Metalgear is distinctive in that the game is woven around the story, rather than the opposite way around.

It's the polar opposite of all that dialogue-based soul-searching and Jedi hocus-pocus, but boy oh boy, is it good. And there's not a single lightsaber in sight. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

It's Burnout 3: Takedown with better and more demanding handling, it's Project Gotham Racing 2 with a higher top speed and even prettier tracks, and it's the previous two fantastic MotoGP games combined with a sensational collection of new tracks that beat those of all other racing games hands down. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

This is a cracking port of a cracking game with very few compromises. Find three mates to play against and it's better still. [PSW]

While it isn't an Uncharted beater, strong advances in the visual area with polished, spectacular presentation and a boost to the all important fun-factor make this a must play for PlayStation fans. It absolutely deserves to be up there with the console's best exclusives.

This is the same Football Manager you know and love with a number of really good decisions running throughout to give more depth and more control.

The fact that you can revive your partner also adds a lot of depth and strategy to the game. Do you risk reviving your downed teammate in the line of fire, or do you stick it out and take out the bad guys first?

But the thing that feels most welcoming about Lockdown is the overall level of polish and presentation. Graphically, it's not a massive leap over the previous game, but the textures look crisper and the lighting is way more dramatic. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

Fans of the first game won't believe the treat Atari's dished up, and anyone looking for a hugely impressive brawler fused with a great story and lots of guns will find everything they want. If nothing else, this is a vast improvement - it undoubtedly is The One. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

Better than FIFA 10. World Cup manages to strike a balance between the substance of simulation and elaborate frenzies to appreciate with friends.

A wonderful, engaging and ambitious fantasy adventure that combines the best of classic RPGs and smart, match-three puzzle gaming. Essential.

Sup Com is very much a PC gamer's beast, and the supernova-sized war games may prove a little too demanding for anyone other than accomplished RTS players (our heads still hurt from the last LAN skirmish). If only for its sheer scale and battle mechanics, this should be sampled by every RTS fan with a graphics card - and indeed, mental powers - that are up to the task.

Legends is exactly what you need on PSP - short, punchy, high-speed action presented in perfect style on the handheld wonder. It plays like a supercharged hybrid of Burnout, Burnout 2 and Burnout 3, features the best elements of each and goes like mad on the mini screen. [PSW]

The GTA formula we all know and love has been flawlessly integrated in this handheld edition, complete with an insane amount of new story content padded with hours of potential car chase action. [PSW]

A stunningly-executed, modern-day Super Metroid.

World-class Star Wars games are like Endor buses: you wait light-years for one and then two turn up within 12 months of each other. Do the galaxy a favour: buy it now.

Playing this marginally altered new Burnout still feels like you're flying a burning fighter jet through hell at 50 million miles an hour, and you'll still look at it and wonder how they've managed to make Xbox do so many cool things at once. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

It's a cracking, clever, and crafty title, packed with surprises and brimming with invention, and a game that makes sure that, once you've completed it, you'll want to go right back to The Sands of Time and play it all over again, if only to spot all those clues that were there all along right from the start. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

Blue Dragon finds the perfect balance between linearity and excessive freedom - it doesn't embarrass you by holding your hand, and yet it doesn't just leave you alone crying in the supermarket. Hironobu Sakaguchi (the FF creator and Blue Dragon mastermind) is as good a parent as Shigeru Miyamoto.

Sure it might not be the best looking version (although it's damn pretty and make no mistake) and, okay, certain modes have been done better before, but it's hands-down the absolute most complete Mario Kart package yet.

It's taken its sweet time getting here, but as an online game this is perfect stuff: easy to pick up, difficult to master and immensely satisfying to beat your rivals at. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

Turn the speakers up for a shortlived but standout shooter full of genuinely awesome gaming moments. Unplug the sub and the magic's lost to the silence.

Obviously more attuned with the PSP hardware, Rockstar has topped last year's excellent "Liberty City Stories" with a GTA sporting as many thrills, action and now-famous witty dialogue as the series has ever seen.

The perfect example of how updates of existing titles should be done. Every single area has been improved way beyond what we would have been content with. Sports games don't get much more polished. [Xbox Gamer]

It's awesome to look at, a treat to play and as original a racer as youire ever going to see, and the two-player mode gives the game a totally fresh level of challenge. You'll take to it like a duck to water.

This game is awesome and among the finest games on a Nintendo console not to be created by Ninty itself. In fact, you can almost imagine Miyamoto himself playing this, grinning, and taking notes.

MotorStorm: Arctic Edge has got everything its PS3 brother has. Power to the PSP.

Big, brash, unashamedly daft in parts, this is Stephen Dorff's best role in ages, but he's still upstaged by the beautiful scenery and teeth-grinding action of this masterful shooter. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]