Kane & Lynch is very much a case of what could have been. With a little more time for polish and tweaking Eidos could have had a game worthy of the hype and its British Academy Video Games Award nomination (which was somehow secured before the game’s release).

As great as it is to be sliding down a banister firing off both guns before holding out your blades to slice into two anyone unlucky enough to be standing near the bottom as you pass, the sloppy controls and quirks in the design do prevent BR2 from being anything more than a reasonably-decent third-person action-slasher.

The reason not to like it, namely that it’s a compromised version of a two year old game that itself was a pretender to Virtua Tennis’ crown, is pretty strong too.

It’s certainly addictive enough to draw in even expert players for a decent number of hours, but where it shines (whether intentionally or otherwise) is as an introduction to the genre for less experienced players.

The gameplay had the potential to be really quite good, but its limitations – i.e. the interface – seem to be borne of the PSP’s shortcomings, which rather defeats the purpose of this being a handheld game. The best feature of Squad Command we have found is the multiplayer.

Blood Will Tell is a fantastic game poorly put together.

Sega Superstars Tennis offers some interesting diversions, but the main meat of the package is lacking the bite it requires to be a great game.

The Sims: Pet Stories is, for our money, more interesting than Life Stories in that it contains the relationship elements of the latter while adding in the extra dimension of training up a pet.

As point-and-click adventures go, Runaway 2 is a decent effort with good art direction and relatively high production values.

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.

It’s a little simpler to play than the 2K series, and more fast paced, but it’s also just not as good.

If you can derive entertainment from this then good for you, but just don't get your hopes up T3 fans.

After a while it’ll begin feeling like you’re playing the game in auto pilot, but that won’t last long because, well, the game doesn’t last all that long.

Quite why this wasn’t released as a budget title is a mystery, because while it is a good game, it’s not a particularly broad reaching or good value one.

If VT's controls are too simple for you, then Top Spin is waiting in the wings to take your money.

Prey the Stars is still an imaginative, good looking game that can be enjoyable in short bursts. Single card multiplayer is a definite highlight, online play not so much.

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.

Despite being a new, full-priced release, F.E.A.R. Files already has a bit of a Bargain Bin feel about it. We’re not saying don’t add it to your wish list, but unless you’re a huge fan of FPS games and Japanese-style horror, we’d suggest it go somewhere close to the bottom.

Unfortunately, Rumble Roses is just stuck inside a teenage boy’s fantasy about Anime and the WWE, with no ambition or revolutionary features even attempted.

Judging by Square-Enix’s immense standards, unbeatable by most developers on their very best day, then Last Remnant is a disappointment. It’s not the epic life consuming RPG we were expecting and falls a long way down the list of top RPG titles for the 360, which is saying something.

Personally, we’d probably rather pick up the Rome DVD box set – there’s more than thighs exposed in that little number.

There’s a magical quality to the characters and to the way the narrative progresses with its humour and warmth, and it’s this that makes the experience probably the most unique RPG the PSP has.

As a combat swansong for the PS2 it holds no merit whatsoever and shows how bad games can get when a company just doesn’t seem to care any more. It’s not the worst fighting game ever, but it’s certainly close.

Presentational hiccups aside, such as the graphics that are blocky by even the DS’ standards and the blasted screen which keeps popping up to unnecessarily show you day turning to night and vice versa, this makes a nice alternative to the compelling but flawed Lost In Blue / Stranded Kids games which have come before to handheld formats.

It's an absolute must for any fan of the genre, and whether you think it is value for money or not is purely down to how much you enjoy shooting zombies in the face, again.

It’s such a shame to see what could have been a splendid old-school RTS with mostly decent presentation (aside from the fact that the camera doesn’t zoom out enough) and three imaginative and well-balanced factions being ruined because of so many niggling problems.

A pretty basic combat flight game with some nice graphics; but a lack of focus in the single player game, annoying voiceovers and features that deserved to have been pushed a little further spoil what could have been a really manic and exciting shooter.

It may offer a richer gameplay experience than Uno, but Lost Cities just doesn’t have the fast, fun and addictive quality of that particular social card game.