Review by: Pete Hines
Published: September 29, 1997

KickOff ’97 is Maxis’ effort to bring the world’s most popular sport, soccer (or football, for most of the planet), to life in a realistic fashion. Playing either as a professional or national squad, you have the opportunity to lead your team to glory. I’ve played soccer at almost every level since I could walk, and still being active in playing and coaching the game, I looked forward to this title with much relish. ( read more… )

Review by: Shawn Quigley
Published: September 28, 1997

It would be tough to find a sports fan that cannot relate to the saying “Are you ready for some football?” Monday Night Football is one of the great American traditions, and has been watched by millions of fans for many years. Thanks to ABC Sports and a great developer, Monday Night Football also comes in the form of a PC game. ABC Interactive and OT Sports have released Monday Night Football ’98 during the beginning of another exciting year on the air. MNF ’98 builds from a great foundation to try and put itself among the top football games on the market. ( read more… )

Review by: David Laprad
Published: September 26, 1997

Going to the software store these days is often a déjà vu experience. As I peruse the cramped shelves looking for something unique and special, I frequently hear my pre-school teacher asking me which one of the boxes is different from the others, reminding me of the game we all played as children. Only she’s not demanding that I choose an errant shape or displaced food group; rather, she is telling me to locate a game that is unlike anything ever attempted before. That’s not an easy task, and I always grow nervous, picturing her stern brow as I frantically search through endless stacks of real-time strategy games, 3D shooters, role-playing titles, and point-and-click adventures. “There’s nothing here!” I invariably cry out in frustration, fearing her harsh reproach.

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Review by: Brian Pipa
Published: September 25, 1997

Eidolon, the oldest and most powerful Serpent Rider, has enslaved your beloved land of Thyrion. His power is immense; his grip on Thyrion is absolute. His evil minions have terrorized the people of Thyrion long enough. It is up to you to defeat Eidolon and his vile servants and to restore the freedom and dignity of the people. The odds are greatly against you and the task is formidable. Will you accept the challenge and can you succeed? ( read more… )

Review by: Emil Pagliarulo
Published: September 24, 1997

Lord knows there are plenty of racing sims on the market right now. With titles like X-Car, Formula 1, Power F1, and even Carmageddon sitting on store shelves, motorheads have plenty to choose from. Unfortunately, all of these games (like most games) will cost you well over $30. A gamer on a budget need not despair, however. Wizardworks, now also known as the GT Interactive Value Division, has just released Circuit Racer, a racing simulation for the financially impaired. At a retail price of around $20, Circuit Racer offers quite a bit of racing action at half the price. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Brumbaugh
Published: September 22, 1997

Do you have what it takes to mold a tiny country into a Great Power? Think you could handle not only the military aspects of your burgeoning kingdom, but also the economic, industrial and diplomatic ones? Interested in engineering the infrastructure of your fatherland, in order that food be collected for your people, and natural resources be developed to be used in industry? If these sorts of challenges appeal to your more “civilized” of senses, then Imperialism from SSI will satisfy your “kingmaking” desires. ( read more… )

Review by: David Laprad
Published: September 21, 1997

Vampires are night creatures, clothed in darkness and legend, who drink the life substance of their victims in order to replenish their own. They are spirits of great strength who rage against mankind without mercy, ceaselessly devouring human flesh and spilling blood. Their many powers are inconceivable; they can cast spells, transform themselves into animals and objects, render themselves invisible, and perform acts of incredible cruelty. They are also figures of searing solitude — cold, lonely souls who have chosen to exist among the fringes of the living.

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Review by: Pete Hines
Published: September 19, 1997

In the 21st century, things are pretty screwed up, especially our genes. People can’t survive on Earth without liquid evolution drugs, or L.E.D. In L.E.D. Wars, you attempt to help your corporation survive on the rather desolate planet that remains by producing L.E.D. pills and eliminating your enemy, and taking all his L.E.D. too. If you are familiar with any of the above-mentioned real-time strategy games, then you will have no trouble picking up on L.E.D. Wars. You progress through a series of 14 missions, each requiring the completion of several objectives, which always includes the elimination of any enemy forces. In some missions, you will begin with a small number of buildings or units, but in others you may have to start from scratch. Success depends on mining enough L.E.D. and oil to supplement production of any needed buildings and units. ( read more… )

Review by: Shawn Quigley
Published: September 18, 1997

In Major League baseball, a grand slam is not an every game occurrence — neither is the release of a good baseball simulation. Virgin Interactive is trying to change that with Grand Slam baseball. Grand Slam baseball is one of the first sports games to hit the market that has built-in 3D acceleration. This is an ambitious title that is trying to hit its own “Grand Slam.” ( read more… )

Review by: Brian Pipa
Published: September 17, 1997

PainKeep is a partial conversion (PC) for Quake in the same vein as the Quake Mission Packs 1 and 2, except for one big difference (well, two — PainKeep is free) — PainKeep was specifically made for multiplayer. True, you can play it solo in Quake, but PainKeep really shines in multiplayer mayhem. Everything is optimized for Internet play. ( read more… )

Review by: Brian Pipa
Published: September 16, 1997

There are plenty of different stories of the civilization known as Atlantis. I had always heard that it was a great and mighty underwater civilization, similar to the Romans or Greeks in their hey-day. In Atlantis: The Lost Tales, the Atlantean civilization is very similar to the Greeks or Romans, but this civilization is on land, not underwater as I had always heard, and it is full of treachery, treason, and murder. ( read more… )

Review by: Shawn Quigley
Published: September 15, 1997

As technologies continue to advance in the gaming world, we are beginning to see more and more console hits ported to the PC. This fall one of the Sony Playstation’s biggest hits, Resident Evil, will makes its debut on the PC platform. Resident Evil, along with some other titles, is paving the way for 3D accelerated-only games to hit the market, and Capcom Entertainment is bringing this award-winning Playstation title to the PC. ( read more… )

Review by: Pete Hines
Published: September 14, 1997

Outpost 2: Divided Destiny is the latest real-time strategy game from Sierra and Dynamix. This title attempts to distance itself from its predecessor by addressing a lot of the problems in the original, while at the same time building on what Sierra believes was a fundamentally solid premise. Dynamix brought Patrick Cook to the project, who had worked for a number of years on sports titles, for a fresh perspective and to hopefully right the many wrongs that plagued the original game. ( read more… )

Review by: Emil Pagliarulo
Published: September 12, 1997

Everyone’s favorite cadaverous cowboy is at it again, and this time, he’s not pulling any punches. That’s right, Caleb is back in Monolith’s Blood Plasma Pak, the official add-on for your existing copy of Blood. Just as the Plutonium Pak added a new episode and new features to 3D Realms’ Duke Nukem 3D, the Plasma Pak adds several enhancements to Blood, including an all new episode. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Brumbaugh
Published: September 10, 1997

In the many years since the release of the hugely popular game Tetris, game companies have been trying to come up with the ultimate “puzzle” game that would capture the interest of players as much as the original Tetris did. Rather than attempting to produce some pale imitation, Microsoft’s The Puzzle Collection contains an assortment of ten games which come from the mastermind of the original Tetris, Alexey Pajitnov. ( read more… )