Games preview: Unreal Tournament III, Xbox 360

Epic's obsession with identikit trash-talking muscle men and their unfeasible-looking guns continues unabated, with a cast of characters that fulfils every negative video game stereotype as though attempting a world record for banality. Eschewing Halo's tactical battles and even stablemate Gears Of War's insistence on caution in favour of speed and viciousness, Unreal's strength is, as ever, in its range of multiplayer modes, which encourage elaborate, nerve-jangling group strategy, retooling some established norms - capture the flag with vehicles, for example. It's also got a beefier campaign where your selection of missions affects the ongoing storyline and some of the dialogue actually suggests Epic knows how silly its protagonists are. While "same old" doesn't really go far enough, this is a perfectly polished example of old-school, first-person shooting at its most balls-out. Unlike the PS3 and PC versions already available, Xbox 360 owners get the bonus of split-screen mode and extra maps.