What's really missing here? A bit of inventiveness, we think.

The only shame is that, when you finally manage to master the game with a single credit (and we're getting close), the only person around to show off in front of is probably a bewildered friend who's just popped round for a friendly game of Pro Evo.

This is still an explosive, exhilarating and sometimes rather exhausting game in which the heroes have sharp hands and bottomless appetites for innocent bystanders and the villains expire in floods of gore and take whole city blocks with them as they go. By this point, Prototype doesn't feel like a sandbox series in its own right so much as the mad, babbling id of the entire open-world genre - with all the inconsistencies and extravagances that implies.

It's a game fundamentally incapable of not running you down now and then, but the clarity of control and aspiration give wry subtext to its rightful claim to "high definition".

There's no doubt of the passion and heart that went into the creation of Sword & Sworcery. The artistry is extraordinary. The resulting art is not, not quite. Artistry is important, and I admire it to the fullest extent. In considerations of art, though, I want something more profound. Love, perhaps.

The game is beautifully minimal and has the kind of difficulty curve that makes the best of such games so compelling.

Generally a decent, well-thought out and enjoyable conversion.

It's not really simulating football; it's emulating football spectacle, and with the addition of Challenge mode and a clever reward structure on top of an accessible and plainly enjoyable arcade experience it does that effectively enough to be a worthy purchase for footy lovers who want to, as the yanks would have it, punch a hole in the score bag.

If anything, Land-A Panda could have probably benefitted from cranking up the evil earlier on. For the first 20-odd levels, it's all a bit of a foregone conclusion.

While it occasionally feels lumbering, and is starting to show its age now – especially when set alongside the flexibility of PES and FIFA on home consoles – the thrill of netting a vital goal is as great as ever because you know you've earned it.

Microsoft's biggest mistake with Amped 2 was not in shunning its chief competitor's vivacious aerial antics, but in failing to mimic its ease of control and combo structure - areas where the "less is more" idiom could most do with application.

This is quite long and has stacks of replay value with the multiplayer. That multiplayer mode will be hugely satisfying to anyone who happens to know someone else with a PSP (gasp!) and it represents further evidence that 2006 is the year of co-op gaming.

Without a doubt, EA isn't treating the expansion of The Sims 3 lightly - World Adventures might be a bit of a thematic stumble, but it makes for a significantly bigger and more varied game, far more so than any prior Sims 1 or 2 expansion has achieved. It's impossible not to recommend it to avid Sims players, but anti-Sims snobs will inevitably find it to be an annoying side-order of collectormania and repetitive puzzles.

A pretty respectable FPS, but like "Unreal 2" it's the game's inability to innovate consistently that compels us to give up.

But for those willing to sit back and savour the unhurriedness, the experience can be both enlightening and rewarding, revealing as it does truths about this world even as it paints a vivid picture of another. Axel should be proud: that surely is the highest calling of any artist.

Its best ideas may be borrowed, and it tends to repeat itself fairly regularly, but Beenox's latest is still a generous and witty button-basher.

You'll enjoy the gunplay, you'll probably be numbed by the slo-mo gunplay repetition, and then see it through anyway because it's all quite undemanding fun with a decent story. On horseback. Just don't expect Gun to change the world. It really is just "True Crime in the Wild West."

It's one of the strongest launch titles, offering taut fun and challenge in a rapid-fire, quick-load manner that's perfectly suited to the handheld. It may not offer a vision of the portable future that Sony's creative dreamers were hoping for, but as a video game, it works small wonders.

But with a core battle system that keeps you involved every step of the way and a suitably compelling narrative, there can be little doubt that Shadow Hearts: From The New World is a unique and compelling RPG.

It's complicated, often unhelpful, and engrossing. It's the shy boy your mum told you to make friends with. It's a troubled and stubborn creature, with a funny run.

One for those who value story and character over technical innovation then, but definitely a game worth trying if the concept has tickled your fancy.

Apart from the (sadly) expected Bethesda hiccups - erratic quest markers, odd spawn glitches - there's nothing really wrong with Dawnguard. At the same time, there's nothing here that demands 1600 Microsoft Points' worth of attention. If all you want is a solid side quest and some good loot, this will scratch that itch. If you were hoping for something more epic and ambitious, keep waiting.

Wii Fit Plus is indeed an enhanced version of the original, as Miyamoto said. It's just a shame those enhancements aren't expansive or extensive enough to guarantee long-term value, or to justify the higher SRP.

