Somewhere between Rock Band and the distant promise of Guitar Hero World Tour, ‘classic’ Guitar Hero became very ordinary, very quickly. This, now the fifth game, bears all the hallmarks of a series paddling to stay afloat. World Tour’s change of direction is looking even more necessary now. It all started so well too. Aerosmith has been involved with track selections, story elements and even mockumentary videos, and are ...

With Brutal Legend’s fate still undecided, you might think us mad for recommending Kung Fu Panda as an alternative adventure starring Jack Black (not least because all the voices in this tie-in game are sadly provided by so-so stand-ins), but bear with us. First of all, we’re not so addled with bonhomie thanks to our experience with this silly game to deny that the action is the definition of ‘par for the course’. The ...

Damn you Wall-E, and damn whoever decided to come up with that way our trash-compacting, lonely-hearts-surfing robo-friend constantly repeats his own name in gurgling, quasi-’endearing’ fashion. It’s not cute, it’s not appealing, it’s... oh, the movie’s set to rake in $250 million? Ah. Shows how much we know. Still, at least the blatantly nicked premise shows promise. Take sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf and ...

It’s such a familiar quandary – there you are in your local games store, crisp note in hand, looking for a new addition to your collection. There are a few caveats, though: one, you want it to be a linear adventure mainly based around flicking switches and collecting shiny things; two, you’re also very keen for it to have a Christian subtext; oh, and three, there simply has to be a homicidal dwarf involved ...

On the face of it, Pop is a game about bursting bubbles. Delve a little deeper, however… and you’ll find it’s a game about bursting bubbles. Hmm. But despite this most simple of premises, it’s actually a rather decent, pleasingly colourful and curiously addictive little shooter. And shooter it is. You aim a set of crosshairs at the screen and blast away at wave after wave of different coloured bubbles in search of a ...

We can’t be alone in thinking that playing quiz games on your own is more pointless than Paris Hilton. Whether it’s a digital version of Trivial Pursuit or a made-for-consoles title such as PS2’s Buzz!, there’s zero satisfaction or fun to be had pitting your wits against a bunch of AI contestants. This is as true for TV Show King as any other quiz ’em up. However, when the intended number of players is all flesh ...

The first reaction to XGen’s fortress-protection simulator ranged from a minor "pfft" from our art people to full-blown mock vomiting from one editor. An update of their own flash game, the argument goes that XGen haven’t really updated at all. Our scoffing editor even played the original in the background to make his point.

But they’re wrong. A) the crude stick men of the original are now, erm, crude crayon drawings ...

Presented with a pen of beasties, you have to fence the animals into separate enclosures without coming into contact with any of them – for that spells instant death. It’s Qix on a farm. A farm of mad. What kind of farmer shoves antagonising breeds in a pen and then tries to solve the problem? ...

First-person shooters, sure, but first-person gambling? This is blackjack, only viewed from the best seat in the house: inside the martini-addled head of a card junkie. Our host is Mr. Paradise (how can you not be magnetically drawn to Vegas with a name like that?) – prepare to meet his hands. ...

Last month we had Deca Sports (Sports Island in the UK), this month it’s Big Beach Sports. Curious. It’s almost as if third-party publishers are trying to cash in on some hugely popular sports game collection that Nintendo bundles with the Wii. This time around the collection features six sports - cricket, soccer, bocce, volleyball, frisbee golf and football – and they’re all played on the beach, would you believe. ...