Hardened RTS players may feel a little disappointed by the relative simplicity of the title and the fact that even on the hard difficulty level it isn't as challenging as many other RTS games. But for the average user, it is perfectly pitched.

Eight years later, with the modern FPS riddled with faux-military obsessions and regenerating health, the game still feels reassuringly nostalgic. It's just a shame we weren't given a little bit more. With Serious Sam HD, Croteam prove it's possible to remake them just like they used to.

The graphics are crisp and sharp, not too snazzy and not too lazy. It all feels just right. It is simple, but intelligent. It feels fresh and familiar. Not too easy, not too hard. Space Invaders Extreme is a walking oxymoron.

For serious golfers though, the high fidelity visuals and deeper pool of players online is enough to keep Tiger viable on the Xbox 360.

Horse racing and Stronghold take some perseverance, but if you're able to get pin down the gameplay, then you'll get more out of the new modes. Get a posse together meanwhile, and you'll find more than enough to enjoy in Liars & Cheats.

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.

Good science fiction looks past the wondrous and makes you care about its characters. Star Ocean: The Last Hope completely fails in this regard.

LSW has a certain charm about it that one cannot help but recognise, great for family and friends alike.

As sprawling as "Halo's" environments are they certainly never portrayed as gritty an urban landscape as Killzone. Nor have its shiny alien blasters ever been as satisfying as a huge, chunky, filthy assault rifle.

It's a little rough around the edges in places, but Overkill has a barefaced charm and mischievous sense of fun that makes it impossible not to love. It's uncomplicated, old school entertainment. Just make sure you leave your sense of decency at the door when you enter this House of the Dead.

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.

While DiRT certainly does offer the best traditional rally experience around at the moment, by including the chance to race directly against other vehicles in the CORR events it almost accidentally reminds you that racing that way is actually more fun. If you're a serious rally fan then this is easily the best game of its type, however, anyone just in the market for a decent racing game may want to stop and decide if this is really going to be their cup of tea before they part with their money.

Does it stand up to the uninitiated? Yes, to a degree, it's fun, playable and defiantly addictive.

It should appeal to both the veteran King of Fighters fan and the newcomer alike, although for a purer King of Fighters experience the fanatics among us may be better served by King of Fighters XI which is being released at the same time.

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.

We are offered up a compelling story, classically 'Lost' in fact, and fans will be more than titillated by this.

Donkey Kong Country Returns definitely has its faults, and we'd wager that the majority of players will never see it all the way through to the end. Yet while the difficulty curve is ridiculous and the multiplayer is quite broken, the game's charm and mystery prevails, giving us some of the same feelings that the original releases did. If you're looking for a serious challenge and don't get frustrated too easily, Donkey Kong Country Returns is worth a look.

The stern difficulty level might upset some players, as might the lack of 'safe' features such as crosshairs and medical packs. However, if you really want your World War FPS' to be real, like, really real, then Red Orchestra is just about your best bet.

It accomplishes what it sets out to do, but the Stimulus Package feels closer to a shot of caffeine than it does adrenaline.

Any hardcore DW fan will be ecstatic to find another billion hours of gameplay to wade through.

Anyone who found themselves enjoying the original, or any pair of gamers who fancy another fairly entertaining co-op shooter to get them through the first half of 2010, will find themselves suitably smitten by EA Montreal's competent return to the franchise: it's far more than an ersatz Gears of War, but is hardly an essential purchase.

In summary, Kingdom Hearts II might not even meet some definitions of what a computer game is, and for long sections it would probably be better described as 'next-gen interactive fiction'.

The control system might misfire and it might whiff of 'been there, done that', but when the FPS action is as accomplished and solid as MAG's is, there's plenty of enjoyment to be had especially if you're fortunate enough to assemble a crack team of mates to play with. 255 mates though? That's a bit of a stretch. Better get on Facebook now.

Choose to ignore the plot and the side missions if you like; the hidden races, the token hunts and the tremendous feeling to be had from simply exploring, swinging and crawling about the city are more than enough to justify purchase.

Anyone who is interested in the mythos of Silent Hill will do very well to buy this game, settle back, turn the lights off, and enjoy some good old-fashioned psychological horror.

Slickly presented and impeccably well put together, Beaterator is an incredibly accomplished piece of music-making software that will keep you occupied for as long as you're invested in creating your own tracks.

While Guns of the Patriots boasts lashings of in-game invention and creativity that's largely wrapped up in superb style and execution, it's all so unforgivably tainted by jaw-dropping gameplay brevity that it's truly difficult to raise the many, many good points above what is, for the most part, a succession of cut scenes that leave the player with an overwhelming sense of disconnection from one of gaming's most compelling characters and interactive franchises.

The boss fights showcase the game's weapons-based puzzle solving well, and no more so than the final boss.