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Games and Internet
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PC Euro League Football (Dinamic) £29.99
()ne ph'ase best descrrbes Euro League lootoat. lac lc-of-all-trades, master of "one !t tr es to cornbrne management SlllitlldliOll and rnteractrve footballrng actron
Frrst up, the management srde Thrs rs neatly presented Wlllt a wealth of options, from team tactrcs to staclrurn buricrrng, all but a mouse clrclc away. 'lne dept": rs .mpressrve and although only a selec from of leagues are payable, four Englrsh leagues and a tea: (ortfrr‘erttal, the other leagues are represented as opponents rn major cliarrtpronshrps Your level of rr‘artagen:er‘rt can he tailored to your taste ‘.'.:ts‘. rhany optrons, such as rename-g contracts, berng handled by The co'ripzrter
Unfortunately, Euro League Football ‘af‘s uo.'.n drastrcelly when the ac tron sta'ts For tne frrst trme m a maria-gement srm rt rs possrble to co'ttro your players rrt each match, lUSl tlf'u" e, WA or ISS Ho‘.‘.'eyer, the ct'ap"% s are dodgy, the anrmatron rs st :ted a"<: it's really not much fun Thrs ha, be due to the processor frghtrng to r.(‘(“l) c .eryone's stattstrcs relevant oat a that should matter rs the result Ar‘d the "esult rs poor Desprte ;71()'!1 sang "tu'c h, Euro League Football ‘ee’s We a m:sse r' oppor‘tunrty And at '."-:v foo e.el Des, that's unforgrwable
F/A-18 (Electronic Arts) £29.99
lr: c;.'.-"c; zr‘ the Jet exhaust of USAF, {'71-'33 s '."e sec ond of Jane's Combat 8 .a‘.r>'s to be released thrs year
r.‘ To oc- oerf'ec tly frarilc, there's not
'7 ..c " to c r‘oose bet‘.'.een them \‘lher‘e tr sAr r;a.e us a (ru.c k tour around the .‘xvr-w‘can Arr Force's frrtest flyrng
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PLAYSTATION Fear Effect (Eidos) £34.99 "
You know what it's like. You turn up for a job interview, fresh faced and keen as mustard, nervously pacing the elevator as it lifts you towards the boss’s office. Ping, the doors open and, without warning, bruisers in bulging black suits begin firing automatic pistols in your direction. And there's you having missed the Dodging Red Hot Lead day on your Jobstart course. Bummer.
And so Fear Effect begins. Playing as Hana, gun for hire, you arrive to find your prospective employer has
four pounds of C4 strapped to his chest. Needless to say it all goes swiftly downhill from there. Fear Effect is a camera-swapping 3D action game of fast-fingered combat, fiendish puzzles and creeping stealth.
The first thing that impresses is the visual style Fear Effect boasts. The story-advancing FMV is pure Japanese Manga, yet when this gives way to player control, nothing changes. The characters are exaggerated, both in looks and movement, while the backdrops are gloriously detailed and beautifully capture that Manga mix of sharp, clean chrome and sleazy, smoky pollution. Unfortunately, this pervasive style seems to have affected the gameplay, with the area displayed on screen often very small, enemies appearing only when you are right on top of them, and a lack of depth which makes wall-bumping a regular occurrence.
of medikits.
A camera~swapping 30 action game of fast-fingered combat and stealth
That said, the game is very enjoyable. The story soon wanders into the bizarre, while the puzzles, though often confusing, are never less than entertaining. And introducing that little bit of innovation, there is no such thing as health or injury. Instead, the eponymous Fear Effect rules how long you live. Take damage, fail a task or be surprised by an enemy and Hana's heart rate rises, eventually killing her with fright. Therefore, confidence and swift action are imperatives. Although not radically changing gameplay, the Fear Effect removes the bother
Mixing the backstabbing of Metal Gear Solid, the vicious combat of Syphon Filter, the creepiness of Resident Evil and its own slice of innovation, Fear Effect is well worth a look. You have nothing to fear but etc, etc, etc. (lain Davidson)
Navy's prrmary attack frghter Although some mrght thrnlc thrs allows a greater depth of realrsm to be explored, the lane's trtles are so detarled anyway that thrs rs not the case
What rt does do rs remove the worry about prclcrng the correct machine for a Job and promotrng a styrft famrl'arrty ‘«.‘.!ll‘r your arrc raft, leavrng you free to attempt each rnrssron \'.'rtl‘. yrgour As rr‘. USAF the graphics are frr‘st rate, regurrrng a hrgh-end PC to get the most out of then, and flyrng soon
Rayman 2: A classic game enhanced for Dreamcast
112 THELIST if, ‘3 A11
slrdes from confused bumblrng to cortftdent, second nature control The theatre of war rs Russran Arrspace, usrth the unpard, under-funded mrlrtary of Mother Rassra on the brrnlc of rrtu'lrrty It's your Job to keep the slcres safe If that doesn't seem taxrng enough you can always go onlrne and dog‘rght the best m the \'.orld rlDl
PLAYSTATION
Urban Chaos (Eldos) £34.99 From the spectacularly over-the-top openrng seguence rc reated by Drgrtal Anrrnatron of Bellshrll don't you lcrtc)\.'.’7r to the frrtal denouement, Urban Chaos ()o/es class Although star‘trng as a basrc chase-the-crrmrnal, protec t-the-rnnocent cop actron game, anc rent prophesres concernrng the end of the world begrn to come true and our heroes, offrcers D'Arcr Stern and Roper lslclntyre, are thrown rnto srtuatrons not covered by basrc. trarnrng Deprcted rn thrrd person BD, the unfoldrng terror covers the entrrety of frc trtrous Unron Crty
But because the story rs splrt rnto rnrssrons (overrng small areas of the crty, the streets are able to be \.‘.'onderfully detarled and effec trvely project an aura of degradatron and doom The ac tron as swft and often surprrsrng, consrstrng of one or two marn ob;ec tryes as well as a few bonus tasks that transprre as and when they
are relevant. The control of Stern and McIntyre rs srmple, If a lrttle lumpy, and rnc‘ludes clrrvmg a varrety of vehrc‘les The varratron rn each mrssron ensures that rt rs rarely dull and the evolvrng story arc often brrngs a smrle Urban Chaos rs full of character and a rare opportunrty to see the polrce as good guys rlDl
PC AND PLAYSTATION
Superbike 2000 (Electronic Arts) £29.99 s t»; «‘c
Superbrkes get a bad rap on the old computer game front. The number of brkrng trtles rs mrnrmal yet the sport rtself seems better surted to gamrvtg than rts four wheeled counterpart Brlces accelerate faster, bra'rce gurc‘lcer and, to be brutally honest, crashes are that lrttle brt more horrrfrc
Domg 'ts utmost to brrng knee- sc raprng Joy to the masses rs Superb/ice 2000, avarlable or‘. PlayStatron and PC Although the two formats play a very srmrlar game, the drfferences rnake for separate experenc'es The PC version rs, urrderstandably, slrcker The graphrcs are clean and clear and the feelrng of smooth transrtror‘. from blrsterrng strarght to leanrng corner rs captured perfectly
But unless you have a krcjlc-ass Jonpad there rs a lot of separatron between you and the brke Whrc h rs where the PlayStatron excels Yes, the yrsua's are grarnrer and the r'rde rs not gurte as