Overdose started life as a fan-made mod and it shows. While it's since gained official approval and funding, Counter-Strike this ain't.

In short, if you're a big fan of trading card games Eye of Judgment is worth the money. If you're not but you're planning to get a PlayStation Eye anyway, you might as well get a great game into the bargain.

The worst kind of licensed game: utterly ignorant of the series' charms it's designed to complement, and bad enough at what it does attempt to make baby Hera cry.

We wish it spent a little more time on puzzles, and little less on weak platforming - but we can't help but love it when a plan comes together.

With its unique squad-based focus and the huge combat variety on offer, it breaks plenty of new ground for the genre - and were it not for a few rough edges would have been bordering on essential.

The lack of real depth to the combat engine means it'll never match up to the standard of its loftier genre peers, and the absence of any co-op or multiplayer mode in a game this demented is inexcusable, but it does make for a more shamelessly enjoyable blade-swinging romp than the similar but oh-so-dull "Heavenly Sword." And it has more naked boobs.

This is really a release made for, and by, Castlevania fans. If you don't think much of the series, this isn't going to change your mind.

More than anything else, we're just happy to have another Ace Combat game we can genuinely say we really like, rather than just saying we don't dislike it. The series has rated a categorical "meh" for some time now; but no longer. Ace Combat 6 can be our wingman any time.

Far and away the best original IP on the Wii, Zack & Wiki is a compelling reason to own this console. Its superb puzzle design and ingenious mix of humour, cleverness and the occasional bout of trial-and-error recall the best adventure games in history, and yet its gorgeous cartoonish looks and innovative control make it refreshingly modern.

There's no denying, however, that the platforming feels a little tired and the constant blibbering of the characters is rather trite.

It's a 9-flavoured 8, but again the mechanics of the court sequences are often so stupidly frustrating that it would be wrong to mark any higher.

Then there's the combat. It's messy. You'll fling ranged spells at enemies and they'll mysteriously miss, presumably due to line-of-sight issues, but it's difficult to tell. Even melee combat seems buggy at times, with monsters you can't hit even though they're stood right next to you.

In some senses, Insomniac does need a clip 'round the ear for doing very little to innovate the gameplay in any meaningful sense, but if you're happy to play through a wonderful high definition version of an old classic, put your money down - you won't be remotely disappointed.

Overall, if you're still searching for the definitive Namco collection, this isn't it.

Essentially the same game that didn't come out over here on the SNES 12 years ago. Except better, and with more content, and with easy touchscreen navigation of menus.

If you take FM2008 at face value, you're left standing eyeball to eyeball with the finest football management game ever made. But just like Aliens: Special Edition was fleetingly more engaging than the cinema release, this year's FM feels like a game that further polishes an already highly buffed formula but fails to take it to a genuinely higher level.

For the price, and for the quality of offer, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is easily one the best games released all year. Blessed with an excellent control system and chock full of masterfully designed levels, as far as puzzle-based action adventures go, there have been none finer for years.

The bottom line is you won't find a better value, more generous or more diverse FSX add-on than this one.

Unfortunately, AOE3's ship has sailed for most folks, and this just isn't exciting enough to quite justify also splashing out on the original game if you don't already own it.

In short, EA Playground is fun for neither kids nor adults. The mini-games don't have the depth of those in Wii Sports or the quirky innovations of those in Wario Ware. The visuals don't have the appeal or charm of a Disney/Pixar game, or even that one about the puppets in the garden Tom likes so much.

I love the concept, and applaud the idea of using the Sims framework to create something more hands-on in nature...But the game is undeniably patchy and full of scrappy design decisions that push the player away rather than drawing them in. It's so rough around the edges that I even ejected the disc to check it said review code.

Between the obvious chinks in the artificial intelligence and glaring clipping anomalies (with characters walking through walls and floating down staircases), only a truly hardy adventurer will persevere. Did I say hardy? I meant foolhardy.

And if the shield was gone and the enemies were fewer, and more varied, it could have been a lot like an actual videogame, with a difficulty curve, rather than a bewildering ascent up a six-foot cliff onto an endless plateau of tedium.

In most ways that matter, this is a fine conversion of an enduring classic, and is exactly the sort of game that makes Xbox Live Arcade one of the most exciting gaming platforms around.

Ease of using the touch-screen aside, it's something we'd prefer to flick to on the mobile while on the bus rather than dedicate the DS slot to. Nevertheless, it fulfils its puzzling duties.

