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Games: Beijing 2008

Looks lovely and plenty of digit delight

Beijing 2008 Sega, XBOX360 / PS3, £49.99

So that, gents, is what your right arm is for... What else could we review this week other than Beijing 2008?

Sega's good-looking sports sim gives you the chance to recreate Team GB's gold medal-winning achievements in the privacy of your own home.

Only it doesn't. There's a distinct lack of Yngling and Men's Keirin on display here (and have you noticed how we're doing well at the sports where you sit down?) so expect the Team GB version in due course.

What you basically get for your cash is Track and Field for the noughties and the basic mechanism is the same.

Yes, indeed, stand by for finger bruising and RSI because it's button punching time.

That, combined with the inevitable advanced joystick manipulation, will leave you knackered and sweaty and feeling like you've actually competed in the events.

The simpler the event, the more effective it is. The straightforward button-pummellers such as the 100m, the swimming races, etc., are as hilariously frantic as they ever were.

Ditto the hurdles and javelin, where it's all about the timing. Things get more complex, and more frustrating, when it comes to the gymnastics and events such as kayaking, which requires alternate 'stick-wiggling' to control the oars.

And don't get us started on 16 lap cycle races... Given the consoles' graphic capabilities, things look great, although the apparently constant cut scenes and intros soon get boring. Y

es, they add to the atmosphere, but they soon just become a, well, hurdle to the actual race.

And you're going to have to repeat and repeat them in order to progress anyway. Predictably, multiplayer is the better option, a far more unifying and fun experience than solo button mashing.

All things considered though, while it scores highly on realism (even down to the years of practice), Beijing 2008 just isn't as much fun as Mario & Sonic at the Olympics for the Wii.

3/5.

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