If you're willing to put in the effort, it can steadily win you over. Obsidian can't really compete with the bigger boys in the RPG field, then, but it's carved out a little space to call its own. With ambition instead of budget, and integrity instead of polish, in the end the choice of whether to persevere or not is pretty easy to make.

Other than the disappointing lack of a spruce up for the sound and cut-scenes, only the lazy racial stereotyping of much of the cast and the occasional interloping of slightly crass sexual humour into an otherwise very family-friendly script (despite the murders, obviously) mar an otherwise-excellent adaptation of a genre classic.

It's better than Ice Station Santa, yet not quite as good as Moai Better Blues. It remains small in both size and scope, while those who have stuck with the series since Season 1 will find that much of the actual gameplay is basic meat-and-potatoes fetch-questing. And yet...it's indecently cheap and, for all its minor flaws, the ongoing saga of Sam & Max is still the funniest game around.

If you can live with the lo-fi elements, there's an awful lot to enjoy.

If you're interested in a serious relationship with gaming rather than purely out for a good time, please do take a look at Penumbra. It does some truly clever stuff, has an effectively creepy atmosphere and there's a few signposts in it that action and adventure games alike would do well to follow.

As pointless distractions go, this is one of the best in a while.

At its best, it's arguably the most accomplished Phantasy Star yet, and undoubtedly the new king of loot-hoarding on the PSP. We just hope next year's Sega-developed Phantasy Star Online 2 does more to reinstate this classic series to its former glory.

An effortlessly engaging, if rather slender, dose of wanton destruction that should satisfy the appetites of both retro fans and mainstream gamers without alienating either group.

It's hardly an arcade classic, in other words, but if you're after nothing more than a friendly and frantic fifteen minutes of action every now and then, Choplifter HD just came to the rescue.

That's not to say it's not without its own unique pleasures, but while I'm curious to see what happens next, it so far lacks the edge-of-the-seat impatience that The Walking Dead conjured up at the end of each episode.

It doesn't always succeed in finding a balance between its chilled-out exploration and OCD completist tendencies, but when the formula clicks, the result is both charming and visually stunning.

To put it bluntly, Dementium II represents one of the better survival horror experiences on a system not known for its support of the genre.

As fan service it crowd surfs into the living room with ample generosity and verve. But, irrespective of one's tastes, next to the breathtaking attention to detail of The Beatles project, as a celebration of a group's creative output the package feels a little insubstantial.

For drinking fun with people who are in their twenties and know who Parker Posey is, pick Scene It. For family fun with people who are either too young or too old to drive and think Truffaut is a special kind of Ferrero Rocher, pick Buzz! Hollywood.

Syndicate is a game struggling to be all things to all people and underselling its strongest points in the process. The story is a perfunctory thing, worth playing once for the robust gunplay, but it fails to make Syndicate stand out from the cyberpunk herd.

While Capcom's colossal safari [Monster Hunter] is a master-class in intelligent enemy design and rewarding, consistently challenging combat, Soul Sacrifice throws caution to the wind by giving the player a vast array of options. The result is that it feels mechanically chaotic rather than refined.

Oboromuramasa is shallow, rather simple and relatively short-lived, but nonetheless wonderful in its way. As a piece of visual videogame art it's at the very peak of the medium's achievements, along with Okami and Odin Sphere, and it's crafted with such obvious, loving care and attention to detail that it's impossible not to like. If only its combat were as precise and considered as the faultless presentation, this might be an enduring love rather than a fleeting but indisputably beautiful affair. [JPN Import]

A colourful and breezily enjoyable adventure that's impossible to dislike.

The welcome return of a massively branching campaign structure, along with dozens of battles to fight, units to deploy, and officers to lead them gives an almost unlimited amount of replay value for the lone wargamer.

It's not the most spectacular entry in its niche, and there's no denying there are better kid's games out there, but against all odds Chicken Little's second game outing is a respectable and often charming experience.

But despite sounding infuriatingly complicated, Link 'n' Launch very quickly gets under your skin. The only problem is it's a bit lightweight. With just 10 missions and 100 pretty simple puzzles to barrel through, you're soon left wanting more.

It's a good laugh for the player - although there's always that weird You've Been Framed dampening effect which comes from something that's been set up to be amusing rather than something that's just naturally, accidentally, organically hilarious - but the real fun is being had by the people ogling over your shoulder.

The problem, ultimately, is a philosophical one. I'm not sure if Lucid really gets the mentality behind this series, and that makes for a perfectly serviceable shooter when the lineage requires something more.