So this is pretty much the same game again, with a few new missions and multiplayer maps, a couple of new mechanics and a new faction. After a year and a half. If this is the best the world has to throw at me, I might just retire again.

There's not much to like about SWAT: Target Liberty. The squad-based mechanic is imbalanced. The levelling-up and weapon selection systems don't have significant effects on how things play out. The plot is silly, the cut-scenes are rubbish and everything's so small it makes your eyes hurt.

Lack of coherency, imagination and self-awareness.

Terrible graphics and extremely limited interaction. Even my girlfriend, who normal gets obsessive about these sorts of pet games, lasted a day before she gave up.

The ideal alternative to Wii Sports. It's a highly enjoyable, well-designed game with simple appeal and real depth. It's the game the Wii's been waiting for - well, one of them, at least.

Its mediocre visuals will tax your PC like an Inland Revenue man hopped up on crack; we had to scale the settings right down in order to make it remotely playable, and even then it crashed us back to the desktop with depressing regularity. Perhaps it was trying to tell us something.

True, it all feels more like doing homework than playing a game. But the incentive to keep going is you do find yourself learning new words. If that appeals, My Word Coach offers a stylishly presented, relatively entertaining way of doing it.

It's a substantial undertaking, too, with breadth as well as depth, and with a control system that demonstrates the Wiimote's capabilities more fully than its direct competitors.

It falls short of its predecessor, which succeeded thanks to cheeriness, simplicity and fluidity. However, it still stands out ahead of its own worst Jackass era, and many of the new inclusions, especially the video editing and Nail The Grab, deserve your attention.

It won't get you out of your Tony Hawk funk if you're already bored to death, but then you've already got SKATE for that so hurrah.

Sight Training is no fun. There's not enough to do and what there is to do is tedious. It's hard to believe it improves your visual abilities any more than eating carrots makes you see in the dark.

Overall, NBA '08 is not a bad game. It just tries to make up in presentation what it lacks in depth.

Being able to move more quickly when you're not firing is a smart twist with intuitive strategic consequences, but there are much smarter decisions at the heart of Everyday Shooter's logic.

Half an hour and one hundred percent done.

The Orange Box offers everything any fan of first-person shooters could possibly want: some of the best single-player gaming ever in the shape of Half-Life 2 and Episodes One and Two; wonderful innovation from Portal, and the most refined, downright fun team-based online FPS currently available in Team Fortress 2. If that doesn't warrant a 10 out of 10, nothing does.

The Orange Box offers everything any fan of first-person shooters could possibly want: some of the best single-player gaming ever in the shape of Half-Life 2 and Episodes One and Two; wonderful innovation from Portal, and the most refined, downright fun team-based online FPS currently available in Team Fortress 2. If that doesn't warrant a 10 out of 10, nothing does.

Spruced up from the PSP and offered for 10 quid, it's probably the best release on Microsoft's clever little service all year.

The game also does a lovely job of framing your relationship with other players and nurturing them.

A happy medium between the mind-blowing excess of its parent game and its somewhat compact Episode One offspring. While initially lacking in gameplay novelty or many truly 'new' elements that fans always hanker for, it more than makes up for this with its consistently engaging narrative tricks, refined set-pieces and a staggering climax.

One of the most interesting and delightful things Valve's ever done, but also one of its least fulfilling. If only we had our own portal gun to bridge the gap to the first infusion of new content, perhaps we could forget it.

Sega Rally is easily the freshest arcade driving experiences to have emerged in years, providing more wide-eyed excitement in five minutes than most games manage in five hours. Not since "Burnout 2" has a driving game stood out as so completely different to everything else, and provided so much instant, moreish entertainment to such a high technical standard.

If you're prepared to ignore its shortcomings and get to know it, there's an approachable beat-'em-up in here, even if it yields to your whim far too easily.

The characters make annoying noises all the time and their hit-and-miss one-liners are repeated too often. All in all Acme Arsenal is a chore to play, even if you're...

What makes a good fighting game is a well-designed combat system offering at least some degree of challenge and long term reward, and that's missing in Bleach: Shattered Blade.

It really isn't for anyone other than the devoted western-RPG head. Which is fine; the devoted western-RPG head has had a particularly weak year, and will lap this up. As they should. But if you're not in their ranks there's little here for you.

Duck Amuck is a title that does its utmost to show (a lot like Rub Rabbits) what the DS can do with all its gimmicks, but it fails to live up to its qualities on the game side.

