There's no denying what unabashed, volatile fun Without Warning is. But blowing people and stuff up over and over again soon gets tiresome and it's precisely then that the early promise evaporates. [PSW]

It's a refreshing premise, but it isn't executed as well as it should be. Approach with caution.

The premise is certainly unique and brimming over with potential, but the execution is so lazy and ham-fisted if it were a killer it would have shot itself in the foot. Shame really. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

The faster the car, the more jelly-like things seem to become. The gorgeous Ford GT 2005 handles like the entire world was one big bouncy castle, as it bobs and lurches around like it had helium-filled wheels. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

If humorous driving jaunts are your bag, do yourself a favour and bag "San Andreas" instead.

The special attacks look crap and make no sense. How can you possibly electrocute a skeleton? Dry bone doesn't conduct. Someone wins. You're bored. The end.

By far the worst aspect of the game is the horrendous control system, which flicks confusingly between third- and first-person views, while the camera sweeps all over the shop and does its best to disorient you.

Its bargain basement credentials are evident in a lack of visual polish, poor mission balancing and dodgy enemy AI. Character animations are clunky, enemies fail to become alarmed by bullets ricocheting next to their heads, and the stealth mechanics are a little hazy.

With only two way multiplayer returning, this really was a missed opportunity to improve upon a disappointing franchise. As it stands, BW2 gets the smack put down on it by virtually every other fighter out there. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

While the game boasts an impressive array of hardware, you're sadly only allowed to play as the forces of the 'right and just' in a linear two-pronged campaign that starts with the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and finishes in Iraq.

Sure, it looks like the film on the surface, but you don't have to dig far to find a game that fails to live up to the license. Surprisingly, it's the competitive multiplayer that impresses the most.

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.

What we have here is a Spidey-themed action title aimed squarely at the younger PC gamer - think bright colours, no real-life guns (the bad guys tote silly sci-fi bubble-pistol thingummies instead) and gameplay so easy you can sail through it in a single afternoon. Gritty it ain't.

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.

Its banality is perfect. Even an inexplicable side-scrolling fish-tank shoot-'em-up level that pops up between the soporific platform stages fails to raise an eyebrow.

For every second of satisfaction, there is a minute of monotony; where cardboard enemies fall under a cloud of red paint, physics offer no value whatsoever, AI is largely non-existent and gameplay follows the worn-ragged formula of coloured keycards and enemies that appear from thin air. [PC Zone]

The AI is predictably primitive and inconsistent, with enemies failing to hear gun battles right outside their windows, yet spotting you with unerring ability at unlikely distances across the map.

(Altogether now) Oompa Loompa Doompadee Dah, I'm stunned I bothered getting so far. You will live in misery too, if you play this Oompa Loompa Loompa Doompadee Doo. (Doompadee Doo.)

Too much tinkering means Pure barely feels like football and becomes a chore.

But this is gaming at its most depressing - it's clear to man and beast that the controls of this game simply do not work and are no fun whatsoever. Why don't you just fix it? Or, perhaps, you could just STOP MAKING ARMY MEN GAMES.

The appeal of button-bashing power bar games wore off when we put "International Track & Field" to rest years ago. Torino 2006 looks nice but we can't see you lasting long before slamming the pad down at the difficulty of the speed skating or nodding off from the monotony of the cross-country hobble. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

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.

An imaginative concept and some strong design are undone by a game that's gruelling in all the wrong ways.

The combat is stupidly easy and as badly designed as MC Hammer's trousers - timing kill moves or complex combos together is rendered fun-free, as you're held by the hand all the way through by giant yellow 'Y' icons that flash over an enemy when he's ripe for a kill move. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

The worst fighting game (and pretty much the worst game) I have ever insulted my hard drive with. [PC Zone]

If you're going to have a game that lets you bet in excess of thousands of dollars, it might be an idea to have a system that lets you type in the amount of the bet, rather than forcing you to click a hundred f***ing times to get anywhere near the high numbers. You know, just a suggestion. [PC Zone]

The ominous Willy Wonka himself, whether it was intended or not, looks and sounds disturbingly like Michael Jackson, and his army of Oompa Loompa slaves are no longer the orange-skinned and green-haired midgets we know and love. [PC Zone]

It's a shoddy game, full of graphical bugs, requiring a PC a damn sight more powerful than stated on the box, and lacking the under-the-hood accessibility that might otherwise endear it to the arcade racer.