metroid rocks so hard, if Samus promised you a night of intergalactic canoodling, you'd be happy if all she put out was a quick grope in the shrubbery.

What we have is an inept third-person hack and slash number, combined totally unsuccessfully with a dull-as-ditchwater RTS. Harsh words, granted, but you'll thank us for them.

Everything from the AI to the interface to the laughably inappropriate resource system is basic. Admittedly, there are thousands of troops to command, but controlling them is a nightmare and the whole experience is best forgotten. [PC Zone]

There's no aspect of the game that isn't abysmally implemented. I would dearly, dearly love to sit here and go on for five or six pages listing the faults, but it really isn't worth the effort. Just avoid UC like you would a diseased badger or rancid tramp. [PC Zone]

The interface is nigh on impenetrable. The system of exploration is ludicrous (the whole map is blacked out at the start, so at first you don't even know where the mountains lie). The scenarios are uninspiring. The combat is pointless and passes practically unnoticed. [PC Zone]

Tweaks to the multiplayer modes are welcome, but are hardly enough to turn it into a world-beater. A bigger cause for celebration is that I didn't come across any of those diabolically awful tunnels that plagued the full game.

The action is reassuringly samey from start to end, and your path is set in stone. Yet, the overall experience is highly polished and big on drama.

Unfortunately, the game is extremely linear. You get a task and go do it, then get another and go do that. Which would be fine if the huge levels weren't so boringly designed.

It's fun then, but next to the visual magnificence of Cube's Rogue Squadron series, this looks like a clumsy kid's drawing. Flat textures, static backdrops and bog standard explosions spoil a lot of the game's atmospheric potential too.

Too basic to appeal to die-hard Madden fans, yet too technical to be of any interest to casual players. What's more, it's filled to bursting with the usual dazzling array of customisable features - those that really do nothing to enhance play at all.

An archaic tri-click method of delivery, a truly awful interface, a bunch of sorry camera angles and some ridiculous environments/opponents for you to play in/against.

With a few more buttons to play with you could have a broader list of moves for the Hedgehog and also a decent amount of control.

You have to have some motivation to get you through the sticky patches (a love of Sonic, or the fact that you're being paid to play it, etc), but the high points are just the platforming tonic you need if your holiday on Isle Delfino is just a fading memory.

The game we were expecting eight months ago, with bots so intelligent they make your average online player look like a baboon who's been dropped at birth. It's like playing CS in the good old days.

Reasonably competent RPG with over-fiddly combat, an awful manual and graphics straight out of "Lure Of The Temptress" on the Atari ST.

Worse still (by about a million times), is the fact that you have to visit the exact same bloody temple at least ten times during the course of the game, solving its baffling 'mysteries' every time. [PC Zone]

The Xbox has clearly the best graphics, the PS2 has an exclusive online option where you can trade items with other players. The GameCube and GBA versions have possibly the most exciting exclusive option.

The Xbox has clearly the best graphics, the PS2 has an exclusive online option where you can trade items with other players. The GameCube and GBA versions have possibly the most exciting exclusive option.

There's almost no difficulty either. Unless there's a timer on your mission, you'll find it easier to turn wine into water than to actually fail.

The GameCube and GBA versions have possibly the most exciting exclusive option, with players able to download special mini-games to their GBA which will earn them Simoleons and other goodies to use in the Cube game.

Playing Medabots: Infinity is about as much fun as eating poisonous glass.

What makes BG&E really fun is the way you use your camera to gather information and earn cash. It works very much like Samus' Scan Visor in "Metroid Prime," but it's faster and, if anything, easier to use.

The big downer is that both games have some animation censored (no bouncing boobies), and no blood.

Running around Hogwarts is a curiously flat experience, and not helped by the chronically jerky frame rate.

Think of it as Zelda-lite and you won't go far wrong.

If you can make friends with the twitchy handling in this arcade-sim crossbreed, then you're in for a good drive.

Perhaps the finest game to strap on its space-trading boots since the seminal "Elite." It's better than "Freelancer," better than "EVE Online," better than the original "X: Beyond The Frontier," better than any number of Privateers, Battlecruisers, Freespaces and Frontiers. Best, best, best. Am I making this clear enough? [PC Zone]

A lot of people will find the system too intricate and not immediate enough. But if you're inclined towards a more cerebral thrill, Combat Mission still offers the most realistic and arguably the most satisfying World War II strategy fix around. [PC Zone]

The gameplay is gripping in spite of its flaws, the cut-scenes are fantastic and the story is dramatic and pretty weird in places. It's almost worth playing through to witness the mid-game fight with the Tyrant alone - a battle so frickin' tough it has become the stuff of gaming legend.

The battles are frantic and over quick enough to make it perfect to dip in and out of, and the multiplayer battling is wicked fun with mates.

But when the fun cruelly comes to an end after a little over five or six hours, what are you left with? The humour. And since the gags wear thin quicker than the knees on Dennis the Menace's jeans, for laughs, give us "Phoenix Nights" or "The Office" any day. [PC Zone]

The focus on the single-player experience, along with Bioware's top-notch level design has created an expansion pack with great detail and atmosphere that's arguably even more immediately immersive than the original game. [PC Zone]

While there's definitely some enjoyment to be found in small doses, we spent far too long dying, restarting and trying again to have any real fun.

Sadly - and this is more true for PC fans - the game lacks the depth of character development that marked the original out as such an innovative classic. Even so, it looks great, gameplay is varied and smooth and you can be sure the experience will linger in the mind long after you've finished playing.

More funny than any free game has a right to be, but it's free for a reason. There's basically just one play mode and you need four people to make it worthwhile. If only you didn't have to suffer R: Racing to get it.

So 1080 isn't massively original, but it does have one killer gimmick in the form of avalanches.

A well-executed... thing that's somehow being mis-sold as a video game. Either somebody at Nintendo is a certifiable maniac, or this is the future of video games. We're pretty sure it's the former.

There are some extra moves you can learn, but Tekken is better for fighting.

Feels like a step backwards for the series, and no amount of shape-shifting can disguise its mediocre gameplay.

There's definitely fun to be had here. And you don't have to be a four-year-old gaming amateur to enjoy it.

It's all but impossible to defend the dated presentation and clunky interface that are constant reminders Anito was designed and developed by a small start-up development company. [PC Zone]

Combos are pretty lame, and with only a couple of basic attacks, the action gets very repetitive.

Here is a game that's not only genre defying, it's quite possibly one of the weirdest games to ever appear on the PC. In fact, when it comes to atmosphere, story and personality, Beyond Good & Evil has a very similar feel to "Grim Fandango." [PC Zone]

Despite the basic gameplay, there is a reasonable level of satisfaction to be had racking up the combos and unleashing the head-chopping moves on the armies of ninja goons you face off against.

Compelling - in a masochistic way. Deep down, there's a great game trying to get out, but it's been hamstrung by our many complaints that can be summed up in one sentence. Piss-poor support for the new user. Victoria will infuriate strategy enthusiasts and baffle everyone else. [PC Zone]

The levels are dull-looking and you might have a job seeing what's happening on a standard GBA. If you are a fan of the films, even the third one, don't expect to relive the adrenaline rushes in this mediocre, disappointing GBA effort.

What's missing is any kind of plot-based campaign - what you play solo is the same as multiplayer, only with bots instead of blokes to back you up or blow you up. The one-player ain't fun, basically.