It's a game that'll remind you why you got into games in the first place. Essential. [PSW]

But what really impressed us most about Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes is its incredible attention to detail in battle. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

A walloping, beautiful example of what Xbox Live can do. It's bigger than the first, it's better than the first, and if there's any justice, it'll be what everyone will be playing come release. Impressive. Most impressive. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

Gun is such a rich, panoramic story, chock-full of sneering bad guys, shoot-outs, can-can girls and jailbreaks, you'll wonder why no one ever thought of it before. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

You'll be hard pressed to find a more intelligent, involving and entertaining game on Xbox today - it even gives "Halo" a run for its money. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

Battle side alone is worth the price of admission.

NSMBW is a stunning game in single-player, and a chaotic barrel of light-hearted laughs in multiplayer, accessible to beginners while truly challenging to long-term fans. Well done, Nintendo.

DOA4 over Xbox Live is quite an experience. It succeeds on a technical level, but the real reason that it's such a riot is the game underneath. The enjoyable, solid, beautiful game that is Dead or Alive 4. This is the definitive title in the series and, as far as we're concerned, the ultimate game in its genre. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

Soul Calibur III's crown jewels - its unrivalled blend of accessibility and multilayered combat - remain as dazzling as ever. If anything, it's a touch faster and smooher, and maybe even sharper. [PSW]

Vertical shooting at its best. A must-buy for fans of the dying shoot-'em-up genre but only if you can handle extreme difficulty levels.

For £7.99 or 800 Microsoft Points then this is quite the package. Undead Nightmare brings a whole new, chunky single player campaign with all the great Red Dead qualities (and some of its niggles).

The crowning glories of this slick fighting engine, though, are the all-new Fatalities. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

The single-player campaign, though over too quickly, is immensely enjoyable, and the relentless action never becomes monotonous thanks to the brilliant array of weapons. Multiplayer is a riot.

Warning! This exclusive sci-fi epic's mind-melting action and puzzles may sizzle your brain. But the tricky controls could put some off.

An impeccably presented hour gobbler and we love it all the more for that.

Modern Warfare has always relied on smoke and mirrors. What surprises us is how ably the conjurers perform despite the much publicised Infinity Ward departures. After many months of doom-mongering it's great to find a game as confident and capable as those that preceded it.

What makes the campaigns such a joy are the masses of scenarios they contain - some 130 in all. Practically every individual territory now has its own associated mission, giving each game a unique flavour.

The game mechanics might seem simple but the freedom and depth is astonishing - a dark and engrossing return for the Godfather of Stealth.

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.

More than anything else, it puts up a great fight. More immediate than its predecessors and certainly easier to get to grips with, SCV still retains the special flavour of the series - the weapons make its fights fast and deadly, the kind of battle where one slip ends everything. The mix of tension and frantic violence is more potent than ever. It never really went away, but Soul Calibur V feels like a comeback.

Undoubtedly the best game of its genre on any system, ever. The punches are even more satisfying, the ground play even more strategic and, yes, the array of burly blokes look even more authentic than before.

A massive technical achievement of real spectacle with heart-pounding fun at the core, but we can't help feeling that racing has taken a back seat.

The house of Doom delivers a masterful single-player shooter with top notch gunplay, let down by a disappointing final third.

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.

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.

A disappointing level of freedom then, a choice of either hand-holding or hardcore clue hunting and a typical Rockstar lull in the middle is what holds L.A Noire back from being absolute genius. Thankfully the experience, the story and the characters do more than enough to entertain during the simpler gameplay points in a way that no game has previously.

However, if you're looking for another fix of Nintendo's knack for genius game design - with the added benefit of potential brain flexing thrown in - you owe it to yourself to check this out.

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.