Need for Speed Shift gets the most important part of a racing game right and it does so with a flair that’s uncommon in a frequently po-faced genre, providing driving that’s genuinely thrilling.

A peerless offering that blows any comparable 'band-only' music title out of the water. Doing justice to the greatest band of all time was always going to be a tough job, but The Beatles: Rock Band offers a beautiful tribute to an enduring act.

A peerless offering that blows any comparable 'band-only' music title out of the water. Doing justice to the greatest band of all time was always going to be a tough job, but The Beatles: Rock Band offers a beautiful tribute to an enduring act.

The dry subject matter will keep it well below a lot of folks’ radars, and while that’s understandable it’s a bit of a shame. You really don’t need death rays and power-armour to have a fine, shooty old time – rattatat and all that is more than enough.

Even those who might sniff at the game’s focus on the extreme end of off-road motorsport will find it hard to scoff at its rewarding handling model, its sense of atmosphere and its sumptuous visuals, all of which help make it a highlight of the Colin McRae series.

Even those who might sniff at the game’s focus on the extreme end of off-road motorsport will find it hard to scoff at its rewarding handling model, its sense of atmosphere and its sumptuous visuals, all of which help make it a highlight of the Colin McRae series.

It's soothing, compulsive and peculiarly thrilling all at once: a perfect little world where working hard brings its own tangible rewards and cows have huge happy faces. Even in this slightly butchered state, it's good to see Magical Melody finally on these shores.

It’s hugely atmospheric and engrossing, its blend of combat and stealth balanced superbly to deliver an experience that’s easily as engaging as the Metal Gear series.

It’s hugely atmospheric and engrossing, its blend of combat and stealth balanced superbly to deliver an experience that’s easily as engaging as the Metal Gear series.

Another excellent entry in Nintendo’s burgeoning hybrid franchise, effortlessly straddling the demographic divide thanks to its beguiling mix of approachable puzzles, gentle adventure and triple-A production values.

A game that delivers entertainment in massive, unbridled waves. It’s true that Resort doesn’t quite strike the balance between single-player and party appeal, but its compulsive score-based structure is a significant step up from its predecessor.

Disorientating, disjointed, over-stretched and largely charmless.

It's The Conduit’s beautifully tactile control set-up that proves to be the star of the show here. Take it away and you’re left with a single-player game that’s consistently bland but, more damningly, consistently boring.

Ubisoft has delivered a game that’s been thoughtfully designed around the strengths of Nintendo’s system, delivering an experience that retains the essence and depth of the long-running series while streamlining it to offer a pacier, more accessible twist on the familiar formula, replacing unnecessary complexity with gameplay breadth.

A blisteringly energetic, entertaining experience. It might lack variety on a basic level but it’s still engagingly solid, if not out-and-out spectacular.

It might seem slight, if not slightly ridiculous, but there's something utterly joyous about Let's Tap – from its deliriously captivating aesthetic (frankly worth the asking price alone) and stripped down arcade fundamentals to its immediately accessible, and surprisingly robust, control scheme.

Superb evolution for the franchise and an impressive, enjoyable game in its own right. EA has obviously listened to criticism and worked hard to create a title that prioritises goal-based gameplay over micro-management to deliver an experience that's constantly engaging and thoroughly immersive.

While not wholly original, the game's blend of open world ideals with superhero powers is done with a verve that’s unsurpassed, and the mesh of platforming and freeform combat is uniquely satisfying.

Taken on its own merits it is a solid if unspectacular third-person action game, and about the unkindest thing you could say about it is that it is bland and inoffensive.

Taken on its own merits it is a solid if unspectacular third-person action game, and about the unkindest thing you could say about it is that it is bland and inoffensive.

In creating a sequel bursting with new features, Studio Japan has lost some of the essence that made Patapon such a simple, fun game. Sure, the core gameplay remains fundamentally unchanged and therefore there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had, whether you’re fresh to the series or an experienced pro.

Ultimately, there’s a sense that Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut can’t quite reconcile its attempts to incorporate updated gaming sensibilities with its need to maintain the sort of respectful reverence demanded by fans. The result is a game that flounders unevenly between both extremes and never quite gels as an overall experience. However, for all its inconsistencies, Broken Sword is still an undoubted masterclass in videogame storytelling.

