If you’re in the same archaic boat as me, the stuntman you grew up with was The Fall Guy; Lee Majors. His stunts were pretty cool, and he had the acest truck in the world. Except for maybe that black one with the red stripe.

But I digress, and digress big time. The stunts you’ll be performing in this game bear no resemblance to that old-school ‘hidden ramp in the middle of the road’ type stuntwork. You’ll be drifting round, smashing, sliding under, and bursting through obstacles in a crazy variety of scenarios.

The game format is the work of genius - it combines the adrenaline of fast racing games with their close relation the destruction derby, and the split-second precision timing of old arcade platform games, which, coupled with the 360’s graphics, makes for some seriously explosive gameplay.

For those not in the know, you play a Stuntman trying to make his name in the business, and you have to work your way up through bigger, better, and more pyrotechnically impressive movies.

The more stunts you pull off at the precisely choreographed time - and with just the right amount of aplomb - and if you’ve managed to chain the stunts together with judicious drifting or driving really close to stuff in a cinematically arousing manner – the more points you get, and the faster you’ll progress through the game.

I must admit I loved the first Stuntman title, which I played to death on the PS2. The difficulty level on that game shot through the roof when it got to the skidoos (unless I was missing something stupid), but Stuntman Ignition starts fairly difficult (no bad thing in my mind) and gets harder – but it hasn’t provided a challenge yet that I can’t rise to with practise.

The thing is, they’ve tuned this game in such a way that it seems to tweak my obsession gland just enough to keep me banging away till I get that scene just right, without teetering over the edge into the realm of sheer frustration…the likes of which can wind up in you controller finding itself suddenly and violently on the other side of the room.

This is one of the only games I’ve played where the Action Replay after a good take was really worth watching…The camera angles are great, and the sheer amount of stuff going on on-screen is incredible - and you really don’t get a chance to watch the scenery as you yomp through it at high speed.

Stuntman Ignition really improves upon its predecessor in so many ways, it’s hard for me not to love it. There, I said it. I love it.

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