Reviews by Kyle Ellis

First appeared in: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007)

Though he's running around the globe with a gun and a pretty journalist sidekick, somehow the Uncharted series' cocky protagonist Nathan Drake still feels like your mate. You know, the one who irregularly comes back home with a face full of bruises, a body full of bullets and a sea chest full of gold. You know, that one. The one who can climb almost anything. That guy.

Though his day job is lobbing grenades around ancient ruins, firing AK-47s from the top of Himalayan mountains and desecrating World Heritage Sites, he does it with a genuine sense of self-awareness, pointing out how ridiculous it is and dropping genuinely hilarious wisecracks - all in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt (half out, half tucked).

Simply put, Nate's a charming son of a bitch and the gaming character we'd most like to go out drinking with - an accolade we don't bestow lightly.

First appeared in: Super Mario Bros. (1985)

Princess kidnapping now that's not very nice, is it Mr Bowser? And you're a repeat offender. And you spit fireballs from your mouth. Tsk, tsk, tsk...Still, you're a charming, fire-firing, turtle-shelled, evil mastermind, and you're so ruthlessly patient and devilish we've learned to respect you, fear you, and, um, even love you. What's more, you're damn useful for knocking people into lava on Mario Kart, and we'd admire you for that ability alone to be honest.

Now that the likes of Yoshi and Wario have been given their own games, and after his first rate performance in Super Mario Galaxy, we think that Bowser's time has come. Maybe he should actually defeat Mario, for once. Yes, we went there. We're off the hook.

First appeared in: Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos (2002)

Of all the characters in Warcraft lore, Arthas Menthil is the most tragic. The heir to the throne of Lordaeron, Arthas set out to save his father's kingdom from The Scourge of undead, only to be tricked into joining their ranks by taking up the cursed sword Frostmourne and ultimately becoming their lord and master, The Lich King. Talk about doing a one-eighty.

In World of Warcraft, Arthas is currently the boss to beat for stalwart bands of level 80s, since Icecrown Citadel has unlocked its gates and it's now open season on the Lich King for raiders everywhere. However, you don't need to face him head-on to appreciate Arthas' nuances. The character's personality is most keenly felt in the dozens of lore-woven quests scattered throughout Northrend. Whether it's watching him anoint Scala Sorrowgrave, riding alongside his mortal self during the Culling of Stratholme or doing his bidding in the Death Knight starting zone, Arthas enriches every aspect he touches, his backstory filling in as you level and making the Lich King's final fall (and phat lewt drop) all the more poignant.

First appeared in:* killer7 (2005)

It's not entirely certain what the developers were thinking (or taking) when they came up with the premise for killer7 or its schizoid central character. Harman Smith, a sixty year-old, wheelchair-bound man is a master assassin. How? Well, obviously by harnessing his multiple personality disorder and physically manifesting his seven alter-egos, each of which has a distinct persona and set of unique, life-ending skills.

Let's not even get into the fact that he's actually the incarnation of a millennia-old demi-god who has been fighting a battle of good vs evil with his opponent, Kun Lan, across time. Yes, it's all madder than a badger's armpit, but you've got to hand it to the game designer: it's one hell of a concept.

First appeared in: Thief: The Dark Project (1998)

Thief: The Dark Project is often described as the original 'first-person sneaker'. Developed by Looking Glass Studios, it was the first game in the stealthy Thief trilogy (with a fourth currently in development) to introduce us to renowned thief, Garret, the man responsible for all the skulking around. Garrett is a master of stealth, archery and pickpocketing, but is more than just a nefarious bandit, offering cynical asides and wry observations as he cases potential jobs.

You could never help but feel sorry for poor Garrett. All he ever wanted was to be left alone to steal other people's valuables in peace! Unfortunately, Garrett's employers always had different plans for him, which rarely turned out well and resulted in Garrett losing an eye towards the climax of the first game.

Acting as a medieval Han Solo type - a rogue looking out for himself; callous and sarcastic, yet always upholding his beliefs - he matches his wit with a surprising amount of intelligence and a certain roguish charm. But it's his sardonic amorality that shines through most of all, ensuring Garrett a place as one of gaming's most appealing anti-heroes.

First appeared in: Grim Fandango (1998)

Picture the scene: LucasArts' Tim Schafer is pitching his latest point and click adventure game after the successes of Full Throttle and The Monkey Island Series. "It's a puzzle game based in a sort of Mexican purgatory where it's the Day of the Dead and everyone wants to get on a gold train to go to the Ninth Underworld. And it's a film noir. And almost everyone's a skeleton. Sound good?"

Bonkers though it may seem on paper, Grim Fandango is universally regarded as being among the greatest games ever made, and that's in no small part down to one Mr Manny Calavera, your host in the Land Of The Dead, your Humphrey Bogart in this undead Casablanca. Suave, passionate, boney, and capable of solving increasingly tricksy puzzles (occasionally involving beavers) Manny is the man.

His speed demon driver, Glottis, deserves a mention for being so big and orange and crazy and all, but for representing just how iconic, beautiful and bizarre Grim Fandango was, Manny wins by a non-existent nose.

First appeared in: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (1990)

Adrian Farenheights Tepes, also known as Alucard, is the bastard son of Dracula and a human woman. Half human, half vampire (a dhampir, for those into terminology), Alucard popped up in Castlevania II but came to the fore in 1997's Symphony of the Night where he turns against his fangsome father. A dashing hero in ruffled collar, jaunty cape and other suitably baroque accoutrements, Alucard takes after his mother's side and fights for good instead of snacking on jugulars like his old man.

His name, Alucard, is of course Dracula spelled backwards. When the Nintendo team behind him originally designed him it was as a mirror image of his father but subsequent tweaks to the mythology see Alucard choosing the moniker to show how his views are the opposite of daddy's. It's, like, totally meta.

First appeared in: Pac-Man (1980)

Though his limited character development might leave us with a few key questions, such as "Why is he so hungry for white dots, anyway?", "How does his relationship with Ms Pac-Man work?" and "How did Pac-Man Jr. come about?", there is no doubt in anyone's mind as to his iconic status in the gaming world.

He may look like an indecisive pie-chart, but the sight of the original om-nom-nommer is as recognisable as McDonalds' Golden Arches or Darth Vader's helmet - the definitive symbol of his medium. And though playing through to the infamous 'broken' level of 256 might seem a little too much (and a little too hard) for some, his unstoppable chomping is as addictive as old school arcade gaming gets, even now inspiring thousands to meet up for the world championships in New York.

And though a yellow hat-tip must go out to Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde for all their multi-coloured ghostliness, all the fruit goes to Pac-Man himself, still munching after all these years.