Mission: Impossible - Operation Surma
PS2, Xbox, GBA, £39.99 Atari, ***
Perhaps it is a good thing that no Mission: Impossible film is imminent as games of films are invariably of little merit. In recent years, Atari has been one of the worst perpetrators of games that consisted of movie licences and little else, as anyone who played Enter The Matrix will attest.

Operation Surma, however, is a very accomplished game. It is an action-adventure game with an emphasis on stealth and gadgets, much like Splinter Cell, from which it derives inspiration. But Operation Surma is much more forgiving and therefore mainstream or, at least, less demanding of superhuman powers of concentration. Unless you masochistically opt to play it in "Impossible" mode, the guards are less observant than those of Splinter Cell, and you can turn off alarms you have tripped.

You play as Ethan Hunt, although other specialist members of the Mission: Impossible team are involved (especially when, as in the film, you reach the realms of wearing latex masks and impersonating baddies).

Operation Surma also has plenty of checkpoints, minimising the annoying need to retrace your steps when you die, and features some mouth-watering gadgetry, including a sonic imager that lets you see through doors.

In gameplay terms, it offers little that has not been seen before, and it lacks a two-player mode. But it is nicely structured, looks good and feels classy and solid.
Steve Boxer

Hidden & Dangerous 2
PC, £34.99 Illusion Softworks/ Gathering, ****
The original Hidden & Dangerous, despite being bug-ridden to hilarious degrees, nevertheless surprised everyone with superb playability and enormous, free-form levels. The sequel is more of the same - more bugs, more patches to download and more fun.

Try not to judge this by the standards of Call of Duty or Medal of Honour, both of which relied on heavily scripted set-pieces. H&D2 is a much more realistic depiction of war: weapons are flawlessly recreated right down to the calibre of bullets, tactics are authentic (you can only take down a Tiger tank from directly behind, where the armour is weakest) and the beauty is in the detail.

Artificial intelligence also plays a big part, with squad members that respond instantly to command, but also fall back on their wits to defend themselves. Enemy soldiers consistently out-think and shoot you, if you underrate them. Add to this seven large campaigns and the undeniable potential of multiplayer support, and it could be a perfect war game.

It isn't, of course. The game is not as free-form as it wants to be, stealth is too hard to achieve and it's a shame you don't have more opportunity to pilot vehicles, which would have made for more varied gameplay. It's also nothing like the leap forward we might have been expecting after so long in development.
Mike Anderiesz

Splinter Cell Nokia N-Gage, £29.99 Ubi Soft ***
Virtua Tennis Nokia N-Gage, £29.99 Sega, *
In another of those big brand miniaturisations that are so popular on Game Boy Advance, Splinter Cell and Virtua Tennis move from the TV to the mobile.

The former makes the more successful transition, offering 2D sneaky thrills. So, like the excellent Xbox version, you control secret agent Sam Fisher. With a bagful of gadgets, this is your chance to live out some Bond fantasies And with tasks ranging from abseiling to lock-picking, there is plenty to do. Unfortunately, the gameplay has been watered down somewhat, with far less opportunity to sneak up on victims.

Splinter Cell is tough, too, with trial and error often being your main weapons. Duff multiplayer aside, this is one of the better N-Gage titles.

Unfortunately, Virtua Tennis lets the side down. With Pong, essentially tennis after all, kick-starting videogaming, you'd think it would be straightforward to create a solid tennis game. Not here, as the controls are unresponsive, making getting around the court a real chore. Not that your opponents will have any sympathy as they batter you. However, challenging a human via Bluetooth does level the playing field and make for a more enjoyable game.
Greg Howson