Ah, yes, Solid Snake, his aging version and the game that was always meant to be the Sony PS3’s killer app: Metal Gear Solid - Guns of the Patriots. The great finale to the vastly overrated Metal Gear series of games that started life on the MSX, moved to Nintendo’s Famicom, and ended up supporting the PlayStation. The first PS3 game to truly try and use all of the space provided by them Blu-Ray discs. A properly mainstream, all singing, all dancing, highly anticipated, major release. So, uhm, how is it?

Well, for starters it’s got a distinctly unattractive title and an obvious obsession with all things militaristic, but that you knew, didn’t you? Other than that, MGS4 seems (only played -and watched- it for a few hours mind you) like a fine -if flawed- game with some amazing production values. The graphics are fantastic, the soundtrack is okay and the plot decent enough for games of this sort. Gameplay-wise MGS4 is an enjoyable shooter/stealther with overcomplicated controls that’s constantly being interrupted by B-movie quality cutscenes; a fact that seems to have been ignored by most reviewers, who apparently loved the thing to death. Oh, and if you’re a fan of the series you absolutely have to grab it apparently. If not, but still want to see what Hideo Kojima is capable of, give the excellent and quite retro Snatcher a go.

While Wii owners are waiting for what can only be described as the most interesting release to date (that’s Telltale’s Sam & Max Season 1, in case you were wondering), here’s another truly traditional and properly proper point-and-clicker to show off just how well the average genre offering can work with the Wii Remote: Secret Files: Tunguska. It’s a mystery thriller set in the Tunguska region of Siberia, involving a missing scientist, his daughter and can fairly accurately be described as X-Files in Russia. Yes, intriguing, I know. Oh, and do bother googling “Tunguska”.

As for the game itself, well, Secret Files on the Wii is an almost straight port of the PC game released a couple years ago, meaning that changes from the Windows version have been kept to a minimum, but do include such welcome additions as small rumbling (yes, rumbling) and visual hints, and a slightly improved interface that perfectly fits the Wii. Actually, it feels slightly more polished than the already slick PC version and has even retained the lovely visuals and pretty lush cut-scenes. The plot remains unchanged too and -unfortunately- the same goes for the available puzzles. They are too much of a mixed bag really and not a very original one at that either… Still, a worthy addition to every adventurer’s Wii library.

Truth be said, both Football Manager 08 and the Orange Box are excellent games with decent price tags, that are absolutely worth every penny you decide to spend on them, though -frankly- paying isn’t necessary if you want to enjoy a few hours of quality gaming. Especially if you are into shorter, quirkier or rather old-fashioned affairs and don’t expect top production values. So, uhm, without further ado, here are six of the very best freeware offerings around:

Jet Set Willy Online

Remember Miner Willy and his 8-bit platforming adventures? Mathew Smith? Why, of course you do and now you’ll get to relive them in an insane MMO platformer/collect-’em-up in a vastly expanded mansion. One of the best games ever, really.

A Tale of Two Kingdoms

A vast and incredibly polished (for freeware standards, that is) fantasy point-and-click adventure game with lovely 2D graphics. Oh, yes, and it will definitely remind you of them Sierra classics.

Prototype II

Classic R-Type style shoot-’em-up action sporting a ton of options and frenetic action. Not very easy to beat.

Knytt Stories

A cult classic. Simple mechanics, excellent music, great pixel art graphics, smart puzzles, intuitive controls and a brilliant editor make this lovely indie offering a necessary download. And wait till you see what the KS community has come up with.

Gun Mute: A texty shoot-em-up

A brilliantly written piece of interactive fiction that goes easy on genre beginners. Oh, and you get to shoot a lot of stuff in a steampunk/Wild West hybrid sort of setting. Lots of robots are also featured.

Cube 2: Sauerbraten

A proper FPS with impressive graphics, oldschool gameplay, that’s running on its very own, very current-gen graphics and physics engine. Single and multiplayer options are also provided.

