Resident Evil 5 (360)

Within 5 minutes of playing I had seen slaughtered donkeys and someone or something being kicked around the street in a sack by a dozen villagers.

Happy this game isn't, atmospheric - yes, stunningly rendered - yes, a game to play before bedtime - no.

This isn't the perfect game many expected after the last outing, but it is a damn fine gaming experience that will have you on the edge of your seat and will shred your nerves.

The graphics from the very off as you learn of your mission in Africa are simply fantastic, it looks better than any other Resident Evil and is on a par with recent pioneers like Call Of Duty and Fallout 3 in terms of style and presentation.

It doesn't take long for the action to kick in, you are pretty much thrown in at the deep end very early on - I have to admit I had only been playing 10 minutes before I died for the first time!

It's quite a tough game and you have to get used to the fact that you don't have an abundance of ammo and resources; you are almost drip-fed your lifelines as you go.

Capcom aren't interested in making this game easy for you, in fact quite the opposite they want it to be a real challenge and throw the enemies at you at will.

The one thing that really feels great in this game is shooting the infected; it shouldn't feel as good as it does - who says violence is a bad thing!?

The anxiety of approaching enemies, being surrounded and attacked is immense, the tension in the game is unbearable and the atmosphere that the game conjures up is a real credit to the developers.

Once again you play as Chris Redfield - star of the original game and you are joined by female special agent Sheva Alomar... now I haven't played co-operative yet but this is an option on the game which I imagine would be a good laugh. Unlike other games your partner actually has a modicum of common sense and is helpful, you will need to help her too though - if your partner dies it's game over.

Game over in itself is pretty shocking - the game over scene has a group of machete clad madman hovering over the camera hacking away at your corpse. Nice.

I haven't progressed that far yet but I am eagerly awaiting my next venture into the macabre world of Resident Evil 5.