Pac-Man made better. [Feb 2011, p.103]

A re-release that's only just worth the fare. [Feb 2011, p.103]

A game that's playing very hard to get. [Feb 2011, p.99]

A light but worthwhile fitness game. [Feb 2011, p.99]

You'd do better to get Kinect Sports instead. [Feb 2011, p.99]

Great songs, shonky game. [Feb 2011, p.97]

Very little new to see here. [Feb 2011, p.97]

As good as you'd expect it to be. [Feb 2011, p.97]

A tasty morsel that won't hurt your wallet. [Feb 2011, p.102]

Fun - but only for an afternoon. [Feb 2011, p.98]

Massive, rubbish but strangely compelling. [Feb 2011, p.94]

As good as ever, but no better.

Unfortunately, there are two key aspects of the Lego games that The Infinity Gauntlet fails to emulate: their sense of humour and their lifespan.

We're actually more fond of how The UnderGarden looks and sounds than how it plays.

If you can demonstrate a bit of self-control, though, or better yet actually risk failure by limiting the number of continues you get in the menus, this is definitely one of the better sidescrollers around.

Red Dead's outstanding DLC in a box. Simple as.

Unnecessary multiplayer aside, Dead Space 2 is a corker. It's an unpredictable powder-keg of [a] game; even when you get mulched by the Necromorphs it's great to see just how many chunks your corpse has been blown into. [Feb 2011, p.88]

If you're in any way nostalgic about the original Jam games, at this price it's a slam dunk.

A total snooze cruise of a car combat game.

This is actually an evolution, in that Evolution involves random mutations that aren't always beneficial.

Clunky, frustrating and irrelevant.

But if you want to lose weight, and your mind throws a fog of delusion and twisted justifications in your path, then the numbers and tips of The Biggest Loser might just break that spell.

Venetica is a neat idea for an RPG hamstrung by an engine that can't do the maths quick enough and some terrible production values.

The result is that the game's flow shudders and starts - a ponderous affair punctuated by sudden bouts of extremely messy and imprecise combat.

The best fitness title on the Xbox 360.

Despite niggles, Apache: Air Assault manages to walk a fine line between po-faced simulation and Desert Strike-esque explosive arcade fun.

Sure to drag your party in a depressingly non-sexy direction. You'd have an edgier evening playing Monopoly.

While in no way essential, there's worse you could do with your money... [Issue#65, p.104]

It's such an empty, floating and bewildering mess that it's impossible to enjoy. [Issue#67, p.103]

Madden 11 is without a doubt the best American football game on the Xbox 360. [Issue#65, p.85]

As long as you're not expecting to have your plus-fours blown off, you'll find this to be a diverting downloadable game. [Issue#67, p.101]

As it is, there's a fundamentally exciting and feature-heavy driving game here, but one burdened just enough by small niggles to bring us down. [Issue#65, p.92]

While it's a quick-fix burst of fun, the fact SkyHeroes is a kids' game isn't an excuse to be this shallow. [Issue#66, p.98]

The best thing that can be said about ProStroke Golf...is that you can speed through a game pretty efficiently. [Issue#65, p.97]

A distinctly Japanese take on an irrevocably inscrutable cultural milestone, grab it from your nearest bargain bin for those sniggersome one-liners alone. [Issue#67, p.101]

It's an error to think of Fatal Conspiracy as a game. That creates an expectation of fun - a level on which CSI doesn't try to deliver. [Issue#67, p.103]

For all its radial menus and console-friendly UI, Spellbound simply hasn't managed to make Gothic work in a console environment. [Issue#66, p.85]

Flesh and Blood is compelling in its own unhappy way, but this is far from a horror essential. [Issue#67, p.101]

It's somewhat understandable that the sequel struggles to find new directions to take the game in, but failing to live up to the original? That's a real crime. [Issue#65, p.93]

NHL 11 carries on all the good work of last year's game, but its overall gloss...doesn't quite hide some quirky AI decision making and shonky goal tending. [Issue#66, p.94]

It's not as technically demanding as Street Fighter IV, and feels like a more free-flowing, mobile, nimble fighter in comparison. [Issue#66, p.99]

In spite of minor grumbles, this is an expansive, varied and satisfying physics puzzler and, while it could do with a smidge more personality, it certainly benefits from a budget price.