It's deeply frustrating. There are some great ideas in here, the presentation is top-notch and the options are plentiful, but none of these good intentions add up to a game of any real depth or longevity.

Gorgeous, complex, well-written and beautifully presented, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions has been polished and refined to make it into the best version of one of the best games of the 1990s.

Folklore turns out to be one part boring adventure game, one part underdeveloped collect-em up, and one part standard dungeon crawl. The only aspect of the game that rises above the mundane is its technical polish and the vibrant creativity with which its imaginary worlds have been created - the vivid luminescence of the Fairy World, or the scratchy, Ian Miller-esque authenticity of the War World for example. [JPN Import]

FIFA 08 is, on the whole, a triumph. Had the Be A Pro features been more fleshed out and the lower difficulty settings somewhat more forgiving, then it would undoubtedly have scored a 9 rather than an 8. However, thanks to the promise of the former feature, multiplayer games that are little short of superb (due to the lack of AI defenders thwarting your every attack), the usual exhaustive array of official league and cup competitions and some stunning visuals and animations that milk next gen power for all it's worth, it very much feels that the FIFA franchise is genuinely teetering on the cusp of greatness.

An enjoyable title, just not one that will last you very long or give you good value for money.

This is a meaty (ten hours!), funny and very well-presented adventure title with superb aesthetics, and despite its zany-for-the-sake-of-it puzzle design, it will find a place in the heart of any fan of the genre.

Despite improvements in areas like rain effects and bystander depiction, the Gmotor engine is beginning to look rather tired. Crude shadowing and reflections, primitive vegetation modelling, deserted pit lanes... none of this stuff matters that much when weighed against the superlative handling models, strong audio, decent AI, and robust MP, but it does mean I can't bring myself to award this very fine racing game more than a Nascar-mocking 8.

It's not complex, it's not challenging, but it's not trying to be. It's an enjoyable family game which also has appeal for retro gaming fans and drunk people. If that sounds like you, put Off the Rails on your list.

Barrel Blast is an abortive and uncannily anachronistic attempt at a character racer with impossible controls, dreadful, imbalanced AI and boring design. It's not even worth the hour of your time that it takes to get completely sick of it.

I gave up after trying three of the six short races and the simple shooting and collecting mini-games. Life's too short. I'm never going back, and God forbid gathering people together for the multi-player mode. If the controls don't kill me, the irritating farting ditty in the background just might. That's the last time I play this dreadful excuse for a racing game.

If you thought that Crash's first appearance on the next generation of platforms might enhance its appeal from a technical standpoint, forget it. This is very much a game designed primarily with the PS2 and Wii in mind, with a fairly lazy high-def makeover late in development.

Tetris Splash gets one point for being Tetris, one point for at least having an online mode and one point for being relatively cheap (assuming you don't bother with the DLC). But it loses points for ugly background graphics, the obligatory ghost block, the bad pacing, the expensive add-ons, the limited multiplayer options and having no sharks.

Single-player fans need not apply - but for online players, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is a title which stacks up surprisingly well with Valve's "Team Fortress 2." It can't quite match the polish, presentation and beautifully conceived design of Valve's latest, but Quake Wars sets out to provide a totally different experience, and does so very well - with a set of well-designed, expansive levels and great vehicles being the stand-out factors.

It's a game that's just not clever enough by half. Modelled, shamelessly on a game that's too clever by miles. So it's not necessarily bad. It's just not good enough.

There's much to be said for games which simply polish an existing formula to a shine - but Loki, sadly, doesn't even quite accomplish that. It's solid, and it's competent, but unless you're absolutely crazy for point and click action RPGs, we find it hard to recommend a game on the basis of competence alone.

FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage isn't perfect, and doesn't quite live up to its promise; but it's sitting on the doorstep of absolute, legendary greatness. Everyone with a spark in their soul for high speed, ultra-destructive fun should play this game, and cross their fingers that just that tiny bit of extra care can be lavished on the next game in the series.

If you buy racing games for longevity, innovation and the old-fashioned thrill of besting human opponents, Race Driver's DS debut comes highly recommended.

Graphically Syphon Filter is impressive and the musical score is utterly fantastic, though unfortunately the voice-over work features more racially stereotypical accents than your average mobile phone ring-tone advert.

