The orchestral score is decent, the physics are impressive if not revelatory, and the whole affair is certainly competent, if utterly uninvolving. Is that really good enough though? No, of course not. The one attempt at uniqueness – the Entrencher – is a flop, and the whole enterprise lacks any finesse or charm to transcend influence.

Saw II outstays its welcome after a couple of hours and keeps on forcing the hackneyed plot on you when you want it all to end.

Saw II outstays its welcome after a couple of hours and keeps on forcing the hackneyed plot on you when you want it all to end.

If you're a Suda-51 enthusiast or if it's on sale, then it'll be worth it, but other than that, it's a tiny distraction that provides a little entertainment, closer to an app game than something you'd play on a proper console, even a handheld one.

It's not enough to save Operation Raccoon City though, which ultimately is a title that feels too rushed to warrant any great investment on the part of the player. That it's sold in such high numbers (at time of writing it's number one in Japan) says a lot about the strength of the Resident Evil brand which, if ORC is anything to go by, is in danger of being fatally diluted.

The most damning aspect of Gotham City Impostors is that the tutorials and the NPCs stand out as the main highlight, which for a multiplayer focused title is a considerable problem. Add to this the slightly whorish way in which DLC is pushed to the fore, and you have a game that sadly lives up to its title; in other words…it feels like something of an imposter.

The King of Fighters deserves better than this sloppy port.

If you’re looking to kill a few hours with a mate, then this would do the job; if you want any more than that, steer clear.

As a self-contained music game then, Guitar Hero: Van Halen really isn’t substantial or appealing enough to warrant extended play.

It's not just that Need for Speed Undercover is a bad game; it's that it's a bad game with an incredibly erratic engine. The flaws, problems and issues that exist in NFS Undercover are virtually inexcusable for a popular franchise from such an affluent publisher.

Tragic in unused potential and perplexing in design, Hydrophobia never becomes more than the sum of its parts.

Duke Nukem Forever is a strange enough novelty all on its own, but when all is said and done, it is a vastly aged shooter that is left trailing in the dust of its modern contemporaries.

Duke Nukem Forever is a strange enough novelty all on its own, but when all is said and done, it is a vastly aged shooter that is left trailing in the dust of its modern contemporaries.

As a package Black Knight is competent: the frame rate is consistent while the visuals, taking their cue from Secret Rings, suggest that Sonic Team’s capability with squeezing results from the modest hardware is more successful than their understanding of how Sonic should feel as a game.

In fairness, there is some fun to be had here, and Supermassive Games do show a degree of competency in utilizing the PlayStation Move, but sadly competency really isn't enough to get a party jumping.

Creative Assembly deserve a fair amount of praise for at least attempting something new (the whip select system could have worked well with a smaller Full Spectrum Warrior-type army) and for some of the neat ideas lurking beneath its derivative post-apocalyptic trappings – most notably the ability to command units on different levels, as opposed to a flat playing area. But unfortunately, Stormrise quickly degenerates into a war of attrition.

Deathly dull and completely without purpose, it’s an alien piece of software that appears to have crash-landed in from another, entirely more forgiving era.

The pros of Hotel Giant 2 are outweighed by some of its cons, most notably the repetitive and non-engaging nature of the gameplay.

Bugs which do not impact gameplay can be forgiven – when they work against the core aspects of the game, they are far more egregious.

As a pitch, EDF2025 sounds like buckets of fun. But once the novelty inherent to the concept wears off, EDF2025 is boring, and it long outstays its welcome.

Overall Carnival Island is something of a disappointment. Its position as a budget game does go some way to excusing the rather thin content within, but its biggest problem is that the content that it does have just isn't very compelling or interesting.

So Rock Revolution isn’t quite the revolution it claims to be. Quite the opposite, in fact. It’s a game that cuts every corner possible to create a soulless, low-cost venture that happily plays second fiddle to its competitors.

Overall, it's not that Blacklight can't be enjoyed on its own merits, because it can in the most basic sense. But when held up to scrutiny and measured against those gunning for the same lucrative audience, it's hard to recommend Blacklight: Tango Down with an absolute guarantee that you'll be completely entertained.

With a short, linear and derivative campaign plus a multiplayer offering unlikely to distract for long, Bodycount just doesn't have enough going for it to warrant a purchase, even at a bargain bin price.

Though Pokemon Rumble's simplicity may have been easier to overlook when it was released as a Nintendo WiiWare title, this full price follow up should be seen as little more than a stop-gap that fails to advance the series in any meaningful way while delivering a gameplay experience that is forgettable as it is monotonous.

It’s artistically weak, lacking in substance, and as a result is somewhat cut adrift from the rest of the battling pack.

By removing any sense of strategy and skill EA has broken the two most fundamental rules of a fighter. Instead, FaceBreaker is nothing more than a mere exercise in button-bashing.

If anything Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll is the simplest in the series if played with a Wii Remote and possibly the most difficult if using the Board, for all the wrong reasons.