It’s not like Ubi to release such a generic and obviously flawed game such as this, but it’s not unprecedented either and we can only hope this unfortunate blip is the worst that we’ll see for a while.

This game is an unchallenging space shooter made a little more difficult with frustrating design and a terrible camera angle. Even if you’re a fan of the TV series, we really cannot recommend a purchase.

The idea behind it is good and there’s a lot of polish in the presentation, but the gameplay is just so shallow and unevolving that it’s really hard to recommend as a full-price purchase.

Namco has created a capable fighter and dressed it in some especially uninspiring clothes. To put it plainly, Urban Reign appears to exist purely because it can. Despite its skill, no forward steps are taken or advancements made in the genre.

An interesting addition to the genre at best, but is only an average example of what’s available that, apart from its looks, offers little that hasn’t been done before and more importantly, done better.

Play 3 is sadly little more than a humdrum selection of shallow mini-games that make you feel like you’re going through the motions when playing them.

It’s still taking the piss though, and Square Enix should be ashamed of themselves for being so lazy and cheeky. Twenty pounds each? Piss off.

The good implementation of the strategy makes up for what would otherwise be a pretty unimaginative and uninspiring game that would at best be described as a homage to a much loved aging genre.

It’s nowhere near being a hellish failure and it’s possibly even worth a go when it’s cheaper, but on its own Infernal is little more than a good looking tech demo for Ageia’s PhysX cards, a fantastic endorsement for mittens, and the perfect gift for overly religious relatives.

Lovecraft’s work intrigues people, it immerses them and, given the right circumstances, can scare the crap out of them as well. Unfortunately most attempts to turn these ideas into gameplay fail miserably and Darkness Within is just another example of how not to do it. The game mechanics fail to create any kind of immersive experience that the graphics could easily have supported.

It’s huge and ambitious, but you run the risk of losing the will to live in the process of playing.

The gameplay is very basic and badly dated and, with all the top-end city building sims out there now, that makes it doomed to failure. With very little in the way of redeeming features, it is only going to have any kind of appeal to the most hardened of Roman history vets – ones who don’t know games very well so won’t know better.

What we don’t understand is why someone allowed this to soil the reputation of one of the best FPS series of the last generation.

A few minorly successful party games aside – namely Golf and, to a lesser extent, Bowling – Super Monkey Ball just doesn’t work, and is almost true to its title: It’s not super, but it does have monkeys in, and it’s mostly balls.

Aside from the documentaries and research, D-Day is a lazy, insipid, botched effort of a game.

What we don’t understand is why someone allowed this to soil the reputation of one of the best FPS series of the last generation.

They're all fun and all eventually devolve into button mashing murder, so is Dynasty Warriors 5 worth buying over Dynasty Warriors 4? No. Is the Xbox's version better than the PS2's? Not much.

What we don’t understand is why someone allowed this to soil the reputation of one of the best FPS series of the last generation.

The whole thing takes about 10 hours to play, and with little to no replay value, this doesn’t exactly represent fantastic value for money. Overall, the Da Vinci Code game is like a disappointing pleasure cruise, with one or two sunny islands floating in a big, grey sea of tedium.

Purple Haze adds nothing of note. In all the game is a bit of a mystery: it’s clearly aging and clearly inferior to the PC version and really doesn’t benefit from being on consoles in any way.

Far too simplistic and lacking in challenge to be even vaguely capable of recommending, even at its budget price.

An anthology of washed up ideas and concepts seen in almost every non-Nintendo platformer post 2D.

An incredibly deep and complex game. The problem is that to really get your hands on the deep and complex stuff, you have to go through gameplay hell and we’d be surprised if many people had the stomach to do that when there are so many other games out there that do it better.

Dynasty Warriors is as stagnated as ever and now carries the weight of a niche franchise upon its back. An overhaul is long overdue.

By dropping some of its heavier elements, Amaze’s attempt at straightforward play is not without merit on a console designed for just such a purpose. It’s just a shame that it’s entirely undermined by the need for those playing to have three or more hands.

