Heads-up: What's new this week

A look ahead to Friday's new releases.

Welcome to Heads-up, our weekly feature which gives you an at-a-glance run-down on the games you'll be able to buy or rent this weekend. Every Tuesday we'll pick out the best of the bunch, link to our reviews and previews and keep you in the video game loop so you have enough time to pre-order for Friday's post. Time to splash the cash.

Recommended: Bayonetta

It's slim pickings this Friday - the first Friday of 2010 - but what slim pickings! We begin with Hideki Kamiya's masterpiece: the witch is a bitch but she's god damn sexy. Bayonetta's hardcore hacking and slashing is so wet your pants amazing that the Platinum Games-developed title is the first must-own game of 2010. Devil May Cry fans should be very, very interested, as should God of War fans and, well, fans of games, generally. It's silky smooth, eye-catching, exciting, and relentless. Bayonetta's angel-carving attacks shock and thrill in equal measure. We're not worthy to lick her sexy black stilettos, but we'll give it our best shot.

Worth a look: Darksiders

WAR! What is it good for? Hacking and slashing, clearly. We're blessed: this Friday brings with it two top class action adventures. We've already dished the dirt on Bayonetta (above), but, if you've got an extra fiddy quid burning a hole in your wallet (or, if you're modern, your bank account) you could do worse than having a punt on Vigil Games' Darksiders. Inspired by Nintendo classics The Legend of Zelda and Metroid, Darksiders shakes the third-person hack and slash up with exploration, puzzle solving and platforming. And it looks comic book great, with art designed by Uncanny X-Men legend Joe "Mad" Madureira. 2010's starting with a bang. Make sure you enjoy it.