Bad Company 2 remains a superb shooter (if still rather borked by that last patch), but having gorged on it for three months we need something more interesting than second-hand spaghetti bolognese if we're expected to pick up the tab.

This heartwarming gestalt is a lovely and joy-bringing piece of our history, and anybody who ever popped a shiny round coin in any one of these machines' welcoming slots owes themselves a copy, today.

Providing Fatshark can quickly patch the problems, then the player base may build. But that's a big if, and while its problems remain, it's difficult to see Lead And Gold making a big impression on players schooled in big-budget multiplayer thrills.

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.

There are enough flaws in it to stop recommending it to anyone but real X-com fans - who, it seems, are busy trying to mod it into something closer to their desires.

Apart from the obvious fact that party games have moved on an awful lot since Samba De Amigo first appeared, there's no denying that the control system just doesn't quite translate as well as it might have - and that can only hurt its appeal in the long run.

As there's no real burden of expectation on its shoulders, it's hard to imagine anyone getting angry with Fable Anniversary, and yet it's equally hard to shake a feeling of disappointment. It's the original, rather than this update, that's the problem. Fable's fundamentals already had a major overhaul in 2, and while a return to those ideas in rawer form provides an insight into the evolution of game mechanics, it also serves as a stark reminder of its age.

This is a bombastic, flippant, amusingly grotesque game that compensates for a lack of wit with hyperactive energy and overstatement.

By building something you also invest in it and care about it, and in turn it makes you more likely to go on and decorate and experiment with it, which is clever. And when you do eventually discard it, you can simply take it apart and recycle it - no plastic guitar in a landfill here. It's as though Nintendo thought of everything (although I don't know if the cardboard came from recycled sources to begin with).

Between the swearing-hard bits and the lulls, it's actually a lot of fun, much like hanging around with any true mentalist. When I read the back of the (Asian import) box, in its three-screenshotted features, it listed "Quick Time Events" as one. That raised an eyebrow. It's like listing "Ineffectual, infinitesimal penis" on a dating site. But Ninja Blade was right. It totally sold me on its ludicrous quick-time events. [JPN Import]

Boom Street's left, then, to capitalise only on the love and appreciation we all feel towards our global banking overlords.

If BloodRayne: Betrayal gives Uwe Boll an excuse to make another movie, its appearance might not be such a good thing, But if you can get over such matters, this is a satisfying and brutal return to the old school.

It's all reasonably diverting, but the mix of genres never really gels and when things get frustrating the game lacks that basic addictive lure to keep you playing.

While crafted from familiar pieces, Capcom's latest shooter is an enjoyable combination of mechs, dinosaurs and general silliness.

There are some neat new toys while Portal delivers the series at its best, but 2042 launches as the weakest Battlefield in some time.

Has all the right atmosphere and, for once, really comes across as how a game of a film should look and feel, and it's just the game to successfully bridge the gap between role-playing and strategy.

There's something undeniably pleasing about basketballs - except when they hit you in the nose - and while there isn't much to Hotshot, you'll lose more time to it than you might expect.

An imaginative co-op experience that demands communication and teamwork, and conjures something memorable and unique as a result. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Furiously frustrating. The game pitch works wonderfully in the realm of theory but in practice its problems undermine most of the flashes of brilliance.

It's certainly decent enough, but it's not good enough to unseat Virtua Tennis from its position as the best game of tennis on the PSP.

Ultimately, despite the pleasing use of the stylus, there aren't enough original ideas to make it stand out from the crowd.

Its redeeming features are those it shares with Odyssey to the West – a sweet and nicely told story, an essential humanity. However, their redemptive powers are outdone by anachronistic trial-and-error gameplay, which grinds its gears and snaps your patience once too often.

There is absolutely no reason to trade money like that for a game like this, for a mouldy time-capsule that will likely mar your memories of the original. This time, history needs to be left to rest.

So Deadlight can lay claim to being as smart and atmospheric as previous 2D XBLA hits such as Limbo or Shadow Complex. There's one problem, though: Deadlight is an incredibly slight experience. A single play-through comes in at under two hours, and that running time's been bloated by an uncomfortable number of trial-and-error moments.