"Quotation Forthcoming"

And it's a testimony to their patience and kind-heartedness that they didn't punch us in the face for wasting an evening of their precious, finite life.

The introduction of the flow system early in the game seems innocuous at first, but it will quickly become the bane of your boarding existence. [Issue#67, p.88]

"Quotation Forthcoming"

Some great ideas, but derezzes in its execution.

Thing is, in spite of all this peripheral mediocrity, if you pick up Blood Stone, you'll probably get a day or so's entertainment from it.

Of the five there's only one genuine dud. Phu Bai Valley is an indistinct, formless and aesthetically muddy mess, made even worse if you play it in Rush mode with its arbitrary barriers. The other four, however, are some of the best Battlefield maps we've seen.

"Quotation Forthcoming"

When Unleashed 2 is good, it's really good. The stage-long, multi-tiered showdown against the skyscraper-high Gorog, though mechanically uninspired, is guaranteed to take your breath away. But the contrived and insignificant plot undoes the majority of the improved gameplay's good work, and the whole absolutely fails to live up to LucasArts' earlier promises of Empire-grade grandeur.

Splatterhouse starts off strong on a path of giddy puerility, always seeming on the cusp of offering more than misogyny and punching all the blood out of monsters - or at least giving you a sly wink to let you in on the joke - but it never actually comes.

While Majin gets a recommendation, it's a cautious one - you have to have the stomach for Cartoon Network voices, a preference for puzzles and exploration over combat, and the patience to double back on yourself. If you've got all that, then Majin will give you an extremely fair slice of entertainment.

Kinect Joy Ride provides a crammed package with plenty of games, a fine selection of unlockables and a challenge that offers plenty of room for improvement of your skills. If you're looking for a launch title to really get your teeth into even when you're on your own, you could do much worse than this.

Vanquish plays a one-note song, but thankfully that note is 'slow motion exploding robot face'. [Issue#66, p.92]

Def Jam Rapstar has the potential to go from very good to great. For now, it's very, very good. [Issue#67, p.89]

Fable III is still a great game, but something this brilliant deserves a more considered - and climactic - ending.

The story and comic feels light-hearted where it should be dark and disturbing, and the games lack longevity. [Issue#67, p.105]

It's not perfect, but Hot Pursuit is still the kind of collision between Criterion and Need For Speed you'd hope for. It pays respect to the classic NFS games, borrows the best bits from Burnout and is a technical masterpiece. The chase to reclaim NFS's once legendary chart topping form is well and truly on.

When all is said and done, this is the 'proper' Call of Duty fans have been waiting for. [Issue#67, p.84]

A compelling way to stay healthy. [Christmas 2010, p.108]

Button-mashing action without depth. [Christmas 2010, p.93]

The facts remain - there's nothing quite like this on the Xbox 360 and the series is wildly popular for a very good reason.

This year's instalment still provides enough fan-service to make the hardcore throw their money into the ring, but it doesn't offer enough mass-market appeal.

We couldn't help but be slightly disappointed with the main plot - it feels flimsy compared to the huge journey the previous instalment treated us to, and the only truly impactful storytelling occurs when you leave Ezio behind. In spite of this, the sandbox is more complex and there's easily as much to do here as in the previous titles.

The only regret is that it's so approachable as to make it less effective as a dancing tutor: the ability to muddle through moves and still succeed, and the lack of a hardcore boot camp that shows what you actually look like, means Jacko-esque proficiency isn't guaranteed.

The depth from Kinectimals doesn't really come from the games but from the connection between child and fluffy pretend animal. In that regard Frontier has nailed it. It's too simplistic for grown up casual gamers, but youngsters will lap it up.

Great bursts of short-term, shallow fun.

If you want your Christmas to be characterised by tears of laughter, this is an essential purchase.

