Ed Hunter

If you whiled away the hours at school by regularly abusing the odious hairy oik who used to sit alone in a corner, the embarrassment factor of his Iron Maiden T-shirt bettered only by the patches sewn on to his denim jacket proclaiming a love of Saxon, WASP, Satan's Arse and the like, then Ed Hunter is possibly not the game for you. If, however, you were that beleaguered, maladjusted freak, you have our sincerest sympathy but you may want to check it out. A fixed-route first-person shoot 'em up very much in the mould of Time Cop and House of the Dead, Ed Hunter has you tracking down Eddie The 'Ead, Iron Maiden's infamously inhuman mascot.

Each of the game's levels is themed around artwork from a different Maiden album cover, and is brimming with visual injokes for the benefit of the band's faithful. However, Ed Hunters pathetically limited (not to mention mind-numbingly repetitive) gameplay is the finest cure for insomnia this side of a litre of Scotch.

You do get the added 'bonus' of two audio CDs containing 20 of Maiden's 'finest' moments, but then if you're into the band you'll already own said dirges. And if you ain't, well, 30 notes is a bit much to pay for a couple of shiny, oversized drink coasters, isn't it?