PGR4 wrings the best yet out of an already scintillating arcade racing game. As a swansong for Activision-bound Bizarre Creations, it's more than we could have wished for, and a daunting prospect for whichever developer Microsoft asks to follow it.

A thoroughly unnecessary isometric brawler that ranks alongside Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean as being one of the worst uses of a high profile license we've seen this year.

Having Gary Oldman and Frodo do voiceovers doesn't make up for the fact this game looks and plays like something made five years ago.

Simply one of the DS' best.

Ninjabread Man lasted half an hour. HALF AN HOUR. Three levels down and I was booted straight back to the main menu without fanfare. I thought I'd pressed the Quit button by mistake... Half an hour and one hundred percent done.

The absolutely tiny amount of adventure content, and the fact that the puzzles simply won't be any challenge to a child of reading age, makes it impossible to give this game a particularly good score.

Even with regular shopping trips ArmA veterans will chew through RF in a couple of longish evenings.

If you're a die-hard adventure apologist with a CSI fixation then step right up, but the rest of you can put your curiosity to one side - especially at its current stupidly high price point.

The best game yet in one of the best FPS franchises of the era. Better than either of its predecessors, Halo 3 still can't quite escape the category of flawed masterpiece - but this time around, the flaws are so minor that even the most churlish of reviewers would be hard pressed to mark the game down.

It's a small improvement over the last Settlers, and therefore a game that many devotees will be rooting for, but there's no getting away from the fact that judged against its peers, or even its own ancestors, this is an average offering in terms of depth, challenge and longevity, and blighted by fussy technical snags to boot.

It marries the Wii's control system with good old-fashioned puzzle-platforming; its scope isn't exactly broad, and not everyone will love the controls, but any fan of this endangered genre will find something to like in its reflex-testing level geometry or amusing puzzles, if not its gaudy looks.

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.

For all its exterior charm, Park Patrol is a game built largely on repetition and slow steps.

Punishingly difficult but ultimately rewarding, games of Skate's caliber are a rare breed and as far as first attempts go, it's been years since we saw one this accomplished. Just... sick, man.

No other RTS provokes the feeling that you're inventing rather than enduring to defeat your foe to this extent. It's complicated and exhausting with it, and while that's exactly what an established COH player will want, I fear it ever so slightly undermines the achievements the original game made in making historical wargames appeal to a mass audience again.

The problem underlining it all is that the games are way too easy.

You can't really fault it for value, because, for GBP 1.99, the few hours of brilliant entertainment you get here are well worth it. A big, warming, chain reaction of delight that you'll want to revisit again and again.

The core process of gathering up pellets and delivering them to the goal simply isn't as fun as it should be. For a game built upon this crucial cornerstone, no matter how many ideas are added on top of it, the whole construction remains unstable and, soon enough, un-enjoyable.

If Sony could offer more tracks per release it'd be worth the money, but as it stands it feels a little overpriced for the existing fans who'd be more than justified in feeling a little brassed-off with the idea of spending more on what is essentially the same game as last time with new tunes.

There is nothing to set this apart from every other mediocre first-person shooter you've ever played, and nothing to make it worth recommending.

At once accessible and complex, kid-friendly and adult-pleasing, and full of personality, MySims is an excellent and original idea that's well-suited to the console, even if it won't be an essential purchase for everybody.

It isn't broken and it isn't soulless, but it is pretty shallow. It's cute and passably entertaining, but there's nothing here that compels you to return to the game, and it's quite clearly aimed towards the younger end of the market. MySims DS is EA's family-friendly take on an existing idea; the Wii version is the one that innovates.

There are some real gems to be had here - just not enough.

All in all, a bit of a must-have.

It's an instantly appealing refinement of smart ideas, served up with gorgeous production values and back-to-basics strategic muscle. It's intelligently structured, so you can lose yourself for hours or indulge in a quick twenty minute skirmish, while the multiplayer mode is an absolute monster if you're willing to submit to its co-operative style.

As a conversion of an acclaimed handheld game, Dark Mirror is a touch sloppy. It doesn't feel like much effort has been made to optimise the game for the PS2, either in looks or gameplay, and the omission of online play and crispy-fried taser fun will only annoy fans expecting a full conversion. And yet...I still kind of like it.

It's just a shame that compared to the innovative excellence of Koei's other battlefield titles like Bladestorm or Gundam Musou, or even just Samurai Warriors 2, Warriors Orochi falls a little short.

These are dross of the highest order. Rip offs at budget price.