The track listing is as follows…

·         What’s Up - 4 Non Blondes

·         Black Velvet - Alannah Myles

·         Rehab - Amy Winehouse

·         Doctor Jones - Aqua

·         Love Shack - The B-52’s

·         Let’s Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas

·         Word Up - Cameo

·         Tubthumping - Chumbawamba

·         Rhythm Of The Night - DeBarge

·         Groove Is In The Heart - Deee-Lite

·         I Touch Myself - Divinyls

·         American Pie - Don McLean

·         Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield

·         I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreigner

·         I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

·         Laid - James

·         You’re Beautiful - James Blunt

·         Rock and Roll All Night - KISS

·         Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd

·         She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5

·         To Be With You - Mr. Big

·         These Boots Are Made for Walking - Nancy Sinatra

·         True Faith - New Order

·         Live if Life - Opus

·         When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge

·         Every Rose Had Its Thorn - Poison

·         Brass in Pocket - The Pretenders

·         Shiny Happy People - R.E.M

·         I’m Too Sexy - Right Said Fred

·         Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer

·         Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer

·         Wannabe - The Spice Girls

·         Friday I’m in Love - The Cure

·         My Sharona - The Knack

·         Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers

·         I Think We’re Alone Now - Tiffany

·         It’s Not Unusual - Tom Jones

·         Red Red Wine - UB40

·         Y.M.C.A. - Village People

·         Is This Love - Whitesnake

The multiplayer mode really is a polished product, being both exciting and addictive enough to keep you coming back for more and more. If you thought Modern Warfare 2 was the final word in online shooters, rest assured you haven’t seen nothing yet as the carnage is tripled in this game. However, this is not all Bad Company 2 has to offer – the single player mode is (almost) as addictive.

Forget the rather silly back-story and just enjoy the ride, as you get to play in a myriad range of environments, with a stupendous amount of weapons and vehicles at your disposal. One level will have you traipsing along a snowy mountain range, then another will have you firing at enemy soldiers from a helicopter gunship, and yet another will have you steering a tank across a range of fields. All in stunning Technicolor!

The graphics here are simply stunning, and are amongst the most realistic I have seen on a console. Honestly, you will want o stop firing at points in this game to just admire the scenery, it’s that beautiful. On the downside, some of the levels are over too quickly,

The game features a good use for sound as well, with superb voice-acting and ultra-realistic sound effects. This range from the chirping of birds in trees to the muffled squelches as you trudge through the snow. There is even a good attempt as imagining what your ears would sound like if a real grenade exploded near where you were standing, as they sound falls out and fades back again, ala the beach scene in Saving Private Ryan. It’s very clever and really helps build up the impression you are involved in a real war, as your ears ring from all the destruction around you. The sound is also used to good effect in many other ways as well, as the footsteps of any enemy behind a wall can alert you to their whereabouts, and their distant chatter will let you know when they are nearby.

Being a part of a squad of hardened soldiers, in single player mode you soon learn that each one has their own distinctive personalities. If you wait nearby for a few seconds at a quiet point in the game, you will soon hear them start top talk amongst themselves, which is a source of much humour. They ramble on about Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and discuss the merits of what scene is best in the Predator films. The scripting here is excellent and will have you chuckling away to yourself the first few times you hear it.

Of course, war is not something to celebrate really and is not really a funny subject. People die in wars, man. This is certainly not a game for kids – the dialogue features swearwords a-plenty and the blood is there for all to see when you kill an opponent, but then should war games really be for younger players anyway? It is no worse than what you would find in your average war film, but it goes without saying that the level of violence is staggeringly high in this game.

A great shooter, one of the best you will ever play online, and well worth every penny. Just make sure you stock up with plenty of cans of Red Bull for all the sleepless nights ahead of you…

The original Bioshock placed you in the role of a survivor of a plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean who, upon discovering the city miles under the surface, sought refuge within its walls. Once there, you found the locals were anything but friendly… consisting mainly of genetically-enhanced humans, ten-year-old girls with sea slugs harvested inside them, and armor-plated goliaths who acted as their bodyguards. An instant classic, the game was widely praised for its atmospheric ambiance and brooding, menacing gameplay.

With Bioshock 2, instead of playing the role of a human, instead you take the role of one of the aforementioned goliaths, or Big Daddies are they are known in the game. Known only as Subject Delta, it is your task to reunite yourself with your Little Sister, a girl who you find out is being held captive by her own mother, the tyrannical woman who is Raptures new leader.

