Oni, published by Take 2 Interactive for PC and PlayStation 2

SPECS: Pentium 350, 64MB RAM, 8xCD-ROM, 3d accelerated graphics card

STEP back Lara, there's a new girl in town.

Konoko's the name and the game is a whole new breed.

Rather than just following in Lara's footsteps, though, Oni likes to mix in its very own flavour.

You take charge of a young policewoman, Konoko, as she investigates a series of terrorist attacks. Konoko, though, is no ordinary rookie cop, trained as she is in martial arts. What this means in game terms is that the action is often a mix of blazing guns and moves that Bruce Lee would be proud of.

With the action so varied, Oni hardly gives you time to take a breath with enemies coming at you from all angles.There's nothing sweeter than being surrounded by four or five enemies and pulling off the right mix of moves that leave you as the last one standing.

The graphics, too, are something special. Not only do graphics look like something straight out of Japanese cartoons, but the levels that Konoko works her way through are wonderfully designed. Rather than just using a game level designer, the makers of the game called in an architect to lay out the buildings that fill the game, and the locations are very realistic as a result.

Oni is not perfect, however. The game's chief flaw is the way in which graphics collide with each other so horribly. At one point, I found I couldn't progress any further in the game because the character I had to defeat was trapped inside a wall and couldn't move. At other times, you'll find when you try to knock opponents off a ledge, they'll stubbornly remain despite the fact that most of their body is over the edge.

Flaws aside, Oni is still the most breathtaking title of the year, at once compellingly addictive and deeply, deeply fun. It's definitely one not to be missed.

Graphics 4/5

Sound 5/5

Gameplay 5/5

Gamespan 5/5

Overall 5/5