Still, when it all clicks in place it's quite easily the fluffiest, most lovable experience you're going to get on Sony's black monolith.

What it does do is take the most basely satisfying parts of the whole RPG genre and lay them out in a fast moving buffet of bloodshed and looting. The joy of acquisition and dominance inherent to role-playing games is married to the savage joy of slaughtering entire crowds of victi.. sorry villains, and in conclusion I can heartily recommend it.

In this more emotional sense FIFA 10 nails football wonderfully, its near technically perfect depiction of the beautiful game presents you with the very best bits of football letting you live the dream better than any previous virtual incarnation of the sport. It does make you wonder what they'll find to improve for next year, though.

The downside to all these positives is that the mini-games, so enjoyable on the DS touch screen, become little more than button tapping affairs here losing most of their charm in the process.

Lips still isn't quite the SingStar beater Microsoft wants it to be, it's simply not slick enough yet and lacks the huge library of songs SingStar fans will be used to. However in terms of fresh ideas and when viewed purely as a game it's edged it's nose ahead with relative ease.

Machinarium wants to tell you a story, it needs you to eek your way through it, and the artists have clearly sweated buckets of WD40 in creating a world originally brilliant for you to absorb, but it isn't 'free'. Your payment (besides the 11 GBP it costs) is the dying brain cells and droplets of blood forming on your forehead as you ponder another conundrum. But pay gladly my friends, because this is a kind of value you'll rarely see in any world, mechanical or otherwise. Savour it too, because Machinarium will pay you back tenfold.

We were hoping for a little more innovation from Brutal Legend beyond the standard sandbox set up and button mashing, axe-wielding action. But then again, if the Gods of Metal are pleased with it, then who are we to complain?

A game that manages to feel like a genuinely significant step forward while retaining everything that was so great about the original. The addition of a stunning multiplayer component and the creative freedom of the Cinema mode are like the enjoyably overindulgent pudding after a wonderfully satisfying main meal that make you thankful for elastic waistbands.

There's bound to be plenty of cynics, but it's a lot better sitting around with your family and playing this than other Christmas staples, especially some dodgy DVD 'game' of Deal or no Deal your Mum picked up two years ago.

Cities XL lacks any notable innovations, though, and those additions it does have are under-developed and certainly over-priced, insufficient to differentiate itself or to make its mark on the genre made by SimCity. Yikes - someone hold her hair, would they?

Quibbles and gripes aside it's safe to say Star Wars fans have had to often put up with worse, with last year's abysmal Lightsaber Duels immediately springing to mind. The biggest flaw of Republic Heroes, other than its generally unlikable source material, is that it feels unfinished. As a result, poor execution mars what could have been a likable child-orientated platformer.

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.

Overall NBA Live 10 is a significantly improved title from last year and you could even argue it's the best game in the series so far.

Simultaneously engaging and fun to play, Op Flash 2 will be enjoyed by all but the most staunch realism pedant. Given the slight scaling back of the unremittingly harsh difficulty of the first game, this sequel boasts more than enough authenticity to replicate more than just a modicum of what real war might be like.

Whether you get the most out of GT on the PSP will ultimately depend upon how much you enjoyed the rest of the instalments in the series. If you're not already a fan of the slavishly exhaustive self-confessed Real Driving Simulator, then this will do nothing to change your mind.

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.

Somehow, despite capturing the anarchic racing action of its PS3 sibling pretty well there's still something about Arctic Rift that feels a little underwhelming.

There's certainly enough material in here to keep you occupied for hours on end and the wealth of freshly added ninja-gubbins demonstrates Team Ninja's commitment to providing real value for money. Having said that, the sheer unflinching brutality of Ninja Gaiden 2 on Xbox 360, for us, makes it the definitive version of the game.

It often feels half-finished. The basic premise and idea is often better than its inelegant execution, and the game exhausts its pool of ideas by the end of the third level. There's a good concept resting within Undead Knights, but Tecmo have completely failed at bringing it to life.

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.

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.

While it remains very much an acquired taste, Forever is ideal for newcomers to the series, but perhaps a roll too far for Katamari veterans. As fun now as ever, we still think that only truly dedicated rollers or Katamari newbies need apply.

Despite initial concerns about the price tag, Halo 3: ODST offers up a surprising glut of content for your money. Bungie aren't making a concentrated effort to reinvent the formula they've so successfully championed, and for that reason they're likely to come across their fair share of detractors. Halo 3: ODST is never going to be considered game of the year, but Firefight in particular will likely be played for a long time to come.

Ultimately, WET only occasionally transcends average status, its brand of excessive action marred by a lack of depth, unrelenting repetition and a dearth of imagination. Strangely likeable, those seeking straightforward, uncomplicated shooting thrills may happily overlook the game's issues and enjoy a solid, fun-filled blast for a good few hours or so.

Taking all things into consideration, and despite some dodgy gameplay balance issues, wonky supercar handling, and ill-fitting drift events, much of Need for Speed: Shift is undeniably impressive and EA's work is done with regard to breathing fresh life into a decaying series corpse.

The new features make it a better game than its predecessors, but just not enough to warrant a sure-fire, full-priced purchase. Unless you just can't bring yourself to wait, the shrewd move is to keep playing NHL 09 until you can pick up a copy on the cheap - although by then we'll probably be starring at a fresh new copy of NHL 11.

If I haven't already made it blisteringly clear, I'd advise avoiding Heroes over Europe.

A marked improvement over the first game, this sequel is really only worth seeking out if your Spider sense is tingling for more Marvel action. Otherwise, you may want to use your common sense and avoid.