By limiting it to repetitive and limiting challenges, the game is condemned to that of pretty distraction.

Rated next to proper, real life combat platform games like Jak & Daxter and Sly Raccoon it's evidently a pale shadow of what else is out there, but next to other kids' games it's a massive improvement over what we've seen this year.

It's too hard, it's a bit feebly constructed in places, and it plays too much like real driving, which, for a game laden with UFOs, is a bit of a contradiction.

You're probably as well-served going for FIFA '08 on DS than you are this. That said, this is a decent attempt at portable football on the DS that carries Pro Evo's name, though don't let it fool you into thinking it's anywhere near as majestic as other versions.

An enjoyable diversion for a couple of hours, but lacking in depth or replayability to warrant serious consideration.

Grasshopper's latest really is a bit of a lollipop: it's sugary, colourful, insubstantial - and perhaps a bit sickly with it.

As a freebie to PlayStation Plus subscribers, Me Monstar Hear Me Roar is a cackling feast of projectile-vomiting silliness to while away an hour on, but you might balk at having to actually pay for it.

Pop Hits, by comparison, feels like a loosely thrown together collection of what the charts say is cool, with little regard for what will make for a fun karaoke party.

Despite being ahead of "Doom 2" in many respects, it's simply nowhere near as fun to play. Saddled with clunky combat, it's impossible to come to this with fresh eyes and appreciate what the fuss was about.

Pac-Pix was always going to struggle to be more than a cute little concept game that showed off how cool the touch-screen idea was, and so it has proved. For a few hours it's a really entertaining diversion that's unlike anything we've seen before.

Baja is a fussy racer, held back by twitchy control and incredibly dull design. Truly dedicated fans of the real race, or hardcore racing nuts with vast reserves of patience, may well get something out of it. Most people looking for a grimy, gnarly rock-hopping racer will be quite happy with something like "Pure."

HAWX is a victim of the high standards set by the other titles in the Clancy franchise. Games such as EndWar and Ghost Recon manage to strike a balance between being fun to play, while offering real challenge and depth of gameplay. This game doesn't, and as a result it's hard to recommend it as a must-buy.

One day, Gaijin Games might make it possible for mortals to play its games, but until then Fate is one you're probably best off spectating rather than getting smashed up by.

Although there's a certain chaotic charm about it (especially the frenzied split-screen duels), the inherent repetition quickly has you raising an eyebrow at its rather off-putting price tag. For a tenner, you'd expect a lot more.

Verdict for Churchills? If you already own HoI2 then think long and hard before coughing-up for Doomsday's jumble of minor enhancements and questionable alterations.

It may well be widely-regarded as being up there with the best Vietnam-based FPSs (and we're thinking Vietcong on PC specifically, which shades this), but stood next to the likes of Call Of Duty its bothersome AI leaves the game hamstrung in one of the most crucial areas.

It’s just a shame that for all the initial graphical beauty, complexity and diversity of The Clone Wars, it really boils down to a simple, flawed, over-stretched game design.

It's casual to the core, designed to be playable by everyone from little kids to open-minded grandparents, and that's no bad thing. In those terms, Feeding Frenzy 2 is a decent package that improves on the original in terms of size, if not gameplay.

Enchanted Folk is to Animal Crossing what the first Saints Row was to GTA; it's a competent, entertaining knock-off, but it's still a knock-off.

Despite the crushing averageness that SWAT displays in the visuals and the by the numbers level design, it's a strange experience to reflect on how much we enjoyed it.

WRC 2 is a very slightly improved game, but a year on, gaming has left it behind.

Gamers under about the age of 25 will frankly be utterly amazed at how basic things were back then, while those old enough to have owned (and who knows, maybe loved) a 2600, or hung around the arcades will have a few hours of curiosity sated before moving well and truly on.

It isn't bad, but set next to last year's Donkey Kong Country Returns, or even Ubisoft's zesty Rayman Origins, this winter's other other platformer feels very vanilla by comparison.

It's hard to shake the feeling that China Rising is Battlefield 4 by numbers - maps for the sake of maps. That's enough for most. That is, if they can get the bloody game to work.

The main overriding problem (badum) is the same as ever: the sense of excitement, speed, and - above all - fun just isn't as strong as the four-wheeled racers busy hogging the upper echelons of the world's charts.

It's a great playground of war - one that would be done more justice by a better game for sure, but the exaggerated entertainment value of the Ascension and Hai-Genti factions go a long towards making up for Maelstrom's shortcomings.

