While more linear than the likes of the excellent Fahrenheit, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is compelling enough to maintain your interest through to the conclusion, which itself is disappointing since the game comes to and end too quickly and fails to match the quality of the remainder of the story.

If it weren't for the somewhat unpolished enemy AI and placement, Ghost Recon 2 could have been a very realistic and engaging shooter. As it is, it feels a little out-of-kilter and more like a standard (but very good looking) shooter with some pacing issues.

Devil May Cry 4 is not the revolution that Capcom might have wanted from the series, but it’s their fault for lumbering Dante with lazy, repeated level design, and making Nero a far more interesting character to play as than to watch in cut-scenes.

The storyline, despite being written by former Hulk writer Paul Jenkins, isn’t particularly strong or well told, despite the fact that it’s more than faithful to the Hulk’s comic strip roots.

As great a game as Unreal Championship 2 is for the Xbox though, anyone who has played the magnum opus of the series that inspired it will have an inescapable nagging feeling that somehow, something is missing.

The storyline, despite being written by former Hulk writer Paul Jenkins, isn't particularly strong or well told, despite the fact that it's more than faithful to the Hulk's comic strip roots.

What it is though is a linear (and we don’t mean that negatively) RPG with an emphasis on tactical combat, more than a nod to the classic comic books, and a sizeable helping of fun.

Overlord won’t keep you coming back and again for more, but it’s a satisfying, amusing experience that’s fairly unusual in today’s games industry, even if it isn’t quite the bad boy it wants to be.

Devil May Cry 4 is not the revolution that Capcom might have wanted from the series, but it’s their fault for lumbering Dante with lazy, repeated level design, and making Nero a far more interesting character to play as than to watch in cut-scenes.

Balance and a few physics issues aside, guns are really satisfying to shoot, and the vehicles – including tanks, helicopters and planes – are great to take a joyride in.

Medal Of Honour: Airborne may well be as gung-ho as a cigar-chomping drill instructor and as shallow as the pool of blood left by one of your expendable buddies, but it doesn’t profess to be anything more than an exciting and enjoyable week’s worth of FPS action.

If you’re a fan of The Punisher, Max Payne or good old violence in general (and let’s face it – that list covers pretty much the majority of games players), there’s a good chance you’ll get a kick out of what’s on offer here.

Overlord won’t keep you coming back and again for more, but it’s a satisfying, amusing experience that’s fairly unusual in today’s games industry, even if it isn’t quite the bad boy it wants to be.

An ‘original’ title based on previous games. Think of it as "Burnout 3+."

Boiling Point is an amazing piece of work, but is like a piece of art that will never be finished. We wouldn’t hesitate in recommending it, despite its flaws, as it is the very definition of freeform adventuring.

It’s repetitive, a little on the shallow side, and probably not for your average twitch gamer, but it’s also highly original and extremely entertaining.

Interesting content, ease of use and the ability to remove huge chunks of your life combine to make one of the best historically accurate strategy games out there.

By far one of the most understatedly atmospheric games of the year, DefCon has cornered the market on the kind of strategy that tenses the buttocks to sphincter-alarming proportions. Death, destruction, brains and beauty – who the hell needs a nice game of chess?

With very little in the way of downtime and a seemingly endless stream of things to do and new things to see, the future is looking very bright.

Once you’ve got to grips with your stylus as Sonic manfully sends plumes of salty white foam splashing over the hot pussy pressed against you, you’ll forget the MegaDrive even existed [naughty, naughty – Ed]. For a while, at least.

Medal Of Honour: Airborne may well be as gung-ho as a cigar-chomping drill instructor and as shallow as the pool of blood left by one of your expendable buddies, but it doesn’t profess to be anything more than an exciting and enjoyable week’s worth of FPS action.

Playing through Ice Station Santa not only reminded us, as most of the Sam & Max instalments tend to, that there really aren’t enough good point and clickers around, but also that there aren’t enough games with a Christmas theme to them.

Don’t be fooled by the bright, cartoony exterior – RCT3 offers a detailed and sometimes complex package.

In terms of overall quality though, which is the aspect which really counts, Moai Better Blues is easily in the same league as Ice Station Santa.

Rise of Legends may not break new ground, but it certainly adds to what has gone before and presses all the right buttons along the way to becoming one of the more entertaining RTS games out there.

The lack of variety in the actual races and subsequently online doesn’t do much to justify the £50 price tag, but once you have a fast car and experience some of those intense police chases in glorious HD, you’ll be grinning from ear to ear.

Predictably Savage 2 has its detractors as well as its supporters, but there’s no denying that there’s absolutely no other game series out there that does what it does.

On the multiplayer side, things come together nicely, and the toing and froing that comes from the defender-biased jostling serves to keep possession roughly even between players who are similarly skilled, while giving more creative passers a definite advantage.