A real time strategy game without armies or war is a neat idea, and the premise of fighting fires, natural disasters and other emergencies is downright clever. However, the game is hampered by clumsy and overly elaborate controls, meaning you end spending just as much time working out how to use your units as you do actually rescuing people.

The idea of a sort of side scrolling Breakout clone is pretty neat, but punching your rubber ball hero Zip around feels more random than you'd expect from the otherwise precise Wii Motion Plus. You're likely to get a sore wrist from contantly flailing your arms around, and the gameplay lacks both variety and challenge. It does come with a WiiMote plus though, which is nice.

A traditional beat 'em up that runs out of steam after about an hour. From that point on, everything is just a rehash of what has gone before. The environments are bland, the enemies lack variety, and in generel it feels like the details haven't been paid enough attention. The Japanese hairdo's are cool though.

The actual dancing experience is closer to the real deal than Dance Central, but whether you'll actually bother getting into the game is a different matter. The song selection is limited and mainly contains j-pop and eurobeats, and with the overall presentation being highly focused on Japanese pop culture, Dance Evolution ends up feeling just a little too foreign.

Behind the warm and inviting visuals lies a treacherously difficult platform game. But Donkey Kong Country Returns is as fun as it is hard, and goes to show that the old school 2D platformer is alive and well. There are plenty of gimmicks and new ideas along the way to keep things fresh, and the graphics are absolutely gorgeous.

If you were to judge the capabilities of Kinect based solely on Sports Island Freedom, you'd be likely to think the device was a horrible failure. The menu is a mess that's hard to navigate, and things just go downhill from there. The controls are awful across almost all disciplines. Get Kinect Sports instead.

Building your own Rube Goldberg machines is nicely relaxing, and Create is a game almost entirely devoid of stress factors. The perfect game for getting your pulse down after hours of shooting people online. It could do with more player freedom, and there's a tendency for quantity over quality, but overall it's a refreshing puzzle title.

Building your own Rube Goldberg machines is nicely relaxing, and Create is a game almost entirely devoid of stress factors. The perfect game for getting your pulse down after hours of shooting people online. It could do with more player freedom, and there's a tendency for quantity over quality, but overall it's a refreshing puzzle title.

Yes, it's yet another game with zombies. That might be a bit old, but luckily Dead Nation is less about killing undead and more about racking up a high score. It's old school arcade action, and the online ranking system that pits countries against each other only adds to the addictiveness.

Disney Epic Mickey is delightful, funny, charming, highly entertaining and quite challenging game. It mostly treads familiar ground, but also has a few original ideas, and the paint/thinner mechanic gives the designers plenty of opportunities to encourage exploring. The enviroments ooze wonder and imagination, and there's always something to catch your attention and lure you off the obvious path. If you're into action platformers and adventure, don't miss out on Mickeys journey through Wasteland.

The puzzle mechanics are enjoyable and well done, especially the ones requiring you to command around your Majin-buddy. Same thing goes for the Metroid-esque exploration and unlocking of new abilities. The combat is simple and uninspired though, and long travel distances between important areas in the later part of the game means that it can be rather boring at times.

Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is undoubtedly the dream game for any Naruto fan, and manages to capture the colossal battles from the cartoon better than any game before it. For non-fans however, there's a lot of backstory to go through before getting to the meat of the game. The fighting system seems overly simplistic at first, but then requires you to master it fully in order to progress, which might prove frustrating for some players.

Zombie-filled races is a nice if not exactly original idea, but the developers haven't managed to turn it into an interesting game. The gameplay quickly becomes tedious, the car physics feel too light, the difficulty lacks challenge and frequent slowdowns mar the experience. If you're hurting for a Carmageddon sequel, this might sate you for a while, but it's no replacement.

The long-running series' third outing makes the leap to consoles with style. It's impressive how EA have managed to cram in almost every aspect of the PC game, without having to make any notable compromises. The controls take some getting used to, and the game frequently has to load, but Sims-fans will be happy to know that this is the best console-outing the series has offered yet.

The actual golfing mechanic is spot on and very impressive, but there isn't a lot to actually do. The landscapes are hopelessly dry and uninspired, and the soundtrack doesn't consist of much else than Daly's three power sentences that follow every shot. It works as a technical demonstration of what Move can do, but not much else. If you're looking for a good golf game, look somewhere else.

