The locations in Fallout 3 weren't likely to live up to the varied and imaginitive places seen in Oblivion, thanks to the latters Fantasy setting. However, in the world of Science Fiction, there's still vast scope for imagination, and Bethesda succeed admirably with Rivet City, a grounded aircraft carrier converted into a barricaded homestead for a few surviving members of humanity.

Though it's not massive, there's plenty to explore in the ship, and even some hidden sections. It's a terrific idea.

It's a small element of the game, and not particularly original, but the use of Octocam in MGS4, allowing Snake to blend in with the background, is superb fun. The screenshot to the right illustrates its use on a tiled floor, and it's handy in a wide variety of situations.

Remember the bit with the statues in the early E3 gameplay? Snake stands on a statue pedestal where one figure is missing, and blends in with the remaining figures as the guards walk past unsuspecting. Stuff like that just makes the game stand out as one of the greatest of all time.

Considering Peggle is an incredibly simple game, it's surprisingly enjoyable, and possesses surprising depth. The main attraction is multiplayer fun, allowing people with varying game experience to just get involved and laugh along with the on-screen chaos.

Balls in Peggle always lead themselves along mysterious paths, and they're great fun to watch.

The sequel to Assassin's Creed does a lot of things extremely well. Not least is the recreation of famous cities like Venice. Breathtaking views, picturesque canals, beautiful buildings and over-priced food - it's a near-perfect recreation of one of Italy's finest places.

It helps that you're a badass assassin strutting through the narrow streets, waiting to pounce on the next unsuspecting victim, but the city itself is a technical showpiece and worthy of admiration.

Initially, advertizing for Sony's PS3 was awful (no way around that). The "out there" tactics that worked for PS2 were no longer any good, with competitors offering what gamers really wanted: games. Sony have gradually worked to fix that, and have now hit the perfect solution: Kevin Butler.

Having now featured in around ten adverts, from aromatherapy candles to motion control, Kevin Butler is a massively popular icon for Sony, and is immensely funny too.

The plot twist in Bioshock is quite famous. The beans won't be spilled here, but it's worth saying that it's one of the best in gaming history. Though many will begin to see it coming, especially since there are crafty clues hidden throughout the game, it's still one of the most shocking moments in gaming history.

If you've got yourself invested in the game, enjoy one of gaming's best-told stories and prepare yourself for the sequel.

You might expect a game setting restricted to a single spaceship to limit a game's potential, certainly in terms of the effect the environment can have. The Ishimura does not suffer from any such limitation. The ship is as much a character as any other member of the cast.

Much like the ships from the original Star Wars films, everything feels used and seems to fit with a complete, working vessel. The Ishimura, a mining vessel, is now one of the most atmospheric locations in gaming history.

As you explore the maps in MGS4, you swiftly realize that all the clever ideas you have, you can probably try out, thanks to the fact that Hideo Kojima apparently thought of everything. Fancy rolling around in that barrel over there? Yup, you can do that, but beware the consequences!

The man is widely regarded as a genius, and this game demonstrates this fact with inspired direction, brilliant ideas, a fantastic story and great characters that the Kojima team should very much be proud of.

It might seem like such a small thing, but access to the CrossMediaBar, XMB, revolutionized gaming on PS3, and brought it firmly up to speed with Microsoft's offering. The ability to hop to the XMB and send messages whenever a player wanted was welcomed by all, and helped the social side of things immensely.

If only Sony could get up to speed with the chat facility. It's the one missing feature that really hurts the XMB's status.

One of the earliest PSN store titles, flOw was a brilliant way to kick things off, providing one of the most relaxing experiences in gaming, and a wonderful alternative to the chaotic thrills of Resistance and Motorstorm. Though there was nothing particularly advanced about the game, the beautiful, sedate visuals, entrancing music and soothing gameplay made it a game to remember.

There are things to do in the game, but there's no consequence to not doing what's expected. The developers were clearly happy for gamers to simply experience the tranquility.