As a full-price package, Tekken 3D is more of a technical accomplishment than a portable innovator. If all you want to do is train while preparing for the next battle, then this is Tekken at its purest. But if you're looking for dynamic game types like the generous spread of Story, Legion and Abyss modes in the 3DS version of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift 2, then you'll be largely disappointed.

As effortlessly charming as the beautiful art style is, Bumpy Road veers perilously closely to being style over substance.

Easy Golf certainly offers enough variety and worthwhile features to justify far more than a condescending pat on the back and a certificate for being "Very Good for a Community Game".

Harley Quinn's Revenge doesn't offer much that you won't have seen before, but it's unexpectedly tart and pleasantly grim. It's a chance to get back to the city, to rough up its thugs once more, and to leave with a few new bruises and a few extra memories.

A better than average platformer with cleverly interspersed mini games to present the illusion of expansiveness and freedom.

While FIFA Manager 10 is by no means a poor game, there's an underlying suspicion that the energy that's been pumped into the hit-and-miss multiplayer features would have been better spent on genuinely innovating the single-player game, which sadly feels a little too similar to last year and a little tactically thin compared to FM and CM.

It's hard. In fact, it's so hard it makes Rainbow Road look like Mario Circuit. It makes Master Level 3 on Super Monkey Ball look like a walk in the park. Super Hexagon? A pussycat by comparison.

Factor in an exceptionally short single-player campaign, an undercooked tactical squad element and a distinct lack of gameplay variety and it's impossible not to see this as a very big missed opportunity.

Just when it seemed there was no hope of Midway's ancient arcade classic ever being dusted down for the mobile generation, up pops this bright and breezy tribute to insatiable alcoholism.

Both a brilliant modern riff on classic arcade games and a frustrating chore.

State of Decay's imagination and ambition do not excuse the presentational shortcomings, but it's easier to celebrate an interesting yet crude game than one that's beautiful and dull.

A curious game: an improbably boisterous departure for a series that has slipped into conservative compromise in recent years.

Serious Sam 3 does what it set out to do and nothing more. A faithful and heartfelt ode to old-school FPS carnage, it certainly delivers the dumb fun that Duke Nukem Forever so dismally failed to recapture - and that, for many retro-heads, will be more than enough.

While The Silent Age may not stretch your mental prowess, it's never less than engaging thanks to some great writing.

Hardcore devotees of Sir Arthur's previous adventures will whoop like pandas at the news that the game's legendary toughness has not been completely castrated for today's lily-livered gamers, though it's sometimes hard to shake the feeling that the relentless challenge comes from clunky controls and respawning monsters just as often as smart level design.

With its rather rudimentary style, Arctic Escape will doubtlessly pass most people by, but those of you who take pride in rooting out DSiWare's hidden puzzle gems will be happy they did.

The Warriors more than holds its own on its transition to the PSP. For a start, it's still a perfectly playable, charming and downright brutal game - there really is nothing quite as ludicrous on the shelves today.

Dead Rising 3 is the weakest in the series, then...Just beware, once you get over the pleasure of the first few combo weapons, Dead Rising 3 is just a solid zombie brawler set in an open world, not the strange game of tender heart that used to be so funny and surprising.

For your money, there's plenty of gentle strategy on offer, and a lovely way to pass the time for those of us whose brains come alive to the unfolding of tech trees.

Many won't appreciate the simplicity, or the fact that there doesn't appear to be enough of a substantial challenge to grab your attention for very long. Not for everyone, then, but well worth further investigation if puzzling's your thing.

There are easily better fighters on the PS2 though, and so this feels more like an exercise in retro gaming than an essential and accessible purchase.

It's not too hard, it has a certain charm, it lets you take things on in your own way (as a commander or a commando), and it isn't afraid of pushing the old-fashioned arcade challenge of getting through a level without hitting F6 every ten seconds.

For those willing to tolerate a few boardgame-style abstractions, a little thumb-twiddling (sometimes turn calculations can take a minute or two) and the odd bit of bafflement (fundamentally simple, the game does have a few confusing elements like supply simulation), purchase options are pretty diverse.

A charming and entertaining Japanese RPG which adheres to the conventions of the genre far too much for its own good, but will still provide many, many hours of entertainment.

Rewarding and frustrating in equal measure, but rarely boring, it's a memorable dose of mass slaughter.

Assault on Dark Athena certainly isn't the next-generation sequel it deserved, and compared to the cream of the current shooter crop it's an average effort. In trying to make it consistent with its five-years-old predecessor, Starbreeze has effectively crafted a game that is inescapably and fundamentally outdated.