Classic on-rails shooter that sticks to its roots and does it well. The fact that Time Crisis 4 and Deadstorm Pirates are included on the disc certainly doesn't hurt. Razing Storm has a Story Mode in which the game tries its hand at being a full-fledged FPS (meaning you control where you go), but fails abysmally. That doesn't detract from the on-rails games, and if you're looking for a classic arcade shooter, this is a very neat package.

A simplified version of the usual Pokemon games, though it is so simplistic that it quickly gets boring. There's not enough variety, and while it's certainly charming, it's hard not to see Guardian Signs as anything else but an introduction to the Pokemon universe for those who have yet to play any other game in the series.

As the Wiimote is the only input the game uses, it's possible to "cheat" and do small moves with the controller instead of actually dancing. Playing that way is no fun, however. But if you embrace the game and dance the night away, there's plenty of colorful fun to be had, and with 40 songs and the option of buying more online, the longevity should be in order too.

Sonic Free Riders can be fun under the right circumstances, and kids will probably enjoy it, but it's mostly just another irrelevant speed bump on Sonic's journeys throughout the world.

Even though the original NBA Jam is 17 years old, and the formula hasn't changed much since then, EA's latest revival seems surprisingly fresh and has an irresistible playability. The controls are simple enough that you'll know them by heart within minutes, the graphics are fun, and the commentator has so many one-liners that you can't help but get a smile on your face. Boomshakalaka!

A furious arcade racer for adrenaline junkies everywhere. Every race will put your heart in your throat and a tickle in your stomach, and the new Autolog feature, that recommends races for you based on your friends' activities, is nothing short of brilliant. Winning a race is one thing, but smashing your mate's previous record while doing it is just awesome. Fans of sim-style racers will probably hate it, but if you like arcade racing, this is about as good as it gets.

An odd little puzzle platformer that can be fun for short periods, but doesn't offer anything that hasn't been done better before. There are too few surprises along the way, and so you'll quickly feel that you've seen all the game has to offer.

The graphics and atmosphere are well done and colorful on every screen, and while the characters are a bit too talkative, they are also funny and sufficiently silly. But the story and gameplay seem entirely detached as usual, and it's a shame that the story devs and puzzle devs apparently didn't have more meetings together.

You have to wonder whether being based on an old classic has held GoldenEye 007 back more than serving as a welcome inspiration. Reliving sections of the old game is fun, but in the grand scheme of things, new levels play better are look more interesting. Fans of the Nintendo 64 classic don't get much reason to switch, and Bond-fanatics are better off sticking with the movies and books. But if you do all your shooting on the Wii, GoldenEye 007 is a safe bet.

The game is tedious and lacks variety, even though it claims to have over 70 moves. You have to go through seemingly endless repetition to unlock new opponents, and the actual combat is slow and boring. A waste of time.

The LEGO MMO has many kinks, quirks and weird design choices at the moment, but if you approach the game with patience and curiosity, there's plenty to enjoy. Just don't expect a virtual version of LEGO bricks just yet.

A cute and fun little Halloween-game about kids playing dressup and having cool-looking Final Fantasy-style battles in their imagination. Short enough not to outstay it's welcome, but long enough to justify the price.

The psychedelic skateboarding premise is fairly interesting, but the actual skating mechanincs are bland and boring. The game quickly becomes more about navigating the terrain than actually pulling off tricks, so skateboarding fans are better off sticking with Skate 3.

Gran Turismo 5 feels old and confused. There are glimpses of amazing stuff hidden under the muddy menus, but there are also some truly bad design choices. Give it time and it will open up. But perhaps not as much as you had hoped for.

Harry Potter turns into a wannabe third person shooter, and the result is abysmal. Movie-based games get a bad rap, and its because of titles like this one. We can't think of anything nice to say about it, not even when playing it with Kinect. It's a bad game from end to end, and has no redeeming qualities. Avoid at all cost, even if (or maybe especially if) you're a Harry Potter-head.

The steering lacks precision, and the quality of the level design is a bit wobbly at times. But Sonic Colours still surprises with its quality, and it seems that Sega and Team Sonic have finally understood what makes a good, modern Sonic game. One of the strongest Sonic games in ages.

A funny sort of cat-and-mouse first person shooter with an original premise and style. An absolute bargain at the price, and a game that gives more expensive XBLA titles a run for their money. There's plenty of fun to be had, and Bloody Good Time certainly live up to its name.

