It's a great game, hampered by a release date very close to a number of very prominent titles that are likely to overshadow it in the holiday season.

Burnout 3 online is extremely good fun -- it's fast, frantic and the gametypes encourage plenty of teamwork, plenty of adrenaline, and naturally enough, plenty of crunched fenders and vehicles gracefully flipping through the air before ploughing at high speeds into concrete pillars.

Further refines the grappling engine that Yukes has been using for its gamecube titles, and along the way, offers the best grappling experience you can get -- at least for the time being.

Black Arrow feels like a mission pack for the original Rainbow Six 3, because that's what it is. If you loved Rainbow Six 3, though, you'll undoubtedly love this.

As a single player game played in short burts and with an eye towards old school run and gun style dynamics, we there's precious little that can touch Doom 3.

They say that war is hell -- but trust me, you'd rather be burning in the fiery pits of Dante's worst nightmares than play through Army Men: Sarge´s War.

While it does offer a few innovative features, ultimately the lack of really solid characterisation, and a plot that meanders in a variety of directions without ever really getting there makes this a rather ho-hum title.

An exercise in masochism, as you'll find that the world records within the game are generally easily knocked over. It's only when you can look across the sofa at tired, sore and elated faces and realise that you just lunged over the line at the last second to grasp victory that you'll find Athens 2004 a really worthwhile game.

Rather ordinary presentation and outright laughable voiceover acting.

Spider-Man 2 isn't a revolutionary take on the movie-to-game-licence genre; it's just a competently put together game that suffers a tad from being a bit content poor. At the same time, though, what it offers is a lot of fun - while it lasts.

A decent piece of software which is only let down by its poor interface and lack of a really in depth tutorial to give users some idea of how to create a decent mix without using only basic sounds and tunes.

It's thus highly recommended for golf game aficionados, especially if you liked the original Toadstool Tour.

A significant improvement on its predecessors, but for many gamers the bugs that are still present in the series three games in will be enough to put them off the title for good.

In Driv3r's case, however, it's not so much a case of bugs creeping in as rushing in en masse, making playing Driv3r an exercise in frustration, not fun.

Certainly, if you can access the Xbox or PC versions, plumb for them first, but otherwise, and especially if you're looking for what has up to now been one of the most unique online pleasures known only to Xbox owners, what are you waiting for?

There are three main aspects to the game which can be identified as the main weaknesses; the lack of single player, the maps without helicopters, and the player numbers.

It entertains, it excites and it's easy to follow so no need for cheats, and sometimes that is all that matters.

THQ and Pandemic do deserve commendation for stepping away from the tried and tested styles of military simulations and trying something different.

Those looking for a Nintendo-themed puzzle game with plenty of length, but not always the greatest amount of depth will enjoy collecting Mini Marios until the goombas come home.

Transformers does a very solid job of capturing the visual style of the cartoon series while running on the PS2 hardware.

A lazy port of a game that wasn't all that great to begin with. Certainly, it has some great ideas in it, but they're all hampered by either having a weak implementation or a buggy interface, and all too often both.

Although it offers something different in comparison to "Dynasty Warriors" they seemed to have not strayed all that far from their roots. Presumably they're worried about turning away their current fan base and it is these people who will get the most out of Samurai Warriors.

The tracks on offer in RalliSport Challenge 2 are, to put it simply, gorgeous.

Rockstar's once again created another great game awash with mood, although not to the same level of success of its key GTA franchise.

Ultimately a pretty simple game that the vast majority of more adult gamers can safely leave on the shelf.

Unlike many expansion packs it offers a solid amount of additional content that enhances the overall game without breaking anything in the process -- a rare feat indeed.

UFC:Sudden Impact just doesn't deliver enough that hasn't already been seen in existing UFC titles.

If you're after a stealth game that isn't simply a matter of 'stealth to point A because that's the only way it can be done', however, it comes highly recommended, as each level can be replayed any number of ways, depending on how you mix up your stealth and blasting action.