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.

In spite of its sluggish opening, Battlefield: Bad Company goes on to produce one of the most entertaining first-person shooters since last year’s "Call of Duty 4."

If you've ever loved any one of the Metal Gear games, or any moments from the series, there will come a moment when MGS 4 will send your spirits soaring. If you've loved them all, well then there'll be many, many more. It’s a masterpiece.

There is surprising depth to its puzzles, and it’s great to see the DS host such a great and intuitive idea again after months of copycat shelf-filler.

For all its promise to deliver a thoughtful take on the murkier aspects of war combined with Free Radical's proven prestige with first person shooters, ultimately Haze is a resounding disappointment that never truly shines in any department.

On the understanding that you’re signing up for either casual use or a supplementary exercise regime, then Wii Fit is undeniably great value. It’s beautifully presented, joyfully accessible and effortlessly entertaining.

EURO 2008 is undoubtedly a step forward for the FIFA series, bringing it tantalizingly close to dethroning the once all conquering "PES."

EURO 2008 is undoubtedly a step forward for the FIFA series, bringing it tantalizingly close to dethroning the once all conquering "PES."

Expectations were so high for Grand Theft Auto IV that one of the biggest surprises is that it's managed to meet them. That it's also gone on to confound these is truly a marvel, and the game's Liberty City is nothing less than one of the greatest videogame worlds yet conceived.

Expectations were so high for Grand Theft Auto IV that one of the biggest surprises is that it's managed to meet them. That it's also gone on to confound these is truly a marvel, and the game's Liberty City is nothing less than one of the greatest videogame worlds yet conceived.

Despite initial fears, this is proper Mario Kart, and it's Mario Kart done right. It's fast, it's fun and still one of the best party games ever created. Thanks to some seriously well-implemented online options though, it brings so much more to the table than its forebears, most notably in terms of longevity.