Was this review started before the Nvidia 180.xx drivers were released or do you only use WHQL drivers?

The reason I am asking is because the Catalyst 8.10 with applied hotfix was used.

Thank you

Mmmm, seems my 8800GT is still fine for playing everything maxed at 1650*1080, although I might have to turn down/off AA - and that was without taking account of my cards stock overclock, or the new big bang 2 drivers.
I think it's a side effect of consoles - most games come out on them, and just get some minor tweaks for the PC. Hence an old card like 8800GT (which is still a lot faster then anything in a console) is able to play all these new games maxed out.

"...even the system configuration recommended by the game developer proves unable to provide smooth gameplay, making you think about buying a new and faster graphics card."
Well,if thats the case i just dont buy the game at that point in time,probably a year
later. In recent years especially soloplayer FPS getting increasingly boring,because
of the increasing difference between technical qualities and gameplay.
Crysis is a good example. Not to mention that the final game never looked like advertised before but also falls short in terms of missiondesign,story and NPC-AI.
I think a lot actual games didnt deserve the money spent on the hardware to run them smoothly and crossplatformdevelopment adds its portion to make the situation worse.

BTW: Excellent review.