Review by: Mike Laidlaw
Published: February 17, 2001

The Test Drive license looked doomed for a while there — the format had become stale and it was painfully obvious that quality had taken a back seat while the series coasted on its track record and highly recognizable name. This trick only works once, or maybe twice at best, though; the gaming public tends to notice sub-par quality fairly quickly. Perhaps realizing the consequences of a sullied reputation, Infogrames decided to expand the series beyond its basic format. One result of this decision was the highly enjoyable Test Drive: Le Mans, which featured the full 24 hours of the Le Mans race for those so inclined. Test Drive: V-Rally was the other product of the new format, and it hopes to do for Rally racing what the previous offering did for the king of endurance circuits. ( read more… )

Review by: Nick Stewart
Published: February 15, 2001

In many respects, this is an exciting time to be a sports fan. Apart from the emergence of new endeavors such as Vince McMahon’s XFL, and the rebirth of such greats as Mario Lemieux, the realm of athletic ability is privy to a singularly stellar individual. In his three short years as a pro, he’s shattered records, and is rapidly approaching countless others that have taken some of the greatest legends their entire careers to accomplish. His youth and his power have appealed to the jaded while his unconventional attitude and occasionally raw emotion have drawn their criticism; regardless of your attitude towards the man, Tiger Woods is one of the most dominant athletes to grace the storied sport of golf. With unbridled talent also comes top-shelf sponsorship, which has given him the devoted attention of the likes of Nike. It was only a matter of time before he was courted by EA Sports, whose own reputation within the industry was akin to the swoosh-wielding, footwear-producing corporate powerhouse. Unfortunately for gamers, this collaboration has yet to yield any kind of truly worthy experience, though they may find renewed hope with this year’s attempt, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001.

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Review by: David Laprad
Published: February 13, 2001

3D shooters seem to mirror the gamer’s state of mind. For instance, the first generation beau ideal was drenched in hormonal glee. Aliens were punished for being, well, aliens, and it was the grizzled man-hero, drawing on his super-human strength, who brought justice to the world. Somewhere along the line, we became bored with this bombastic fable and started demanding “something different.” Although we were not quite sure what that would be, a veteran first-person designer named American McGee had the inspiration and the means to pull it off. In Electronic Arts’ Alice, which bears his name but is also the product of the under-praised talents at Rogue Entertainment, there is not a single alien to be found nor a shotgun to be used; rather, the hero is a girl born on the pages of classic prose who comes wielding a stash of razor-sharp cards. The familiar wine-red blood still gushes from fallen enemies, but the rapt designers and technicians behind the action aim to cast a gruesome spell such as we have never seen.

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Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: February 12, 2001

Unlike movies, computer games based on novels have been largely unsuccessful in translating a captivating story to the virtual screen. Usually the PC implementation is but a pale imitation of what you remember fondly from the pages of a deeply absorbing book, lacking both the sense of boundless thrill and the room for the imagination to wander. But Red Storm believes that this depressing pattern can be broken, particularly when dealing with a highly successful author like noted science fiction fantasy writer Anne McCaffrey. The company’s new release is Freedom: First Resistance, a third-person perspective single-player action adventure game based on her Freedom trilogy of novels. Given that this series of stories is not among McCaffrey’s best work, the choice is a bit odd, but let’s see what the result is of this endeavor.

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Review by: Mike Laidlaw
Published: February 12, 2001

One of the unique things about the city in which I live is its size. It’s big enough to have all the amenities one associates with large cities, but small enough to have a wholesome “small town” feel about it as well. With a large agricultural belt surrounding the city, there’s quite a few autumn fairs held in this area every fall. In addition to the crop competitions, product demonstrations and the ride filled Midway, and uncanny number of these week long events hosts a demolition derby. Featuring burning rubber, flying dirt, crushing metal and all-out vehicular mayhem, there’s a special glee associated with these shows that one almost has to see to comprehend. Whether or not you’ve witnessed a demolition derby, it’s still a given fact that people like watching cars get destroyed. ( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: February 10, 2001

When walking into the room of an average young male, one tends to notice that certain predictable items may be found, either due to the interest of the parents or the desires of the child. How many of us have heard the stereotypical story of a father buying baseball bats and catching gloves in the hopes that exposure to these “masculine” items will develop a love of sports in his young son? Conventional sports aside, many males who have grown up in a status quo household had some of the same toys as kids. ( read more… )

Review by: Mike Laidlaw
Published: February 9, 2001

I’m quietly awaiting the day when gaming becomes such a tightly integrated part of our culture that the ancient adage is changed to: “there’s only three things in this world you can count on: Death, taxes and a new Street Fighter game every six months.” We’re to the point now where it’s not unfair to assume that, should the world be destroyed by nuclear war, there will still be cockroaches dutifully tinkering with the fighting mechanics of this perennial series. Generally, Capcom manages to avoid the trap of cosmetic changes and include some new features with each release, but one has to wonder just how much more remains to be done with the Street Fighter license in its present form. The latest answer to that question arrives under the guise of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, the second Dreamcast release for the new generation of characters. ( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: February 8, 2001

