There was no doubt that Virtua Tennis World Tour would appeal, but the developers have accomplished to create a game that does strike a balance between short and long-term play.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam is not DLC in the current-gen sense of the word. Instead, it's more like an expansion pack from the days of early-'Noughties' PC gaming; a whole new tack on the full game experience rather than a set of maps that only serve to intermittently prolong a game's appeal. For these reasons alone, it's worth the asking price.

Mafia II refuses to follow the crowd of open-world games by putting authenticity at the head of its agenda instead of sheer scale and off-the-hook action. The fact that it tells you what to do rather than asking what you'd like to do is somewhat counter-intuitively what makes the game feel so original and immersive.

Whilst it's undeniably a heart-pounding action feast from start-to-finish, the criticisms and slightly dated design lead us to hope that Capcom will contemplate a bit of a shake-up for the next DMC - we're not talking "Resident Evil 4" here.

A slightly bizarre mixture of realism and fantasy. All of the attention paid to replicating the courses and cars doesn’t seem to have been applied to the actual game and its mechanics, racing takes on more of an arcade like feel, whilst there isn’t that much depth to the actual going’s on behind the scenes.

For the many fanatics out there having GTA: Liberty City Stories in the collection is essential just for completions sake, so in this regard the PS2 adaptation certainly serves a purpose and at a price that fits; however, it makes no claims about pushing the series forwards and does feel slightly aged on the PS2, leaving the storyline and characters as the major pull through the game.

Not a bad attempt for the first 3D UO game but personally I was expecting more in the way of new items and things to do.

The combination of puzzles and action fits well, whilst the level of humour certainly helps the game to gel with the player – although some may find the type of comedy a little low-brow.

We personally would have liked to have seen a little more thought and attention paid to the concept of Vampires instead of relying on RPG decrees.

A perfect balance between authenticity and accessibility. It probably won’t appeal to the hard-core sim fans, whilst those that like their action immediately up front will probably also be deterred.

Gears of War has been faithfully ported to the PC and Epic has also provided a nice range of exclusive features, most notably a 'lost' act in the single-player campaign. It's well worth a purchase for PC owners who haven't yet experienced the brilliance of Gears.

Shift 2 is one of the very few driving games where we'd actually prefer to boot-up its predecessor rather than this new iteration. It's still a thoroughly decent and innovative racer but fans of the original may be justifiably disappointed by the many missed opportunities here.

A complete recreation of the original's depth of races and modifications (and high speed fun) with allowances made for the smaller screen, DUB looks set to enjoy a new lease of life in the portable world.

Shift 2 is one of the very few driving games where we'd actually prefer to boot-up its predecessor rather than this new iteration. It's still a thoroughly decent and innovative racer but fans of the original may be justifiably disappointed by the many missed opportunities here.

Some may say that the 2D structure is dated and that the move to 3D is well overdue, however American Conquest like Cossacks does such a fine job with the detail of the environments and the armies, a change here could prove disastrous.

Not content with surpassing Tony Hawk with the first attempt, skate. smashes his board in two and promises the next ten years will be a little different. Providing the antidote to too many years of unimaginative Tony Hawk's sequels, skate's debut marks an overwhelming success of innovation, style, and fun.

An excellent sequel that manages to improve upon the original in virtually ever way. Gameplay is certainly paramount and in this area Maximo creates a maddeningly addictive experience, which you’ll find hard to drop if you’re brave enough to take on the challenge.

If you're looking for nothing but action, you won't find it here. But if you want to fly a REAL plane (or as close as it's possible to get on a console), then get this game.

Despite our concerns over the lack of a full 3D engine, Sim City 4 is a beautiful game to behold.

Despite the disappointment of there being no co-op play in Mini Ninjas' campaign, the game does enough to keep players entertained through well mixed gameplay, loveable characters, stylistically beautiful environments, and good humour. The Japanese story is finely applied and a wide audience will enjoy this title, meaning that it fulfils its remit and then some.

Despite the new gameplay features failing to change Soulcalibur's gameplay, Soulcalibur IV still manages to provide one of the most engaging and rewarding fighters around - plus Darth and Yoda aren't entirely that bad.

One of the most unique role-playing games you will ever play.

Do not expect too many changes, think of it as an expansion pack with more levels, more weapons and even more Nazis to shoot down.

There are some innovative features and these do really add to the experience and the overall package with a highly playable multi-player mode makes Red Faction a quality PlayStation2 game.

Sadly the action based nature of the game hasn’t survived the translation to mouse/keyboard as well as we could have hoped. The fundamental character/camera movement and basic combat works well; it just all begins to get a little messy when the vast amount of keys comes into play.

Any downsides or real negatives? None, apart from the need for a powerful PC to possibly experience the game in even more quality. If goaded to pick up any concerns it would have been for slightly more variety in the layout of the levels, with a touch more ingenuity.

It's hard to see where, if anywhere, the series can go from here but Insomniac deserves credit for rounding off Resistance with a final instalment that offers a smart, well-paced and compelling FPS experience.

Crytek has clearly stuck close to the Far Cry formula with Crysis, which is no bad thing. Improvements in graphics and evolved gameplay, as well as brilliant new features such as the nanosuit, make this a thoroughly suitable spiritual successor to Crytek's first game. We'd be lying if we said that the campaign's final act wasn't bitterly disappointing though.