They may have tried overly hard to create Half-Life 2 and failed, but the result is another flawed but worthwhile video game.

The graphics and overall feel of the game do not seem quite right.

While Gamestyle loves the on track handling, the pursuit of new vehicles and driving excellence, Gran Turismo 5 fails to achieve its goals or address its bad habits. Full of distractions and pretty eye candy, beneath the bonnet, the chassis is in serious need of attention.

Hit and miss humour and some ropey stabs at surrealism aren’t enough to spoil solidly crafted and frequently beguiling storytelling. Just bare in mind it won’t last long.

Get past the inherent limitations and you'll find a surprisingly good rendition of the beautiful game.

The bottom line with Command and Conquer 3 is if you're a huge strategy nut who doesn't own a decent PC then you'll absolutely love this. If you're not or are hoping for this to break you into the world of RTS' then it's best to look elsewhere for your thrills because before you know it the game will absolutely hammer you into the ground before you have time to blink.

The Dolby Digital soundtrack is somewhat disappointing, as despite having utilised many elements from the film it lacks the power and punch one could have hoped for – even the city sounds a little too quiet at times.

Ivy the Kiwi? is a worthwhile additional to your DS library, but just don't expect a classic.

Overall, Tembo the Badass Elephant may be short and a bit cumbersome but it is also a fair amount of fun and keeps players interested by introducing new things at regular intervals.

It's certainly not a 'Klassic' by any stretch of the imagination - and it may not feature the cutting-edge style of other titles - but its furious fighting and mostly wonderful boss encounters provided many hours of enjoyment.

WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 is far from perfect, but it is entertaining.

While it may not have evolved a great deal Metal Slug 7 still carries on the classic gameplay that made the series popular.

The first six episodes may not be perfect but they certainly show glimpses of the greatness that could well be on the way as the team get to grips with their new way of producing adventures for the duo.

What you take out of Flower is really your own choice, as an experience it is highly recommended if you have become bored with the majority of releases today. If you prefer your gaming to be a little left of centre than the latest chart topping release then this is for you.

Amazing Spider-Man is a good effort, especially when considering some of the usual tie-in games.

A superb game, dragged under by some minor flaws, which could have been rectified given a bit more time and effort. But does suffer from time to value difficulties.

Overall, Hitman isn't a bad game, in fact it it is hard to find fault. The main issue is that it is a Hitman game and the main new mechanics and the structure of the story mode take away that feeling you had when playing an earlier Hitman game. If you are new to the series then you will love what is on offer, but fans will be left with a bit of a bitter taste in their mouth.

If you're a fan of the Ghostbusters (who isn't?), there's enough here for you to really sink your teeth into.

Certainly showing it’s age but still able to deliver a unique and fun adventure

All in all, an improvement over the original, but not a huge step forward by any means.

In the end, Batman: The Brave and the Bold is all about simple, uncomplicated fun, and it makes no pretence of being otherwise.

For 1200 MS points, this is a steal, and there is much worse that you could spend more money on. Virtua Fighter appears to be entering in to its twilight years now, and it remains to be seen if it can keep up with the ongoing battle with the rejuvenated Street Fighter and Marvel fighting games, but there is still some fight left in the old dog yet.

If you like fighting games but hate yourself a little bit, then SotS3 will be a decent addition to your collection. If you fight in much the same way Napoleon Dynamite dances then you might want to look elsewhere for something gentle like battling an angry bear in a phone box. For those hard enough to come and have a go just beating the game should squeeze enough value from the modest price.

Split/Second is at its core an amazing and visceral experience and the true successor to the Burnout series, even more so than Criterion's own Burnout Paradise.

The strong story spans ninety levels and offers plenty beyond the main story. Make no mistake, Drakengard is not groundbreaking, but coming from Square-Enix it’s a welcome piece of variety, and a fine game as well.

Clearly A Boy and his Blob has been lovingly created by a team who appreciate the original and overall have done a tremendous job.

It’s the strangest example of pointless effort which turns out to be fun. Avoid real life chores to do virtual ones. That’s my motto!

However, it’s difficult to recommend FlatOut wholeheartedly given that the practically non-existent difficulty curve and frustrating physics might be enough to deter those in search of simple arcade crash ‘em up thrills entirely.

Whilst Backgammon Blitz isn’t going to all of sudden bring the masses flooding to the game, it is a very faithful recreation and one that anyone with an interest in Backgammon will get plenty of joy from. If it can reach a new audience, then all the better.

It follows rather than leads, but Soldner-X 2 is a decent if unspectacular entrant in the genre.

On the whole Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is a game that does the basics well enough, without ever really setting itself apart. It is a nice conclusion to the first game but nothing more, nothing less. Worth picking up if you enjoyed the original, but hardly essential at the same time.

Dead or Alive 4 may not be the holy grail of fighters, but Tecmo have still crafted an enjoyable title with plenty of reply value.

