Mirror's Edge is an impressive feat as a realistic first-person simulation of parkour across the towering roof-tops of a dystopian future. Unfortunately it's also fairly dull and frequently doesn't do enough to motivate the player to continue, this is not a game I was thinking about when I wasn't playing it.

In a sense, it seems that FIFA Manager 09 is more a lifestyle than a game - to get the most out of it you need to put in some real time. A season, if played thoroughly, will take as long as most full games these days. This makes it an absolutely incredible management simulation, but simply too much for all but the biggest fans.

This kind of thing has been done so much better so many times before there's no reason to invest your time and money here, even if you've a hankering for ancient Greece.

It loses a few marks for being so technically daunting, but if you haven't had the opportunity to play GTA IV yet, and you've got a PC that can handle it, then this is probably the best version of the game.

Despite cynically poking Prince of Persia in the ribs for a significant chunk of this review, there's little doubting that Ubisoft's latest offering is one of the year's most staggeringly beautiful releases.

It's a little sneaky that you can't buy the game complete with microphones but the chances are most people interested will already own a pair; otherwise this is as close to a sure thing as you can get with SingStar. The winner does indeed take it all.

Just don't expect too much from it. It likes to give with one hand and take away with the other.

It's too fiddly and obtuse to appeal to children, and too generic and tacky to cater towards the discerning taste of a gaming adult. The only possible reason you'd have for wanting this game is because it's cheap.

This is a game that will appeal most directly to the Wii's casual market. But anyone who enjoys an innovative game should spend some time here. In staggering their releases on Wii and 360/PS3 EA have certainly kept Skate in the public eye.

Underworld is impossible to actually dislike, as at its core you know this is what games should be about, pure escapism, discovery, immersion. This doesn't stop Lara's latest failing to be greater than the sum of its parts, however, and while this is unquestionably a step forward for the series, Crystal Dynamics could perhaps have gone a few inches further still.

If football management is your thing and you have a whole load of free time, you don't really need to look further than the new Football Manager.

Ignoring, as is really only fair, the poor timing of its release there's still a multitude of reasons why you shouldn't spend your hard earned money on Winter Sports: The Next challenge 2009. Mow the lawn, look at the lambs or just enjoy the extra daylight, whatever you do with these warm spring days make sure it's more enjoyable than playing this.

There's so much tension and just pure fun to be had here that it is quite impossible to ignore, and if you're a player that craves genuine team cohesion then this could be one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences you've ever had. The only thing this game is missing is a G-String clad and rotting Jenna Jameson.

It's a pity that there is no new PvMP zone but I'm sure it will be added in future expansion packs.

It's a sparse game, and after you've sunk about ten hours into it you'll feel suitably empty, too. It's not rewarding, satisfying or endearing.

As a family game with a really low barrier of entry this game is a reasonable success. It does a great job of involving everyone in the room, as a part of the scenery if not in a starring role. Hopefully this isn't a flash in the pan and is a sign of a more healthy supply of games using the 360's previously dusty camera peripheral.

Impressive visuals and physics don't make up for frustrating controls and a sense that the game is lacking a certain congruency. I'd rather be playing one of the old SSX games to be honest.

The basic gameplay appeal lives on in City Folk, but Nintendo's laziness is there for all to see.

World of Warcraft may never look realistic but it will always have a very unique charm, and Lich King has certainly improved upon this.

Clunky physical combat, lifelessly linear level design, horridly ill-fitting segue animations, a bland narrative, shallow characters, and an unforgiving first-person viewpoint all conspire to shatter the game's wafer thin novelty value, which all-too quickly reveals Mirror's Edge to be a fabulously innovative concept mired by the old 'all style and no substance' adage.

Five, perhaps even ten years ago Dawn of the New World would have seemed somewhat mediocre, in 2010 is just depressing.

This game has graphical beauty but in many other areas it fails to excel. On the other hand, it is still a good game, but it's just a few levels below where it really needs to be to compete with the reborn version of "FIFA."

