Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter - Xbox

Although at first sight it appears to be just another sci-fi first-person shooter, Mace Griffin soon reveals itself to have rather more ambition than that. Although it's mission based, the structure of the game is such that you can tackle things however you want, not just choosing between a stealthily or more gung-ho approach but opting to pop into your spaceship at any point for a bit of dogfighting or to access a different part of the level.

Controlling your ship is extremely easy and the whole space combat simulator aspect of the game is very well designed and doesn't seem at all like a tacked-on mini-game. Further innovation is evident in the nature of your missions--you're not just an assassin but have to act as everything from bodyguard to computer hacker as you pay the bills with collected bounties and at the same time try to find out who betrayed you at the beginning of the game and forced you to spend 10 years in the clink.

The graphics are more than up to the job of making such a complex game look and feel realistic, especially as there are no loading delays and the transition into and out of your spaceship is seamless. The audio is pretty good too, especially as rock bad-boy Henry Rollins is voicing the eponymous anti-hero. So if you want to try a shooter with a bit of a difference keep your eye out for Mace Griffin. --David Jenkins