Full Auto
Developed by Pseudo Interactive
Published by Sega
Xbox 360

Drive cars, shoot cars, destroy whole buildings and win races. That’s the moral of Full Auto’s story - or complete lack of one. But there’s nowt wrong with that.

Playing career mode takes you through three classes of car – ‘slow and boring’, ‘not as slow, but a bit dull’ and ‘pretty nippy and fun’. You then start getting different weapons. At its best, it’s Twisted Metal meets Burnout, but at its worst, it’s a very, very poor man’s Burnout. Still, it’s enjoyable online and it will keep you engaged for at least a few days.

Favourite moments include the rocket and missile capable Warlord, blowing up entire buildings and leaving mines down alleyways for those behind you.

Top fun, though it does go stale pretty quickly. Well worth a rental, but not everyone will warrant this worth buying.

3.5 out of 5

Dead or Alive 4
Developed by Team Ninja
Published by Microsoft Games Studios
Xbox 360

One-on-one and tag team fighting action from the folk who brought you Dead or Alive 1-3, Beach Vollyball, DOA Ultimate and Ninja Gaiden.

DOA4 aspires to Virtua Fighter and Tekken’s super-deep hardcore fighting crowns, but it isn’t as solid as either. We think this is a mistake, as success is more about memorising every move in the game and less about logical, intuitive reaction. Some welcome the added depth of the four-choice reversal system, but it's lost the accessibility of the simpler DOA2.

Painful teething aside, it is enjoyable. Some characters are still cheesy as hell, with Jan Lee leading the troops with his ultra-annoying fly kick move. The online mode suffers from considerable lag and the ‘quick game’ option is far from it. It puts you in a lobby queue, like being at the arcade, only without the B.O. or cigarette burns on the joysticks.

If your lust for a fight is strong, you could wait for Streetfighter Hyper Fighting to appear on Xbox Live Arcade or StreetFighter Alpha Collection on PS2. Otherwise, this will likely be the best fighter on Xbox 360 till Capcom, Namco, or indeed Sega grace the machine with their contributions to anti-social behaviour.

Rent first to avoid disappointment.

3.5 out of 5

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
Developed by Konami Japan
Published by Konami
PS2 and Xbox

Every decade, a castle appears out of nowhere and some poor sod has to go in and kill Dracula. This year, it’s some guy called Hector who forges devils for a living. That’s like forging signatures, except it involves turning pretty stones into creatures that help you by killing things or helping you jump over long gaps.

The game is huge, with occasional back tracking required once you gain new abilities. It’s the best 3D Castlevania so far, although it still suffers from the same ‘empty long hallway syndrome’ as the previous PS2 effort.

The fighting works well and combos are fun and varied enough to explore, but unless you’re a Castlevania diehard, this won’t interest you past the first half hour. It simply takes too long to pick up the pace - and when it does, it’s still too slow.

Rent it if you must, but purchase with caution. If you need your Castlevania fix, go for the recent GBA double pack, or the stupendously excellent Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow on Nintendo DS.

2 out of 5