CoD 5 is a very solid FPS that can sit proudly enough on the shelf next to it's predecessors. If you are not turned off by the idea of returning to WWII, you'll have five or six hours of enjoyable shooting in solo mode, and probably many more in the team deathmatch and war modes online.

I pity the developers that have to release their games around the same period as this, because Gears of War 2 is magnificent.

The online multiplayer is addictive and fun too, thanks to the context provided by the evolving world, and although the game is marred by weak singleplayer narrative and lacklustre AI, the lasting impression is still well within the positive.

There's a lot of competition in the DS market, and Monster Lab doesn't quite have the raw talent to go up against that. But, there's a good amount of fun in there that a player could eke out if they were so inclined, and I'm certainly glad I got to play it. It's fun atmosphere can't ultimately redeem the fact it's too confused by its own design.

Visually and aurally it's a real tour de force, the plot pretty much stays the right side of the crazy line and on the whole combat feels fresh and well designed. There are a few hiccups and they do take the gloss off things more than the rest of the game deserves, but they shouldn't be enough to put you off.

Its playable, its easy, its simple, its entertaining, and its got a bit of good multiplayer; but it wouldn't challenge an amateur gamer and it'll most likely be back in the box and filed away as "done with" faster than a day in the office.

Where it fails, it is very difficult to criticise, simply because the premise offers little room for Insomniac to really shake things up. Number two represents a leap over the original Resistance, and although some may bemoan the lack of a main campaign co-op option, some of the multiplayer choices implemented instead are bold and highly enjoyable.

It's not that Dungeon Maker does all these things in a bad way exactly, it just does it in an extremely uninspiring way that makes it instantly forgettable once you turn your DS off.

At its heart, Red Alert 3 is classic Command & Conquer. The art style is fantastic, the presentation is silky smooth and the core gameplay is as satisfying as it was over ten years ago. The game dances so close to being quintessential, but consistently falls short of the mark, and that's almost entirely because of the abhorrent decision of including the co-commander system.

Bethesda's apocalyptical Fallout 3 belies its own jaw-dropping desolation by delivering a near-faultless action RPG that manages to not only execute compelling first-person gameplay but also provides an influential and in-depth character evolution system that's supported by an intriguing storyline and a mind-boggling game world that screams "Game of the Year" at every turn.

Ambiguity aside this is a fairly middle of the road follow-on to an ace series that'll still amuse endlessly.

Where it excels, and where it innovates, all is rosy, and occasionally exceptional - but where it falls down it can chafe, and it still isn't as balanced and polished as it might be. That being said, Evolution do more than enough to make this a good purchase for fans of the genre.

The title suggests that all can play, and that's certainly true - what it fails to tell you is that this is a game that no-one will truly master either.

LittleBigPlanet is one of the most inviting game world's ever imagined, the concept is a masterstroke, the implementation slick.

It's still a beautiful, engaging title; it just might not be enough of a revolution. Because we've all seen it before, it doesn't quite have the sublime whizz of the original.

If you're looking for a crowd pleasing game for those Christmas parties that will still entertain long into the new year then you can't go far wrong with this; just don't blame us if you've can't get a go yourself.

Celebrity Sports Showdown is not the worst game on the Wii, but its not a long way off. Only the SouthPeak Interactive crime against humanity Pool Party stands out as much worse than this, but by a lot narrower margin than any game should.

Whilst Fable 2 is not exactly flaw-free, the bulk of the game is splendidly entertaining. Lionhead consistently bite off more than they can chew with their games, so the scope and ambition of Fable 2 is both unmatched by other development studios and occasionally unrealisable in a current-gen video game.

This is still the Big Daddy of action games, the benchmark by which stories and environments will be measured. An essential purchase.

Technically its a marvel, especially when it comes to the creation of a realistic and highly immersive world. The story too is a bold and well-executed step into unfamiliar territory for gaming. But the meat of the gameplay has its failings, and every so often it just doesn't quite live up to its epic billing.

