We can see some hardcore puzzle addicts playing this (and probably being very good at it), but for the average gamer it represents little more than a curiosity with little long-term appeal.

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.

Considering the game is too dissimilar to appeal to Civ fans, too simplistic to appeal to SimCity veterans and too bland to appeal to gamers looking for a Roman epic, it’s tricky to pinpoint who exactly will want to buy CivCity: Rome. It’s not irredeemably broken, but it is repetitive and a little on the dull side.

If you can live with the fact that there are no expansions aside from a minor collection of downloadable extras, and that, unless you’re somehow immune to the boredom which strikes after playing any instalment of The Sims for more than a week, it probably won’t last you very long, then Life Stories might make for a decent introduction to one of the most over-exposed series of all time.

It’s mildly entertaining, mildly disappointing, mildly challenging and overall just mild.

It's incredibly hard not to spend hours just wandering about the beautiful rooms that form the foundations of Opoona's play, but it's just a shame that most of the time there's little to do in them.

Featuring jumping, gliding, twatting things with sticks, and bucket loads of what some would call "wit", this game has it all.

It’s a full blown advert for anyone doubting the need to upgrade and a serious slur on the series’ newfound "Unlimited" take on the racer.

It has some decent ideas and concepts, let down by bad enemy A.I. and very repetitive gameplay.

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

Featuring jumping, gliding, twatting things with sticks, and bucket loads of what some would call “wit”, this game has it all.

A by-the-numbers hack’n’slash – technically competent but emotionally void.

It has some decent ideas and concepts, let down by bad enemy A.I. and very repetitive gameplay.

THAW is a step backwards, with its uninspiring Story mode being mostly to blame. The PC version suffers even more thanks to it being the recipient of such a sloppy conversion.

It’s automatically a better game than any in the "Dynasty Warriors" series, but still comes a distant second place to Phantagram’s own "Kingdom Under Fire" titles.

All told, even with the addition of unlockable race and time trial modes, Pursuit Force is actually a very short game. Certainly it is if you give up due to frustration (we wouldn’t blame you), but even if you spend ten hours completing, about eight of those hours will be failed attempts.

Series veterans will love the endless customisation, four-on-four multiplayer battles and blindingly fast combat, but even the most loyal fan will wonder why Armored Core 4 couldn’t have been so much more than it is.

It has some decent ideas and concepts, let down by bad enemy A.I. and very repetitive gameplay.

Featuring jumping, gliding, twatting things with sticks, and bucket loads of what some would call "wit", this game has it all.

It’s not that the game doesn’t look great – it does. It’s not that it doesn’t control well – it does. It’s not that it has bugs or camera issues – the camera never presented a problem and, aside from falling through the floor a couple of times, the game ran smoothly. It’s just that this is a short game, and yet still not short enough to stop the gameplay from wearing thin.

Sonic CD is a title worth purchasing on pure merit, and whatever their standard, the sheer number of games on the disc make Gems an economical acquisition.

It shows off, but doesn’t have the talent to cash the cheques its looks and potential are writing.

It’s not that the game doesn’t look great – it does. It’s not that it doesn’t control well – it does. It’s not that it has bugs or camera issues – the camera never presented a problem and, aside from falling through the floor a couple of times, the game ran smoothly. It’s just that this is a short game, and yet still not short enough to stop the gameplay from wearing thin.

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.

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.

Yet no matter how straightforward Still Life is and how simple it looks, it’s incredibly easy to fall for. Aside from a few unnecessary inflections and misplaced accents here and there, the storytelling and voice acting is superb.

Restricted Area is not astounding, or flashy, or new, or even particularly exciting to most gamers but it is at least decent, reasonably priced and fairly enjoyable if you like cyberpunk and combat RPGs.

The genre has moved on in terms of gameplay, presentation and even hardware, leaving Vanguard feeling like a relic from years ago rather than something to whet your appetite for EA’s next effort.