The basic fusion of the core puzzle gameplay and the dynamic spin that the music applies to this is delightfully successful in itself, but is stretched even further by a drive for perfection.

Despite some flaws, Far Cry 2 is almost an essential purchase this holiday retail season. The only reason to excuse yourself from picking it up might be if you're just shootered-out, which frankly is an understandable possibility.

As much as we enjoyed our time as Prince and even gave into the somewhat forced love story, we came away wishing for a little more to do. Still it's by far better to do a few things really well than to try your hand at everything and succeed at nothing. Prince of Persia is arguably the best classic adventure game of 2008 – with a little room to improve.

Most importantly, the movement and combat mechanics are fantastic, while the firefights (and the starring role of electricity) are a true spectacle. In this game the city is both your playground and your plaything, and you'll feel like a bad-ass.

Despite some flaws, Far Cry 2 is almost an essential purchase this holiday retail season. The only reason to excuse yourself from picking it up might be if you're just shootered-out, which frankly is an understandable possibility.

Its repetitive and lazy single player sins vanish beneath the screams of your mates’ laughter across your Xbox Live headset. The multiplayer might be a totally unoriginal rip-off of everything that CoD 4’s online game did so well, but why wouldn’t it when the original is so brilliant?

There's something undeniably more approachable and mainstream about the Guitar Hero franchise that Rock Band simply can't quite match.

This review has been quite negative but that’s unavoidable when you’re discussing a good game that follows on from an incredible one.

Playing co-op with other humans truly brings the game to life. Whether your hunting squad is running like a well-oiled machine, or you're all screaming abuse at the one guy who keeps dying, the unpredictable nature of play always make co-op feel like an occasion.

The creative options on offer here live up to the three-and-a-half year hype, and Spore genuinely revolutionises the way user created content is implemented on a global scale.

Devil May Cry 4 is still excellent stuff – thoroughly entertaining, mostly well paced, despite the on-off-on battles.

Skate 2 is great because the core mechanics have been expanded thoughtfully and we’ve been given a (mostly) whole new playground to master them in. It’s not great because of Mongocorp security, it’s not great because you have buddies you can call on, it’s not great because there’s are mountain trails now, it’s not great because you can judo kick while bailing, and it’s not great because the challenges are compelling.

It’s just too hit and miss, too divorced from its stated purpose and is too anaemic in its dispensation of the funk.

With so much provision for purist racing as well as arcade thrills, it's a delight to report that Shift strikes a fantastic balance between the two. From a thoughtful introductory race that helps define your style and skills through to a compelling career mode and constant back-patting, Need for Speed Shift is a delight to play.

Skate 2 is great because the core mechanics have been expanded thoughtfully and we've been given a (mostly) whole new playground to master them in. It's not great because of Mongocorp security, it's not great because you have buddies you can call on, it's not great because there are are mountain trails now, it's not great because you can judo kick while bailing, and it's not great because the challenges are compelling.

With the right blend of attitude, solid gameplay and an unapologetic focus on making a really entertaining co-op experience, Borderlands isn't just an alternative to Valve's co-op zombie-blaster this holiday season, it's really the alternative.

There are issues with the sensitivity of the motion controls – as there are in almost every Wii title, and the overworld is a vacuous waste of memory with some terrible pop-in, but when you excise that from the combat scenarios, the humour, the style and the creativity that seeps out of most elements in No More Heroes, we can't help but get enthused about this game.

Even with its superb gameplay and the addictive new Firefight co-op mode, a five-hour campaign is a paltry amount of content for a full-priced game. If you’re flush with cash or a mad-keen Halo devotee then ODST’s definitely worth picking up, but others might want to save their money for something else.

If you can deal with some minor shortcomings, Pure delivers exactly what the title promises: pure gameplay. Almost all aspects of the racing, tricking, physics and ATV creation come together seamlessly and the result is a rock-solid racer that aims to please and thrill in the same sweep.

This review has been quite negative but that’s unavoidable when you’re discussing a good game that follows on from an incredible one.

With so much provision for purist racing as well as arcade thrills, it's a delight to report that Shift strikes a fantastic balance between the two. From a thoughtful introductory race that helps define your style and skills through to a compelling career mode and constant back-patting, Need for Speed Shift is a delight to play.

It’s a massive game with a ridiculous amount of content. That said, bigger isn’t necessarily better. A slightly shorter game with a more unified design might have worked better.

With the right blend of attitude, solid gameplay and an unapologetic focus on making a really entertaining co-op experience, Borderlands isn't just an alternative to Valve's co-op zombie-blaster this holiday season, it's really the alternative.

It's a game that prides itself instead on the glories of the chaos you create, the freedom of exploration and a goof-off action story to keep you in money, weapons and women. It's not for every gamer we wager, but if you're in need of a dose of true sandbox action, there are few better ways to invest your buck.

It's taken far too long for non-American, English speaking gamers to get their hands on Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. But the good news is, largely Square Enix has managed to live up to incredibly high expectations.

A great action RPG. Solid, ever-evolving combat meets solid, ever-evolving puzzles in some really evocative environments. There are a few clumsy or lacklustre moments – the flying sequence is dull, for instance, and this isn’t in any way a revolutionary game, but it is good fun and it is well-designed.

Alan Wake is not quite the revelatory experience we hoped it would be, but it’s a solid and entertaining game that’s rich in atmosphere, with good combat mechanics and an intriguing story.

Charming and clever in equal portions, Brütal Legend is a classic example of cohesive game design...In an age of ever-increasing monotony and creative stagnation, a game like Brütal Legend is brash, proud, subversive and triumphant - and it deserves to succeed. Get on board, crank it up and make it so. Two horns up.