Midnight Club: Los Angeles captures an unmatched sense of speed coupled with a fantastic representation of a real-life city, and a stylish veneer which is observed all the way from the game's slick intro sequence to the final race you drive. The very challenging difficulty will not go unnoticed by casual gamers, and perhaps a handicap would have alleviated this problem. Still, as far as action-packed racing goes, it doesn't get much better than this.

This kind of open-ended, creative gameplay is theoretically what people want "these days", but I think many gamers will be disappointed and not really know what to do with the game. Wii Music has been crippled by a disappointing song selection (mostly nursery rhymes or Nintendo theme tunes) and will probably only appeal to much younger gamers or really musical types.

Unfortunately the main gimmick of the game is pointless at best and frustrating at worst. There are challenge modes available after the game is completed and extra costumes to unlock, but nothing to offer real replay value.

SOCOM Confrontation is a game that will get a select few very excited indeed; the unforgiving nature of its hardcore multiplayer action will prove to be exactly what they've been looking forward to. The rest of the gaming masses however can cite the near vertical learning curve, lack of any real multiplayer originality, drab visuals and unfriendly interface as reason not to join the party.

Like a bullet to the face, Saints Row 2 is a brash, over the top, occasionally childish but actually quite lovable foil to the convention-breaking seriousness of GTA. It isn't perfect, technical glitches and imperfections abound in places, but Volition score big with the explosive, water-tight action, the user-customisation elements and in offering such an incredible amount of content allowing players to spend tens of hours immersing themselves in Stilwater's many attractions. Bling bling.

It may not have that many genuinely new ideas but Dead Space is still a thing of beauty. It has successfully taken all the best bits from the survival horror genre, perfected them, and mixed them in with a whole array of Hollywood influences to create an experience that's still completely it's own.

The fact is there's nothing really here. The gameplay is too repetitive, the slow variation in what's asked of you is as minimal as it is uninteresting - you're asked to mix up the order of certain buttons are pressed in order to further progress your character's ability and score, but it simply begs the question...why? When I could be playing anything else, why would I bother with Prey the Stars?

FIFA 09 is more than just an update; its another huge leap forward for EA. It is the marzipan on a Battenberg, and the designer dress on a super model. How they're going to top this I don't know, so enjoy this near-perfection while you can. Yes, this is simply the best football game ever made.

In a gaming world populated by companies able to throw millions of pounds at tired franchises that sell on their name alone and where genuine innovation and fresh ideas should be welcomed with open arms, there's no better game to throw your weight behind than World of Goo. If more titles were made with this much passion the gaming world would be a much nicer, although possibly gooier, place.

If the creative forces behind Fracture had been willing to truly believe in its inventive gameplay mechanic then the end result could have reached well into the gaming industry's higher echelons. As it is, the rather languid presentation, rinse and repeat battle formula, and lack of A.I. variety mean that the appealing deformation elements come off as cobbled gimmickry designed to add a little gloss to a solid but staid third-person shooter.

Compared to the great strides forward made by most of EA's other sports titles this year, NBA Live is an embarrassment.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Silent Hill: Homecoming a great deal. Probably more than the game itself deserved. Its main problems are not related to any initial suspicions that the series would be weaker due to its westernization, and whilst its approach is clearly more striking and shocking than the tense subtleties of its forebears, its engaging storyline and well thought out settings help allay any frustrations towards games shortcomings.

This game could only really be suitable for Sonic fans and younger gamers. Sonic aficionados will love a change of pace and a slight return to form for the blue spikey wonder. It also forms a fantastic introduction to the RPG world for kids as it is lightweight enough that they won't get bogged down by statistics yet it'll still introduce them to the basic concepts of RPGs before they move onto some of the true favourites on the DS (such as the Final Fantasys and the forthcoming Chrono Trigger).

The most depressing part of the game, presentation aside, is in the way that it always backs off from its potentially challenging, thought-provoking route and pitches you a rather rudimentary series of multiple-choice answers.

Okay, so it's not got much new under the bonnet and you can probably find loads of very similar free browser-based games if you feel the need. But the fact its portable, is sporting an attractive budget price, and doesn't charge you by the hour or leave you without hot water for days means it still seems like a bargain to me.