Funcom, the incredibly talented people behind The Longest Journey, Dreamfall and (the now freeware MMO) Anarchy Online and one of the best European developer teams around, have finally released their biggest and most ambitious project so far: Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. And yes, it’s the latest epic fantasy MMORPG offering that will try to take over your hard-drive, life and bank account. It also is the only game obviously -and officially- based on Howard’s popular, pulp, low-fantasy, high-on-gore, 30s, sword and sorcery works.

But, really, why should you care for another contender to WoW’s throne? Well, for starters, you could be a Conan fan, I suppose. I sort of am… Failing that, you might just care for a less cartoony, more violent and way more adult in its outlook RPG experience. Or perhaps can’t withstand Age of Conan’s absolutely fantastic visuals and impressive production values. See the pic above? Good. Now, imagine moving through it in glorious 3D with sun and weather effects turned on. Not impressed yet? Well, the hefty single-player element and truly innovative action-oriented combat are the last things I’ll try to convince you with; if nothing else, they are a welcome deviation from the standard MMO formula and help make Age of Conan a great game. A great game indeed. Despite its obviously unfinished state and not so modest hardware requirements.

Forget Metal Gear Solid 4 for a second. It is after all (or so I hear) a pretty tedious experience, and apparently more of a rather dull movie than a properly interactive game. Better focus on Overlord: Raising Hell that should be moments away from hitting the average European PS3 instead. Now, if you, like me, have played the brilliant and impressively hilarious PC version of Overlord you are already desperately craving for more imps, degenerate heroes and vaguely focused destruction. After all, playing the bad guy in a surreal fantasy setting sporting the smart writing of Rhianna Pratchett is way more enjoyable than following a run of the mill Cold War-esque plot.

If you haven’t got any previous Overlord experience, well, expect a humorous third-person action-adventure with some strategic bits bolted on, as you and your army of silly -though appropriately nasty- imps rampage around an odd version of medieval countryside. As an added bonus you also get your very own Dark Tower with easy access to highly sought-after supernatural abysses. Inside, and that’s info straight from this nice real-estate young guy, generously appointed dungeons lead to a treasury with plenty of room for expansion and a state-of-the-art forge perfect for creating a mighty arsenal to mercilessly crush elves, dwarfs, and even squishy peasants. The show-piece master-boudoir benefits from stunning panoramic views across the kingdom, a choice of two live-in mistresses and offers a sultry setting for R&R after a hard day’s tyranny. Better have a look methinks…

Having a PC and thus a lovely keyboard-mouse combo to control stuff with, it seems I just can’t escape enjoying the odd RTS offering. Especially when said RTS offering is one based on the Lord of the Rings setting as is the case with EA’s Battle for Middle Earth II and even more so when it’s a great game to begin with. Actually, make that an absolutely excellent game with glorious graphics, a ton of innovative mechanics, incredibly balanced units, above average multiplayer options, a fantastic single player campaign and the addictiveness of, well, a very addictive thing. What’s more, the specialized-unit based highly tactical gameplay of the original (with only a hint of rock-paper-scissors) has been improved upon, the new AI makes managing your armies easier, less frustrating and enemies more challenging, whereas the inclusion of new units, more races (six different factions) and a selection of excellent new battlefields offer hours (upon hours) of quality gaming. Oh, and fighting over Mikwood, Dol Guldur and the Misty Mountains should be any Tolkien fan’s wet dream. Provided we are talking about a tactical minded fan, that is. The RPG lot should instead focus on the massive Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar MMORPG.

The Xbox 360, a console heavily focused on first person shooters with a nasty tendency to randomly blow itself up, doesn’t offer much variety or -and that’s beside some truly excellent Live Arcade offerings- much for the action-fearing gamers. Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution is thus both refreshing and a truly unique offering. Interestingly it also happens to be a historically important release, as it is the first time ever a Civilization game that wont be played on a computer.

