Deadly Creatures has an intriguing premise, and makes a strong first impression with its shudder-inducing animation and cute environmental details. That may be enough to curry favour with Wii owners starved of action games, but over the long haul the scariest thing about these critters is how shoddily constructed they are.

It's just a shame that, much like its moping hero, it never ventures far enough from its comfort zone to become truly memorable.

The bike pack on its own, included as standard in the Ultimate Box, adds yet more value, but even in the small details (i.e. adding 1080i support to the PS3 game post-launch) Criterion hasn't let its audience down. And yes, it has a restart option. Best of all, the game is still evolving through yet more DLC. It's just getting better and better, and deserves a score to match.

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.

A tough but lovely recreation of two of the greatest orthodox shoot-'em-ups ever made.

Still, on the whole Savage Moon is a well-executed and polished example of what tower defence has to offer, and for GBP 6.29 offers a great play-for-pound ratio.

Even if you remember the PS2 game with fondness, don't buy this one; your rose-tinted glasses will smash and you'll be left picking the splinters from your eyeballs as tears of blood roll down your cheeks. Also it's not worth £29.99.

It's beautiful, bloody and undemanding, a vacant button-masher with just enough attitude twinkling out from under its heavy stoner's eyelids to get by. But like most heavy stoners it's also frustrating, unrewarding and a bit dull to spend time with, and rather lazy.

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.

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.

Sports Interactive has massive experience in creating single-player management games, but this is the developer's first stab at an MMO - and for the most part, it's a genuine success. While it never quite scales the heady heights of the single-player games, it's still an experience that every Football Manager fan should try, while budding managers intimidated by the demands of Football Manager 2009 are likely to find this a much more enjoyable and accessible entry point to the world of management.

If you've got massive amounts of patience and skill you might enjoy this game, but we're talking the kind of patience and skill required to solve Rubik's cubes in the dark and balance marbles on tightropes.

But for the vast majority of players there will be a challenge hurdle at some point that is just too high to overcome. It's no accident: the game has been designed that way. It's testament to the strength of the surrounding package that Skate 2 continues to be compelling place to inhabit even after its primary purpose is gone and all that's left is the playground.

The Maw is the sort of game you'll play for an afternoon, giggling like a fool the whole time. There's not much more to it beyond that brief but satisfying flurry of amusement, unless you want to go back into each level to harvest all the Achievements, but not every game needs endless replay value. The Maw is charming, cheap and memorable enough that its short lifespan shouldn't put you off.

It's a game fundamentally incapable of not running you down now and then, but the clarity of control and aspiration give wry subtext to its rightful claim to "high definition".

As effective as the Hundred Cell method may be, it would have been good to see more fun exercises included instead of just yet more black-and-white sums. The exercises are too simple for adults.

While there is some enjoyment to be had here, it is hard-won and rarely fulfilling. The imprecision of the combat and its lightweight feel combined with the ropey visuals conspire to date the game considerably.

There are undoubtedly high points, such as the (mostly) excellent soundtrack, the fantastic controls and the truly impressive engine, but Moon is really just a supermodel in the Emperor's clothes, intriguing at first - but leaving very little to the imagination.

I certainly enjoyed the quest, brief as it is, and for all its flaws I was happy to be lured back into Fable's world after a few months out. But I was still left underwhelmed once I'd sucked all the new content dry though. Worth experiencing for the Fable faithful? I'd say yes. But is it worth 800 Points? Probably not.

Mastering the game's in-body platforming is an urgent thrill, beaten down less violently here under the auspices of our old friends keyboard and mouse, and stands out from the homogenised interfaces of modern first-person and platform games.

It's a slight game, but a fiercely memorable one, and like all the best puzzlers, it flicks its players back and forth between two simple states: moments of rage when a level seems impossible, and that sudden rush of adrenaline when you finally beat it.

Having your drawings come to life is just wonderful, and when you choose to do something inventive and imaginative, you'll have a fantastic time. If only the level design forced this kind of innovation on the player, it would have been even better.

And that's the Saints Row 2 PC experience neatly encapsulated: a great - and often underrated - game, but one that is rendered significantly less appealing than in its original console incarnation.

It's a multi-tiered gameplay system that demands not only fast reactions, but also mind-bogglingly complex mental agility to take account of all the factors in play.

Although the new toys fail to entirely justify themselves - and if you can forgive the absence of online options, and look past what many perceive as the heresy of playing the game on anything other than a handheld - Lumines Supernova is probably the fullest incarnation of the game yet available.

It's a good fit for the DS, the top screen showing your list and time, the bottom the interactive scene. But it's a shame it's rehashed PC backgrounds, and low-res images. I'd love to see more originality applied, but there's no denying this is idiotically absorbing.

FIFA Manager 09 is undoubtedly the most comprehensive club management simulation money can buy. While the 3D engine fails to capture the ebb and flow of matches with Football Manager 2009's aplomb, and despite a few tactical shortcomings, it's an excellent alternative with an exhaustive feature set.

Instead, the game concludes disagreeably, as virtually everyone Jason is supposed to protect is left tortured and dead by his original departure, and he simply has a party because he got what he wanted. For an action RPG elevated beyond its serviceable components by the allure of rich mythology to end in such a desperate contradiction is comprehensively self-destructive.