Incredibly gory graphics
Soldier of Fortune
PC £39.99 Raven/Activision ****
It uses a modified version of the Quake 2 graphics "engine" and sets you as a lone hero against the bad guys. Yes, it's another first person shooter for the PC, but Soldier of Fortune offers authenticity above and beyond the call of duty.
For a start the plot has had more than the customary three minutes' work, mixing Kosovo, nuclear weapons and Hollywood action. Nevertheless it's the incredibly gory graphics that stand out.
As you'd expect of a game licensed from a US gun mag there are heaps of authentic weaponry, but it's the accuracy of the onscreen damage that will bolster any anti-video game cause. You can hit someone in the arm, leg or nether regions with increasing graphic detail and the blood-spattered action rarely lets up. Crucially, though, this realism extends both ways, so taking a shot to the head means game over.
Add this to the lack of save points, health packs and other reminders that you're only playing a game, and you can pretty much justify most of the wilder excesses. That's not to say that one less crotch wound wouldn't have been welcomed but the real-life feel is the key to this. Rather than running around blasting in a Quake style, you tend to take a more measured approach, and before long the game becomes compelling.
Some of the levels are unimaginatively designed and the graphic violence won't be to everyone's taste (although you can tone down the visuals) but the challenge and genuine tension will appeal to Rambo fans everywhere. (GH)
Lost in the labyrinth
Red Dog
Sega Dreamcast £39.99 Argonaut ****
Trade magazine MCV has classed this as a driving game and it would make a great one: imagine up to four wheeled buggies careering through underground caverns and other 3D scenarios.
Actually it's a sort of motorised first person shooter, which Argonaut Software's founder Jez San, referring to the company's old Nintendo hit, has called Star Fox in a Tank, according to Segaweb.
The action is fast, the graphics are terrific, the sound effects are great, and the techno-style music is pretty good too. But it's not for the faint-hearted. The missions last too long and the end of level bosses are vicious: the one-player mode is too hard for me unless someone finds an "infinite lives" cheat.
Still, at least the programmers have foregone the bits of physics that would have your cross between a tank and a beach-buggy turned upside down most of the time.
As well as 15 single-player missons, the game has lots of multi-player arenas with a variety of options including bomb tag, king of the hill, flag runner and death match modes. Argonaut is promising more arenas and more weapons that can be downloaded into the Dreamcast's VMU.
But if you have nightmares about being trapped in a maze of twisty tunnels and attacked by a plague of scorpion-like aliens, this is not the game for you. (JS)
Things that go clunk in the night
Thief II
PC £33.43 Looking Glass Studios/ Eidos Interactive ***
The original Thief was a deserved hit, but a flawed one. It was a first-person action adventure, but the idea was not to blast everything that moved; instead, as cheeky tea leaf Garrett, you snuck around the various levels lining your pockets and doing your best to steer clear of trouble. It was a neat twist on a dying genre, with an involving storyline and immaculately designed missions. It also had graphics not seen since Pam Ayres was last on TV.
Thief hit the shelves only 18 months ago, so it's no surprise that the follow-up comes with broadly the same pros and cons as its progenitor.
So, for example, it's still teeth-grindingly tough. With a total of 71 controls to commit to memory, it's a devil to get your head round in the first place and, once you have, the merest slip of coordination will bring your half-inching days to a messy end.
What's more, given the precariousness of your trade, load times are still frustratingly long. And despite Looking Glass's claims that the visuals have been substantially improved, the character models are again deeply ropey. The first time you attract attention, you'll be choking on your own blood before you realise the hideous triangle monster that just attacked you is in fact a poorly rendered human guard.
But as before, the point of the exercise is largely to avoid all other characters, so the low-resolution opponents don't spoil the fun too much.
Also, the low demands on processing power mean that gameplay is extremely smooth, and the sound and lighting create a suitably suspenseful mood. Most importantly, the engaging plot and ingenious level design are every bit as good as before. There's hardly a point in the game when you feel remotely safe; even when tucked away in a shadowy corner, you worry that a -passing guard will hear your pounding heart all the way from the real world. There are also some useful new toys and dastardly new enemies, offering a genuinely different challenge to veteran players.
Like its predecessor, then, Thief II is an interesting idea, put together with real loving care. But not an awful lot of expertise. (AB)
