Whatever you think about this game, it gets full points for originality. Beauty3D: Covergirl sees you take on the role of a glamour model photographer at various sumptuous locations around the world. Your aim is to take the ultimate sexy pictures of 3D girls to grace the glossy magazines of the World.

The developers say, “These sweethearts can walk and smile just like girls in the real world and will put on all kinds of attractive poses and dances for you.” The full version offers 4 levels where the 3D vector graphic girls pose under sunshine, dance under the moonlight or do yoga in the swimming pool while you try to snap the best shots. In one scenario, the developers say the girls can even “fly freely with you in the sea.”

In these scenarios, you have the power to ask the models to perform various although in reality these are nothing much more than “pose”, “walk” and “smile”. You can however ask them to change their clothing and bikinis on request. The developers say that some people have already abused this function and created a “nude” patch for the game which they link to on their website.

After a hard day's shooting, you then head to the studio where you develop your shots in a darkroom. Your photos are given a score by the computer and if they're good enough, you’ll then see them on the cover of Vogue, Cosmo, Hello! etc. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach this stage in tests. After taking in excess of 100 shots, the game showed no sign of allowing you to leave the photo-shoot and in the end, the model we were picturing apparently walked off the set. Pressing the Escape key will bring up the options – Audio, Camera Options and Quit but nothing that allows you to develop your photos.

The developers say that, “Advanced real-time 3D graphics and environmental effects gives you a realistic feel of an amazing world.” Whether you consider the 3D simulations “beauties” is a matter of opinion although we were left unimpressed by the graphics. The background graphics aren’t much better – the seashore resembles more like blue lines of resolution on the screen rather than real waves. The sound effects are somewhat better although the cheesy music at the beginning is best turned off.

Whilst the developers have made a brave attempt to develop something a bit more original than a 3D shoot-'em-up, the depth of this game is very limited. The models seem capable of nothing more than a handful of poses although you are able to move the camera into any position to get some unusual shots. Once the photos are developed though, there’s not much more left to do it seems. If you dream of taking photos of the world’s most beautiful girls, then this may be the closest you’ll get.