One thing in its favour was the gorgeously rendered fruit, that look so realistic and juicy that we swear we were salivating during our time with the game - but that's about as good as it gets.

An action title that relies on keeping the player immersed and focused on the game as much as possible. But if you're asked to spend literally 20 per cent of your playing time staring at a loading screen, then that sense of excitement and immersion quickly ebbs away.

I appreciated the chance to play the lost levels, but it didn't take long to explore them all - and in 2008 they just didn't have the same "wow" factor that they might have had in 2001. Newcomers who own a PS2 would be better off purchasing "Twisted Metal: Black."

With tactile controls, Shadow Runner would be an excellent, original platform puzzler, but it doesn't quite come off on touch-screen devices. Nice try, though.

The game's a source of surprisingly inexhaustible enthusiasm.

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.

The story's less interesting than SOCOM 3 and the levels, objectives, bonus objectives, enemies, prisoners and hostages all blur together into one big brown blur.

Knife-edge thrills delivered by a compelling cast for a truly impressive horror. [Eurogamer Recommended]

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.

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.

I do like Gratuitous Space Battles. I think it's a great concept, beautifully presented. I just wish it would let me like it more.

With some tighter programming, and far fewer invisible barriers and dumb deaths, BiA could have been rather good. As it is - flawed and fun - it's a fantastic signpost.

But with a miserly six songs present in the set list (versus 28 songs in the marginally more expensive Rock Band), and a pathetic selection of songs in the store, it hardly hits the ground running.

It's a package that knows exactly why people want to buy it and lives up to their expectations; that it uses a little imagination along the way is a bonus. You'll either want it or have no use for it, so the number down there doesn't matter a great deal.

In an era when most publishers are content to churn out games you can complete on autopilot, it's quite refreshing to be presented with an FPS that hands your arse back to you on a plate.

It's a game about games, and stuffed with the kind of scenarios and salacious tidbits that presuppose a largely male, largely 20-something audience ready to get lost in them...So let's put it this way. If you masturbate with any degree of regularity, you'll probably really enjoy No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise. And you can quote me on that.

While Mirror of Fate might willingly fumble the classic structure somewhat, it's still got a touch of that familiar vampire-hunting charm to it - a charm that comes to the rescue whenever the developer's invention or polish fall short.

A brainless, buggy open-world game that's forgotten the second you put down the pad.

After spending several days exclusively on Close Quarters matches, I dipped into a Rush match on Kharg Island and in the first five minutes shot down a helicopter with a rocket launcher, crashing it into an enemy jet for a spectacular double kill. That is why I play Battlefield.

Improved menus and controls make it rather less intimidating, and the open-ended nature of the game and the massive range of units, buildings, technologies and strategies on offer means this is one game that you can play time and time again without ever repeating yourself.

The fact that we actually did play it through to completion - despite the sort of flaws that have sent us flying off the handle in countless other reviews - is a testament to its continued accessibility and the continuing attraction of the Buffy franchise.

We were disappointed by the game's lack of depth, but we very much enjoyed playing it - and that, at the end of the day, is far more important than anything else.

What "Allied Assault" and "Frontline" had that "Spearhead" and "Breakthrough" seem less concerned with is the feeling of a battle raging all around you... Breakthrough's trek to Italy almost feels isolated and distant.

For newcomers to the scene, getting into the designer's desired mindset will arguably prove too daunting, but veteran adventurers will admire the new ground that Siren breaks and its chilling atmosphere, and be able to forgive some of its basic flaws long enough to follow through with what is, at times, an immensely challenging and absorbing experience.

Havoc's a very decent package overall. As part one of the Season Pass, this is a strong chunk of content for the sharpest COD in years. It mixes fan service with proper map design, and gives those still addicted to that ADS snap more reason than ever to keeping plugging away towards that next prestige.

Sadly, just as your monster hunting hero is prone to do, it comes within striking distance of greatness, but then swings hopelessly wide and just misses the mark.

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 it's undoubtedly fun for a few rounds, developer Tons of Bits' debut WiiWare effort feels like it lacks a little substance to make it worthy over the longer haul.