A few minute irritations can't prevent us from declaring this to be nigh-on perfection. Good price too. [Xbox World 360]

If there's a nit to pick with Gun, it's that it's short. Depending on how much you poke around, you can beat it in anywhere from six to ten hours. To us, that's no problem; we'll take a short amazing game over a long lackluster one any day.

The goals, while repetitive, offer more than a typical four-way smasher, but damn, it's hard to keep things straight. For gamers who like things categorically insane, you're looking at a go-to, button-mashy party game.

If there's a nit to pick with Gun, it's that it's short. Depending on how much you poke around, you can beat it in anywhere from six to ten hours. To us, that's no problem; we'll take a short amazing game over a long lackluster one any day.

As technically astounding as it is inept, Path of Neo is one of the most stylish and empowering games on PS2. Not a game to respect, but one to guiltily enjoy. [PSM2]

For the eighth installment we recommend a speed play option; until then the party will have to get along without us.

Not quite as nails as before, yet even more exciting, Big Red One is the gaming equivalent of your synapses combusting. And that can only ever be a good thing. [PSM2]

Plays more like a kind of arcade light-gun shooter with legs, and feels like it needed a better script and about six more months of development time.

A fun romp that stays interesting no matter how you play it. It has its share of flaws, but for fans, this is the first Star Wars game to have it all.

Don't get us wrong: the latest Castlevania isn't a bad game, if you can swallow the endless combat repetition. It just falls well short of this series' legendary heritage, and can't hold a candle to the handheld "Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow" for the Nintendo DS.

As close as a game has ever come to being flawless. A sublime exercise in action gaming that'll blow your mind. This is why you play videogames. [PSM2]

What Spartan lacks in depth is made good by some top-drawer visuals and satisfying combat. A corking console debut for Creative Assembly. [PSM2]

Namco runs its formula dry with an expansive campaign, but the action keeps the soul burning. [GamesMaster]

Nothing radically new but 30 missions of the most furious, vibrant, relentless, utterly insane war your can imagine. [PC Gamer UK]

It's the best strategy game released this year, and if you don't like it, there's something wrong with you.

For 20 quid it's something close to retro heaven. Go on, play it without prejudice. [Xbox World 360]

Simple. As easy as breathing but hugely entertaining. A 'kids' game that can be played by anyone. [NGC]

Despite some flaws and an overall feeling of deja vu that might alarm series veterans, Liberty City Stories is still an utterly irresistible and hugely enjoyable addition to the GTA family and an instant PSP treasure.

Xbox Live carnage on a profound scale - this is easily the best multiplayer game on the system since Bungie's opus. [Xbox World 360]

Fun for a while but lacks the madcap pace of previous incarnations. Why change it so much for consoles? [Xbox World 360]

Gorgeous to look at and wonderfully well made, but it's not a revolution. [PC Gamer UK]

Not as perfect as Ico, but one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking and imaginative experiences on PS2 which deserves to be played by everyone who loves games. [PSM2]

Essential if you're the analytical, disciplined type, but the lack of action will put off anyone seeking immediacy and action from the go. [PSM2]

With more drama than Tekken and more guts than Dead or Alive, Tenkaichi literally has more balls than any beat-'em-up released in the last 12 months. [GamesMaster]

The story is tightly linear, so it's hard to make your character's tale your own.

I swear, for the first five hours FEAR was on its way to a "Half-Life" sized score. The favourable comparisons were many and various: the thoughtful and dangerously accurate guards, the beautifully designed levels... but FEAR never upped the ante. It stayed almost exactly the same from start to finish. [PC Gamer UK]

If you're expecting a new GTA from the people who made it, you'll be sorely disappointed but The Warriors nonetheless provides an entertaining and very playable tale bearing the usual high production values and intense violence we've always lovingly associated with Rockstar. [Xbox World 360]

As good a turn-based strategy game as you could hope to expect, with a cracking story. [GamesMaster]