Years from now, the likes of BBC favourite Nick "don't have nightmares" Ross will be queuing up for their unemployment benefit cheques because shows like Crimewatch will cease to exist. It's not because broadcasters will have decided to deliver quality primetime television programming (some hope) but instead a result of PreCrime Police officers that can stop a heinous deed before it actually takes place.

How does this happen? Well, welcome to the world of Minority Report, a big-budget Spielberg/Cruise film based on the short story by the late, great sci-fi author Philip K. Dick and now by natural evolution, a shiny new Xbox title courtesy of Treyarch and Activision.

You play the lead role of John Anderton - a member of the PreCrime taskforce that relies on a group of freaky fortune tellers called Precogs (as in precognitive) that can see the future and provide specific details of crimes before they happen. The police have the power to arrest and get a conviction on the basis of the Precog evidence, which is all well and good until your character gets framed for a crime he didn't commit (or indeed have any intention of committing), and in typical fashion the hunter becomes the hunted.

The game is heralded as a third-person 3D-action/adventure, with the emphasis almost entirely based on the action side of the fence. As Anderton, you're on the run from the law, which basically means you spend your time fighting your way through level upon level of bad guys. To help you make mincemeat of the enemy, you've got the fists of Rocky combined with the kicking ability of a short-tempered donkey having a very bad day. As you can probably guess, combat is the heart and soul of the game and in most areas the actual art of fighting works very well.

As well as basic kicking and punching there is a wealth of three-button combos that can be pulled off with relative simplicity and can easily be referred to from the in-game Pause menu. These range from fairly basic quick punches to more sophisticated uppercuts or throws.

The most enjoyable part of combat is dazing your opponent and then grabbing and beating the living daylights out of him via punches to the face or well-placed kicks to the crown jewels. You can also throw them either at each other or through any number of interactive background objects. The combat in this game can easily bring out the sadist in the mildest of personalities; you can't help but crack a smile as you open up a can of whup-ass and throw a screaming punk headfirst through a shop window.

What makes the fighting all the more satisfying is the accurate physics modelling once an opponent has been downed. They'll bounce off walls or tumble down stairs with very realistic rag doll animation.

There is also a smattering of weaponry available and, thankfully, a manageable targeting system, but frankly nothing that really sets a new standard. There is a distinct lack of both weapon variety and availability and it plays a big part in the diminishing enjoyment factor as the levels progress.

But by far the biggest contributing factor to a good-looking title that's setting nothing more than an average score is that the gameplay itself is the same as one would expect to see back in the days of the Commodore 64 and scrolling beat-'em-ups. Enter a level and mash up wave after wave of bad guys, then wait for a door to magically open before repeating the process again. And again. It really is that basic. And it's a great shame that a game that has all the really important mechanics in place falls down on such a simple oversight as offering the gamer a little more than just an extremely repetitive fight fest.

You do have the occasional level with a jetpack that is easy to control and fun, but that's pretty much it. Considering your character is on the run, perhaps a little stealth action could have been implemented? Eventually, as you work through the game you end up facing so many foes that you have to run around like a futuristic Benny Hill in order to try and pick them off - ultimately resulting in an empty and frustrating experience.

As a rental, Minority Report will provide a weekend of decent beat-'em-up fun but as a full purchase it will probably go back to the shop quicker than the nasty jumper you got from your grandparents for Christmas.

1. Satisfying combat
2. Good-looking, interactive scenery

1. Incredibly repetitive
2. Frustratingly difficult
3. A poor licence conversion

Power
Repetitive maps with limited character types. At least there's very little slowdown.

Style
Passable graphics with plenty of interactive scenery and very good character animation.

Immersion
Run there, kill everyone, wait for a door to open. Then repeat until you die.

Lifespan
Unless you like doing the same thing over and over again, your attention is required elsewhere.

Summary
With a bit of additional effort and imagination this could have been a really enjoyable game... but it's not.