Mission: Impossible III

Who would have thought the same man who favours the silent birth and promotes living at one with vegetables could deliver such an iconic portrayal of super-spy Ethan Hunt? Though he may have descended from space aliens (or something like that), this is a man who can still charm the ladies (and men, if the rumours are to be believed), dodge bullets and duck under exploding helicopters, all whilst maintaining his perfect coiffure.

We speak, of course, of Tom Cruise, whose immense stature – in terms of blockbuster bankability, rather than physical size – has been transferred to mobile phone for the second summer running.

Last summer it was War Of The Worlds. This time it's Mission: Impossible III, in which the obligatory bio-chemical weapons go missing, and you, as Ethan Hunt, are charged with finding them. Cue ten levels of scrolling platform action that'll take you around the world as you do so, with Gameloft incorporating most of the blockbusters' more adrenaline-filled scenes into the travel itineray.

On the journey all manner of guns and grenades are at your disposal, which you naturally enough must make use of to achieve each level's objectives. Jumping from ledge to ledge, climbing up and down walls, clambering over barricades, rolling along the ground to dodge fire, you're kept very busy, and you'll not experience any let-up in the action. Thankfully, the controls are very intuitive – Hunt tends to do exactly what you ask of him.

It's all very cinematic too, in as much as a mobile phone game can be: your exploits in Mission: Impossible III do feel as though they've been stripped from the movie's celluloid DNA.

For example, if shooting the enemy with one of the many machine guns loses its appeal, there are always Hollywood-style special moves you can pull off. You can unleash close-combat attacks, cartwheeling around and brandishing your gun whilst kicking the nearest unfortunate oaf in the chin. It's just as enjoyable as seeing Tom in action on the big screen, especially as the pace drops into slow-motion at crucial moments of impact.

It's just a shame you can't take advantage of this all the time, but maybe that's us being greedy (and maybe we need to talk to someone about our propensity for slo-mo kung-fu kicks.)

The point is, the effort put into capturing the energy of the dangerous Mission: Impossible III world has succeeded. Throw in plenty of big explosions and you won't be left feeling short-changed.

The visuals and sound are also mission: accomplished. As you'd hope for in a movie tie-in, the graphics are very slick, with crisp animation and an engrossing style. In fact the overall presentation is every bit as polished as Tom's trademark grin, with the famous theme tune setting the tone from the game's opening. If you weren't feeling the spy-vibe before, you will from the moment you load up.

With so much playability and unapologetic high-octane action on offer, Mission: Impossible III manages to capture some of the same magic that makes the film franchise upon which it's based so popular, squeezing out all of the bangs you'd want from your blockbuster buck.

Mission: Impossible III

A brilliant, action-packed adventure that taps into what makes the movies so much fun
Score