All in all, considering that the overall gameplay mechanic is a rinse and repeat exercise of duck and cover shooting coupled with a partially fractured command interface, it's hard to recommend Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway to anyone other than hardened series fanatics.

Overall this is not a game to take too seriously - but in a good way. Go with the carnival atmosphere, get some friends over, add some snacks and drinks and you are well on your way to a great evening in.

Personally I get a similar amount of pleasure from cleaning the oven or mowing the lawn, both of which I can do for free and both of which provide some tangible benefit when I'm done rather than just making my thumbs hurt.

It may be basically still the same central game but the addition of user created content and wireless controllers make it feel like a step forward for the franchise, albeit a slightly hesitant one.

This is how all casual games should be.

Much like its PS2 and PS3 siblings Buzz Master Quiz isn't going to appeal if you don't like quiz games and played on your own it becomes dull quickly. But, the enjoyable multiplayer modes make it the ideal travel game and while it's not the ultimate handheld quiz it does the job well enough while we wait for something better.

This game may be cheap but it often feels even cheaper. It's not just the simplistic mechanics at work but the rough edges which begin to cut once the initial lubrications of happiness at replaying a classic title have worn away. From icons that shift slots on the UI to redundant information screens being favored over the existence of useful ones, Colonization 2008 feels more like an intern project than a game that should be sold to the public.

It's a quick game which uses its brevity as a lure with that one-more go factor scoring very highly. Its rich visual style and strong core gameplay put many other monster titles to shame.

Both an enjoyable flash in the pan, and a memorable and officially approved Star Wars story. The general cinematic quality of the game is very high, and for enthusiasts it is a must just for that.

In its favour Crysis Warhead has the best graphics engine money can currently buy, and at a budget price. It also has a compelling storyline, an interesting character, and is a real treat for those who never played the original.

A fairly decent JRPG experience in Dragon Quest IV. The engine is ported from the original PSX version of Dragon Quest VII, with 2D sprites animating themselves in a 3D world.

Much like the original, it has a charm about it that makes you want to like it yet it is hugely flawed, with its many reported bugs and performance problems. It doesn't quite deserve the term 'flawed gem' but nor does it deserve to be discarded either.

It's fair to say that this game plays more like a giant expansion pack than a sequel, but that said, it's a brilliant expansion pack.

It's blatantly not for everyone, and you need to be conditioned to even begin to enjoy it, but there's certainly something deep and rewarding underneath all the layers of trifling bureaucracy.

The visuals may not delight to quite to the same degree as the 360 version, and the view can be a little close-up at times, but new features like wi-fi animal trading, the interface, and of course the icon-based menus that are much more intuitive, make for an experience that can hold its own against the original title and will hopefully attract a few new players to the series too.

Spore really is the sum of all its parts. The first four sections could not standalone as a single game, but with the addition of being able to navigate the galaxy Spore pulls us back and keeps us hooked even when there is the gaping hole of no multiplayer mode.

Facebreaker has a seemingly interesting premise but has this tacked onto a very simple beat-em-up gameplay mechanic. It is definitely good fun if you have the camera peripheral and can create your own image to fight with, but is simply not deep enough to deliver a knock-out blow as a standalone game.

If you're an RTS or Warhammer fan you will probably still enjoy it, it's just lacking a certain something that would make it a good game regardless of whether you normally love RTS games or not.

If a few niggles had been corrected such as the slightly dull fighting and vague directions, or the off/on voice acting that makes you wonder if the sound has suddenly cut out (it hasn't, for some reason, only bits of conversations have voice acting), this game really could have been something a bit special.

TiP is a confident and well realized evolution that leaves the way open for more sequels. If/when Microsoft release a motion controller this game is already well positioned to become a masterpiece at the flick of a patch.

You can see the core of a decent game in here if you ignore the problems, albeit one that would be let down by uninspired mission design and a dodgy plot.

No single component stands out, but it's in a combination of pleasant, well-realised bits and bobs that the game becomes a largely positive experience. With Tales of Vesperia Namco have produced a simple, unassuming adventure that's brimming with enough charm to easily make up for any lack of inspiration.

