It's reminiscent of a browser game you'd click away from ten seconds after loading, or the kind of half-arsed demo that appeared on magazine coverdiscs in the early nineties.

Cryostasis is a brave, fascinating, often very beautiful game, but I find it impossible to recommend it - and not least because it runs like an exploded dog on most PCs. It's not quite creative enough - its environments fall into a monotony of samey rooms and bulkheads - and its combat is too clunky to be delicious.

From its fast-paced, exciting battles to the beautiful, haunting environments, it's an MMORPG like no other we've played - and what it lacks in expensive polish, it makes up for in enthusiasm, ambition and creativity.

It's hard to think of a reason why you'd part with good money for the limited extra entertainment offered by this DLC. There are two more downloadable packs on the way for Saints Row 2, but Volition has much to do to convince players to part with their cash next time.

The reboot is an excellent example of how old-school gameplay can be brought to life on today's hardware.

If you play through this avalanche of new content and you still don't find yourself warming to KOEI's Warriors series, then you can probably forget about ever doing so, because Gundam Musou 2 is absolutely the best in its class. Here's hoping it won't be quite so criminally overlooked as the first game. [JPN Import]

There is so little replay potential here, so little urge to top high scores or perfect shoddy make-do attempts, that completing each task feels more of a relief than an achievement.

A fantastically involving and solid fighting game, enhanced by being set in one of the most imaginative and beautiful universes in the medium.

In motion, it's a painfully beautiful game: in the saturated richness of its colours and the raw exuberance of its backdrops; in the soaring melody of Magical Sound Shower and the husky elocution of the girl who voices the menus; in the hard, brilliant, arcade brashness of it all; above all, in the unique balance and beauty of its handling.

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.

It's clear that the team is trying to provide an accessible, fast-paced scrap-'em-up that can be enjoyed by all the family, not just autistic puppeteers. In that sense, the game's a modest success, offering a shallow but sometimes riotous playpen for up to four players to scrap away in visually interesting ways. But the slightness of the package means that this polished after-pub game will provide some short-term laughs but only minimal long-term nourishment.

A dilution, not a distillation of Puzzle Quest's relentlessly compelling formula. It's a game that drives the franchise too deep into niche territory, where it loses sight of the elegance and simplicity which turned the match-three genre into an everyman phenomenon.

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.

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.

Lacking both a challenge and soul, and failing to even engage on a narrative level, what you're left with is an overly forgiving shooter with weak strategy elements, which only serve to make it even easier for you. Having played right to the end, I wish there was something I could point to in its defence, but all I'm left with is the empty realisation that they've managed to somehow make this even less entertaining than the flawed original.

Lacking both a challenge and soul, and failing to even engage on a narrative level, what you're left with is an overly forgiving shooter with weak strategy elements, which only serve to make it even easier for you. Having played right to the end, I wish there was something I could point to in its defence, but all I'm left with is the empty realisation that they've managed to somehow make this even less entertaining than the flawed original.

It just doesn't hang together as a coherent package in its own right, and while the gameplay certainly doesn't sully the memory of the original, the thin spread of content is cause for concern.

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]

The game has an elegant simplicity when set against the intrinsic fussiness of the Guitar Heroes and Rock Bands of the world.

It's fun for as long as it lasts.

The tasteful, minimalist aquatic theme of Art Style: Aquite appears designed to offset what is actually a rather tedious sorting game.

For those who persist with The Dishwasher, however, there's a deep and interesting set of mechanics here, which ought to appeal to fans of Viewtiful Joe, God Hand and perhaps even those a little disappointed by MadWorld.

The sad truth is, if you already have a Wii, you've already got a better boxing title in the shape of Wii Sports - a game that not only allows you to pummel away at a cartoon representation of your sister, but also effortlessly possesses more charm, more wit, and - worryingly - a lot more precision than anything this can offer.

It's not funny, it's not fun to play and it's less erotic than psoriasis. As the Smurfs would say: **** off, Larry.

An easy game to admire, the concept is appealingly daft and the implementation rich in wit and charm. It's just too laidback for its own good; an approach that pays dividends in those first joyful days but proves less successful in the long term as the rising difficulty curve chafes uncomfortably against the whimsical lack of direction.

But beneath the scream and riot there's a mathematical reality that simply makes for really good videogame levels.

There are some highs, but they all come early, in the thrill of your first Air Jack or Cyclone, or the first hilarious ragdoll enemy death or the sight of Vin Diesel on a scooter. After that, nothing really changes. It's all smoothly presented, accessible, and easy enough to play for a few hours, but it has very little to offer beyond not making you especially angry.