The Regiment

With The dreams of one day becoming a member of the SAS. There's just a lot of appeal in joining a bunch of burly Scotsmen, shooting the crap out of terrorists and then nipping down the pub for a cold celebration beer. A phobia of getting shot prevents me from joining the real SAS, but after spending a couple of hours training in The Regiment, I'm confident that I could grab a few mates and perform a decent tactical assault on my local Homebase.

If you're also frightened by moving bullets and loud bangs, The Regiment offers a harmless alternative, promising (though not entirely delivering) the most accurate SAS simulation available. Crosshairs and ammo counts are thrown out the window (unless you play in 'arcade' mode) in favour of one-hit kills and strategic entry manoeuvres. So obsessed was the development team with providing an authentic SAS experience, it even sought expert advice from SAS legend John McAleese (no, we've never hear of him either), who proudly shows off his Freddie Mercury moustache in moody briefing videos. The few missions provided are tightly structured and despite dated visuals, feel fairly realistic.

The London Underground level in particular was so authentic I could almost smell the wee and Burger King from the train carriages.

The Regiment certainly doesn't have the levels of fun or customisation of the (itself disappointing) Rainbow Six: Lockdown, but still remains a playable and thoroughly British alternative.