Surprisingly, the relative limitations and idiosyncrasies of Nintendo’s handheld have combined to deliver a Broken Sword experience that shines, in many ways, more so than its console counterpart.

If you take it on its own terms it is a solid enough title, hampered only by the PSP’s lack of a second analog stick and the terrible script. Whether that’s enough depends on whether you’re a PSP-owner looking for an uncomplicated bit of fun, or whether you’re a massive corporation trying to revive the fortunes of an increasingly overlooked bit of hardware.

Serene but addictive, Rune Factory Frontier understands the age-old rhythms and mechanics at the heart of the Harvest Moon series' appeal and applies them to a new template.

For all its problems off the pitch, there’s no doubting that PES 2009 is the most fun football game on the market.

The definitive GTA? That depends where your tastes lie, but either way there’s no denying this is a masterpiece of handheld gaming.

While it's occasionally hampered by outdated controls and problematic AI, it's the near-mandatory co-op and bombastic assault of visceral silliness that earns Resident Evil 5 its stripes. Sure, it might just be a shinier, snazzier retread of Resi 4 - and certainly, it lacks its forerunner's impressive sense of invention - but this is still big, dumb Grade A entertainment.

While it's occasionally hampered by outdated controls and problematic AI, it's the near-mandatory co-op and bombastic assault of visceral silliness that earns Resident Evil 5 its stripes. Sure, it might just be a shinier, snazzier retread of Resi 4 - and certainly, it lacks its forerunner's impressive sense of invention - but this is still big, dumb Grade A entertainment.

Control issues hamper fluidity but there’s no denying that, with some investment, MadWorld rewards in huge doses, delivering an incredibly visceral experience that's as stunningly unique and obscenely entertaining as it is just plain obscene.

Halo Wars isn’t rocket science, and it isn’t perfect either, but it’ll satisfy Halo fanatics to the exact same degree as anyone hankering for a decent console game where you tell a large piece of rolling ordinance which direction it should be rolling in. And that, when you think about it, is quite an achievement in itself.

Despite a few minor chinks in its armour, Empire: Total War is an improvement over Medieval II in every conceivable way. Its campaign is larger, more tactical and engaging, while the improved AI ensures that real-time battles and siege warfare are more challenging and thrilling than in any previous Total War installment.

For a developer whose previous games have been little more than average, Killzone 2 is a landmark achievement. Guerrilla has pushed the boundaries of what we’ve seen on PlayStation 3 by creating an all-action shooter that’s far closer to the original E3 teaser trailer than we could ever have imagined. It’s not perfect, sure, but it’s arguably the best FPS on PlayStation 3 and one that is, in this reviewer’s opinion at least, superior to "Resistance 2."

A near-perfect popcorn game. Its gunplay is solid and backed up by a plethora of neat ideas, its co-op is strong and there's an undercurrent of savvy humour that helps to negate the heavy posturing and more dubious elements of the paper thin plot.

A near-perfect popcorn game. Its gunplay is solid and backed up by a plethora of neat ideas, its co-op is strong and there's an undercurrent of savvy humour that helps to negate the heavy posturing and more dubious elements of the paper thin plot.

One of the most soothing, effortlessly playable things you've ever likely had the pleasure to experience. It's a surreal and simple sandbox with no hidden subtleties or complex underlying system of progress and reward, no contrived meaning. It's appeal purely lies with its gentle, happy-go-lucky lunacy, and that's what makes it so bafflingly absorbing.

No other game has managed to capture the thrill of going bumper to bumper in pure-bred machinery quite so brilliantly as this, and if you can see through its shortcomings it's one of the very best available on the 360.

Street Fighter IV is no less than the new standard for beat-‘em-ups. It's a triumphant return for the series after an eight year hiatus and is a seamless blend of the old and new, at once accessible to lapsed pugilists while being nuanced enough for the dedicated core to wallow in its depths.

Street Fighter IV is no less than the new standard for beat-‘em-ups. It's a triumphant return for the series after an eight year hiatus and is a seamless blend of the old and new, at once accessible to lapsed pugilists while being nuanced enough for the dedicated core to wallow in its depths.

