Batman: Arkham Asylum Game PlayStation 3 by Eidos - £24.99 And Free UK Delivery At Sainburys

Whatever you do, don't be left out - get your hands on what reviewers are already calling the game of the year - and easily the best Batman game for any console yet.

Batman has captured his arch-nemesis, the hideously insane Joker, and the game opens with the Dark Knight transporting his prisoner to Gotham City's repository for the criminally insane - Arkham Asylum. Not long after they arrive, the Joker escapes, and so the game starts in earnest as Batman must fight not only to escape, but also for his very life.

Like the Batman himself, this game has many dark levels. You will need to guide him further and deeper into the asylum, adapting to the increasingly dangerous challenges on the way. Sometimes he will need to use the shadows to his advantage, sometimes the enemies will need to be taken out with a combination of stealth and swift brutality. But more often than not, he will encounter a room full of goons where the only recourse is a full-on, multi-person brawl.

The combat system used in Batman: Arkham Asylum flies in the face of most others (i.e. random button-mashing) by being intelligently systematic and coldly effective. Combine your attacks with dextrous counter-moves and even the use of your batarang to build up your experience points. (They can be used to gain health and weapon upgrades.)

You will face several of Batman's regular super-villain enemies as you strive to escape from this pandemonic prison, and each one will test your current abilities to the limit.

And all the time, at every step and during every battle, the Joker himself (voiced by the legendary Mark Hamill) will be taunting and goading you over the asylum's tannoy. Will it finally break your resolve, or steel it for the final, inevitable confrontation?

Incredible graphics, a sparkling script by award-winning Batman writer Paul Dini, and hard-to-match repeat play value... 'hot' isn't even the word.

This game carries a '15' age restriction.