At its best, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters is a half-arsed port of a decent PSP game that owners of the handheld should give a try if they can catch it at a reasonable price.

Considering the combat by itself is so inelegant, propping it up with a cardboard narrative and banal set-pieces inflicts upon Samurai Warriors: Katana a far more serious wound than any of the in-game arsenal could manage.

Dynasty Warriors is as stagnated as ever and now carries the weight of a niche franchise upon its back. An overhaul is long overdue.

If you're just after an unmemorable shooter you can fight through that doesn't put you in the shoes of a bullet guzzling maniac, European Assault has its advantages, but to anyone who wants a decent first person shooter: abandon the Medal of Honor franchise now.

This is a game that has been made to promote the film, no doubt in tandem with cereal box promotions and official merchandise coming to a supermarket near you. It’s just a shame, for both their sake and ours, that it simply isn’t very good.

If you want an inept and hurriedly put together version of an old classic, this is where it’s at. We suspect that’s one quote they won’t be sticking on the box.

The whole thing takes about 10 hours to play, and with little to no replay value, this doesn't exactly represent fantastic value for money. Overall, the Da Vinci Code game is like a disappointing pleasure cruise, with one or two sunny islands floating in a big, grey sea of tedium.

The whole thing takes about 10 hours to play, and with little to no replay value, this doesn’t exactly represent fantastic value for money. Overall, the Da Vinci Code game is like a disappointing pleasure cruise, with one or two sunny islands floating in a big, grey sea of tedium.

If you want an inept and hurriedly put together version of an old classic, this is where it’s at. We suspect that’s one quote they won’t be sticking on the box.

Naïve, dull and unexpectedly sloppy, Cerberus’ story is its one saving grace – but it’s a story tarnished by the meagre game beneath it.

Every aspect of the game design has been mishandled in some way or another.

The DS simply doesn’t need games like this, especially with no touch-screen control.

This is a game that has been made to promote the film, no doubt in tandem with cereal box promotions and official merchandise coming to a supermarket near you. It's just a shame, for both their sake and ours, that it simply isn't very good.

So there you have it – a darts game that offers a fairly miserable experience for non-darts fans, but uses the licence well enough to divert the attention of a fan of the televised sport for ever-so slightly longer.

So there you have it – a darts game that offers a fairly miserable experience for non-darts fans, but uses the licence well enough to divert the attention of a fan of the televised sport for ever-so slightly longer.

An anthology of washed up ideas and concepts seen in almost every non-Nintendo platformer post 2D.

To the less than fanatical, the drawn-out story, poor pacing, terrible script, crappy acting, plethora of typos, repetition and badly designed game engine will see to it that the most chilling prospect of The Lost Crown will be the thought of sitting through it.

Undoubtedly, if you’re not a disciple of the Rock Gods then you’ll be able to have tons of fun having some awesome parties with Rocks! and its more enjoyable brethren; but if you are a die-hard rocker, then this will be as painful an experience as listening to Radio One while sober.

Ultimately Clone Wars is a bit of a failure for several reasons, and the fact that it doesn’t do what you’d be forgiven for thinking it should do is just the main one. With disappointing lightsaber controls, the limited gameplay structure, simplistic combat and lack of core audience appeal only provide further excuses not to bother. High expectations or not, Lightsaber Duels doesn’t deliver.

Purple Haze adds nothing of note. In all the game is a bit of a mystery: it's clearly aging and clearly inferior to the PC version and really doesn't benefit from being on consoles in any way.

Pirates: Duels on the High Seas feels more like a game for mobile phones that you can pick up for a fiver than a twenty quid DS game. It shows very little imagination and no new ideas, as though the developers have drawn themselves a very small box and made no attempt to think outside of it.

It remains a weak 3D fighter, crippled by balance issues and an inferiority complex.

M.A.C.H is a sad waste of potential that feels like no one actually cared to deliver anything innovative or even competent.

If there’s one thing that can’t be doubted, it’s Wario’s credentials as a Master of Disguise – he’s managed to take a sub-par puzzle-platformer, and make it look like an inventive spin on a well-worn genre. Sadly, this particular disguise doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

The extreme banality of the package which would only just about hold the attention of the seriously young members of your family for any length of time can’t be ignored.