Great in places, horribly sparse in others.

It's aspirational, inspirational, educational, and eminently valuable. It's not only an achievement within its own genre, but a landmark for the entire medium as well.

If Costume Quest is a success, it's because it looks cute, it's instantly appealing, and it's very funny. But it's not a very good game. [Issue#66, p.88]

Would make a better movie than a game.

It's an inconsistent package that doesn't fully deliver on the single-player, nor distinguish itself enough in multiplayer to make it an Xbox Live contender. A real shame.

Better still is the four-player competitive multiplayer - it's exactly what was missing from the Dead Rising experience. A gory, obscene gameshow which revels in the whimsical and moral dilemma-free dismemberment of the formerly living.

It's three hours you won't want back. [Oct 2010, p.106]

Sonic returns to his back-to-basics best.

The combination of a compelling plot, plausible characters and a stunning world to explore means that, while rather brief, this is one of the more memorable experiences on the Xbox 360 this year.

Much of Front Mission Evolved is simply surviving until the next repair kit, and there's not enough customisation to make the online battles truly compelling. However, that saving grace - the intense, supersized combat - should be enough to see you through the short single-player campaign.

Fallout: New Vegas does betray the age of its engine every now and then, but it also shows why it has aged so well, powering the same tasty mix of great gameplay, endless side-quests and a world to get lost in.

This may well be the best tenner you ever spend.

The main reason you'll keep returning to DJ Hero 2 is for a love of the music. Simply playing along with any of the tunes in the game is a thoroughly entertaining experience - particularly when you get the chance to commandeer the crossfader or perform some freestyle scratching and sampling.

So PES steps on FIFA's toes in a massive move forward but in doing so has opened itself up to criticism it could previously dodge thanks to a different take on the game. But for PES to be able step on FIFA's toes yet again after a lengthy drop in form is a big achievement, and one that should please fans and newcomers alike.

It's tough, but also bloody funny.

But these disappointments are dwarfed by the game's vast imagination, ambitious scope, entertaining combat, boss battles, Titan battles, puzzles and power-ups. Lords of Shadow is an epic and slightly unexpected triumph.

For a price that is a fraction of boxed, retail games RRP, it's a surprisingly lengthy and substantial experience. [Nov 2010, p.102]

Awful - a crushing disappointment. [Oct 2010, p.102]

The interesting power mechanic and the return to fun, exaggerated rock and metal aesthetics are there to be enjoyed, but this is a series in dire need of a reboot.

The changes, especially exploit fixes, will please most but annoy those who feel FIFA 10 didn't need to be messed with - but there's a simple solution there: don't buy it. To everyone else, this is a mighty refined football game, just not quite the Earth-mover FIFA 10 was.

F1 2010 is a brilliant recreation of the sport, but as a complete package it can't quite top the dizzy heights achieved by DiRT 2. [Oct 2010, p.96]

Lacking tension, variety and punctuation, Blade Kitten is a pretty cutscene sandwich with no filling. [Issue#66, p.101]

The FPS epic comes full circle. Pure quality.

Co-op is the highlight, adding mechanics like floating sun energy that's reaped by both players hovering their cursor over it, and dividing the job of dropping plants by giving each player four seed packets. It's well-balanced strategy that isn't hardcore, but is fertilised by adorable comedy.

It's unfriendly to navigate, but the basic enjoyment from jumping around like a robot who wants to be a real boy is intact. It's just well buried and overpriced, considering what else is out there.

Features like these mean Shattered Dimensions would actually work as a Spidey game even though it's not an open-world swingers' party. It's just a massive shame they're housed in such a linear and grindingly predictable format.

Playable, but no real advance on the original. [Oct 2010, p.100]

A multiplayer game that doesn't work solo. [Oct 2010, p.108]

It's never nice being mean about a game with as much ambition as this, but if we're talking sheer value for money then halfway through the 14 hours it takes to complete Maria II you'll have experienced one really good shooting mission and absolutely no decent car chases, of which there are only a couple in the entire game. [Sept 2010, p.81]