Part 2 of our look at some of the exciting new PC game releases due later this year. Some killer titles include Activision's Call of Duty 5 (November), Sega's Alpha Protocol (February) and the prequal to the Ukrainian hit game: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (August).

Logitech have certainly given themselves a name as an industry great for fairly good quality, yet cheap PC components, and for some time now. Whether your after a webcam, keyboard, mouse, or speakers, the range is large enough to ensure there is a product that can fit your needs, from the budget computer to the ultimate gaming systems where money doesn't appear to be a problem. As for speakers, the z5500 is designed for the latter. The price is high. But for Logitech, this unit is certainly top of the line.

The box is heavy and alot larger than I thought. The massive subwoofer is to blame, and massive it is. 33cm high, 33cm wide and 40cm deep. Well packed with Styrofoam, and plastic covers, all the contents are in great condition.

The z5500 has 5 satellites, the mentioned subwoofer and a remote. What makes this unit stand out from the standard PC speakers is the Digital Sound Touch™ control centre; the pictures don't do this unit justice, its alot larger than it looks. Slanting on a backwards angle and measuring 21cm high, this sits right next to the keyboard/mouse giving great control over the your sound experience. It features a large volume knob in the middle, the expected power button with LED, 5 function buttons and a Display screen. The inputs include the 3 standard plugs that fit straight into the motherboard, labelled '6 channel direct'. Front left and right, Rear Left and right and centre/sub. The digital connections are coax cable and optical, the wires for these connections are sold separately. Easily Connect your headphones/Microphone into the control centre.

SBK '08 takes you into the world of Superbike World Championship racing. Essentially that is all you do, race a bike around one of 12 tracks in several different game modes, trying to finish first.

Inside the game there are several menu's and race options: Instant Race takes you straight into a random track for a quick few laps. Time Attack is a solo race around the track of your choice trying to beat the best time. Race Weekend gives you a weekend to qualify and race. Championship is the 12 tracks including a Free Practice, 2 Qualifying attempts, a second free practice, warm up then 2 races before continuing onto the next track. A tutorial offers 5 lessons to get you up to scratch. A must for all newcomers. Four Bonus Challenges of time, special skills (skids, wheelies, stoppies and acrobatics) and two sets of scenarios including head to head, comeback, bike damaged, running away and hang on as well as simulation, pouring rain, rules, no brakes, and SBK champion. Unlock one and continue to the next. Multiplayer is available. There are several race pictures, grid girl snaps and race video's you can unlock.

You choose your bike and team riding Ducati, Yammaha, Suzuki or Kawasaki bikes. The tracks are real and nicely transferred to the screen. Including Losail, Phillip Island, Assen, Monza, Valencia, Salt Lake City, Misano Adriatico, Brno, Brands Hatch, Donington, Vallalunga, and Mangy-Cours.

The forth Devil May Cry game from Capcom delivers a finely detailed Fantasy cross Shooter in the style of Japanese anime. From the very start you see Fast moving action cut scene’s with 'Matrix' style camera angles and exciting but physically impossible movements. It's great to see games that involve slaying your opponents then be treated to a film-like cinematic. The storyline at times seems to be like a hyperactive child on a sugar high, at times making little sense with a special style of immaturity that Japanese cartoons makers seem to do best.

You control Nero or and Dante, fighting your opponents with guns, swords and Mortal Kombat style hyper-punches. You fight your way through the levels completing missions and puzzles. The levels are graded on time, style, and the amounts of red orbs collected, using an A, B, C or D grading system.

As Nero runs towards a cathedral, demons with patchwork skin crowd around as Nero's love interest sings an operatic tune. You rush in and find a seat, looking bored as Kyrie finishes her tune. As the high priest takes the stand Dante crashes thought the roof and slays the priest as everybody rushes out of the room. You now take the controls and start to learn almost impossible to remember keyboard combinations following the on screen prompts. You quickly start to realise that this would be alot easier with an Xbox or PSx controller.

In the future, man finds alien artefacts on Mars giving birth to a new technology that advances mankind by a few hundred years. The colonisation of other worlds introduces new Alien life forms, friends and enemies. The creators of this technology, the 'Protheans' are thought to be an extinct species.