Dragoneer’s Aria is simply not good enough to fulfil the expectations of the PSP community, especially the hardcore RPG fans who deserve to be treated with a little more respect than a rushed effort that very obviously lacks polish and quite frankly looks amateurish when compared to other games around.

You can play through the game in a matter of hours, including the additional skirmishes, and shouldn’t have much difficulty doing so. It’s kind of cool being a predator, hunting down aliens, but AvP: Requiem feels like a budget game using tired clichés and with dull, inoffensive gameplay.

The gameplay itself is still in relatively good health, and with a good deal of thought and tweaking could be as enjoyable as it ever was, but if Worms is to once again be a post-pub game of choice, it needs to regain its sense of humour.

This game has basically been done before and been done better. Even for hardened action RPG fans who are looking for their next fix before Diablo 3 hits, it would be difficult to recommend much about Loki that would provide them with any sort of new buzz.

Fans of historical RTS games will be far better off with Rome: Total War or any number of other, better alternatives. While nowhere near as awful as Heroes Hour, Alexander is nevertheless glitchy, and feels unfinished.

Alone in the Dark will surely come to be known as one of the biggest let downs of the year. Impressive set pieces and an initially compelling opening are horribly betrayed by a diabolical control system and frustrating glitches that strongly suggest the game would have benefitted from at least another six months intensive development and testing.

Dawn of Magic does everything in the RPG book by-the-numbers, only it seems to have used all the wrong numbers.

Not only does Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 cure insomnia, but it improves your social skills as you will need to go out and find friends to replace the ones that don’t want to speak to you again after you force this one them.

Astonishia Story is far from a dreadful game, it’s just one that’s oddly devoid of even the remotest hint of charisma.

An amateurish mess with a painful campaign mode and only a few novel ideas to be proud of.

The 10 year old PC game is better looking, easier to control, has more weapons and features; it doesn’t have average mini games and it has online multiplayer. What’s more, it can be had for 99 pence on eBay.

The tired fashion in which the action is delivered is almost as old as the stuttering visuals that blight it at every turn, making this a monster for all the wrong reasons.

Removing micromanagement is one thing, but when the gameplay goes out of the door with it, it becomes a serious case of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

It may sound bitchy, but the game is stupid in a way very few video games are: a Naruto action-RPG has so much potential, but this can’t even come close to average.

A poor man’s version of Sid Meier’s Pirates, and seeing as the other game is probably on a budget label by now, or at least in a bargain bin somewhere, then it’s clear that this won’t even appeal to those who want some story with their pirating.

Even with the game being relatively enjoyable and short enough to be replayed a few times, the lack of variety is unjustifiable. The Emperor’s thumb is most certainly down for this one.

Spectrobes is a suicidal endeavour by Disney, a fool-hardy exercise in boardroom cynicism resulting in little more than a way below par, under-funded attempt to cash in on Pokémon’s “Gotta catch ‘em all” legacy. Of what little enjoyment there is still left inside the DS cartridge, it’s left for the obsessive gamers who can stand the constant fruitless searching, endless digging, piss-poor combat, the rarity of finding something new, the barely existent storyline and even the feeble character designs.

If this was on a PS2 (which it is) it would look dated. On an Xbox 360 it’s a travesty. If the game was actually any good, the flaws might be just about forgivable, but with gameplay that’s so loose it’s practically dangling off the screen, and a main mechanic that becomes so deeply tedious you almost want to use surrender as your main strategy so you don’t have to go through yet another button mashing hack-and-slash session, this really has very little to offer.

For the love of gaming Koei, this is just another mediocre expansion pack for a game that played like a glorified expansion pack to yet more games which felt little more than expansion packs themselves.

Shadow the Hedgehog is awful. Stay away from it.

As a rental, Lost: The Video Game might entertain a handful of die-hard fans for four or five hours, but it has no replay value.

