Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball

You don't have to run to intercept balls, because they will come to you or your partner anyway, no matter where you are. You don't have to run to the net and jump and spike your team mate's pass, because the game does that for you. Therefore, the only way to drop a point, is to miss a button press and, after you have played a few matches, the game starts to feel repetitive.

The soundtrack is kind of fun and adds to the holiday atmosphere, featuring the likes of B*Witched, The Spice Girls, Bob Marley and Christina Aguilera, but if you can't stand the cheesy pop music, you can choose to visit the Radio Station and apply your own personal soundtrack.

While gameplay can be fun, the volleyball and collecting activity is undemanding and repetitive. But perhaps all this is missing the main point of why this game exists. Because while the gameplay in itself is not far from terrible, it seems clear to us that this is pretty much a 'girlfriend game' for a western audience. When you're not playing volleyball, you can just take your girl to relax on the beach, have her splash around in the pool, or various activities that rather blatantly involves suggestive movements. And all the while you can position the camera however you like, for as long as you like. In Japan this is a tried and tested game concept. In this case, it just has a recognised brand, fantastic visuals, a few sub-games, and a spot of volleyball thrown in as well.

When you look at it like that, this game is perfect for three groups of people: fans of hot digital DOA chicks, anyone under the age of fourteen, - and, er... me. But seriously, despite its shortcomings, Xtreme Beach Volleyball does succeed at creating a relaxing, 'chill-out' environment inside a videogame, the likes of which we've never really seen before. This is surely praiseworthy. However, if you want a proper game for your dough, you'd be well advised to look elsewhere.