Hands down the best game in the series so far. Everything is bigger, better and brighter, the combat system is vastly improved and the new weapons and tricks are very welcome. There's plenty of stuff to do, loads of side missions, and the new addition of recruiting and training other assassins is a brilliant one. The controls feel a bit wonky on occasion, but that's all we can complain about. Heartily recommended for fans and newcomers alike.

This is Rare and Microsofts version of Wii Sports. It hasn´t got as precise control as Sports Champions or as great graphics, but it delivers on the fun part. Party Mode is an excellent addition to a solid line-up of disciplines.

An amazing showcase of how Kinect can be used. This is a competent dance trainer in your home. Amazing moves and a good track list. It is lacking in multiplayer options and at times feel more like a trainer than a party game.

The newest racing game from Codemasters delivers on almost all of the promises the developer made, when they said they were finally going to do the sport justice in game form. It has an incredible sense of speed, nearly perfect car physics, good AI and manages to keep you hooked even though you may be racing the same track for hours at a time. It still lacks a Safety Car, the proper TV-presentation and more options when it comes to the development of the car, but manages to make up for most of these with intense action and challenge on the tracks.

"Huge but accessible" is the best way to describe Civilization V. You could accuse it of sacrificing depth in favor of overview and clarity, but we choose to see it as a game trimmed down to the most essential and fun parts of the series. Civ is more relevant than ever.

A beautiful magnum opus. A modern shooter with polish and a sense of detail that makes Halo: Reach the new reference title for first person shooters. An engaging single player experience and a brilliant multiplayer game. One of the best shooters ever.

Tumble is a great little block-stacking puzzler that's fun to play and very immersive. Probably the best game available for Move at the moment, and way better than many of the initial offerings available for Sony's motion controller.

A very scary and very effective horror game, that is guaranteed to give you chills and literally left us short of breath. Average story and voice acting and other small annoyances keep it from getting top marks, but we'll still recommend it heartily to all horror fans. Especially at the cheap price point.

Tries too hard to be both a flight simulator and an arcade action game, and fails at both. H.A.W.X. 2 desperately tries to be the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare of flight games, but simplistic gameplay and a dull story means it falls flat. This is a game that doesn't know what it wants to be or do, and instead just ends up mimicking the big boys.

Easily the best of Sony's launch games for PlayStation Move. A solid and much better looking challenger to Wii Sports, and while not all the disciplines are equally fun, some of them are surprisingly gripping. We spent five hours playing Boccia and still wanted more, and that's saying something.

The story is drawn-out and not very interesting, and the loading times are often excruciatingly long and frequent. But high production values, the charm of the Disney universe and the depth and challenge of the combat system means that Kingdom Hears: Birth by Sleep is still worth picking up.

Do we finally have a great Spidey game? Well, no, but we do have a pretty good one. While the concept of playing as four different versions of Spider-Man is brilliant on paper, three of the four are a bit too similar when it comes to gameplay, and while Shattered Dimensions is fun (and it is!), it also lacks variety and ends up feeling a bit tedious. A game best enjoyed in short sessions, then.

A well made and well rounded strategy war game, but not one that hooks you in the same way as the genre greats. There are enough competent strategy offerings on the PC that this isn't an obligatory purchase, but the lack of good strategy games on the consoles means that R.U.S.E. is definitely worth checking out on those platforms – it even handles well with the controller.

A well made and well rounded strategy war game, but not one that hooks you in the same way as the genre greats. There are enough competent strategy offerings on the PC that this isn't an obligatory purchase, but the lack of good strategy games on the consoles means that R.U.S.E. is definitely worth checking out on those platforms – it even handles well with the controller.

Start the Party is a collection of entirely un-fun mini games for PlayStation Move with obnoxious presentation. A horrible example of the worst that casual gaming has to offer. Avoid at all costs.

Metroid: Other M should have been a much better game than it actually is, and ends up appearing like a sloppy update of one of Nintendo's most beloved series. It lacks the understanding and admiration of the original 2D games that the Metroid Prime series just oozed, and could just as well be any other action game. The last couple of hours do a lot to help the overall impression, but the question is whether you have the patience to actually reach them.

The new combo weapons adds an extra dimension to the always consistent fun of killing zombies. An excellent appetizer for the full game, but also one that's over just as you get really into it. But that's probably the point. Great fun while it lasts, and well worth the price.