The long history of computer flight has its roots in the earliest days of the PC, when machines like the Commodore 64 were running extremely primitive Cessna simulations. Military simulators have been around for almost as long, using data far more precise than that available to civilian producers. In the last ten years, however, civilian developers have been making costly flight sims based on realistic physics. These high-end products usually come with expensive hardware and never break into the entertainment sector, instead remaining solely in the domain of hardcore desktop pilots who subscribe to magazines like “Aviation” or “Pilot.” While some mainstream products such as Microsoft Flight Sim 2000 and Flight Unlimited III do possess a degree of realism, there is certainly a marked difference between titles designed for an entertainment audience and those tailored to professionals, who use simulations as actual test flights to improve piloting skills. Recently, publisher Xicat Interactive struck a deal with Laminar Research, a creator of expensive desktop titles, to bring the professional simulator called X-Plane to the entertainment community. Programmed by a single person, X-Plane is one of the most realistic flight sims ever to hit the PC.

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Review by: Matthew Karr
Published: February 7, 2001

Boxing games live a rather lonely existence. With the exception of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out and Super Punch-Out, two classic titles that are more about pattern fighting than boxing, the genre suffers in relative obscurity. Even modern offerings like Knockout Kings 2000 and Ready to Rumble Boxing are mediocre at best; the fact that they’re considered the top of the heap proves that this category is in a sorry state. ( read more… )

Review by: Mike Laidlaw
Published: February 6, 2001

With Sega’s recent announcement that it would begin producing software for other systems came confirmation of the long-rumored port of Crazy Taxi to the PS2. The mad cabby won’t be the first of his kind to appear on Sony’s black box, though. Kemco obviously drew some inspiration from the Dreamcast classic when laying the groundwork for their PS2 debut, Top Gear Dare Devil. ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: February 5, 2001

Given the increasingly diffuse and global nature of game development, sometimes the origins of a release can be as intriguing as the story in the offering itself. Such is the case with Opsys, the first title from [hypermedia] limited. This company, which is both the developer and distributor of the product, is located in the unlikely spot of Nicosia, Cyprus, an eastern Mediterranean island known more for Greek-Turkish hostility than for computer software. It is highly unusual that Opsys relies heavily on the willingness of the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation to let its producer take full advantage of the Museum of the History of Cypriot Coinage primary research materials. I am still scratching my head to ask how a full-fledged adventure release like this could come from such a remote location. ( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: February 3, 2001

Throughout the history of PC games, there have been two primary types of advancements that take place within a genre or series of titles. The first is best described as evolution, where one system is completely scrapped to make way for another. Usually, the only thing that remains constant is the basic concept, with graphics, interface and other elements undergoing dramatic improvement. The other advancement comes in the form of expansions, where, for the most part, the visual and audio technologies remain the same, but the gameplay is expanded with a new storyline, more characters and other minor updates. Sirtech, a long-time developer of entertainment products for the PC, has just released the latest addition to its Jagged Alliance series of turn-based strategy titles. Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business falls somewhere in the area of expansions where content is concerned.

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Review by: Mike Laidlaw
Published: February 2, 2001

In 1979, Ridley Scott, with the help of a then little-known surreal artist named H.R. Giger, managed to put a face to the word “alien.” With its complicated life cycle, parasitic gestation, acidic blood and deadly speed, the alien was a life form as different from, and as deadly to, humans as any film had been able to conjure up to that point. Since that first masterpiece of science fiction and horror, a series of films has explored the continuing saga of Ellen Ripley, the woman (played by Sigourney Weaver) who seems destined to forever battle this menace. Borrowing its name and much of its plot from the fourth film, Fox Interactive brings an infestation of these perfect killers to your PlayStation with Alien Resurrection. ( read more… )

Review by: John Austin
Published: February 1, 2001

Both surfers and their fans alike have been hard-pressed to find a PC title that simulates this granddaddy of “extreme” sports. While Neversoft’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 comes somewhat close to duplicating the experience, skateboarding on a fixed piece of concrete simply does not equate to riding a plank of wood up the face of a living, moving, and constantly changing wave of water. With Championship Surfer, Australian developer Krome Studios and publisher Mattel Interactive hope to recreate to some degree the rush felt by athletes as they take on the powerful ocean with nothing but a board and an adventurous spirit. With precious little competition on the PC market, Championship Surfer essentially blazes a new trail in computer gaming; but will it catch a wave of interest, or will this foray into untested waters simply wipe out? ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: January 30, 2001

While most racing games devoted to a single brand name pick snazzy sports models, such as Sierra’s excellent Viper Racing and Electronic Arts’ outstanding Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, such is not always the case. For example, recently Infogrames released Beetle Buggin’, a product choosing as its entire focus the lowly and distinctly non-aerodynamic Volkswagen bug. In the same vein, Elite Systems has developed for Empire Interactive an offering that has just been modified for release in the U.S. after having been out for awhile in Europe: Ford Racing, which focuses exclusively on this rather tame conventional line of largely mainstream consumer vehicles. ( read more… )