Action RPG veterans who are looking for a new challenge for their over-muscled index fingers could do a hell of a lot worse than investing a few hours (and indeed a few pounds) in Silverfall. It's no giant of the genre, but it's a pretty decent snack between meals.

Much like gnawing on human flesh, Dead Island's clumsy horror-action role-player is the definition of an acquired taste.

But while dumbing down the RPG premise for the casual console gamer might work for some people, it ultimately fell down for us by making the main action portion of the game really quite tiresome.

If you're adept with the Medal of Honor/Halo style control scheme then by all means prove us wrong and shake your weary fists at us in combat, but if you're uncertain then we recommend you try it out before committing, or simply wait for SOCOM 2.

In the end, though, it left me cold. Antichamber's frosty and self-satisfied air is preferable to the chummy japery of Kim Swift's Quantum Conundrum, for sure - but both games have made a similar mistake in hiving off half of Portal's personality and expecting it to stand on its own.

A beautiful, elusive mood piece, Phoenix Springs' blend of taut dystopian detective noir and meandering surrealism is likely to frustrate as much as it intrigues.

Tenchu isn't a particularly complex beast, and it doesn't take long to get the most out of it, so it's a nice alternative if you're bored of creeping around gloriously detailed locations pretending to fight terrorism. On the other hand, only a few shiny surfaces and high-poly models stand between this and the visual mediocrity of most PS2 titles.

WayForward frequently sends you from one corner of the map to the other on simple fetch quests and back again, and with enemies respawning every time you pass from one area to the next, finding new secrets is much more of a chore than it should be.

It does lots, and it does things reasonably well. It's just, well, it's doing the wrong things reasonably well.

There are moments as you roar around the tracks when NASCAR 09 is vastly more entertaining than you'd expect. Sadly these brief thrills are almost always muted by the typically sensible EA Sports corporate sheen, which ultimately reduces the game to another technically minded racer of limited scope rather than the over-the-top metal-shredding redneck rumble of the real thing.

There's a great Kinect workout waiting to be made - this isn't it. But though it is flawed, UFC Personal Trainer should still get the committed fitter faster than its current rivals - just not without frustration along the way.

If you have an itch for straight-up no-frills blasting action, then Serious Sam: Double D will certainly give it a good scratch, but despite the challenge modes and the golden guns that bulk out the package, it's doubtful you'll be coming back. There are some good lines, and a few neat ideas, but ultimately it's mindless shooting and aspires to be no more. In that, it is a success.

Another Code R is a finely-crafted mystery adventure that's recommended for fans of the form with some time and patience on their hands, but anyone else looking for something engaging to read and solve might want to consider alternatives. Including the kind that comes printed on paper.

That's the best way to describe Qvadriga, I think. Exhiliration followed by a cool malaise.

While not as essential as a title like Geometry Wars, Roboblitz can still be a charming and enjoyable experience, definitely setting new precedents for future Arcade releases. However at times it feels a little too much like an Unreal Engine 3 tech-demo than a game in its own right.

For those expecting massive advancements or a radical departure from the original, this will come as a disappointment. A more honest, realistic assessment would be to treat this as a mission pack, and for those who do just want more of the same, you'll come away a satisfied customer.

In some ways, Directive 8020 feels like a game of missed opportunities, and a bunch of almost-theres. But sometimes Supermassive's ambition pays off. It's a touch too long, it's a little too one-note, and I wish it could have pushed a little harder to find its own identity as it charted so much well-trodden ground. But its existential chills are effective, it's got an earnest spirit, and a phenomenal cast that genuinely made me care. If Supermassive keeps pushing its horror series, I suspect great things are in store.

The game always looks good, and it amuses sporadically, but there's no heart - and following on from the similarly scattershot All 4 One, it sets a worrying precedent. Ratchet and Clank are in danger of losing their way. Insomniac needs to regain confidence in its still-popular series and play to its strengths rather than chasing trends for the sake of change.

A game best-enjoyed in short sharp bursts. That way you can appreciate the views, have some fun creating an offensive strategy on paper before briefly hammering it out on the field.

With bags of charm and wry humour, Rock Of Ages gets off to the best possible start. You'll want to love it, but in the end, these are half-baked ideas that ought to have been put to better use. Ah well.

The longer we've spent with The Last Remnant, the more we find ourselves wishing that it were a pure strategy RPG, because the more time you invest, the more interesting the battle system becomes - and, as a consequence, the more you begin to resent everything that prevents you enjoying it. [JPN Import]

A fascinating but flawed experimental musical game that fails to live up to some heavenly potential.