Rapture is getting old, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for 2K to wring interesting stories and characters out of the setting. That said, this is distilled and more accessible chapter in the Bioshock story, and if you liked the more action-oriented approach of the second game, Minerva's Den won't disappoint.

It seems like the developers spent too much time on fine tuning the combat system and not enough on balancing and level design. As a result, what starts out as a well paced and challenging game soon becomes repetitive. Once in a while a new weapon is introduced to mix things up, but at that point it is too little and too late. The co-op is pretty good, though.

With an abundance of different guns, the gameplay never grows stale. Beyond the main characters, the cast is forgettable and the story doesn't pack much of a punch, with only a few highlights. Much like the story, the presentation is hit or miss, realistic streets crowded by people, cars and cops do wonders for believability, the opposite is true for the grey construction sites. A different gaming experience that might do the trick for you.

A fun mix of Team Fortress 2 and Defense of the Ancients. The seemingly odd mix works well, and along with the low price and the ease of accessibility, Monday Night Combat is a unique offering on Xbox Live Arcade: a shooter that doesn't loudly claim to be the new challenger to Modern Warfare 2's throne, bur rather is content with being its own thing. If Uber Entertainment keeps on adding content and fine tuning the balancing, this should keep fans of team based shooters happy for a long while.

Simply put the best Madden ever. There I said it. The absolutely hardcore Madden players might not love the new Gameflow-system. But for everyone else it does what is says: it makes the game flow. Buy this if you have even the slightest interest in the sports. It is sharper, better and more fun than any other Madden game.

Winners Don´t Eat Meat - and they don´t pass a chance to waste some hours with retro loving friends on this charming pixel brawler. This is a trip down memory lane, with lots of great references to the games of the past. If you are looking for a new Castle Crashers then this might be it.

At a glance, it might appear like a simple trip down memory lane, but spend some time with it, and you will find a game with an immense depth and great challenges. A good, exciting and alternative Castlevania experience, that might be too focused on multiplayer for some. Try before you buy.

Old school arcade racer updated for the HD-generation, apart from the fact that this doesn´t feel HD at all. The racing is good fun and the track-layout great, but Hydro Thunder Hurricane never loses the feeling of being a cheap arcade game, and at 1200 MS Points it unfortunately isn´t.

A wannabe God of War that pretty much fails to get anything right. Boring and repetitive action and completely unremarkable level design. Avoid.

An amazingly well-crafted strategy experience. Not a lot of chances were taken, but Blizzard knows what works, and it shows. Addiction in a package and sublime strategy.

Need for Speed: World seems to be an experiment on EA's behalf, and it shows. There are other, better games in the long-running series, and it's really only the low pricepoint that sets World apart from its brethren. If you're looking for the next big racing thing, look elsewhere.

LIMBO's puzzles are as devious as the game is gorgeous, this game will have you planted in your seat from beginning to end. Not a long story by any means, but buying this stylish adventure should still be a no-brainer.

Ferrying stuff between islands in a home built helicopter that uses real physics is a novel concept, but Landit Bandit sadly ends up feeling like a game that didn't get the development time or resources it really needed. The physics engine is very unforgiving, meaning that you'll crash your helicopter tons of times while attempting to land, and the missions are tedious and lack variation. The bar for indie releases is very high these days, and Landit Bandit just falls short.

Crackdown 2 is a sequel made for everybody who enjoyed the original Crackdown. With the tiny changes and the heavy reuse of Pacific City, Crackdown 2 feels more like an expansion that a full game. Still it is a solid experience if you feel like another round of orb-hunting.

A rock solid action game that shouldn't be taken too seriously. The multiplayer component borrows heavily from other titles, but adds a unique element in the form of transformation mechanics. All in all a very good game.

Toy Story 3 offers two separate takes on the game. One is the rather bland story driven journey, and the other is the amazing sandbox mode. The latter is where this game shines. It provides great fun and a fantastic playground for both kids and grown-ups.

A well-done graphical update that stays true to the classic platformer. Sadly, the original game isn't very good, and the update doesn't change that. Co-op is a nice addition, though.

A charming and highly addictive racing platformer with plenty of staying power assured by the excellent level designer tool. Great value.

Although it has several flaws, the rich story and the many different paths the player can take through the game makes Alpha Protocol well worth a look for RPG fans.

Boring and uninteresting job mechanics make this Sims-expansion a disappointment. Anyone but the most die-hard Sims-fans should get their fix elsewhere.

