Lemony Snickets A Series Of Unfortunate Events review

Things aren't going well for the three Baudelaire children. They've just learnt that their parents have died, when they're shipped off to live with an evil uncle. It's not ideal.

They need to come up with survival techniques to survive in a house laden with nutcases and creepy crawlies. This involves inventing weapons and gadgets that keep them out of trouble.

Luckily, Baudelaire Violet is uncannily good at making gadgets out of random objects - all she needs are the correct items. Which is where the majority of the gameplay comes from.

You can alternate control of Violet and her brother Clause during the game. Baby Sunny is carried on Violet's back, but can be dragged out for a spot of child abuse (such as strapping a rocket pack made from a fire extinguisher to her back). It works well and the plot will keep fans of the books happy. But the gameplay will be a letdown for older players. It consists almost entirely of finding items to build inventions. Just when you've finished one quest, your heart sinks as Violet informs you she needs a tripod, a piano string, snow shoes and a tomato. It'll entertain younger fans, but the rest of us will be left unimpressed.

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is out now for PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, GBA and PC