It's pretty hard to find serious fault with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09.

A solid little racing game with plenty to keep you entertained. Some frustrations, mainly down to save points and a shabby model system, drag enjoyment down a notch.

As current gen platform games go this is still one of the best even in a bite-sized package. As a Ratchet and Clank game however you're left yearning for all the bits they've left out. If you're a fan then there's enough platforming fun here to warrant its purchase just don't be expecting Tools of Destruction 2.

Those who hate it will throw down the controller a long time before the ass-serving and seemingly shallow controls give way to fulfilling battles and a truly awesome character; while those who love it will stubbornly plough forward from death to death, ever-reaching for the next level, and the next level, in order to experience the sheer visceral pleasure of directing Baldur in his almost invincible dance of death.

I'm sure no one deliberately went out to create such a boring experience with depressing backdrops and uninteresting characters, but that's exactly what has happened.

I've not played many of the previous Madden games, and I wouldn't call myself an American football enthusiast by any stretch of the imagination. But this game really managed to capture my attention. Its addictive; its fun, and its very easy to get sucked into.

Braid is the most gorgeous slice of chocolate cake you can possible imagine wrapped in a silk cloth and tied with a pink ribbon. It's a paradoxical experience of simplistic charm and over-bearing sensory and logical complexity. No one in the gaming world should miss out on playing this game, to do so would be a tragedy.

Other than the music there is little good to be said about this game. It offers nothing in the way of fun, in fact it's boring and a tad irritating. The camera is surprisingly awkward for such basic gameplay and this is symbolic of the rest of the title.

Part of me feels like I need to find some kind of flaw with the game, but after weeks of playing my only problem with it is that my high score in Deadline won't go above five million no matter how hard I try. It's starting to make me feel woefully inferior and slightly less masculine every time I look at the online leaderboards.

I was never going to feel the same buzz playing Soul Calibur IV as I did the original: the core experience is too familiar. But the online play has been implemented impressively, and prevents this becoming a game that will sit on your shelf until your friends come round.

Overall the game smacks of rushed development. 49gamers obviously decided that they would speed the game out for the Olympic tie-in, regardless of whether they had the license or not. Unfortunately, the gameplay isn't anything particularly exciting and is in some places completely devoid of entertainment.

Ultimately, only true hardcore arcade fans prepared to look beyond the relative gameplay brevity and sporadic online hiccups are likely to revel in the revamped iteration of 1942: Joint Strike.

So, on one hand you've got a splendidly jazzed up version of one of the most defining Japanese RPG's ever created, and it's a good forty hours to boot. On the other you've still just got Final Fantasy IV.

The main complaint I would have about this game is that it doesn't push the boundaries technologically; it could feasibly have been done on the DS or the GameCube even, as it does not make any real use of the Wiimote and the graphics are decidedly last-generation.

Ultimately, Beijing 2008's sporadic hits are swamped by its all-too frequent misses, which only serves to highlight just how potentially good the overall game could have been had SEGA and Eurocom opted for interactive simplicity across the board.

There's no doubting the single band formula is a solid road for Guitar Hero to venture down, it will obviously shrink the market as it narrows the appeal a tad but if you love the band in question it'll pretty much be a dream come true. Me? I'd be more excited about a Queen or Guns 'n' Roses version but this is a decent first go.

A cheap shoddy cash in.

With a game like FFTA2 it's not really about the why as the how, only it's a bit too simplistic and uninteresting to make a winning formula.

Ultimately, if it weren't for an oddly skewed sense of gameplay delivery that offers two separate genre types (action and puzzle) rather than a comfortable mixture of both, Overlord: Raising Hell would be the thoroughly refreshing genre experience that the Xbox 360 version couldn't quite become. As it is, despite the game's platform-specific tweaks and its plush design, genuine humour, and intuitive minion controls, the game still doesn't lend itself to being anything other than a smile-inducing distraction... that is already available for a far smaller asking price on the Xbox 360 and PC.