The sheer size of this expansion is staggering.

A genre classic. Though its component pieces may be basic, they all conspire together to create an experience that’s the measure of anything to have come out of Square or Enix’s collective stable, and whether you’re a veteran of the series or a debutant, this is a slice of indisputable role-playing perfection - and one of the greatest RPGs the DS has to offer.

It hasn’t toppled the Sacred Stones from its berth as the best game in the series (or, if you’re a purist, Fire Emblem on the GBA), and it feels a bit like a missed opportunity to ally the game that started it all with some of the many incremental improvements that have been introduced since. Still, though, it is a Fire Emblem game, and for some of us, that’s enough.

If you succumb to its charms and let it meander its way into the deeper recesses of your consciousness, you’ll find Flower to be full of some of the finest gaming moments known, and your life will be all the richer for playing it.

There’s certainly no arguing that Project Origin is an excellent, albeit, old-school shooter. It’s 2009 though and, from the game’s well-worn jolts right through to environments consistently drawn from the big book of FPS clichés – hello subway system, hospital, derelict street, science lab and underground bunker – there are simply too few moments that alleviate proceedings to the top tier of genre daddies.

There’s certainly no arguing that Project Origin is an excellent, albeit, old-school shooter. It’s 2009 though and, from the game’s well-worn jolts right through to environments consistently drawn from the big book of FPS clichés – hello subway system, hospital, derelict street, science lab and underground bunker – there are simply too few moments that alleviate proceedings to the top tier of genre daddies.

It mightn't be perfect, especially in terms of challenge and basic longevity, but Overkill is a welcome rollick in the sort of shameless depravity most other consoles would blush at. Its stylish facade and rock solid core shooter mechanics packs enough visceral thrills and prude-baiting excess to keep you playing long after more respectable titles have lost their lustre.

While it’s frequently breathtaking in its ingenuity elsewhere – from impressively reductionist point-and-click design to intelligent, inventive puzzling – ultimately, it’s the melancholy atmosphere that lingers when it’s all over.

Whether there’s enough here to maintain longevity is yet to be seen, but for the time being we finally have a Football Manager game that can be enjoyed against other people and in short bursts, a game that’s subtly addictive but never life sapping.

A slavishly accurate conversion of a classic racer thought lost to the smoky arcade mists of time, Sumo Digital has retained the joy of the 1996 original while bolstering the game with a handsome offering of online modes and an attractive high definition overhaul.

Conquest offers much sound and fury but little substance.

Conquest offers much sound and fury but little substance.

Ubisoft has delivered an incredibly polished, tremendously enjoyable and utterly lovable experience here. It takes all the best elements of previous franchise entries then expands and refines them to create an absolutely unforgettable adventure. It’s magical in every sense of the word.

Ubisoft has delivered an incredibly polished, tremendously enjoyable and utterly lovable experience here. It takes all the best elements of previous franchise entries then expands and refines them to create an absolutely unforgettable adventure. It’s magical in every sense of the word.

Despite its failure to move the series forward, Underworld is still fundamentally an incredibly enjoyable experience and a real return to captivating tomb raiding on a grand scale. It might be the same Lara we’ve enjoyed over the years but there’s no denying the lady’s still got style.

Despite its failure to move the series forward, Underworld is still fundamentally an incredibly enjoyable experience and a real return to captivating tomb raiding on a grand scale. It might be the same Lara we’ve enjoyed over the years but there’s no denying the lady’s still got style.

Though FM09’s 3D match engine is Sports Interactive’s one real attempt at breaking from its comfort zone this time around, it’s also this latest iterations biggest disappointment. We can certainly see the potential of Sports Interactive’s newfound interest in 3D and we hope it all comes together more gracefully in FM2010. In the meantime though, its relative failure doesn’t detract from the fact that FM09 is still easily the most in-depth, enjoyable and addictive way to pretend you manage a football team.

One of the finest zombie games ever made, and one of the finest co-op games ever made. The potential for everything to go so, so wrong without warning, or conversely to pull off the most spectacular escapes against all odds, means this is an online shooter you can tell your finest anecdotes about without boring everyone else to tears.

