Despite its flaws, this is one of the year's true surprises, and an absolute bargain at the price.

It's a bare-bones package to say the very least, favouring glossy presentational devices to feed into that Christmas Day unboxing euphoria, while offering minimal gameplay value after the event.

Lushly presented, and with enough of that trademark Rare wit to keep you smiling, it's inoffensive enough fare before the real games arrive, but it's going nowhere Nintendo's not been already.

Kung Fu Rider remains virtually the same from the first moment until the last, and singularly fails to justify its frankly baffling price tag. [Issue#101, p.126]

Vanquish proves that there's still space for ridiculous dialogue, clichéd characters, amped-up power-suits and big guns alongside the Heavy Rains of the industry, as long as the intelligent gameplay structure is present too. And it is. Platinum Games knows how to craft a good videogame. It's as simple as that, and right now, the team is competing only with itself.

Vanquish proves that there's still space for ridiculous dialogue, clichéd characters, amped-up power-suits and big guns alongside the Heavy Rains of the industry, as long as the intelligent gameplay structure is present too. And it is. Platinum Games knows how to craft a good videogame. It's as simple as that, and right now, the team is competing only with itself.

Dead Rising 2 is a sequel that tries so hard to appeal to fans of the original that the rest of the gaming world might not find the mass slaughter of zombies quite so appealing. We loved it from start to (stupid) finish, though the many reasons others might not are plain to see and completely understandable.

It's never unfair. [Issue#100, p.124]

More of the same in the best possible way.

If we had played Fallout 3 and New Vegas once each and were offered the chance to play one of them for a second time, after much deliberation we'd choose New Vegas. There can be no more telling indicator of a job well done.

PES returns with an edition that finally begins to set it back on the straight and narrow. But only begins to do so. [Issue#101, p.123]

An outstanding reinvention of a classic brand.

Just a good game, and an incredibly impressive XBLA effort - one that, unlike many triple-A, big budget titles, introduces something wholly new and ambitious to gaming. [Issue#101, p.109]

Dead Rising 2 is a sequel that tries so hard to appeal to fans of the original that the rest of the gaming world might not find the mass slaughter of zombies quite so appealing. We loved it from start to (stupid) finish, though the many reasons others might not are plain to see and completely understandable.

Our review code froze four times during play, each occasion coming as a blessed relief, a welcome respite from the tedium. [Issue#101, p.111]

Blade Kitten saves itself from the lower reaches of the ten-point scale with some genuinely impressive level design. It's complex without being confusing, the tangled and involved areas seemingly offering multiple avenues but always pushing you along the correct route. [Issue#101, p.127]

Reach couldn't be expected to replicate the impact of Combat Evolved, but it's superior in just about every other way. Mission accomplished.

When a horror story is told and paced this well you really don't need the bloody edge of graphics technology to keep you pinned to the edge of your seat. [Issue#101, p.110]

It's a very clever concept that makes for a poker-style of RTS, a real thinking man's strategy title, where getting inside the head of your opponent and planning several steps ahead of his game is much more important than straightforward land-grabbing and tank-busting. [Issue#100, p.130]

Sports Champions manages to stand up in its own right, proving a commendable showcase for Move's impressive level of on-screen gesture replication, and highlighting the strength of Sony's tech over Nintendo's Wii Remote, even with MotionPlus attached. [Issue#101, p.124]

It's refreshing to see Ubisoft applying such creativity and depth to what other developers would typically fashion as a mindless shooter. [Issue#101, p.120]

A modern action epic that feels like a classic.

A strange beast. [Issue#100, p.132]

The fun and invention at the heart of Ghost Pirates make it a marginal improvement over the equally likable A Vampyre Story. [Apr 2010, p.126]

A less enjoyable but more involving sequel.

A knowing tribute to the games of yesteryear and a worthy counterpart to both the film and comic. [Issue#101, p.112]

As a simple platformer, however, its interesting control scheme makes Ivy The Kiwi? a rather fun and unique game, just not a great one. [Issue#99, p.127]

There are no side missions, no conveniently placed ramps, and only a small handful of collectibles that work in harmony with the fiction. 2K Czech has invested serious time and effort into conjouring a peerless sense of time and place – we won't begrudge it for not encouraging players to shatter the illusion.