The Invincible is a spectacular adaptation of Stanisław Lem's book, but it's limited in terms of what you can do in it, and the impact on the story you have.

A wondrous dreamlike world to explore in or out of VR, but a story that doesn't always hit as hard as you might want.

How long you keep going is probably more down to your OCD tendencies than anything, but with dozens of frog species and even more achievements to shoot for, it will most likely be longer than you should.

Kirby Super Star Ultra definitely represents the series' nineties high point, but Kirby has never really scaled too lofty a peak.

While it's a fine tribute to Panzer General's mechanics, it actually ends up feeling a little dumber and more obtuse than the venerable vintage it pays respect to. It sings its tune well and it will entertain fans of the original but, unlike the generals whose battles it represents, it fails to either innovate or inspire.

Some will fall in love with its goofy adolescent humour and sink-or-swim gameplay. If you can wade through those early matches long enough to make peace with the controls, and find yourself in a match with like-minded players (or better yet, actual friends), it can be ridiculously good fun. It too often feels, however, that praise is due more to the game The Showdown Effect is trying to be rather than game it currently is.

Honeycomb Beat just isn't as addictive or substantial as it needs to be to make it a classic.

This is a new FC, with some genuine differences on- and off-pitch. It's also the exact same FC it's always been.

Scrappy design and presentation mean that it's hard to give Zombie Driver a more enthusiastic thumbs up - but as a particularly goofy example of the sort of guilty gaming pleasure that rarely gets a look-in amongst the autumn blockbusters, it's impossible to dislike.

There's simply no getting away from the fact that the irritating reshuffle of titles from the console edition has left a sizeable hole in the appeal of this compilation, and the presence of a few too many relics best left buried does little to compensate.

The camera view is frustrating, the controls are frustrating, the AI is frustrating, the resource system is frustrating, the missions are frustrating, and above all the fact that this game isn't half as good as we were all hoping it would be is very, very frustrating.

While See the Future certainly lengthens the Fable II experience, it does little to expand it.

This return to Alan Wake's horror roots feels a little lacking compared to the main game, but its examination of AI and art's relationship with science arguably hides its most daring meta commentary yet.

It's probably quite fitting that anyone who wants to recreate Monkey Ball's past in this way will be left a little disappointed. Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz sees Marvelous AQL and Sega attempting much the same trick and earning much the same result. This does enough to stop the rot, but it can never quite turn back the clock.

Both While Waiting and The Swimmer seem deeply interested in life - what it's made of, how it unfolds, and how easy it is to miss important details. Both are larks, in a way, but difficult, complex, ponderous larks. You know, if such a thing is possible.

You'll probably only want to play it a couple of times yourself, but show it to your ageing mates and you're guaranteed to spark a conversation about Mario's Cement Factory within 14 seconds.

KillPixel's shooter demonstrates breathtaking ambition in its 3D level design, but that can come at the cost of pacing and fun.

The key problem is that just about all the good things about it are lifted straight from the original Homeworld, and there's really not a lot in the "enhancements" to this sequel which distinguish themselves above the first game.

Soulstorm is a stopgap game. It really feels like the last breath of the series. And that's a real shame.

There's just too much about it that gets up our nose, and however much we jam our finger up there trying to straighten it out, favouring the outside line or not, it still slides back and forth just out of reach.

It's a stunning little game to play for a while after the pub or while waiting for a taxi to turn up, and a complete contrast to the involved multiplayer experience you'd get with FF:CC. If a copy lands on your lap, you'll probably love it - you just wouldn't pay thirty quid for it.

Turok is at its best when you slow down and make use of your surroundings and arsenal. The reason it loses so many points is that it can be at its absolute worst ten seconds later, and that while its lows are paralysingly dreadful, its peaks are never much more than competent, or fleeting novelties spoilt by cliché, repetition or sloppiness.

On a rainy day there's an enjoyable few hours to be had riding these highs. On a sunny day, a trip to the theme park and riding a rollercoaster would be more understandable.

But really this is a game that makes you wonder why people are still churning out first person shooters on the PSP - not least because it's probably one of the best, and yet it's still not really good enough.

Instead of a full-blooded reminder of a genre of games sadly departed, it's more often a reminder of why they died away in the first place.

For now, Vanguard is a game which has plenty to offer a brave adventurer with a stunning PC. Aside from any design or content problems we've identified with the game, potential buyers need to be aware that they're entering a world which, as a prominent WOW character would have it, is not prepared.

Problem is, with the lengthy time it takes to move between any location in the Sims 2 - especially if you're only going to be there for the few minutes a date takes up - is particularly taxing.

