Sony

It Will be inFamous... for Beating Prototype to Shelves

HIGH Knocking waves of enemies for a loop with giant shock blasts.

LOW The story and characters are the weakest the studio's ever turned out.

WTF Some of the goofy, unnatural climbing animations.

The sublime power of Flower

HIGH One of the most satisfying and appropriate closing credits in a video game.

LOW Getting stuck for about 20 minutes and having no idea what to do next.

WTF Long credits made me wonder "How many people does it take to make a game this short?"

It's as sure as death or taxes that anyone who takes up videogaming will find themselves rooting through a bargain bin or scouring pre-owned shelves sooner or later. For those that do, few things feel as satisfying as saving hard-earned cash and getting a gem of a game at the same time.

Created by Masaya Matsuura, the man who pioneered music-generated gaming in Vib Ribbon, Musika is certainly the most baffling game of the four. Not because of any exciting Japanese weirdness or ultra-tough difficulty (both staples of old school rhythm action), but simply because there appears to be no game here.

As polished and colourful as Phase is, playing Beats on PSP afterwards feels like being sat next to a giant subwoofer in the trendiest, spaciest club in town. This is very much rhythm action seen through a Tetsuya Mizuguchi kaleidoscope.

Although I personally found Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction to be a little disappointing, there's no denying that Insomniac rarely fails to produce a title of respectable workmanship. The action here will completely satisfy anyone looking for the kind of lighthearted, kinetic run-and-gun that was mastered several iterations ago.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Alcohol Reference, Animated Blood, Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Language