One of the finest zombie games ever made, and one of the finest co-op games ever made. The potential for everything to go so, so wrong without warning, or conversely to pull off the most spectacular escapes against all odds, means this is an online shooter you can tell your finest anecdotes about without boring everyone else to tears.

Even if you've worked your way through previous iterations, it's as compulsively addictive as always although its easy to resent the familiarity of it all.

More than just unique, it’s a thrilling and stylish venture to untapped territory that’s assured in its firstperson take on platforming. Though an inane plot and limp combat see it falter briefly, the strong visual design and dynamic mechanic ensure it still emerges as a game to be celebrated.

More than just unique, it’s a thrilling and stylish venture to untapped territory that’s assured in its firstperson take on platforming. Though an inane plot and limp combat see it falter briefly, the strong visual design and dynamic mechanic ensure it still emerges as a game to be celebrated.

There’s a great idea at the core of Nuts & Bolts and, from superb construction tools right through to lavish presentation, there are plenty of individual elements worthy of praise. When it fails though, Banjo fails badly and the lack of any fundamentally engaging framework to support the game’s creative elements renders the game pretty much obsolete for anyone looking for something to appreciate beyond the incredibly flexible building component in isolation.

For all its problems off the pitch, there’s no doubting that PES 2009 is the most fun football game on the market.

The WWII setting compounds the wearying feeling of over-familiarity, but the solid engine that powers the game ensures that it’s often the most spectacular take on the conflict yet, and one that’s certainly the most exhilarating.

Although World at War too often feels like a refit, it’s a refit of one of the greatest games of the current generation - and one that’s, by and large, been confidently handled by Treyarch.

It provides a truly electric action experience, building on the original with intense, astonishingly epic set-pieces. What's more, the presentation is the closest we’ve got to starring in a full-blown action flick. However, the game is also bereft of any genuine surprises and for all of its stunning visuals and masterful firefights, it’s all a little too predictable.

A true blockbuster of a game, Quantum of Solace is loud, dumb but sadly all-too-forgettable. The Bond licence goes a good way to hiding the game’s lack of ideas and for the four hours the single-player campaign lasts there’s no denying it’s a solid blast, but ultimately there’s better ways to spend your money this autumn.

Though it’s certainly a competent package, the overall feeling engendered by Resistance 2 is underwhelming. For every breathless set-piece that powers the single-player campaign, there’s another moment not far behind that peddles mediocrity, and every glorious vista is offset by sometimes derivative play.

It’s the big Christmas action game with brains and choices, and with an interest in constructing a refreshingly different world from all those austere near-future manshoots that clog up the shelves. In many respects, it’s a far better game than "Bioshock," most of all because you get the endless choice that promised but didn’t deliver. So it’s tragic that the often awful production values make a fool of it so regularly.

It's the big Christmas action game with brains and choices, and with an interest in constructing a refreshingly different world from all those austere near-future manshoots that clog up the shelves. In many respects, it's a far better game than Bioshock, most of all because you get the endless choice that promised but didn't deliver. So it's tragic that the often awful production values make a fool of it so regularly.

It's the multiplayer that perhaps been given the most love since the last game.

It’s a celebration of inspiration and human interaction and a hugely welcome, utterly invigorating experience among usual roster of nihilistic shooters jostling for shelf space this Christmas.

Invest in Albion, its inhabitants and its history; embrace the power you’re afforded to shape yourself and the world around you and Fable II is an astonishing achievement. It’s not an easily definable, singular vision but an impressive, unparalleled attempt at empowering the player in ways no other game has before.

Unfortunately, it’s these failings that defined our experience of the game, though for anyone keen to sample a shooter that dares step into the leftfield we recommend endeavouring to get to the heart of what feels like an uncut diamond – rough-shorn but not bereft of value.

Midnight Club: Los Angeles is unarguably a high quality racer that admirably bridges the gap between a freeform gaming world and a more structured race setup. Yet for all its visual thrills, extensive (if never exhaustive) customisation options and high production values, it feels as though Rockstar San Diego has played it a little too safe here.

