By far and away the very pinnacle of first-person shooters, with 2K achieving those heady heights by braving to not just push against established genre barriers and expectations but to rip them out and place BioShock atop the pile as a landmark pseudo-RPG first-person shooter that will be a benchmark of quality for many years to come. Staggering.

As it stands it offers pretty good value. But when put alongside other games, it starts to look pretty tired.

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.

You might well think that Persona 3 is a mishmash of very "Japanese" ideas, and you'd be right. But it's all down to the execution of these ideas and this game has managed to combine some very peculiar elements into a very delicious package.

If you already own previous Maddens then take a moment to think before buying this one, if you haven't dipped your toe into the Madden lagoon for a while then now is as good a time as any to take the plunge.

A great retelling of the classic Tomb Raider game.

The separate elements of the game each work well in their own right, although we were left wondering if they would ever come together to make sense of the game as a whole.

To use a musical analogy, rather than a true third album from a great band Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s feels far more like an unnecessary b-side compilation pushed out to fulfil a record company contract.

While there is no denying NASCAR 2008 does a perfectly competent job at recreating the sport, it's not a good enough racer when compared to the genre as a whole to tempt anyone but the most devoted of NASCAR fans.

Beyond the Sword shows signs of how you can stuff too much into a game not initially designed to hold so much content. I look forward to Civilization V with great anticipation and till that game graces the world I will continue to play the fully expanded version of Civ IV which now graces every computer I regularly use.

If the idea of having complete control of every aspect of your squad and planning the action down to the last detail floats your boat then the PC version is ideal, if you'd rather feel like you're in charge of a team of real people surviving moment to moment on your instincts alone then you'll have more fun with the console version.

If you find it cheap somewhere or fancy renting it then you'll doubtless have some fun with it. But can I hand on heart recommend anyone paying full price for it? Nope, not in the slightest, but I kind of wish I could.

The most accomplished tennis simulation I've ever played, and I really liked VT. That says it all, really.

This is a good game, unquestionably, but I want more and have come to expect more, it is as simple as that.

Vegas is very good, the only drawbacks coming from the slightly too short singleplayer campaign which can be dispatched in about 8-10 hours.

Given another six months development time we may have been talking about a real treat, as it is we're instead talking about a game that fails on every level to do the licence justice.

Ultimately, if it weren't for an oddly skewed sense of gameplay balance that offers two separate genre types (action and puzzle) rather than a comfortable mixture of both, Overlord would be a thoroughly impressive experience that delivers something a little off the beaten track.

If Starship Troopers is your favourite film and you're looking for a new game to play for a couple of days and then use it only to prove to friends that the abilities of your brand new PC are beyond those of their next-gen consoles, then this is a suitable choice. If, however, you are looking for something more, I would look elsewhere.

GrimGrimoire deserves to be noticed and played if for no other reason than it dares to do something different and very nearly carries it off, a quality often in short supply in a world where reliable safe bets, win out over genuine innovation a lot of the time.

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.

It pushes the stilted FPS genre in a direction not often associated with mindless run and gun action. The seamless integration of brilliant performances, staggering character animation and near photo-realistic presentation only serve to enhance impressive white-knuckle action gameplay and a truly creepy yet compelling pseudo RPG storyline.

What it does provide is a gaming experience that's the closest you're able to get to truly feeling part of the magical Harry Potter universe. For that harmless escapism alone it deserves praise, especially from anyone who wishes their childhood was just a little bit closer in the rear view mirror.

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.

A resoundingly flat adventure that fails to inspire more than fleeting moments of touch-screen enjoyment that are never expanded upon. Running backwards and forwards across Hogwarts may admirably show the level of detail EA has invested in the game's environments, but it also clearly exposes the overall lack of content unfolding within it.

Gearbox Software have managed to squeeze another ounce or two of power out of the DS, and it's all put to very good use. The game ultimately makes a success of itself because the experience is not only believable, but great fun to play.

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.

If only it had received the sort of touch generation's look and feel recently applied to titles such as Picross DS or Puzzle League, then this could have eclipsed even the PC title.

An excellent balance of gritty realism and game play. It's been a long time but Outlaws can finally hang up its guns and retire.