Given its fractured development and lumpen structure, the fact that The Bureau is actually pretty good is arguably victory enough. It's certainly the "contemporary" game 2K wanted - but it's never as inventive or memorable as the strategy game that inspired it.

It's basic stuff, its frame-rate can stutter, and it's got a handful of minor - ha! - bugs, but if you're looking for a source of guilt-free insect murder over the next few weeks, this is the best show in town. Just ask the ants.

Its central mechanic is truly empty and truly compulsive, and yet the barest, most devastatingly mindless circuit of its interactions is redeemed by the wonderful art and the sly imagination on display.

At its best Infinite Undiscovery is just another standard action JRPG following a strictly linear route through the same predictable story about another reluctant young hero overthrowing yet another evil empire. In its worst moments, it's an unwieldy collision of ill-conceived ideas and sloppy technical implementation that will test the patience of even the most hardened player.

A deeply flawed combat-based action game that offers a mere fraction of the depth and the challenge of the original... It's a shock to see the mighty Capcom let its standards slip in such a dramatic fashion.

Were it not for the cretinous handling that leaves you bouncing all over the track, and dumb AI that usually lets you off the hook anyway, we might have really liked XGRA. As it stands, though, we blitzed through the game in a few hours, and frankly have no compulsion to go back to it.

In short, there's no real feeling of accomplishment when you level up, which means there's no real incentive to do anything other than belt through levels in a bid to get them over with quickly and move on.

But the bigger problem seems to be that developer Bluepoint Games has gone after two audiences at once, and it hasn't really done enough for either.

If however, you're after a management game that's highly accessible, requires only a modicum of tactical tinkering, allows you to buy the players that you really want and enables you to enjoy instant success and thrilling match highlights, then you should certainly consider opting for CM2008.

The physics engine, as always, is the main attraction - it's just a shame that Milestone didn't apply a little more drive and ambition.

Ultimately you'll have to win a difficult argument with yourself to justify the purchase. Good luck.

If you have zero tolerance for stuttering frame rates and occasional fumbled controls then don't go near Advent Rising. It's a good science-fiction action game that suffers from technical problems.

The worst accusation I can hurl at With Fire & Sword is also the kindest compliment I can pay it. Despite the new setting, infernal weaponry and bespoke story quests, most of the time the game plays just like Warband or the original Mount & Blade.

Apart from that grumble [about the visuals], Schizoid is a welcome change of pace from the usual top-down shooter - not least because it's not a shooter, and instead turns co-op play from a fun optional extra into the core of the game.

Most damningly, there's just no charm to the game. You go into it expecting whimsy, laughs and character (as you did in the otherwise dire Sheep, actually), but you leave having raised a half-smile at the way pits spew out lamb-chops, and a feeling of nausea whenever you hear jaunty music.

The plot pulls off a potentially murky blend of regime change and climate-conspiracy because it's obvious that nobody expects anybody to think too seriously about these things, and the game beneath the plot throws the same objectives at you over and over again because it knows that the tools you're given are fun enough to ensure that you can do things a little differently each time. [Eurogamer Recommended]

If Ark and Rust are the flaccid alpha males of survival gaming, Conan is the cocksure challenger angling for an advantage. [Recommended]

It’s silly, strange and possibly psychotic, but it’s our silly, strange and possibly psychotic. You’ll criticise it, maybe even question its validity as a complete game, but you damned well won’t put it down before you’ve finished it. It’s marvellous.

Golden Axe, then. Big, brutish, three-button sprite-based fantasy brawler with bags of nostalgic moments and inexplicable co-op charm: Yours to buy for the 39th time for just 400 points.

As it is, for all the added beauty and inherited class, I don't think there's enough freshness or sophistication here for that to happen.

Those with less animated imaginations, less patience, and lower tolerances of fusty graphics and long turn resolution times should probably stick with Civ and Total War.

It's not all that good, and it's got some horrible flaws, but at the same time, at least for a while, it's a laugh.