Call of Duty meets Mario Kart in this blazing racer. Get it for the deep online experience and the highly chaotic battles that come with it.

The level creation tools are the greatest ever, but the controls and the driving feel don't feel quite right. Fails to topple Mario as the king of Kart racing.

Gaming magic in its purest form, presented with vibrant colors and an infectious mood that will leave you with a grin as big as Mario's.

An intriguing and gripping story steeped in an atmosphere so thick you can cut it with a knife, coupled with a cool gimmick for the action sequences. Excellent while it lasts. Not a lot of replayability, though.

This is like a wet dream thought up by James Cameron and Michael Bay. Forget realism and go for mindless fun. The powerplay-function is great fun when mastered. While the amount of tracks on offer is less than impressive and the car-models unimaginative, there is lot of fun to be had racing against friends online or offline.

A fairly decent movie licensed game that's marred by its short length, boring combat and lack of replayability.

It looks nice, but the controls are clumsy, the story is indecipherable, and the gameplay lacks variety.

Games based on movie licenses get a bad rap for a reason. Iron Man 2 is one of them. Graphics are choppy, environments are dull, and everything feels slow. Avoid.

An entirely average experience with mediocre graphics and a story laced with cliches. But it is fairly entertaining, fun even, while it lasts.

Not exactly original, but then it doesn't pretend to be. Despite being clumsy, old-fashioned and bumpy, it's still a charming RPG with a great story that is sure to please fans.

Although it can't shake the feel of just being FIFA 10.5, this is still the best FIFA game yet. An excellent warm-up for the World Cup this summer.

A gorgeous adventure with a touching story is marred by mildly frustrating moments and mystifying puzzles. Recommended for the old-school adventurer.

A simple yet fresh, funny and well polished take on classic tower jump gameplay.

Gotta kill ´em all. The monster success hits the Wii. Gorgeous graphics and old-school interface makes for a brilliant adventure for the patient player. Highly recommended.

Gorgeous visuals and a brilliant cast make Splinter Cell: Conviction a terrific, if a little short, singleplayer-experience. The Co-op modes bring loads of entertainment for shadowy agents and novice spies alike. Fisher's latest comes highly recommended.

A nice multiplayer shooter that borrows rigorously from genre staples, but doesn't really add anything new besides the western theme. Can't beat the price, though.

Flawed in so many ways, this feels like a rushed product, and even though the voice acting is by most of the actors from the show, it feels as uninspired as the rest of the game.

What might initially seem like a a greedy offering, is in fact a decent package. Two classic COD4-maps with improved graphics and new game-modes, plus another three maps added for good measure. An expensive piece of DLC, but worth it for fans of MW2.

The frantically paced stream of microgames is as fun as ever, and the option of creating your own games is nothing short of brilliant. The game creation tutorial is excellent, to boot.

This is more of what we hated and loved about the original game. The sequel offers amazing freedom and a huge playground, but is still bugged by the sloppy controls. Just Cause 2 is hugely entertaining though, and that is reason enough to return with Rico.

This is a Western done the Hollywood-way, that is if Hollywood was in Japan. Simple story, but really atmospheric settings coupled with great controls makes this everything the first game should have been.

A poor mans Gran Turismo lacking the depth, polish and graphics of the latter, but offering some fun if you are really keen to drive on two wheels.

Bland visuals mixed with a boring story. A shallow and repetitive puzzle game that we really can't recommend for anybody.

This game is made for fans of the original. Killing friends in split-screen is just as much fun as it was years ago, at least for the nostalgic value. Had it used a more modern graphics engine this would have been game of the year on Xbox Live.

The single-player campaign is fairly short, but excellent multiplayer makes up for it. Lots of variation and solid RTS gameplay for anyone who makes it past the embarrassingly bad first act. A return to form for the series.

Better than its PC-counterpart, with a lot less bugs. Despite still sporting an aging engine and lacking decent AI, Metro 2033 has so much detail and such atmospheric settings that it comes highly recommended.

Nothing short of a masterpiece. A thrill-ride of intense action and breathtaking set-pieces guaranteed to put a goofy grin on your face. A must have for any PlayStation 3-owner.

Clones of Breakout and Arkanoid may be a dime a dozen, but Shatter is the best one yet. The physics system adds a nice twist to a classic concept, and the music is amazing.

We have seen the adventure before, but this time everything feels polished, even though the sound is getting old. The menu is simple and touch works like a charm. The best Pokémon ever.