If you read last month's Brothers In Arms feature, you'll know WWII shooters are very in vogue on Xbox. Not wanting to be left out in the cold, Battleborne has ingeniously made use of the Snowblind engine that powered the ace RPG actioner Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for Combat Elite. The top-down perspective works surprisingly well for a shooter, allowing an unfettered 360 degree view of the environment - great for spotting lurking enemies.

Dig a little deeper and you'll also find that combat is governed by a traditional RPG-style hit points system. Every time you fire your weapon, virtual dice are rolled and the hit point effect on your enemy is calculated before the bullet leaves the barrel. Different weapons will obviously have different capabilities, just as an enemy's rank/positioning/awareness will affect his strength.

Sneak up and pop a guard from behind, and chances are he'll go down in one or two shots. However, take on a well-entrenched officer and you'll need tactical thinking to flush him out.

You'll be able to stack the odds in your favour by making use of the brilliant skill points system. Complete all the objectives with minimum health loss or achieve a high shot-accuracy percentage, and you'll be awarded skill points. You can allocate these to beef up various capabilities, and allow characters to specialise in particular weapons. Coupled with three playable characters, this offers tons of replayability and introduces a real strategy element to the shooter.

As we follow our plucky paratrooper along the WWII timeline from Normandy to Operation Market Garden, the game starts to misfire. At first, the missions are a nice mix of clearing areas, destroying bridges and rescuing downed pilots. As battles move from open expanses to tight streets and claustrophobic room-to-room fighting, different tactics and weapons capabilities are called for. However, no matter how you dress it up, killing all enemies again and again becomes repetitive and you get the feeling the developer's fuel supplies were cut off towards the end of the game. Level repetition sets in too; when you're on your fourth visit to the sewers, it gets tiresome.

Solace can be found in the great two-player co-op mode. Each player controls a character, and the same skill points system applies. It's great fun, and tactically vital, to build up the two characters with complementing abilities, because in multiplayer the enemies have been tweaked to incorporate tougher abilities and greater AI. And while we're on the subject, taking on the game on the harder difficulty settings requires nerves of titanium and a hardened patience. But give it a chance, and Elite will reward your sweat and tears with a satisfying and involving gaming experience, daring to be first out the plane with an innovative actioner.

1. Instantly accessible
2. Great point-based combat system
3. Customisable characters

1. A bit repetitive
2. Punishingly tough on harder difficulty

Power
The Snowblind engine embraces great particle physics and zero slowdown during intense firefights.

Style
Tons of WWII authenticity here; all the weapons and uniforms have been faithfully recreated.

Immersion
A comprehensive intro eases players into the conflict. Very simple targeting system too.

Lifespan
Over 40 levels will take a while to work through. Character tailoring ensures loads of replayability.

Summary
Consummate and deep shooter that sucks you into the conflict. Ace two-player co-op means you don't have to go it alone either.