Fans of the genre will find plenty to enjoy, from the spooky setting to the non-stop action. Live users can also enjoy the excellent lag-free games that it offers, which certainly makes Area 51 a game to consider.

The inability to take cover in multi-player is an odd omission and the AI in the single player is dreadful.

All in all, The Darkness is a decent fifteen hour single player experience, featuring a brilliant story and even better presentation. However the enjoyment is slightly tainted by the under utilisation of its best features, sluggish movement and horrible multiplayer.

There is certainly a lot to keep anyone occupied here, even if the main game is a little un-balanced, simply firing up a game of monkey bowling whilst sitting on the train makes it a worthy purchase.

If destruction and mayhem are your thing then there is enough here to warrant a purchase. But with a few tweaks here and there, Overlord II could have been something a little more special.

There's a lack of scope to Draglade that makes repeated play-throughs an easy and unrewarding chore, something that a sequel should aim to address in the future.

For a first time developer, Remember Me appears highly ambitious. And while it’s got some neat ideas it never quite does anything substantial with them, instead providing an enjoyable, if forgettable experience.

It's a lovely looking game, with a great cell-shaded style, and bags of character. The frustration caused by the trial and error approach to the levels ruins the enjoyment to some extent, but persistence leads to immense satisfaction.

A pretty decent football game that unfortunately has more bugs than Starship Troopers.

There is no doubt about the quality of the series and its playability, but I wish for more: invention, freedom, a camera that behaves and link up play for instance.

As niche as this title is, it's still a perfectly welcome edition in the Guitar Hero series. It's just a shame that it's essentially Guitar Hero 3 (PS2) with a few bells and whistles thrown in.

Blacklight: Tango Down is a solid first person shooter with a depth of customisation to rival Call of Duty. With its retro-futuristic style, it does enough to stand out in a crowded genre, but is let down by bland presentation and questionable ommisions.

The AI is symptomatic of a larger malaise which envelops the game and hems in the player.

Unfortunately, the spark of enduring gameplay is soon extinguished by some bizarre design choices and a ropey camera system.

The graphics and handling can't be faulted, and the game is one of the best looking titles on the PSP, but strangely, Gran Turismo PSP just feels rushed; a half-hearted attempt at perfection.

So in effect the new setting, period and additions to the game have made little difference.

Call of Juarez: The Cartel isn't going on any short lists for 'Game of the Year', but not every game has to be a complete masterpiece.

Unfortunately during this gargantuan effort, someone along the production line forgot to say this: Fackin’ hell, these control’s ain’t ‘alf fackin’ dodgy, guvnor!

If you want a handheld shooter to play online (an MP-PSP-FPS, if you will) then this is a good choice. PSP controls are never going to be perfect, but they aren’t terrible here. If you want a single player game do not touch this with a barge pole, it's uninspired, boring and unbelievably dated.

For those unexcited by the prospect of actually being Bond, some problems, the most predominant of which is the games failure to engage or innovate on any other level than being an above average jaunt through an enormously exciting fictional world, may be too much.

Even with enhancements this is a basic conversion that relies too much on rose tinted charm and does not bode well for the forthcoming Dreamcast titles.

The perfect word that can really sum up Mirror’s Edge is unfortunately, disappointment.

No-one was expecting a heavy, lengthy platformer, but neither the puzzly-jumping nor the fighting has been nurtured enough to shine through, and as it stands Wario World is a missed opportunity; not particularly bad, but certainly not what we'd expect from two of the finest developers in Japan.

Whilst there are some really good ideas here, Carbon feels too unbalanced as a package – too many bells and whistles attached to an average racing game. Roll on next year’s instalment.

There's replayability in Crush in the way of time trials and perfecting scores, but it relies on you wanting to play it in the first place.

A good game is in there somewhere, but held back by an overly ambitious ideal.

Provided that you are willing to persevere with the game’s difficulty, Parappa provides a lot of fun.

While the story is complicated and filled with reprehensible creatures and people, it loses something in the retelling.

All being said, Fortix 2 is a real challenge for those new to the game and those medieval strategy veterans. Across 35 levels, the sheer strategy of it all can get too much at times and feel repetitive despite the constant variety of enemy onslaught, but those dedicated to genre will enjoy Fortix 2 a lot.

Charming and polished but devoid of any depth.

If you liked Mercury (or slightly dull games in general), you can cope with garish colours and you want a game that will last you a long time, then this isn't that bad an option.

We admire a series that is willing to shake things up and try out new ideas, and we really commend Climax for being daring enough to make such a bold and inventive game. However, the problems we’ve highlighted are compounded by the fact that the game is now entirely reliant on its scares, and those just don’t make you fear for your virtual soul as the original games did.

While the overall idea is innovative, the gameplay itself isn’t. However, there are a lot of missions to get through - 26 standard missions and 16 branching ones - so you won’t be finishing this in a weekend.