Whilst it can be argued that by putting you in the boots of one of the original games monsters, in the process the game has lost some of the creepiness and mystery, Rapture as a city is still high on atmosphere and is a fascinating place to explore. Played from a first-person perspective, it is easy to become immersed in the environment, and the concept of Rapture as an underwater city has been executed perfectly.

If you have never played Bioshock, you may find yourself scratching your head on more than a few occasions, as the background plot is never fully explained to you. You never really find out the reason as to why you are there, why Rapture as a city has fallen from grace and become the run-down nightmare it is now and you never really understand why you have to find your Little Sister in the first place. Some of this explained in detail in articles that can be called up in the menu system, but they are very long and wordy, and even after reading them you are still left in the dark about a number of issues. One big, niggling problem I had with the plot in particular was why you seemed to be more powerful than any of the other Big Daddies you encountered. For example, you can utilize energy weapons and a wide range of weapons in the game, but none of your other foes seem to be able to do the same.

Or those familiar with the first game, you will recognise many of the enemies you encounter, but there are a few new ones to liven proceedings up, including giant man-brutes who look like they have taken one steroid too many. As you progress in the game, you will be given to opportunity to upgrade both your weapons and abilities, power ups that can be achieved by spending the money and ADAM (the life source of Little Sisters) you collect in your travels. You can gain more ADAM by harvesting the Little Sisters once you have defeated their guardian Big Daddies; battles which should be nigh-on impossible to win, but in reality are fairly straightforward and easy.

As a whole, the game is far too easy for its own good, and after a good few hours of solid play, you should have this one done and dusted in one player mode. Multiplayer mode adds an extra dimension to proceedings, placing you as a human against other players. This is a much faster game speed than the one used for single player mode, and include variations on games such as Capture the Flag (in this case, it’s Capture the Sister).

Having played the first game in the series, Bioshock 2 is not as mysterious and downright creepy as it was when I played the original title. However, just for its atmosphere alone, I have to rate this as one of the best games I have played this year. The city of Rapture is a compelling and disturbing place to be, and I for one cannot wait for the next visit…

Well believe it or not, Dante’s Inferno is indeed just that. It’s a bloodthirsty platformer too, with more than its fair share of gore and brutal carnage for you to feast your eyes upon. You play the part of Dante himself, and you have to travel through the nine levels of hell to rescue your sweetheart. And if you happen to be still going through puberty, then you will be pleased to hear that it has plenty of breasts to boot. Breasts here, breasts there, huge heaving breasts everywhere! It’s like every boyhood dream surely?

Although visually it seems to have been inspired by a teenage fantasy, the breasts do tend to become slightly mind-numbing after a while. Thankfully, the rest of the graphics are much more pleasing to the eye, and as a journey through hell, the scenery is amazing. Rivers of blood and walls of tortured souls really help top set the scene.

Gameplay-wise, if you have ever played God of War, then you will know what to expect. Gigantic bosses are there to be slain, and when I say gigantic, I mean huge sprawling monstrosities. You basically run around killing any demon you happen to come across with a scythe or enchantments, opening chests to replenish your energy or magic and when you come across a wayward soul, you can decide to punish or absolve them. This basically gives you holy or unholy points to spend on weapons upgrades. Not very original, I know, but then the game as a whole is hardly that innovative!

The music that plays throughout is great, and lends itself to the setting, sounding as it does as a cross between a church choir and a film score. The noise of tortured souls does begin to grate somewhat after a while, and the battles are stupendously loud. You’ll find yourself reaching for the volume switch after a short while.

The game is easy to play, and after a few hours you will have completed it on the easiest difficulty level. And herein lies the main gripe I have with Dante’s Inferno. No, it’s not that it is unoriginal or too easy. Rather, the further you get into the game, the less effort seems to have been made with the levels, graphic and general gameplay. The game starts so strongly, and the level of presentation is incredible, but then it rapidly petters off. It’s almost as if the designers spent all their energy on making the first couple of levels superb, and then just couldn’t be bothered with the rest of it. Take the second level of the game, Lust, as an example. The scenery and demons that inhabit this hellish plane are something to behold, albeit with possibly too many boobs, but after this visual feast, the next levels are a pale shade. Instead of splatter-house shockers to combat, you only have tame wizards and zombies. What happened to all the effort of earlier? Worth a rent, for sure, but prepare to be short-changed if you are thinking about spending your hard-earned money on this one…

Ideally played with a friend, the game puts you in the boots of one half of a mercenary duo who shoot first and ask questions later. For solo players, if you can’t find a mate to play with, then the computer AI takes over and plays along with you instead. For the most part you both have to just concentrate on killing the bad guys with the numerous weapons at your disposal, but the co-operative element comes into its own when you need a hand to overcome obstacles and survive certain situations. These can range from helping your comrade over a wall to rescuing prisoners who have been taken hostage.

