Two words make our tough-as-nails editor go weak at the knees: Jessica Alba. Mention her name and Max raises his eyes to the heavens and thanks the creator for the finer things in life. It's a useful method of distracting him from giving us a telling-off, so by default we all think she's great too. Or at least, we did until we saw the game she stars in.

Jessica plays the lead role in Dark Angel, a TV show based around the adventures of a gorgeous young lady who happens to be a bionic super soldier borne from hybrid DNA (consisting of cat genes?!). The game of the series is a very ordinary 3D scrolling beat-'em-up and that's being generous. There's nothing here that you won't have seen and played many times before - in games that are far better executed.

The gameplay is almost all combat with a token hint of stealth. But, sadly, the fighting is of the ultra-boring 'push-X-four-times-for-punch-sequence' tedium, while being constantly faced with the standard conveyor belt of generic villains. Allowances could be made if the combat were enjoyable. It isn't.

The camera is quite removed from the action and it's often hard to tell whether you're making contact with your aggressor. Even when you do, the lack of proper rag-doll animation means it never really feels as if you're giving someone a proper kicking. This is an area where other games of this genre, such as the mediocre Minority Report, were able to score points. If you're going to make a routine beat-'em-up scroller, then the beatings at the very least need to be entertaining!

The stealth element is also frustrating. Get rumbled by the thugs and you receive a countdown clock for you to exit the level. Fail and you face a restart because the enemy calls in 'reinforcements' that you never actually see - yet another example of how this game has been sloppily put together.

There's absolutely nothing in this game that makes you want to carry on playing, and the result is similar to an amateur's first attempt at making a cake: half baked. The Dark Angel television show was cancelled after series two. Let's just hope we don't have to deal with a sequel before the same rule applies to the game.

Power
Below-par graphics and no technical flair means your Xbox will be having a doss day.

Style
Dull cutscenes and staid dialogue. The game fails to capture the dark futuristic feel of the TV series.

Immersion
If you enjoy doing the same old thing over and over again then tisbaby defneyforyou

Lifespan
Repetitive gameplay and dull uninspiring levels mean you won't be playing this for long. Probably.

Summary
Unless you're a complete Dark Angel addict there is very little reason indeed for you to invest time or money on this game.

1. Jessica Alba's on the cover...
2. ...and her in-game character isn't bad

1. Flat and uninspired
2. Combat is tiresome
3. Game feels like a last-minute rush