It’s great to play a game that – in many ways – is so pure. It’s not about collecting. It’s not about leveling up. It’s not about getting a bigger and better gun. It’s about movement, style and momentum. Combat aside, DICE has taken a significant step forward for the first person perspective with this game, and you should all check it out.

It’s great to play a game that – in many ways – is so pure. It’s not about collecting. It’s not about leveling up. It’s not about getting a bigger and better gun. It’s about movement, style and momentum. Combat aside, DICE has taken a significant step forward for the first person perspective with this game, and you should all check it out.

The game is thoughtful in design, mostly clever in its handling of pacing, upgrading parts and keeping you on track as you work your way towards the final encounter. But it's just not as fun or interesting as it should be.

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?

As a game SBK 08 is a pared back, pure racing experience that is a dream come true for two wheeled aficionados to whom realistic control is paramount. Having said that, it does suffer from a noticeable lack of polish in some key areas.

It’s well worth the price of admission, in other words; just don’t expect the perfect shooter. Epic made a lot of good calls with Gears 2, but one can’t help but think that the team is still honing its level design, its pacing, its combat and its storytelling. Should be one hell of a third installment.

Valkyria Chronicles is a truly magnificent outing for Sega. It dares to be different, it scoffs at genre conventions and finds its own path, and in doing so succeeds brilliantly as both a deep strategy experience and a wonderfully story-driven RPG.

Quantum of Solace is pretty much what youýd expect from a movie-licensed shooter. It ticks all the boxes on a purely surface level, but fails to allow the player any kind of expression or creativity during actual gameplay.

Quantum of Solace is pretty much what youýd expect from a movie-licensed shooter. It ticks all the boxes on a purely surface level, but fails to allow the player any kind of expression or creativity during actual gameplay.

A game of impressive depth and considered content, with A-grade presentation and production values and only a handful of quirks that prevent it from significantly pushing the genre forward and propelling the game straight to the top.

If you can put in the time and commit to exploring this detailed and carefully designed wasteland, then Fallout 3 can't help but satisfy and engage you in ways that very few games ever have.

SingStar Vol. 2 is, in many ways, a good idea streamlined and polished to a fine sheen. It’s tough to pick faults in a game that does exactly what it says on the tin and more. As a package, it’s brilliantly executed – from the song choice, to the overall presentation, everything is done to a high standard.

MotorStorm: Pacific Rift has been a long time coming - and has had other off-road contenders like Pure nipping at its heels - but the old magic that made the first one a ripper is back, with more vehicles, loads more tracks and a better implemented online feature set. Unless you hate off-road car games with a venomous passion this is pretty much a must-have.

Where LittleBigPlanet stands out is in the genuinely amazing integration of deep, deep content creation tools and incredible variety of objects with a community mode that truly makes content exchange and rating not just easy, but practical and even essential.

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

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

For all its flaws, Fable II is still a masterful piece of game design, and utterly compelling.

Pretty average in most respects, failing to stand out in any one category. It's kind of boring, poorly structured, mostly linear and, shock, it still reeks of cash-in, despite moderate production values.

Web of Shadows is, despite good intentions and some cute ideas, pretty average in most respects, failing to stand out in any one category. It's kind of boring, poorly structured, mostly linear and, shock, it still reeks of cash-in, despite moderate production values.

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.

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.

Suffice to say, MCLA is the sequel we were hoping for; a ballsy, fast, challenging racing game set to a killer soundtrack. It may be a little frustrating at times, but it gets an awful lot right. Plus, it makes L.A. an appealing place, and that’s harder than you might think.

Suffice to say, MCLA is the sequel we were hoping for; a ballsy, fast, challenging racing game set to a killer soundtrack. It may be a little frustrating at times, but it gets an awful lot right. Plus, it makes L.A. an appealing place, and that’s harder than you might think.

It's big dumb fun, Saints Row 2 isn't going to redefine any aspects of game design - but in doing so it does deliver on Volition's biggest promise: Saints Row 2 isn't Grand Theft Auto.

On the surface, Saints Row is an easy game to hate. Actually, I have a feeling that a lot of players and reviewers will write this game off for the sheer stupidity at play at all times. But to do so would be a big disservice to a game that tries hard to do a lot of things and show you a good time. Did we have a good time? Definitely.

You can finish it in less than 15 hours and then there’s not much else to do other than play it again - but it’s so bloody good you probably will! Intelligently written, beautiful to look at and actually genuinely scary - not to mention gory beyond belief, Dead Space is a stunning survival horror/action title and well worth a gander.

You can finish it in less than 15 hours and then there’s not much else to do other than play it again - but it’s so bloody good you probably will! Intelligently written, beautiful to look at and actually genuinely scary - not to mention gory beyond belief, Dead Space is a stunning survival horror/action title and well worth a gander.

It doesn’t do what it says on the tin, doesn’t break any barriers and is mildly dull as often as interesting but when you’re in the middle of crossfires, your squads do what they’re told and you know that you’re about to blow up a whole mess of Nazis, it’s pretty good.