For those expecting massive advancements or a radical departure from the original, this will come as a disappointment. A more honest, realistic assessment would be to treat this as a mission pack, and for those who do just want more of the same, you'll come away a satisfied customer.

While it's a competent integration of popular license into popular design, the constituent parts don't perform to the best of their ability, and the result is inessential and often bland, even though it's easy to sit and play contentedly for several hours.

Lumiose City could do with work, but Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a much more tightly focused - and delightfully goofy - return to better form. At least by modern Pokémon's standards.

Boltgun's boltgun earns a place in the pantheon of great video game weapons, but the rest of the game's arsenal doesn't quite live up to it.

It's let down dreadfully by the truly monotonous nature of the gameplay later in the game - and, perhaps most damningly of all, by the fact that the game is simply ridiculously short.

While Contra 4 is, at its core, a great 2D shooter that's refreshingly difficult, there are too many places where it stays true to its past in the face of innovations that could only make it a better, more accessible game.

With obvious debts to such indie hits as Braid, Limbo and The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, The Bridge ultimately feels like a truncated compilation of iconic motifs rather than a fully-fledged experience in its own right.

If you're looking for a fully featured PES game, you'll obviously need to look to other formats, but if you're just after a decent facsimile that allows you to enjoy the magic of a flying football, you might find the series' best feature to be its saving grace on the DS.

It's a clever twist on an old standard but the cannons prove to be an irritation rather than a true challenge - their fast, ruthless volleys reducing too much of the game to a painstaking crawl, claiming a few pixels of space at a time as you inch towards a vital catapult. Fun, then, but in need of balancing.

Zombie Panic's gleeful initial charm and quirky visual appeal wane once the frenzied, bullet-spraying repetition kicks in after a couple of stages. It's evidently one of those games best sampled in small doses.

Although decent fun in short bursts, Age Of Zombies is a little too relentlessly repetitive to enjoy over the longer term, and this general lack of variety makes the inflated price seem a tad questionable.

All of which combines to make Open Roads an experience that's pleasant to drift along to. The moment-to-moment uncovering of the mystery and your family history is gently absorbing, and provides the catalyst Opal and Tess need - mother and daughter - to come to some realisations of their own. Those thorny familial realisations are handled maturely and end up in a nice place of understanding, which I appreciate, and likely you'll end up with a warm glow from the game, as I did. It's a nice day out. It's just that as soon as it seems to get going, it's over and you're on your way home.

From the developer of The Banished Vault, Amberspire is an equal-parts frustrating and intriguing eco city-builder set on a moon that was built as a mausoleum.

Festival of Blood's slight but fun, in other words - a decent shaggy dog story for you to plough through on Halloween evening before the doorbell starts ringing and your friends drop round dressed as the seven ages of David Bowie, or whatever your theme is this year.

Mafia continues to feel a tad dated in its design trappings, but there's a fascinating mix of beauty, efficiency and nuanced performances here that are well worth your time.

With multiple endings and 20 potential allies to recruit across the adventure, as well as a tough bonus dungeon once it’s complete, there’s the promise of longevity here. But few will venture back to this curio once the end credits have rolled.

Where Guitar Hero 5 hauled the series up to a quality plateau, adding a load of features that fans of the series can really appreciate, Band Hero is nothing more or less than a reskin. And even though it's a reskin of a superb game, the lack of concern for the credibility of the music and presentation can't help but cheapen it.

Obscure II also deserves credit for the slick way it handles co-op play - a feature that's still completely unique and exclusive to this series...But if you're only after the cream of the crop, then be aware that this isn't likely to be one for your Most Wanted list.

Despite its exaggerated cartoon characters and picturesque sunsets, Powerstar Golf feels surprisingly staid and lacking personality.

Like labelmate Trinity Universe, Atelier Rorona is a hard game to dislike, but it ultimately feels a little too tied to JRPG convention for its ideas to bear fruit. It might be admirable for a game to promote such a diligent work ethic, but it never quite rewards you handsomely enough for your efforts.

Although persistence is rewarded with a host of unlockable cars, weapons, interviews and the like, it's doubtful whether you'll have the desire to get drawn into the experience as obsessively as the developer requires you to.

The casual gamer should steer well clear. It just isn’t very friendly and not the type of game you can drop into for a quick burn.

The combat system is nicely balanced, it's just that you'll probably be tired of it by the time you're a few hours in. Multiplayer definitely adds value, while the presentation, as noted, is absolutely beautiful.