Underneath the layers, there is some semblance of a good game here. It's very ambitious and we applaud that. But ambition doesn't always equal a good game, and while RE5 is nowhere near a disaster, the disappointment we felt is made worse due to our lofty expectations.

An average carnage based shooter, despite the strong designs and Star Wars origins. The improved multi-player options give this release a fresh impetus that raises it a notch, but no more.

The Doom experience remains streamlined and ruthlessly efficient, lacking the epic scope that we've come to associate with other first person shooters.

A decent concept, that has been marketed and presented totally wrong.

Hasbro Family Game Night is a solid performer in the party genre. What it lacks in madness and addictive mini-games, it overcomes by providing good, informative, challenging and traditional entertainment.

A huge omission is the lack of online play at all, and releasing an Xbox racer without an online component is like building a car without wheels.

Within Opoona there is a really original game fighting to be discovered. Unfortunately the technical issues contained within and a mundane RPG battle system dimishes the overall gaming experience.

Gamestyle had a lot of fun with this one, but unless you're a fan of Crash you might want to consider one of the Donkey Kong Country games for a similar dose of multi-faceted platforming.

Tehra Dark Warrior is ideally packaged for the handheld market and a solid option for PSP Mini enthusiasts. The game play is easily recognisable and three difficulty modes with an added gore option means it caters for players of all ages.

James Noir's Hollywood Crimes 3D isn't a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. It is however a game that has been done before and done better. It offers nothing new to the genre. It can however be grabbed for less than £30 in most places and is fun while it lasts. It is almost worth it for the hammy acting alone.

Crayola Treasure Adventures to quote a famous phrase ‘does exactly what it says on the tin’ and delivers an enjoyable colouring experience through the DS touch screen.

What makes all this a shame is that underneath a layer of awfulness the classic Pro Evolution Soccer gameplay is there fighting to get out. But a broken mess of an online mode, unnecessary alterations and an absent edit mode make this hardly the next generation football classic we were expecting.

Fifa Street 3 certainly kept us hooked for a while. It has an excellent online mode, but is let down by its single player shortcomings.

Sure, there are a number of gameplay problems at the core, but overall we rather enjoyed playing Outlaw Tennis.

Jeremy McGrath's Offroad is far from a bad game, because while you are playing it you will have fun. A quick fifteen minute blast can easily turn into an hour. However once the career mode is done and a few time trials beaten there doesn't feel like any reason to go back again. Which is a shame, as the game does a lot right, it just feels like the developers bolted on a few modes at the last minute to an otherwise fine offroad engine.

With some funky tunes and crisp 720p support and 60fps you have an almost perfectly formed online release. The one hundred and fifty levels (or thereabouts) will keep you going far beyond "MotorStorm" when its appeal has vacated your PlayStation 3. For less than a fiver that's great value, even if we did not enjoy the actual races themselves.

A decent attempt at an atmospheric horror, with a slant towards puzzles. It’s refreshing not being able to carry a weapon or worry about herbs and such like, but those expecting who prefer such additions should avoid this release.

A solid framework for the future of online gameplay on the Wii and the strong multiplayer sessions are the only reason this game is getting an above-average score from us; if you’re not a fan of the series or can’t play online, deduct three or four points from our score and stay away.

The actual game play is practically bullet proof, as one would expect. It’s the lack of themes or even additional modes that holds back Magic Orbz from being a must have purchase.

Throw in a clutch of two-player options and you've got an entertaining offline game that will satisfy many.

The online functions are hampered by the localization, which restricts Europeans to their own continent.

While it may not stand up to the 'Final Fantasies' of the genre it's still worth considering - especially if you're after a quick RPG fix before the next big release.

A competent game with a few too many flaws to make it a must have.

While Starbreeze have brought their customary expertise graphically, so many other aspects of The Darkness are sadly lacking.

There is definitely the potential for a very good game here, unfortunately it is hidden well by the many bugs and annoyances.

Ultimately, there just isn’t enough here to make a full recommendation.

The problem with The Simpsons Game is that as an extended episode it is great, but as a video game it is average.

F1 Race Stars isn't a bad game and those who stick at it will get a decent experience, it just isn't an outstanding game.

On the whole this review may seem incredibly downbeat, but when you’ve set the bar so high it’s going to be hard to reach, and episode 4 is where the big stumble happens. It’s not a bad episode per se, just a disappointing one.

Sometime Wreckless is too chaotic for you to properly digest it. There can be too much onscreen action and it blends into one big mess.

We'd recommend the first On Tour as a better starting point and a slightly better game overall, which relegates this to a worthwhile expansion if you can find it cheap enough.

Fairy Fencer F just feels a little unpolished. Despite its innovations in reducing grind and the Weapon Point system’s initial promise, there’s too much that just doesn’t sit right.

It is a tough one to call with Declassified, there is plenty of potential there, but the execution is lacking. Content feels very watered down and it appears that the wrong capabilities of the Vita have been used.