This is a game that certainly joins the dots, but ultimately has the feel of a 'design by committee' delivery. Although it does have its moments, it rarely shines as much as it could. Although this is no doubt the first in a series of releases from EA, it is fair to say they could have made a bigger splash with its first outing on the DS.

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.

And considering that the cost of the game is so low, it's hard not to recommend this to people just for nostalgia's sake. Just remember how old the games are when you start playing them, and you'll have a blast.

A surprisingly poor product considering all that the developers needed to do was effortlessly copy someone else's character design onto someone else's game design.

Sadly the lack of variety and repetitive nature of what's there does little more than throw the half hearted story telling and horrible voice acting into even sharper relief.

For committed (good one - Ed) fans of this rather niche genre, Time Crisis 4 might appeal, and it does offer flashes of high-quality entertainment, but frankly most of what Namco have delivered is largely uninspired, and the GunCon 3 controller is certainly no mould-breaker.

Its problems come far more from having not much else to show once you get behind the mask, no depth to engross you or rewards to entice you than through any real technical fault with the game that's actually on display.

Ultimately, any truly dedicated Ben 10 fan is going to love grappling with Vilgax's evil forces and taking on infamous bosses from the TV show - conveniently ignoring the game's obvious shortcomings in favour of 'becoming' Ben and his portable armoury of alien heroes.

What Airtight Games needed was more confidence: their pedigree with the flight sim genre would have probably been better served if they'd kept their game in the skies. Gears of War might be a popular game, but a sloppy imitation with tacked-on flight bits isn't going to win anybody over. Dark Void might want to soar, but it never finds a way to get its feet permanently off the ground.

With the exception of the combat nearly every part of Saw the Game works in isolation. The visual styling is an excellent reiteration of the sets, and the recreation of the movie ordeals is handled well, including such classics as bobbing for a key in a toilet full for syringes or going swimming in vats of liquefied pigs guts. However, as soon as the player is forced to repeat the trials and traps over and over, down identical grimy corridors, pestered by identical combat instances, the excellent head start is blown and what started as a smartly made, genuinely scary experience degenerates into unimaginative straight-to-DVD splatter, gorily painting by its own repeated numbers.

Given the intriguing nature of the narrative and the potential for development in such a plot, it's surprising to see such a bland title. 300 offered a glimpse of what could have been created with a little imagination and it is a shame that Ancient Wars - Sparta, despite the innovative unit management system, fails to deliver overall.

Even though I was astonished by the terrible controls, infuriated by gameplay and dismayed at the barrenness of game modes I did find myself playing this game more than was necessary to write this review. It did have a certain pull over me which I am somewhat ashamed to admit, considering the slapdash and cynical nature of the title.

The truly frustrating thing however is that with some rather elementary things fixed (AI that isn't so terminally stupid, environments that don't look like they were made out of papier-mache, an involving combat mechanic) DW games would become not only more enjoyable for the mainstream but also surely more enjoyable for their fan base too. Until then however this is, and will continue to be, an experience to excite the devoted few rather than tempt the masses.

Overall, this game will hit the mark for its target audience, so if you know someone who is a fan it will be perfect. It might be a pleasant diversion for the older gamer, if slightly simplistic.

It's a shame that Playboy relies so heavily on such repetitive gameplay tasks. The setting is interesting even if you have a social life and have seen an actual naked woman.

The fact remains that, as cutely appealing as Step & Roll can be, it essentially equates to yet another Wii offering that works in some ways but fails to make the grade because of an inability to fulfil the promise of the console's innovative controls.

It is not that the game doesn't have its fun moments, because it can be that, it is just that they are very short-lived and don't really go any further than the first level. Disappointing.

It's a shame that Playboy relies so heavily on such repetitive gameplay tasks. The setting is interesting even if you have a social life and have seen an actual naked woman.

As an extension to the Tony Hawk's brand it's an interesting novelty, an admirable attempt to try and broaden the market a little. But as an investment for your hard earned cash there's really nothing to recommend it ahead of the piles of other engine powered racing games on the PS2.

What might initially seem like a real prospective borefest actually turns into a kind of innocent, compelling and surprisingly gratifying experience.

The PS2 is still clearly still capable of impressing in the graphics department as games like Okami and God of War 2 have proved, TFatF by comparison looks like it's from a different generation entirely, one where blurry low detail was the norm.

Whilst it doesn't have the depth of play of The Godfather, or the violence of Scarface it does a good job of playing to its strengths and delivering a highly enjoyable game.

Time Crisis Razing storm provides a brief throwaway thrill before its true colours are laid bare. It's not utterly terrible but it's not far off.

Steel Diver fails to offer a lasting and enjoyable experience.

Battle of the Bands is lazy game-making based around a briefly amusing idea.

A strange game, its impenetrable combat will put off most D&D novices while the more experienced who are able to forgive (or simply understand) the lack of information will find its horrible interface minimises any enjoyment they may have.

While it's conceptually the game we were told it would be, every component is so underdeveloped, the game world so patently artificial. Only the customisation tools stand tall, but even they're of so little consequence that they're almost instantly forgotten.

It's got some nice touches, like the tiny d-pad mini-games used when tackling booby traps and the authentic 1967 soundtrack, but with the likes of "Call of Duty" and "Day of Defeat" out there, Shellshock is simply too easily forgotten.