Cue for a rethink of this format
Jimmy White's 2: Cueball Sony PlayStation £34 Awesome/Virgin
Archer Maclean and his team at Awesome Developments in Banbury have been producing Jimmy White snooker and pool games since 1991, and they've sold on virtually every machine from the Commodore Amiga to the Sega Dreamcast. Cueball - which offers snooker and both UK and US versions of pool - has become something of a classic. But if you're planning to buy it, try not to get this belated PlayStation conversion.
The graphics are OK by PlayStation standards, but the control icons are not clear and the text messages can be hard to read, whereas the Dreamcast graphics are gorgeous. The PC version not only looks better, it's more playable: the game design is much more suited to a keyboard/mouse interface than a control pad. The novel part of 2: Cueball is the use of a pair of disembodied hands to represent your opponent and the referee. The white-gloved hands were "motion captured" using high precision cyber-gloves.
Otherwise it's much the same as usual. If you get bored with snooker and the numerous varieties of pool, 2: Cueball also includes games of darts and draughts and a one-armed bandit. If you'd really prefer an arcade blast, Maclean has also thrown in Dropzone, a Defender-style game that was a hit on the Atari 800 and Commodore 64 in the 1980s. Maybe 3: Cueball, if there is one, will include Maclean's wonderful International Karate Plus (IK+), which was one of the best games ever to grace the C64, because it's difficult to see what else can be done with snooker and pool. The early Jimmy White games were impressive when 3-D graphics and "real physics" were a novelty, and snooker was far easier to implement than something like basketball. But the "law of diminishing returns" set in a long time ago. (JS)
May the forces be with you
Star Wars: Force Commander PC CD-Rom £34.99 LucasArts
The original Star Wars trilogy has inspired many a good game. From X-Wing to Jedi Knight, Han, Luke and Vader have been involved in some excellent titles, although recent games based on the new films have jarred rather more. Thankfully then, Force Commander takes its cue from the classic films and throws you straight into the familiar environs of Tatooine, right at the start of Star Wars. This is a 3D real time strategy game (RTS), with the emphasis on combat rather than resource management.
Strategy is still vital, with command points earned on the battlefield used to upgrade your forces, but your main concern is warfare. The mission-based levels allow you to commandeer more than 40 vehicles and units (both Empire and Rebellion) with the undoubted highlight being the lumbering AT-ATs. There are plenty of other familiar planets to play in and, while encyclopaedic knowledge of Mos Eisley and Yavin4 is not essential, a general appreciation of George Lucas's creations is recommended for full enjoyment.
Impressive. But Force Commander is not quite the success it should be. Especially annoying for a 3D game, the camera is temperamental, with many early missions marred by unnecessary views of the cliffside. Also, the difficulty in supervising your widespread charges means that the zoom-out button is a necessity, rendering the decently drawn units to tiny dots. This thoroughly wastes the potential of a graphics engine that allows you to swoop right down to your stormtrooper's boots. The invigorating Star Wars atmosphere, only partially spoiled by a rocked-up soundtrack remix, is the real winner while the well designed levels go a long way to compensate for some of the problems. As the first RTS based on the Star Wars universe, Force Commander is bound to be popular. Unlike recent titles this just about deserves to be. (GH)
The return of grunting Gabe
Syphon Filter 2 PlayStation £34.99 989 Studios/Eidetic
How heartening to see the art of sequel-naming isn't dead. In this case, it's darned appropriate: you're still deep-voiced, chisel-jawed grunt Gabe Logan; you're still trying to prevent a supervirus being unleashed on the world; and a flak jacket is still your best friend. In the new incarnation of this action strategy title, however, you have a more proactive ally: Lian Xing, the infamous "voice of radio" from the original, is also a playable character in several of the 20 or so missions. While the plot, look, and control system are all very familiar, the improved graphics are less likely to poke your eyes out.
The missions are longer and broader in scope, with a little less outright carnage and a little more strategic thinking - not that there won't still be plenty of occasions when you just want to throw your arms over your head and wish the bad guys away. Needless to say, there are some fun new toys - notably the crossbow - and a real bonus in the two-player option, which, while it can never hope to match the experience of GoldenEye on the N64, is among the better pal-on-pal splatfests available on PlayStation. The most noticeable difference is the difficulty. Many boasted of romping through SF1 in a shade under 20 hours; the boast this time round may well be: "I completed it!" You need to have played the original to stand a chance of finishing the first level of SF2.
When a developer has to reconcile the hardened gamer's appetite for challenge with the newcomer's inexperience, my radical new idea comes in: at the start, a menu option allows you to make the game harder or easier, according to your level of competence. But if you can book a course of private combat lessons with your local SAS veteran, Syphon Filter 2 is an engrossing, enjoyably harmful way of passing several rainy weekends. (AB)
