Tomb Raider - Underworld

When it comes to game icons, Lara Croft ranks as one of the most well known in the world. Eidos' popular heroine has explored the ruins of various cultures, fought human and supernatural threats, and solved countless puzzles on her way to becoming one of the greatest archeologists (or treasure hunters) in gaming. Two years ago, Eidos and Crystal Dynamics rebooted the franchise with Tomb Raider: Legend, a title that revamped the combat, control scheme and brain teasing puzzles that the series was known for. The follow-up to this adventure, Tomb Raider: Underworld, was recently released with hopes to expand on this formula. But has Lara learned some new tricks, or is this an old journey in disguise?

Underworld is a continuation of the storyline established within Legend, and even presents a quick summary in the form of a recap video for players that are new to the storyline or want a quick refresher. Covering both the mystery surrounding her mother as well as the last research that her father did before he died, Underworld starts as Lara explores coordinates that lead her to an ancient ruin on the Mediterranean Sea floor. As she investigates, she uncovers a rather surprising find: a site dedicated to both Norse mythology and evidence that indicates that Thor's hammer, the mythical weapon wielded by the God of Thunder, actually exists. While I won't give facets of the story away, I can comfortably say that for the most part, the story is pretty good; it manages to present the kind of adventure that you typically expect from a Tomb Raider title and while there are some moments of predictability (particularly if you've played Legend), the game's mix of

Worms 4 Mayhem

Worms 4: Mayhem is the third Worms game in two years, which is a lot of worms. But more importantly, it's hard to believe there's such a rampant demand for these games, considering they really never change or improve over time. Aside from the requisite transition to 3D, the Worms series hasn't changed much since it first appeared on the PC in 1995. Each new installment may tweak the weapon lineup ever so slightly, but these worms tend to stick to their guns. That's both a good and a bad thing for Worms 4: Mayhem. On one hand, you can expect to be chucking holy hand grenades, detonating old ladies, and calling in air strikes in the hopes of destroying the opposing team of little pink worms. On the other hand, if you've done all that before, there's really no reason to play this game, because it doesn't offer anything new and worthwhile.

There isn't really much mayhem in Worms 4. There are explosions and gunfire aplenty, but all that action is doled out in calculated, methodical doses in turn-based team battles. There are several gameplay modes in Worms 4, but they all revolve around the same basic gameplay. The single-player story mode is the best way to warm up to the game if you've never played Worms before. There's a thin story involving a wacky professor worm and his naive but well-intentioned pupil worms. The professor constructs

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009

PES 2009 is undoubtedly better than last year's disappointing effort. And yet it's got a lower review score. But how can that be? It plays at a more considered pace and, finally, online play actually works with no teleporting, hardly any lag and an impressively speedy quick match option (with two versus two support, no less).

Have we lost our minds? No. Of course we haven't. The reason why PES 2009 is being given a harsher time of it this year is because these things aren't big changes. FIFA 09 is the better game, not only from a graphical point of view, but from a basic gameplay point of view, and EA has tried to tailor the PC version to the hardware. Playing PES 2009 after a FIFA 09 session makes you realise that, actually, there's not much about Konami's game that couldn't be achieved on the PS2 and almost no effort has been made to build a game suited to the PC.

Player animation is rotten. Players run about with their arms pumping back and forth as if they're robot men. The eight way movement is as wooden as ever. The passing and shooting animations are archaic. The commentary is delivered with as much quality as an episode of Hollyoaks. The soundtrack has been cribbed from a wedding DJ's vinyl collection. The player faces look silly. A magical barrier surrounds the throw-in taker. Keepers take forever to distribute the ball. Having speedy wingers cross the ball in for headed or volleyed goals is an overpowered strategy. Month old transfers have been ignored. Half the teams have made up names and games often descend into hilarious

Burnout Paradise - The Ultimate Box

Burnout Paradise reinvigorated Criterion's ultra-successful smash-up racing series when it launched this time last year on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box brings the series' trademark racing action to the PC for the first time. With solid online and offline play, an almost staggering number of events, and more than 70 vehicles, Ultimate Box is at the front of the PC racer pack.

The amount of variety in the game is huge, and how you approach it is up to you; explore Paradise City's open world at leisure, unlock the 70-plus vehicles one at a time through single-player events, or join other players for races and challenges online. Couple this deep variety with the fact that it's hugely fun, and Burnout Paradise is easy to recommend. In addition to all of the content from the original console game, Ultimate Box also includes all of Burnout Paradise's downloadable content released to date. First up, there's Codename: Cagney, which adds the Stunt Run, Marked Man, and Road Rage modes to online multiplayer. The Bikes pack adds two-wheeled racing and a day/night cycle to the series for the first time. And last, there's Burnout Party, the first paid-for content to hit the game. Burnout Party is a pass-the-controller-style offline party mode for two to eight players and is a fun new way to experience

Spider Man - Web of Shadows

Spider-Man - Web of Shadows starts off with a serious bang. The establishing shot finds Spidey walking across a New York City rooftop in slow-motion, head hung down and ignoring the chaos taking place all around him -- soldiers battling symbiote aliens, explosions in the distance, debris flying inches past his head -- while "Moonlight Sonata" plays, gorgeously juxtaposed with the madness of the scene. The entire opening sequence is perfection -- an elegant tutorial told amid a series of beautifully choreographed cut-scenes and combat scenarios that demonstrate Spider-Man's new moves and animations. Most of the game takes place over the course of the four days leading up to those events, but by the time I caught back up to them, I was more than a little disappointed.

When SpiderMan went to a fully open-world formula with 2004's Spider-Man 2, simply swinging around the city was exhilarating -- even if the combat and missions were an afterthought. The situation didn't improve much in either subsequent entry (Ultimate Spider-Man or last year's Spider-Man 3).