As a rental, Lost: The Video Game might entertain a handful of die-hard fans for four or five hours, but it has no replay value.

Budget release or no, this is a pretty disappointing effort and a waste of time for most.

As a rental, Lost: The Video Game might entertain a handful of die-hard fans for four or five hours, but it has no replay value.

If you're thinking of buying this because it's cheap, don't bother, as even at its budget price it's still not worth the money.

Tarr Chronicles just isn’t that good.

Put simply, Warpath is an unimaginative, derivative and downright pointless. It’s a clone of a clone, and an inferior one at that. The game feels outdated, clunky and lacking polish.

The Incredibles will still be an adequate Christmas present to go with the branded action figures, books and random merchandise that children will be finding under their vastly over-decorated artificial trees, even if marginally more effort goes into making a Happy Meal.

If you’re thinking of buying this because it’s cheap, don’t bother, as even at its budget price it’s still not worth the money.

Whether running around the Bada Bing nightclub or a casino, the locations are boxy, linear and woefully outdated in terms of texture quality. Frankly speaking, it just isn’t up to scratch.

George of the Jungle is basic at its best and irritatingly flawed at its worst, relying almost entirely on its license to sell to an audience perhaps unaware of the genre’s past glories.

The Last Prophecy? I bloody well hope so.

All the pedigree and ideas are here to make Hammer & Sickle a veritable feast of turn-based feast action. Unfortunately they’re all lost in a flawed and poorly executed example of cashing in on past glory.

Aurora Watching is rubbish – don’t even think about buying it.

As it is, X-Men: The Official Game is "officially" a horse's turd of an experience that's approximately as painful as Wolverine's claws inadvertently sliding out while he's wiping his arse.

It’s hard for us not to come away from a session of Samurai Warriors (or frankly any Warriors game right now) without the words ‘time’, ‘of’, ‘waste’, ‘fat’ and ‘big’ crossing our minds, but there you have it. The words ‘boring’, ‘repetitive’, ‘uninspiring’ and even ‘ugly’ are not far behind.

As it is, X-Men: The Official Game is “officially” a horse’s turd of an experience that’s approximately as painful as Wolverine’s claws inadvertently sliding out while he’s wiping his arse.

As it is, X-Men: The Official Game is “officially” a horse’s turd of an experience that’s approximately as painful as Wolverine’s claws inadvertently sliding out while he’s wiping his arse.

As it is, X-Men: The Official Game is "officially" a horse's turd of an experience that's approximately as painful as Wolverine's claws inadvertently sliding out while he's wiping his arse.

As it is, X-Men: The Official Game is “officially” a horse’s turd of an experience that’s approximately as painful as Wolverine’s claws inadvertently sliding out while he’s wiping his arse.

There’s a few hours of play in it, but no real fun. L.A. Duel is blander than a petrol station sandwich, but thankfully less likely to leave you blowing chunks by the side of the road.

Underneath all the tedium, the bones of a very basic business simulation can be found, but there’s a lot of joyless digging to be done to get to it. We’re not entirely sure who will actually enjoy Playboy: The Mansion, as the business side is unsatisfying, the networking is mind-numbing, and the sex is a sad cop out.

A lot of the good intentions in Psychotoxic are just lost in the mess of it all. We might have recommended the story to fans of sci-fi B-movies, but frankly after a few interesting cut-scenes the story goes absolutely nowhere for hours before wrapping-up in a not-entirely-satisfying manner.

Save yourself the money and just shake your wii-mote randomly and violently, shout quotes from the series and cry softly to yourself in the corner for an hour afterwards – you’ll look less like an idiot and have just as much fun.

Overall, this whole package seems held together with a cheap sticky-tack feeling that just leaves us wanting to cry.

The limited gameplay with an atmosphere that is completely spoiled by some deviously frustrating design and lazy pathing leads to an experience that for most will be flat and lifeless.

Just plain dreadful...There was only ever a faint hope it wouldn’t be as bad as "The Simpsons Skateboarding" or that "Futurama" game, but it is.

You might be more interested to know what Driv3r isn’t though – a good game.