What’s more, Civ Revolution is a fantastic game that actually works on the Xbox 360 in a way the joypad wielding crowds will definitely appreciate. It might not be on par with Civilization IV on the PC, but, still, this is the best strategy game to ever grace a console. If you are already familiar with the series, imagine a condensed, faster, slightly more combat oriented, less complex, easier to get into Civ with fantastic graphics and you should have a pretty precise idea of what Revolution feels like. If you haven’t tried Civilization before, well, prepare to be blown away. This will be the most rewarding game you’ll have played in ages.

Oh, and beyond the excellent single-player options, Revolution comes with a full-blown online multiplayer mode, where players can battle in teams, head-to-head or in frenetic free-for-all matches. In addition, auto-matching, adjustable rules, leaderboards, achievements, extra content and a variety of Xbox Live goodies make online play the best in the series.

Andrei Tarkovsky’s classic 1979 Stalker was a unique masterpiece of cinematography with interesting philosophical and artistic ideas, and one of the few films to have bested the already brilliant 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick. If you haven’t seen it, well, do so. What’s more and quite impressively for such a quality movie Stalker has also served as the source of inspiration for a truly rare breed of (first person) shooters: the interesting ones. Or, to be exact, the Ukrainian 2007 open world PC FPS S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl, which incidentally can now be acquired for a very modest price.

Shadow of Chernobyl of course, what with being a video game and thus considering itself a pop offering, doesn’t feature the iconic characters of the Scientist, the Writer or even the oddity that was the filmic Stalker himself, but, make it to the end and you’ll see that the Tarkovsky influence goes beyond aesthetics and a few names. Failing to care about such subtleties, I’m sure you will notice -and appreciate- the game’s amazing atmosphere, moody music, tons of missions, smart AI, huge world, fantastic graphics, excellent combat mechanics and intriguing story. After all, this one could be described as Oblivion with guns.

Care to know what the next Wii game I’ll be grabbing will be? No? Tsk, tsk. You’re a strange and uncaring lot you know… Regardless, I’ll just go on and tell you that the next game for my Wii will be no other than Rockstar’s well received (oddly controversial too) Bully - Scholarship Edition. Why? Well, it seems this is the only truly polished, obviously inspired, possibly funny and very professional remake of the 8-bit ZX Spectrum tape classics that were Skool Daze and its sequel Back to Skool, and also the first high-profile game in years to take place in a school. In a stylized, over the top, violent and cartoony school no less.

What’s more, Bully Wii seems -well, according to most reviews it does- like a very well made, addictive and polished game with some lovely Wii Remote mini-games, excellent graphics, interesting soundtrack, many missions, proper multiplayer options, great humour, GTA-like sandbox gameplay and a thoroughly light-hearted tone. Oh, and when I say GTA-like gameplay, I do mean condensed GTA-like gameplay, which should probably make for a more focused, heavier on story game. How very exciting. Oh, and anyone know if catapults are included or is it just slingshots?

Il-2 Sturmovik, the only flight sim to focus on the truly important bits of WW2 (i.e. those that took place on the massive Eastern Front) and the best aerial dogfighting game ever developed, is about to migrate to consoles. Shocking and almost heretical, I know, but it was about time for the masses of console gamers to experience its brilliance and utterly engaging gameplay. As long as they can wait for 2009 that is and provided modern consoles actually manage to provide with a decent alternative to the flight sim gear PC users have been… err… using for the past century or so. Oh, and actually owning a PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and/or PSP would probably come in handy too, as Il-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey won’t be appearing on the Wii. Or the PS2.

If things go according to plan, players will be able to participate in over 50 battles over the skies of Stalingrad, Berlin, Londond, Sicily and Korsun, while gawking at some fantastic graphics, admiring the realistic damage model and getting psyched up by a Jeremy Soul (of HoMM, KotOR and Oblivion fame) soundtrack. Happily multiplayer wont be left out either, as will be the case for a selection of difficulty options. The game will be published by 505 Games.