Morality plays its part in this game too, as at certain points you will be given choices to make that have wide-ranging implications. Depending upon your choice, a comic book glimpse into the future is given showing you how your decision has affected things. Sometime a seemingly good choice has terrible repercussions, and vice versa. On the most part the results of your actions inevitably lead to some bizarre consequence or other.

If you get lost during a level, you can simply flick a button and an on-screen GPS display will appear, showing you the best route to take. This is a handy feature to have, as you can get carried away in some scenes and lost your bearings, however it is also quite distracting to have on-screen so you will only want to use it sporadically. The GPS also helps identify enemy soldiers by rank, which is a must if you are looking to rescue hostages as you can only free them if you take out the enemy’s leader.

Every single weapon you come across or purchase is fully customisable, so if you are the train-spotter type, you can spend hours adjusting the settings and appearance of your machine gun. Likewise, the uniform and mask that you wear are also customisable, so when playing against others online, you can really make yourself stand out from the crowd. As you play through the game, new weapons will become available to buy along with new parts to upgrade. This all adds to the replayability factor, as you’ll want to keep coming back and trying out different customisations.

Although the action can get rather repetitive after a few hours play – after all, there are only so many ways you can shoot someone – Army of Two: The 40th Day is so well presented and fun that you can forgive its shortcoming and just accept it for what it is: A fun third person shooter which is good when playing solo, and great when you have a mate with you. A worthy investment of both your time and money, which is not only entertaining to play but also looks and sounds great to boot.

Unfortunately, what we have here is a weak, limp-wristed version of Sega’s official take on the event. Historically, video games based upon the Olympics have never been classics, but even with that in mind, the half-baked games we have here are just not acceptable. Of the events included, you have the chance to compete in Ski Flying, Figure Skating, Bobsledding, Short-track, Speed Skating, Downhill Skiing, Biathlon, Snowboard Cross and Free-ride Skiing. You can play solo, or against up to 4 friends at once. There is also a career mode of you are feeling particularly masochistic and have time to waste. There is nothing here to really grip you and keep you coming back. After you have played each of the events, you find that you have seen the whole game. There’s nothing new to play for.

The graphics look outdated, we’re talking something you’d expect to find on a PlayStation 2, and are horribly animated. It really is a sloppy substandard job - considering all the powers of this generations consoles, more should have really been made of this. I could go into fine detail just as to why this game is so poor, but what really is the point? This isn’t a game that you should buy, and even if you are in love with the Winter Olympics, then you should invest in Sega’s far more professional effort instead. It’s a much more polished game, and whereas this seems like a rushed job, with its mish-mash of random winter sports games, at least the Sega effort attempts to recreate the event faithfully.

Our advice? Avoid like the plague and watch the real thing on the telly instead. Fingers crossed Great Britain actually does well this time around..!

Playing the character of War, as you can imagine you are not one to run away from violence, and this game is packed full of demons, hellbeasts, zombies and other-wordly types to carve your way through. The games plot is slightly ridiculous, and places you in the middle of an eternal war between heaven and hell. Both asides accuse you of being up to no good and strip you of your powers. Slowly but surely as you play through the game these powers are restored to you, with each new ability being put to use to defeat a boss or overcome a puzzle. The problem is, with each new ability comes a new button command, and pretty soon as you grow more powerful, you start to become overwhelmed with all the extra abilities at your disposal. After a couple of hours play, you’ll soon collect a throwing star, grappling hook, supernatural wings and a power gauntlet. And that’s just for starters.

All these power-ups are actually  a shame, because if the control set up had been kept more simple, then I wouldn’t have spent quite so long trying to remember how to use a particular weapon, and instead could have just concentrated on enjoying the game. Some of the bosses you have to overcome are extremely hard as well, and this can lead to frustration. It seems to be either ridiculously easy or ridiculously hard – there’s no in-between.

