Eat Lead puts you at the helm of fictional Computer Game character, Matt Hazzard, as he attempts to relaunch his gaming career with a new game after decades left languishing in virtual limbo. But a recently appointed Top Executive at the Game Developers, Marathon Megasoft, has other ideas and intends this latest game installment to be Matts last and, to this end, starts pitting him up against all his old enemies spanning several generations of game consoles. Soon Matt finds himself up against Zombies, generic Nazi soldiers, Sace Marines and Cowboys as he fights quite literally to survive. Could this be the end of Matt Hazzard or can he face up against his own past and prove he has what it takes to survive on the next generation Xbox 360/ PS3?

Eat Lead is a game that doesn't really work exactly how it is supposed to. A parody of lots of other games from Castle Wolfenstein through to Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid and lots in between, it tries desperately to be funny and take the mick out of those games that take themselves much too seriously. (You know who you are....)

But the fundamental problem with this is that it is a one-joke game and that joke falls flat unfortunately very, very quickly.....

The controls are a bit of a mare to use if I am honest and remakably basic compared to other games in todays modern marketplace. This is okay but it can make gameplay very dull and monotonous and actually quite challenging in places as you struggle to make Matt do as you want him to. I get it that it is supposed to make the game more retro, much like the gameplay in the Operation Anchorage Download for Fallout 3, but really it does get very tiring in later levels as the difficulty increases. Also the AI enemies quickly become very repetive in levels, following the same set patterns and making the same mistakes which again gets boring very quickly. It is only in the sheer numbers in which they are thrown at you that ever offers any challenge and the fact that the game saves automatically only at certain checkpoints merely adds to the frustration you slowly begin to feel as you attempt the same bit of game for the umpteenth time.

I do like the Achievments though, which themselves have their own patrt to play in the humour of the game. Achievments in-game include Gamer Points for pausing the game, watching the credits through to the end and leaping over a barricade for the first time. So if you can put up with the awkwardness of the controls, the intentionally dodgy script and the poor gameplay, it is a good way to rack up Achievment points!

But overall this game really isn't much good. In trying to parody third-rate shooters as it does, the game itself ends becoming a bit of a joke that sadly lacks a punchline.

An attempt by Game Designers to give this a bit of credubility by including the voices of Neil Patrick Harris and Will Arnett falls equally flat on its face and there is very little about this game that I can honestly say I like.....

If you can pick this up cheap enough, and lets face it - that's not going to be difficult - its worth maybe spending a few pounds and racking up the easier Achievments. But don't play this expecting any major breakthroughs in gaming as this is a bog-standard shooter lamely injected with a slice of dated and not that funny humour of the kind the Driver games resorted too back when they were fighting a war with the GTA Franchise and named some of their bad guys "Tommys" after the Vice City character who died when immersed in water!

One to avoid then unless you are a real Gamer Point Whore and want to rack up some easy Achievments!