In this cross First Person shooter / Role Playing game you control Commander Shepard. You can create Shepard as a male or female character, as well as choosing a back story, which can influence the side missions and dialogue. You first find yourself on a ship called the 'Normandy', you move around like a typical Shooter, but the interaction is something that alot of game makers have ignored for quite some time, being able to choose the some of the dialogue. While this has little impact over the game, it allows you to find out more information from the people you meet, helping you understand the situation and events taking place. You can really define your character with the interactive dialogue. Some features resembling the game Bioshock, such minigame of the hacking of the electronic locks.

There are several alien species you fight with and against. The Krogan, the Salarians, the Turians and the asari. The Human Species don't have a seat on the intergalactic council. Humans have never held any position in Spectre, an elite group of soldiers made up form the Turian race. Commander Shepard is promised a role on this Spectre Council, which duties include overseeing intergalactic stability. This plan goes haywire when it emerges there is a rougue agent in the ranks of Spectre.

As long lines of gullible consumers wait for Steve Jobs latest junk tech, users have quickly started to notice the Apple iPhone has caused alot of headaches leaving victims with the feeling they have succeeded in nothing more that acquiring an expensive 'Brick'.

The highly expensive phone is network locked, meaning your stuck with a certain provider, and their high costs. Bad news if you want to travel abroad and change to a pre-paid local provider. Many users with the first generation of iPhones are also left with useless junk after attempting Apple's flawed updates. The phones only allowing 'Emergency use only'.

Many users have found that in Order for the iPhone to work, you need to have it synced to Apple's iTunes. Meaning anybody who just wanted activate it could not do so, let alone make a regular phone call. The people queuing for this newest technology are promoting nothing more than meaningless consumerism of a flawed product. The smart buyers are now watching as they scream at the top of their voice when it doesn't work as they had planned.

Another release in the Turok range from Touchstone\Propaganda Games. Turok is a First-Person Shooter takes you to a futuristic world of pre-human monsters spacecraft.

You take the controls of Joseph Turok, a former member of a fierce Special Forces unit "WolfPack" until a falling out sees him transferred to a new squad assigned to take out his former leader Roland Kane. After the spacecraft crashes on a thick jungle world full of dinosaurs and futuristic enemy soldiers. As you make your way across the levels to another chunk of the spaceship, you team up with a few other squad members, some quickly meeting their fate, before killing Kane and a variety of large Dinosaurs including a T-Rex before making your way back to earth. The storyline starts off quite nicely with various flashbacks introducing the characters and events that lead up to the point of gameplay you take over. Then it seems to die out, seemingly missing something making you feel unimpressed. If it wasn't for the dinosaurs, you'd have a rather mediocre game indeed.

The graphics are rather last generation, square edges where something should be rounded and some plain textures at times, but the dinosaurs really do come to life quite nicely making you think you’re running around Jurassic Park with their realistic movements and colours. The sound receives two thumbs up with its instrumentals and the roars of the various dinosaurs.

Bioshock, the first person shooter from 2K Boston/2K Australia is something new and a pleasant surprise from the usual clone like similarities of other titles in this genre.

As plane crashes in the ocean, you swim through the flames and wreckage to a nearby lighthouse and enter an underworld city of alternate technology with a special 1950's nostalgia. You quickly find a world of utopia gone terribly wrong as you make your way around, learning what exactly is happening through audio diaries, wall posters and others you meet in the city of "Rapture".

Using stealth or full force combat to kill mutants and robotic drones, you gather weapons, money and strange technology called "plasmids" powered by a intravenously injected substance called "EVE" that can let you shoot lightning bolts, telekinetically move objects, fire flame burning anyone in a room, enrage your enemies into fighting themselves, and more, plus the usual pistols and machine guns and ammo of a conventional First Person Shooter. The further you progress the more you learn about the ill-fated city and it's populace with its excellent narrative and interactivity. A mortality tale ensues as you choose between killing or saving "little sisters", young girls with a valuable slug-like creature called "ADAM" inside them, and there scientists protectors wearing dive suits.