The play balance is sublime.

If you’ve got the time and patience for it, there’s literally hundreds of hours of gameplay to be found in the single-player portion of the game (specifically, World Domination). This is also a game that rewards various play styles and encourages you to try new things, all the while becoming more and more addictive with each hour that passes.

Epic Games is onto a winning formula and UTIII does deliver just what online console gaming needed: accessible, frantic, and endlessly enjoyable old-school gameplay. Just switch on your console, get in there and blow sh.t up.

This is officially a must-have product.

It’s outrageously awesome entertainment that forgoes taking itself too seriously to ensure you’re grinning ear-to-ear throughout, smiles gleefully lit up by the biggest explosion-fest in gaming history. And we have no problem with that, whatsoever.

The feeling of progression and development is a great draw as well.

The campaign structure, the selection of events and vehicles, even the damage modelling and Flashback systems are all of a piece, and all intended to achieve one goal – to keep you on the racetrack, pedal to the metal, chasing the win. After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?

It succeeds because it doesn’t just try to throw more humans into the same old environments and gameplay. It offers a smart three class system that encourages savvy team-work, an experience meter that builds to enable special attacks and uses levels designed specifically for the mode to maximise the resulting gameplay. It also dynamically shifts the action to take into account the number and skill of players in each game, making for near endless replayability. It’s a hit, pure and simple.

There has been a surprising amount of thought and attention to detail put into Battlestations: Pacific, even though it often plays like an arcade title. The problems with the game are few and far between, so if you’re after an epic historical action title with plenty of bang for your buck, this should definitely be your port of call.

Dead Space is a pearler of a horror ride. For fans that love gory adventure and classic flicks like the Alien series, Predator, or any other marriage of gore and suspense, this must be played. Just be sure to book in a recuperating massage for when it’s over.

Intelligent Systems put an awful lot of thought and effort into Dark Conflict. The result is that the series has been rebooted and revitalised. If you’ve had Advance Wars fever in the past, prepare for a relapse.

Epic Games has done a more than admirable job of transporting the game from PC onto PS3 and further refined their genre-leading gameplay. Offline gamers, however, should just rent it.

A word of caution however, don’t get fooled by the kiddy visuals presented in Zack & Wiki because some of the puzzles contained within require a fair degree of lateral thinking to beat. With that in mind, older gamers seeking an enjoyable challenge should definitely pick this up.

Perhaps the best puzzle game for the DS to date.

Intuitive team controls, fantastic presentation, superb sound and impressive visuals (particularly the paratrooper models) make Hell’s Highway far better than we ever would have guessed. That said, it’s going to be divisive for all manner of reasons.

It’s outrageously awesome entertainment that forgoes taking itself too seriously to ensure you’re grinning ear-to-ear throughout, smiles gleefully lit up by the biggest explosion-fest in gaming history. And we have no problem with that, whatsoever.

A fantastic, frantic combination of pretty much all the highlights of previous Civilization titles rolled into one single package. Finally, a worthy way to experience Sid Meier's legendary franchise on your console!

We were both literally and figuratively gob smacked by UFC Undisputed. The nuances to the hand-to-hand/fist-to-face/foot-to-face combat were ridiculously deep, and far from the realm of button-mashery. Top it off with some of the most sexified graphics we’ve seen, and an intricate leveling-up system, and there’s little wonder it’s…undisputed.

Perhaps best of all, though, the developer has managed to create a graphically rich and detailed version of 13th Century Japan that’s positively dripping with atmosphere.

As is to be expected with such a realistically-driven simulator, the learning curve is huge and if you don’t regularly frequent the genre, be prepared to invest large quantities of time before determining whether it’s for you.

If you’ve already conquered Liberty City on PS3 or Xbox 360, there really isn’t enough extra stuff to demand that you fork out more money for the PC version. But if you have yet to savour the GTA IV experience, this is a must have because of the unforgettable single-player experience and frantically fun multiplayer as well as the extra PC features.

A solid title that manages to be a helluva lot of fun, despite the lack of an abundance of new stuff.

A thoroughly entertaining game that has a wide appeal for young and old. The low level of violence and simplicity of challenge makes it easy to play. A good solid family game that we highly recommend.

Whichever way you slice it, Trauma Center: Second Opinion on the Wii is the definitive ‘doctorb’ experience – the ‘b’ is for bargain!

The truth of the matter is that Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed is an enormously fun game, which will suck you in with its story, frequently blow your mind with its visuals and, perhaps most importantly, will fulfil your Jedi fantasies like never before. And that, Star Wars fans, is worth the price of admission alone.

Small gripes aside, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is a title for anyone who’s ever stomped on a sand castle, mashed together Tonka trucks, or blown something up. It’s big, it’s bad, and the thrill of demolishing everything in sight never gets old.

Gripes aside, Left 4 Dead is a well polished experience that is an absolute blast to play co-operatively with mates (or randoms for that matter).

H.A.W.X feels more like a Top Gun movie than Ace Combat ever did. It mixes in some refreshing new innovations that keep the missions exciting, and the appeal of that four player online co-op mode simply cannot be denied. If you’re an Ace Combat diehard, we recommend deviating from your usual flight pattern to acquire this target. Alternatively, if you’ve been ground-based gamer all these years and you’re looking for an accessible game that looks and plays great, we recommend you grab a copy of H.A.W.X and buzz the counter at your local game store.