There's just not enough imagination, invention, and engagement with the source material to entice me back. If you think the game plot sounds interesting then you're really far better off reading the book or getting hold of the superb 1945 movie.

A formulaic, by the numbers FPS with zero innovation, demented AI and a crushing lack of inspiration.

There's a lot of game in Crash Tag Team Racing, but there isn't a lot of good game. And since there isn't really a lot of kart-racing game either, on a system that seems to have more pure racing games than any other in recent memory, it's hard to think of a good reason to tag it any other way.

Jewel Quest is about planning ahead rather than reacting; the pace is deliberate rather than manic. It's Chess next to Zoo Keeper's Operation.

Overall, it's a solid and unique JRPG which, thanks to some brave and interesting design decisions is worthy of attention, even if it will do nothing to convince genre detractors of that fact.

As long as you're not expecting a serious Soul Calibur-esque beat 'em up, then there's so much to admire about KFC; it's huge fun from the word go, has an absolute shedload of unlockables and has a style all of its own.

There's a faint whiff of missed opportunity about Enter The Dominatrix, then, but four or five really good laughs are enough to warrant a cautious thumbs-up. Volition's made a half-decent fist of reheating its own leftovers, and with the injection of fresh ingredients, the next episode - brilliantly titled How The Saints Saved Christmas - promises to be even more of a giggle.

Mechanically, Life Eater uses a diary-based puzzle system in some really interesting ways, but it struggles to say anything meaningful about the shock-factor setting it's gone for.

In short, Shrek SuperSlam is the kind of game that kids are likely to spend a happy afternoon with, after which it will end up shoved at the back of the cupboard.

A sci-fi odyssey of great vision and promise that proves to be its own worst enemy.

It's worth buying if you can find it at a bargain price, and works as a decent alternative to Wii Fit for balance board owners. Just don't expect too much.

I love Fallout 3. I love it to an almost indecent extent. It was far and away my game of 2008, and doesn't look like being knocked out of my personal top spot for a good while yet. But when you sift out its role-play, the ammo-box inspection and the exploration and draft in a fleet of health and ammo regeneration points to compensate... well, affairs just feel shallow and somewhat naked.

Imperfect, unkind, and rough round the edges, Session captures more of real skateboarding than almost any game that has come before.

If it was ten solid levels of proper Star Fox space combat delivered with the same degree of glorious detail and a challenge that rose from the promising double boss-fight climax of the second section to the kind of crescendo Star Fox reached at its peak then they would fit like silk gloves.

These issues with pacing and balancing are compensated by the manic euphoria of the action, so if you have three reliable friends with a penchant for manic gunplay and surreal RPGs then Shoot Many Robots can be an enjoyably unpretentious distraction. Those who prefer to play solo should steer well clear, however.

Daniel Fortesque's tale is retold with style, but the fundamentals frustrate.

Obviously the game is targeted with a marketing sniper's precision to appeal to a certain type of young girl, but it's well crafted enough to interest a wider, inquisitive audience.

Still, this is Cave we're talking about - the masters of Stress Gaming. What did you expect?

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.

If you can adapt to the control eccentricities, there's plenty to recommend, but you might find it too much like hard work at times.

So if you're new to the series and want to see what all the fuss is about, Splinter Cell Trilogy HD is still a decent stealth package. It should be much better, though - and that's why it's hard to recommend it as strongly as the games themselves deserve.

A game that has a great little concept, a wonky campaign, AI bots that aren't quite up to the challenge of challenging you and somewhat dodgy netcode. It's incredibly frustrating, because the core concept works, and it works well. It's just all the rest that's falling apart at the seams.

There's still an argument for considering other mini-game collections with better ratios of good-to-poor games. The ratio in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 isn't even as good as it was in the first game. And overall the game isn't as entertaining as a rabbit doing a poo on a stage, which should tell you something.

Being a blatant clone doesn't preclude I Must Run from being enjoyable, though, especially now you can pick it up for free.

With the trademark sharp witticisms layered onto challenging and inventive puzzles, this is the best possible start to the new season.