Graphically and sound-wise it’s all good. The Xbox 360 version suffers from screen-tear at times when the action becomes too busy, but if you can forgive that then the graphics are some of the best you’ll see on the consoles. The PlayStation 3 version is superior in this department, but screen-tear aside there is little to choose between the versions.

Voice acting is excellent, with Mark Hamill (yes, the same Mark Hamill from Star Wars!) contributing for a memorable performance as one of the in-game demons. The music score is suitably epic too, and helps build the atmosphere up considerably.

There’s nothing particularly bad about this game. I was expecting more from it though, and I think this feeling of disappointment is one that best sums this title up. Could. Have. Been. Better.

Whilst this in itself sounds unrealistic, it actually sets the tempo for what by all accounts is an over the top game. Explosions and carnage seem to follow you around wherever you go, but like some unearthly superhero, you seem to be able to shrug the worst of it off and regenerate your health with almost lightening speed. Couple this with the main characters Irish wisecracks, this isn’t a game to take seriously, but is immensely good fun to play.

As mentioned, all of the action takes place in the streets of 1940s Paris, and at first it is an incredibly dark and depressing place to be. In fact, there isn’t any colour to take in, with buildings, people and vehicles all painted black and white, intermingled with the glow of bright orange, yellow, red and blue signs and objects to give the setting a film noir feel. As you play and complete missions, areas of Paris become liberated, and thus colour is restored. Not only do areas change visually, but the residents who live within them feel more courageous and will help you fight any Nazi’s nearby.

1940’s Paris is recreated just as you would imagine it to look like. All the famous landmarks are there, including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Couple this with the French accents of the locals that you pass in the streets and the characters you speak to, giving the game its own particular brand of comic book authenticity. You really feel like you are in wartime France, taking part in some boys own adventure, and that is no bad thing at all.

The game is all about killing Nazis and sabotaging their weapons and vehicles (surprise surprise), and whilst this is a theme that continues from the start to the end of the game, it is something that you never grow tired off. The action is relentless and the difficulty level is set just right. It’s never too hard to progress, but never too easy as to become a walkthrough, and the games addictive nature will keep spurning you on for just one more play. This is exactly what a good shoot-‘em-up should be. It may not be the most original game – it’s far too similar to the likes of Grand Theft Auto for its own good at times – but you are guaranteed to have a fun time playing it. Now where did I put that stick of dynamite..?

Well unlike the film, which by all accounts is amazing, it isn’t the be all and end all of video games. However that’s not to say it’s a bad game to play, far from it.

If you haven’t seen the film yet, I won’t spoil things for you. Let’s just say the game puts you in the role of a human called Ryder who is sent to the wild planet of Pandora, where the humans encounter an alien race called the Na’vi. To help survive on the planet and to attempt to co-exist with this race, your human consciousness can be transported to a Na’vi body through the Avatar program. However, you are soon forced to choose between the two sides and are plunged headfirst into a war against the races. Whether you choose to side with the humans or Na’vi’s, it’s up to you, although I found the humans slightly easier to play as.

The choice you make greatly affects the overall game, with the emphasis on hand to hand combat with the Na’vi and action shooter with the humans. Whichever side you choose, the game plays in a third-person perspective with the camera situated over the shoulder and to the right of your character. You can’t help but feel the game would have been better if it had been designed as a first-person shooter, and the viewpoint can be slightly off-putting at first, but you do get used to it in the end.

Graphically, this game is a stand out success, with the rich jungle landscape of Pandora well represented with alien trees, plants and terrain all adding to the experience of playing on another world. Colourful ain’t the word for it… Sound wise its ok, with good voice acting and cinematic score throughout, and as a translation of the film, it does a commendable job.

However, its the actual gameplay that let this one down. Combat is poor on both sides, with it being hard to aim your gun for humans and plenty of frantic button mashing as you try to destroy whatever creature you’re fighting before they come close enough to kill you. The foes throughout the same tend to be the same, so once you’ve played it for about an hour, you have pretty much seen it all too.

The game is structured in such a way that you hardly have any choice in your missions. You are just told to run from point to point in the map, killing enemies or collecting items in order to advance to the next stage. There are some pretty cool weapons, vehicles and animals to ride along the way, but you never really feel in control of events. Everything seems too structured and you never really have much freedom in tasks.

The source material – i.e. the film – is so much better than this. You can’t help but feel with a little more time, this could have been a great game, but there are some real issues with the way the game is structured and the action is presented. Only buy if you are a die-had fan of the film. For the rest of us? It’s a case of try before you buy.