G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

The awkwardness is compounded by occasional forays in dreadfully controlled vehicles, where fore and aft on the left stick do acceleration and reverse, with turning handled by the same analogue. This means sluggish and often confusing directional control as the camera shifts and swoops - so the extra firepower offered by the various vehicles is swiftly compromised by their almost total lack of ability to point in the right direction.

Not that it causes a problem too often, difficulty-wise. Automatic targeting means that, essentially, all that's required of your average Joe is to hold down fire and wander listlessly amongst the resulting carnage. A simple cover mechanic is available: pressing A will stick your character to the back of one of the many convenient, destructible pieces of concrete which litter the playfield, where the three-part health gauge above their head will recharge a little more quickly. Hit fire again and they'll pop out and unerringly nail the nearest opponent - ducking back down when the trigger is released. Flicking the right stick changes targets, but there's really very little skill, or indeed enjoyment, involved at all.

Once in a while a boss-type chap will appear, sometimes in a large, armoured vehicle, requiring you to dodge and roll a little as the projectiles stream in. Dodging is performed with A again, making for some frustrating games of hide-and-seek when all you really want is a little duck-and-dive. Even during these moments of mild peril, simply holding the right trigger means a constant stream of fire pouring toward your foe, untroubled by whatever gymnastic tomfoolery you might manage to coax from your cookie-cut avatar. It's unsatisfying, boring and when luck does occasionally abandon you to a bullet-riddled grave, feels like you've been let down by a poorly implemented mechanic rather than conquered by the forces of terror.

Oh, and if you do die, the AI-controlled partner often sits rigidly in the field of enemy fire, swiftly gunned down without offering any resistance. When you both die the whole level must be started again, despite the two or three checkpoints which you'll encounter on each mission, seemingly there only to alleviate the tedium a little by offering an update on the score. It's genuinely baffling. And massively dumb. Switching to the easiest difficulty level means that you'll avoid this by respawning almost immediately, but it'd be both more challenging and pleasurable to see how many Wotsits you can fit under your eyelids before you suffer total cheese blindness.