Midnight Club: Los Angeles is unarguably a high quality racer that admirably bridges the gap between a freeform gaming world and a more structured race setup. Yet for all its visual thrills, extensive (if never exhaustive) customisation options and high production values, it feels as though Rockstar San Diego has played it a little too safe here.

More than any other ‘Wii’-branded Nintendo offering, Wii Music truly demands an open mind to appreciate. Join the party with too many expectations – in either direction – and you’re likely to walk away either bewildered, disappointed or disgusted.

Ultimately it’s difficult to see, really, what it adds to the original Saints Row, or indeed, the GTA-formula and the macho posturing and po-faced moral bankruptcy is likely to infuriate as many people as it enthrals.

Ultimately it’s difficult to see, really, what it adds to the original Saints Row, or indeed, the GTA-formula and the macho posturing and po-faced moral bankruptcy is likely to infuriate as many people as it enthrals.

FIFA 09 returns to the pitch full of swagger, and it does it’s very best to deliver on EA Sport’s promise of creating the definitive football title. An exacting game on the pitch and an overwhelmingly comprehensive one off of it.

FIFA 09 returns to the pitch full of swagger, and it does it’s very best to deliver on EA Sport’s promise of creating the definitive football title. An exacting game on the pitch and an overwhelmingly comprehensive one off of it.

Scary it mightn’t be, but it’s compelling, unsettling and engaging in its own familiar, anachronistic way.

Scary it mightn’t be, but it’s compelling, unsettling and engaging in its own familiar, anachronistic way.

Like the disaster movies it takes inspiration from though, Day of Crisis is ultimately more than the sum of its parts. When it works, it’s a relentless, thrilling assault on your senses; a huge grin of game. And when it doesn’t, when it starts to wobble precariously on its own flimsy parts, it’s still compulsive in its creativity, inexplicable in its uniqueness and, most importantly, one thoroughly fun ride.

While WipEout HD is essentially a redressing of the previous PSP games, it's hard to complain when the source material was so good in the first place and the redressing is so assured. As a standalone title, WipEout HD would impress, but as a download title it's nothing short of essential.

Frustrations emerging on higher difficulty levels mean that while as a basic multiplayer experience Samba excels, for the solo player it sadly isn’t a lasting prospect.

Still one of the most wholesome and entertaining party games available.

Ultimately, our main issue with Buzz! Master Quiz is that it's an almost completely redundant package. Solo mode isn't substantial enough to maintain your interest for long and multiplayer options are so peculiarly arranged that the real meat of the series is pretty much lost.

Multiwinia largely succeeds as an enjoyable -- if slight -- multiplayer expansion of Introversion’s Darwinia. Its idiosyncratic design is as delightful as ever and the developer’s knack for capturing the essence of 8-bit gaming purity is once again evident.

Stalker was made so much more of by patches and mods because it was such an impressive skeleton of a game. Clear Sky, though, has so much decaying flesh attached to it that cutting through to the admittedly very healthy bone below may prove too tall an order.

It's a beautifully polished product and the ease of interaction immediately places this DS version miles ahead of its rather cumbersome console predecessor.

God, the scale of the thing.

System 3 has managed to produce a thoroughbred racing experience that manages to retain so much of the charisma of its source material - and for those so inclined its one of the best racers available on the PlayStation 3.

Unbound from the lumbering storytelling, when you and a friend are tackling levels at your leisure, hurling crowds of mechmen skywards, it’s exactly the sort of brainless destruction the game should be.

Sumo Digital’s take on the athletics genre is a rare gem on the handheld’s current stark landscape, at its heart an unashamedly old school experience that also manages to successfully revive the spirit of Konami’s once great series.

Civilization Revolution remains the furiously, maddeningly addictive sandbox of delights that it's always been – which is probably the highest praise you can give it.

Sure, its plot is hugely contrived, it’s occasionally frustrating and really lacking in the kind of polish we expect from big-name games in this day and age. However, it’s also undoubtedly one of the most imaginative, ambitious and exciting titles to hit a console in the last few years.

Bold and bright in tone, it’s blockbuster fare that combines DICE’s first-person expertise with a small sprinkling of innovation that’s enough to ensure it’s a perfect way to shoot the summer breeze.