Splinter Cell

Platform: PS2, XBOX

Step into the shoes of Sam Fisher, a battle-savvy, bad-assed retired CIA operative enlisted by the NSA to join Third Echelon, a new super-secret, money-is-no-object splinter organization.

Two agents are missing in the Georgian Republic and, because of your “ain’t-got-time-to-bleed” attitude, it’s your job to find them.

It’s your prerogative to kill, steal, trespass or hack to complete your mission. But, should you get caught, the suits at Third Echelon will not even acknowledge your existence, let alone come to your rescue.

Along the way, you’ll infiltrate high-security strongholds, neutralize anyone who spots you, seize critical intelligence, destroy threatening data and, at the end, disappear without a trace.

Splinter Cell is a highly complex, multi-levelled, truly engrossing piece of military gaming fiction. So, stock up on take-away, shut yourself away from anyone who might disturb you and take the phone off the hook. Prepare yourself for “espionage like never before”.

Wakeboarding Unleashed

Platform: PS2, XBOX

From Activision 02 – one of the most respected US-based computer and videogames publishers – comes Wakeboarding Unleashed, an action sports game with crazy tricks, loose physics, and blood and gore galore.

Opt for single player mode and you’re in for a pretty tough ride, albeit quite rewarding. You can choose from a number of boarders, and must pass about 16 objectives. Beyond the single play are free-ride and free-drive modes, in which you get to pilot the boat and do doughnuts in the water.

There’s an abundance of two-player modes on offer, including Tug of War, in which both players start off at the back of the boat; and, the more technical tricks you do, the shorter your opponent’s rope becomes. The loser ends up with rope so short that he or she eventually gets ripped to bloody shreds by the boat’s propeller and then left in the water to get eaten by sharks and pecked by seagulls.

Wakeboarding Unleashed has beautifully translated the real-life sport into digital life. So brace yourself for another computer-generated addiction. You get to beat top scores, knock tubers off their rubber rings, and do grinds, wall rides, and no-handers – and the list goes on.

NBA 2K3

Platform: PS2

Hey, basketball fans, Sega has given you a gift: the chance to jump into the sponsored Nike sneakers of your favourite NBA players, and take to the rack with authority (that’s a slam-dunk to the uninitiated).

NBA has been recreated right down to the finest details, thanks no doubt to the very expensive ESPN licence. You have, in your hot little hand, the players’ real names and features – right down to moving mouths and blinking eyes, ESPN-styled menus, professional commentary, and even the blue-chrome colour scheme for a nice official touch.

There are plenty of styles to choose from to cover all your B-Ball needs, including: arcade-style Street mode, for a friendly game of two-on-two, or some five-a-side with your mates. Other modes are Practise, Tournament, Season and Playoff, but a key feature of NBA 2K3 is the Franchise mode, in which you acquire a whole team and take it through a season. Not only do you train and play pre-season games, but you can also mess with player assignments and alter funds for things like player gym time.

NBA 2K3 is for the serious basketball fan, who will marvel at the similarities between it and the real deal. ESPN’s trademark style has been duplicated perfectly, right down to mid-match replays and Hot of the Half (best player of the first half).

The Thing

Platform: PS2

If you’re a little squeamish, and the sight of blood and gore makes your stomach churn, The Thing definitely is not your thing. But, if blood, guts, gore and guns are your idea of a good time, then search no longer – your weekends are now officially booked.

The Thing is based on the movie of the same name, and the game starts off where the movie finished, in a Norwegian base camp in Antarctica. You are the commander of a search-and-rescue team. Your mission is to destroy aliens that live inside living organisms. The danger is that, potentially, the enemy lurks in everyone with whom you come into contact.

Your team consists of a soldier who will blow the crap out of everything, a medic who will automatically heal you, and an engineer who will sort out any mechanical problems you come across.

You have quite a few skills and defence mechanisms up your sleeve – one of the coolest is the ability to blood-test anyone you come across to make sure no “things” are lurking within them.

The graphics are great, and allow you to have your whole team onscreen, as well as a herd of “things”, with bullets flying and people dying. The Thing is a spectacular foray into the horror/survival genre.