Admittedly, there are some people who enjoy hitting the same button all day long, but don't be surprised if after ten hours you're left with nothing more than thumb ache and a weird sense of regret. [PSW]

The multiplayer mode adds some long-term appeal, but while it lasts Rag Doll Kung Fu is an enjoyable and unbelievably funny game, featuring hilarious low-budget FMV starring developer Mark Healey. [PC Zone]

SOCOM 3's brilliant online gameplay is what makes it. Zipper Interactive has played to its strengths, making the internet experience the best that it can possibly be. However, the franchise's core weaknesses - juddery graphics and a dull single-player mode - have only been partially addressed. [PSW]

Replete with buckets of sometimes stupid-sounding skills and a new, massive quota of really loud shouty-rock, On Tour is the nearest you'll come to snowboarding without getting a) frostbitten or b) snow-blind. [PSW]

Ultimately, this is just as stylish as the PS2 version, sporting the same cool sketchbook-style animation, weird selection of menus and hip soundtrack. You won't be missing much at all if you choose to participate in this portable tour instead of its bigger brother. [PSW]

By all means, enjoy the single-player game, marvel at its visuals, groan at its clichés and enjoy its firefights. However, I can guarantee that six months from now, as you fly through the air firing rockets and screaming in rage in an attempt to take out that railgunning bastard who's just fried your brains five times in quick succession - while all around bodies explode into a thousand blood-caked giblets - you'll have forgotten all about it. [PC Zone]

One of those rare games that, although in reality, is no more than a bog-standard shooter, somehow manages to still seem fresh and innovative. More to the point, it's brilliant fun to play. [Official UK XBox Magazine]

But if bling is your thing and you're in need of a dire hit of nitrous oxide, then LA Rush will deliver enough of a fix to tide you over until the next 'big' racing title hits Xbox. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

Firstly, there's no manual camera control, which wouldn't be an issue if the game automatically chose the best positions for combat. Except it never does, meaning enemies appear from nowhere to attack you because it's too close in, or you can't really see what you're doing because it's so far away. [PSW]

Although the songs may be faithful to the film, the voice of Jack Skellington isn't, and as such it feels odd to try and relate to the skinless charlatan. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

Buoyed by extra content, yet lacking a proper sense of real progression from the last outing, it nevertheless remains a well-designed foray that taps into parts of the gaming brain that habitually lie dormant. [PC Zone]

Players have access to better weapons (machine guns, grenades) early on in this sequel, and it definitely makes for a much more exciting experience. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

The expected unfathomable depths of information are ready and waiting to be (pleasantly) drowned in, but it definitely isn't a lightweight affair. [PC Zone]

Best enjoyed in short doses with the lights off, Resurrection of Evil is more of the same. A little too similar to Doom 3, but then we had no problems gunning our way through another Doom adventure - especially for a cool 20 notes. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

With this effort, there's no doubt that Molyneux and his team have succeeded in surpassing their original efforts. Black & White 2 is a work of art, beautiful in both its stunning visuals and genius gameplay. [PC Zone]

A solid and just about satisfactory squad shooter, but we expected better from the fourth game in the series. [PSW]

The players move so sluggishly it feels as if the match is being played on a waterlogged, mud-treacle pitch. And what's with the ball still feeling like it's tethered to a player's feet by an invisible elastic band after all these years of the same complaint? [PSW]

FIFA 06 may not be perfect, but it is perfectly playable, and is probably the best we could have hoped for. Apart from EA buying Konami. [PC Zone]

It's robust, solid, and reasonably fun to work through, it's online, and packs in a fun multiplayer. It should be awesome, but generic gameplay and schoolboy errors don't quite cut it. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

At its core, Mayhem is a leaner, less confusing entry to the Worms universe than Forts Under Siege, returning the series to a time when worm-killing was simple and death came in the form of an exploding sheep.

There's still a long way to go, but with better controls and a huge but slightly dull management game, FIFA 06 isn't far away from getting it right. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

With its console roots showing clearer than a bad peroxide rinse, it all looks a bit 2001, and other minor glitches include guns inadvertently disappearing into walls - quite an impressive trick if they'd meant it.

So, a passable RPG/RTS that wants to be a Star Trek chess set in the D&D universe, but not as beardies know and love it. [PC Zone]

Excellently scripted set-pieces and dialogue perforate a seemingly endless store of enemies, the surroundings soon become all too familiar and the console-restricted engine disappoints graphically.

The upcoming film makes for decent source material, and you couldn't ask for a more faithful or inventive game. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

It's the sheer scale of the huge aerial battles that impress most. The skies are absolutely packed with aircraft, and even some of the less hectic missions can still boast over 100 individual aircraft buzzing around the screen at any one time. So yes, it's pretty jaw-dropping stuff. [PSW]

The unwieldy mission structure and wonky planes take the edge off it a little, but this is ruthless, seat-of-the-pants stuff all the same, packed to bursting with breathtaking missions, throwing you into no-win situations with your plane half battered, forcing you to fight that little bit harder to survive. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

As for the story, well this is the stuff Tom Clancy will be writing when he's a senile old loon in a home. In all, Splinter Cell on a budget. [PC Zone]