Xbox 360, £50, Ages 15+

The Halo series of sci-fi shooter games is probably the best known title of the past decade, and the final part of the trilogy is the most eagerly anticipated release of the year. Once again you play as Master Chief, a super-soldier battling alien troops who seek to purge the universe of all sentient life.

There is a slew of ginormous weapons and fancy new vehicles, plus swarms of exotic enemies and relentless fighting as the addictive plot slowly unfolds. The game looks superb and for once it lives up to the hype: creeping through the jungle feels more like a film than a video game.

The controls are also a delight. A flick of the stick spins Master Chief around, and the buttons for the fire and movement options are well placed. Some battles are on an epic scale; you face an incessant stream of enemies and on the harder settings these behave fairly intelligently – another big improvement on Halo 2.

The biggest criticism of Halo 2 was a lack of depth to the solo game. This new edition offers more open maps to explore rather than the linear point-to-point missions of old. The trouble is, ardent gamers will finish the single-player campaign in a day, which means Halo 3 is in the end a remorseless multiplayer online death match. It’s pretty and truly compelling in places, but ultimately not that innovative. Nevertheless, serious fun.

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