It gets seven because it's a great example of technical gameplay and a completive attitude to giving gamers value for money, but if we see the same thing again we won't be able to be so kind.

It's hard not to find at least some love for a game which thinks (for example) it's a good idea to put a crocodile in a Croatian jersey, hide it in a level and provide a CROcodile secret bonus.

The best mini-game collection we've played on the Wii.

With only one attempt allowed, this score-chasing affair becomes another insidious time sink.

It's sociable rather than solitary, and there's not a single nasty or brutish thing about it. The good selections of courses and events mean it's not too short, and it's an ideal alternative to real winter sports if you're poor. But most importantly, it's not rubbish.

FIFA Manager 09 is undoubtedly the most comprehensive club management simulation money can buy. While the 3D engine fails to capture the ebb and flow of matches with Football Manager 2009's aplomb, and despite a few tactical shortcomings, it's an excellent alternative with an exhaustive feature set.

Whether you'll want to buy Dead or Alive 5 on day one depends on a number of things. If you're looking for a wealth of new and inventive content in addition to some truly ground-breaking mechanics, then this really isn't the next big thing. But if you have any love for the genre and want to lose yourself in a highly methodical 3D fighting game that tests your adaptive reasoning at about three or four potentially game-changing decisions per second - well, then Dead or Alive 5 is very easy to like.

For a game so rich in character and brimming with originality, there's simply not enough strength or depth here to compete with the likes of Disgaea or Makai Kingdom.

Despite the odd camera and control niggle, it stands out an unpretentious and largely unique example of how to blend strategy and action in a relentlessly entertaining way.

If you want a cheap trip down memory lane, Elite's collection is a truly brilliant exercise in nostalgia - it just isn't all that much fun if you want to actually play them.

It's cute and clever, then, but still more than a little clunky.

It comes down to this: Muscle March is shallow, stupid, short, repetitive and crude. It's also the best WiiWare game I've ever played.

While there are giant leaps towards putting things right this is a game that seems to be grasping for what once was rather than setting its paths straight into a bright and engaging future.

The polish of the game - the truly glorious soundscape, the astonishing art of the characters and the maps, and the clear joy of the basic idea - do point to a talented crew of developers, but the endless bugs, the limited content, the badly balanced upgrades, and the half-implemented ideas feel like the game was polished before it was finished.

Although the controls could do with tweaking and the multiplayer doesn't hold much excitement, it's still fundamentally entertaining. It's an odd concoction, built around an idea we'd love to see developed further than it is here, but thanks to some genius AI, enjoyable level design, simple objectives and underlying black humour, it works.

Sakura Wars: So Long My Love might be one of the most unlikely western releases of recent years, but the very fact that an English language version of such a niche title exists at all is cause for some cheer.

The structure itself is brilliant, but within it is nothing more than the padding of a relentless succession of ultimately quite simple challenges that you soon tire of.

SEGA fans, run don't walk to the shops, but be prepared to give Superstars a few hours before the gameplay starts hugging you as hard as the graphics and sound. Everyone else, dust off Virtua Tennis 3 for a more complete alternative.

The game 999 most reminded me of was the similarly dark – and bafflingly underrated – Lux-Pain, which was equally inconsistent and suffered from a significantly weaker translation, but arguably blended shocks and laughs a little more skilfully than this does.

Although very different from the Japanese veteran's usual ferocious output, Mushihimesama soon grows into the kind of exacting, gleefully sadistic experience you expect from this lot.

It's a funny game, it's a better game than its predecessor and there are certainly worse ways to spend four or five hours. Episode Two nudges the series up from Just Okay to Actually Pretty Good. Let's hope that the third instalment continues the trend.

It's just a shame that, much like its moping hero, it never ventures far enough from its comfort zone to become truly memorable.

The way the game utilises the controller is beautiful and - as ever - the humour superb, yet it's a game short on long-term appeal because it never really dares to test players.

It's all horribly addictive. You're compelled to keep clicking that "end turn" button one more time, inching closer to an interlocking web of different goals, watching your domain grow and spread, star systems turning from neutral grey to your chosen faction colour as you go.

With two or more players, the sequel is, once again, a compulsive riot. Played alone, however, some of its pieces seem sweet, but a little empty.

Lifeless Planet is bold and memorable and oddly sweet in the earnestness of its message and its preoccupations. It's a truly efficient payload. Fire it up and be transported.