PS3 chill-out holiday games aplenty

PlayStation favourites Ratchet and Clank are back in 'A Crack in Time'.

The long awaited Gran Turismo 5 proper won't be here for Christmas – latest scheduled date is March 26 next year – but PS3 console owners can still order in some non-stress chill out games that make ideal Christmas presents.

It's great to see the Sony favourite, Ratchet & Clank pop out with a new game, a Crack In Time (PG: Insomniac / Sony) which is the good old fun you'd expect from such a strong franchise.

It concludes a trilogy. The duo are separated and you control them separately while trying to unite them in a bid to save the universe from Dr Nefarious, who is bent on controlling time itself.

But has the time come for the historic duo to unite or will they separate for good? As always, the script is wacky and highly entertaining and some of the gameplay less predictable than your usual platformer.

Mini games and puzzles are satisfying diversions from the missions and have become more complex. There are the usual crazy weapons and the ability to travel to different planets.

Another legendary Sony duo, Jak and Daxter is back on the still-popular PS2 with the title, The Lost Frontier, (PG).

These two are reunited in a new mission, which is appropriate at a time of climate change conferences! They're trying to fix the "eco-shortage," which is threatening the survival of the planet. There is lots of puzzle solving to be had, some good air combat and the usual silly humour we're so fond of between the two.

Other chill-out PS3 games to dip into:

Pain (M) A simple and macabre yet entertaining game, the object of which is to load a character into a human-sized powerful slingshot, and fire away into a city landscape, full of objects that can get smashed, destroyed, or blown up in the process. You get more and more creative with your collisions. Mindless fun.

Singstar fans can practice their soul with Singstar Motown (G) including a couple of Jackson 5 tracks, Marvin Gaye's 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine', Martha Reeves & The Vandellas 'Dancing in the Street', with a little something from The Commodores, The Four Tops The Supremes and The Temptations.

Whilst Singstar: Take That (G) is a newer release with 25 tracks with a line-up including Babe, Relight My Fire, Once You've Tasted Love, Up All Night, Do What U Like and has the hottest hits catered to a select audience.

Buzz fans get Quiz World (PG), which has 5000 questions in a new TV quiz setting and the ability to buy more quiz questions online or sample free Quizzes submitted by users.

- Mad Gamer