The PSP version may not have the zip of the others, and you certainly wouldn't choose it over and above them, but Tomb Raider: Legend is a good game, and if you can put up with the initial awkwardness you'll find it was worth the wait.

I've been walking around all week thinking about east and west and how to tell the difference between the two when I haven't got a compass to hand. I have been thinking about reckoning. This allows the game's fiction to create compelling moments - I have been genuinely lost in Sea of Thieves at times. But it also allows it to do what every game like this truly hopes to do - to cross over, to seep into your everyday life.

An escape from alien invasion, with beautiful art direction.

If you're willing to put the hours in, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is a highly entertaining party game.

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

Just as it did with Modern Combat: Domination, Gameloft has provided another high-quality, no-frills alternative that might just surprise you.

There's remarkably little puzzle-solving, and on the occasions when you do need to find a power-up to get through an area, you'll generally find it right next to it. The plodding pace of the game also makes combat incredibly dull, as you might expect.

An eerie, hypnotic sleuther - and a cracking first effort from a miniature team. [Eurogamer Recommended]

The fact is that wandering through the plot of Long Live the Queen, blithely making mistakes on the assumption you'll do better the second or third time, is wonderful. Trying to actually do better is a byzantine process involving either heavy use of a guide or incredible persistence.

An enjoyable, polished, satisfying game. It may only be a few hours long, but it's worth a tenner. It's perfect for those afternoons when all you want to do is close the curtains and collect rainbow gems while listening to some nice music. Just don't expect to remember the experience in 23 years. Or indeed next Tuesday.

Special Forces is not without its moments of drama and excitement, but ultimately there is an overriding sense that you are simply going through the motions – Move or no Move.

If Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands and Arkanoid had a saucy three-way, Space Ark would be the love child.

Nier is very difficult to dislike, even as you curse the quality control that lets the game oscillate wildly between the fiercely inventive and the utterly generic. Yet while it's hard not to admire a game that dementedly throws so much at the player in an attempt to make something stick, Nier's faults are too many and too severe to wholeheartedly recommend.

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.

Fantasy Wars will be most appreciated by those armchair generals who are thirsty for a dose of meticulous planning, not to mention those with comfy chairs, as it will be a long sitting before the day is done.

There's a rich, deep, accessible and fun score-attack game lurking not far beneath Wreckateer's rubble, but it never fully reveals itself.

For those with infinite patience and actual artistic skill, then Creation Mode might offer some entertainment, giving you the chance to show off your talents, or, more likely, import pictures to daub obscenities over.

With an evident determination to cut the crap and get down to business, it's a tight, brutal no-nonsense corridor shooter. Completely predictable, but fun all the same.

Completists will certainly enjoy the three Templars' Lairs bundled alongside The Bonfire of the Vanities, but being forced to buy the accompanying memory sequence to access them leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

It's clear from the thoughtful setting and the commitment to Buddhist myth and ritual underpinning the plot that genuine effort has gone into the game, but that doesn't show in the final product. Perhaps fittingly for a game based around scaling a peak, playing Cursed Mountain is more a matter of endurance than anything, despite its worthy intentions.

A few more of these and the big boys will be casting a few nervous glances in the direction of the download sector.

It's a safe if not spectacular middle episode to Ubisoft's mostly enjoyable yarn - one that neither sets up new mysteries or concludes any existing ones. It wraps things up with a sequence that suggests we're within reach of the season's denouement, with another shift in location to New York and a cliffhanger that promises a more dramatic conclusion.

But even with the 2600 stuff taken out of the equation, nine quid for the whole lot is reasonable value, and if you're only interested in certain titles, you can buy each one in 59p packs.

A well-designed, well-conceived game.

The package as a whole is still very much a rough diamond, but it's a definite improvement over its predecessor.

X manages to fail on almost every level.

As a live-service game, you can expect lots of tweaks and changes as the weeks morph into months, but having magpied so much from those kinds of games it's left with little identity of its own. Despite the promise of its campaign, its endearing cast and impressive voice work, Marvel's Avengers is an unoriginal and uninspired affair that falls sadly short of what it could have been - what it should have been.