They say the Battle of Stalingrad was decided to some extent by the skill of Russian snipers. Things might have been different had the Germans had the chance to play the great Silent Scope arcade game.

Complete includes Silent Scope 1, 2 and 3, plus Silent Scope Ex, but as far as gameplay mechanics go, they're all pretty much identical. You play a square-jawed, elite government sharpshooter, albeit washed up/unstable/loose cannon/fill in the clichéd blanks.

Accompanied by a hackneyed plot, each Silent Scope game involves you saving the world/rescuing the President/etc. Your path through each stage is more railed than the entire Tube network, but there is the chance between levels to choose the following stage, resulting in branching storylines and multiple endings, increasing replayability.

Forget lying prone after a silent insertion though, because this is sniping at its easiest. By holding the Left trigger, players move a target round the screen, and upon release this morphs into a highly magnified crosshair. You're against the clock, with time extensions granted on the completion of each setpiece and accuracy of your rounds, where head and body shots amass more seconds than a flukey leg kill. Complete boasts lightgun compatibility, but the tricky nature of combining accuracy with speed means, bizarrely, your controller is much more effective.

SS1 looks basic, and the tight time limits are demanding, while SS2 feels a bit more polished, but is weighed down by its bad script and voice acting. Loading takes a long time yet, annoyingly, the game can't be saved at any given point, so you have to play it right through to the end. An intelligent remedy to this is that each time you make relative progress before an untimely end, you'll unlock certain bonuses, such as extended lives and continues, which make the next time through a bit easier. Boss levels are suitably hard going, though if you get the rare opportunity of a clean headshot, things end pleasingly quickly.

SS3 and Ex move up a bullet calibre, as everything looks a lot slicker, though the cringe-worthy plots remain. It's vital to adjust the sensitivity of the crosshair before each stage - you may need to zip the target around the screen from atop a building, but slow things down for the helicopter-mounted stages when the crosshair shakes more than Ozzy on a wobble board.

Although a straight arcade port, Sniper Scope Complete provides quite a tidy little package, and the novel gameplay is certainly addictive. There are loads of stages and bonuses to unlock, but each game itself is relatively short. Scope this out if you've already spent a small fortune down the arcades and give it your best shot.

1. Novel gameplay
2. It's a faithful arcade port
3. Tons of replayability!

1. Terrible scripts and voiceover
2. Outdated graphics

Power
Long loading times and poor graphics haven't been improved much over the arcade original.

Style
Cheesy storylines and a distinct lack of animation in both cutscenes and the game itself.

Immersion
Very addictive as soon as you pick it up; the games actually get easier through the series.

Lifespan
Branching stories, bonus stages, multiple endings and unlockables will keep you coming back.

Summary
A competent conversion that'll save you a fortune in £1 coins. But don't buy it with a lightgun in mind - stick to your pad.