By making the start of the game so poorly balanced and infusing the whole experience with the control scheme from hell, Monte Cristo ensured that it took a certain amount of will power to play through far enough to get to the good bits which surely isn't good enough.

Ultimately, size does matter - but only to the point where bigger is not always better and certainly no substitute for convincing gameplay.

The game is in fact at its best in the opening tutorial levels where your only purpose is to gather and grow and wreak splendid havoc on the scenery, before any of the fire sprite collection, bonus objectives or special moves are added to the mix, bogging down the gameplay.

Eventually the grind is going to get you.

In actual fact I found this, while admittedly less spectacular, as enjoyable as anything else I've played on the 360. BlackSite never attempts to be innovative, but knows what it does best. A well-oiled working game is ridiculously hard to find these days and, if nothing else, BlackSite is certainly that.

The truth is that as a result of Splatterhouse design, its real strength is the combat and the humour lose their appeal with repetition. And the platforming sections... well, it's hard to be kind about them. Not without appeal, Splatterhouse is a disappointment.

It's such a shame Blood Stone is so average and lacking impact because it does do some things right.

There's also been a lot of confusion in the gymnastics events where obscure controls seem to have alienated less experienced competitors from taking part at all.

It all feels a bit like the fun has been sucked out of this, and a paint-by-numbers rendition of a F.E.A.R game has been put in its place.

The triple-A quality graphics and slick, speedy multiplayer action brings a new level of polish to Xbox Live Arcade.

A confident film-to-game delivery. Although, as we hinted at the start, there is not an awful lot for the more mature gamer, there is a lot of fun to be had if you are willing to dig in and get your hands dirty.

It does seem that the lower retail price of Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires is definitely necessary considering the lack of innovation and advancement in the series.

Aside from the basic RPG elements and decent storylines, Ninety Nine Nights remains a shallow game with little to make it stand out.

An extensive multiplayer mode, a track editor and the ability to trade vehicles online ensure almost infinite longevity and top off a title which is a micro masterpiece in its own right.

Shaun White Skateboarding attempts to do something fresh and interesting with the skate genre, but ultimately fails with fudged controls and glacially-paced gameplay.

Weapons of Fate does a perfectly serviceable job in continuing the film's story, delivering decent enough in-game likenesses and equally accomplished voice acting, but the end product just doesn't boast the level of polish we had hoped for.

Consider this reviewer's naïve attitude and eternally hopeful gullibility well and truly slaughtered and replaced by a seething and consuming hatred of anything that gets unceremoniously squeezed out of Hollywood's all-profit-no-quality bunghole.

Revenge of the Fallen is exactly what we were expecting. No more, no less.

Packed to the rafters with 14 magnificent games from the heyday of arcade history, Namco Museum: 50th Anniversary is an equal parts assault of entertaining variety and challenging frustration.

By losing the open city nature of previous games and restricting you to organised events the series has lost a large part of what was fun about it in the first place. Add to that the fact that the driving itself seems to have become horribly broken since last year and suddenly you're left with a game that's relying solely on its image to shift copies.

Completists might get a kick out of collecting every last item and Pandorapedia article, but everyone else might find themselves getting very bored, very quickly. Still, as far as movie titles go, you could certainly do a lot worse.

Graphics aside Infernal is a pretty mediocre third-person shooter in a genre already boasting Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War: given this, and Gears' inevitable arrival on the PC, it's difficult to recommend Infernal.

Not even the addition of 8-player online and system link multiplayer can help inject the lacklustre race proceedings with any tangible worth in the face of shoddy track design and worryingly slack vehicle controls.

Only the truly dedicated RPG player will persist through to the bitter end of Risen, as there's a great deal of perseverance required to even make it through the first section without tearing your hair out. The combat really lets the side down and the 360 visuals leave a lot to be desired, but stick with it and Risen will eventually suck you inexorably into its uniquely absorbing fantasy world.

Silent Hill is consistently creepy, Resident Evil is absolutely action packed, while Obscure is undeniably unsure of itself.

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.

It's a simplistic run and gun gameplay requires less of the spatial awareness and mental agility that the more refined games can dishearten youngsters with.

In the end The Shoot provides the occasional bout of enjoyment for a single player but almost none for multi. It's not all bad but its design choices get in the way and forsaken the experience. It gets some use out of your Move controllers at least but don't expect anything of any substance.