102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue
Dreamcast £39.99 Eidos **
Back in the days of the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum, games based on film licences were usually best left in their cassette boxes. This all changed in 1997 with the release of Goldeneye on N64; a game that moulded its Bond influences into a truly splendid adventure.
However, since then we have been bombarded with celluloid-inspired gaming - from Toy Story to Blair Witch - which have failed to match their onscreen counterparts. Thankfully, 102 Dalmatians bucks this trend, but only because it is as mediocre as the movie on which it is based.
Your task is to guide the canine hero around some distinctly bland 3D settings while collecting goodies and barking at the bad guys (including Cruella).
There is a lot to see and do, and the age-old trick of highlighting initially unreachable locations is used to good effect.
Of course, experienced Mario veterans will have little trouble progressing, although the camera makes things harder than necessary with patience needed to line up some tricky jumps.
Bearing in mind the under-ten target audience, this is an obvious design flaw, although one that is partly rectified by the regular clues and tips given throughout.
Considering the source material, the game is graphically uninspiring, with basic scenery that barely stretches the Playstation, let alone the Dreamcast. Every so often the platform proceedings are pleasingly interrupted by a minigame, with the pinball one a particular favourite but, for the most part, 102 Dalmatians follows the film-to-game plot perfectly by being strictly average. (GH)
Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance
PC £29.99 FASA/Microsoft ****
Mechwarrior 4 is just short of being a masterpiece. But not only will it appeal to people who have been playing BattleTech games for the past decade - some even started with the board game - it should bring in a new audience who might normally be satisfied with first-person shooters such as Quake III and Half-Life.
The great thing about Mech4 is that is a simulation, and in many respects, just as realistic as a good driving game or combat flight sim. However, in this case you get to pilot an agile, two-legged, 30-foot robot, somewhat like a giant chicken with almost indestructible armour and a wide range of weapons. Many smaller enemies can be disposed of by the simple but satisfying technique of stomping on them.
The problem is that you have to control your mech while moving, aiming and firing, which is like driving a tank and aiming the gun at the same time. It is not a good idea to stand still, as your enemies may include pilots with even bigger and nastier mechs than yours. Oh, you are also leading a squadron of mechs, which is something else to think about.
What helps make Mech 4 accessible is the carefully graded series of missions you must perform. It is restricting compared with the old days when you could roam the universe picking fights, but it works. The action is also backed by a heroic backstory, which Frank Herbert could have used as a sequel to Dune. (Your family has been murdered. You, Ian Dresari, must liberate your home planet, Kentares IV.) However, the video presentation could have been done better.
Old warriors may bitch about the mechlab, where you customise your chosen mech for the battle ahead. It is easy to do with drag-and-drop weapons packs, but the phrase "dumbed down" may well spring to mind. There are other minor problems, too, such as an aiming system that prevents you from seeing where you are going.
However, when you exhaust the linear series of missions you can take on the world in multiplayer mode. This offers a range of games, including attrition, capture the flag, and steal the beacon.
The Mechwarrior series is unusual in that games have been produced by Activision and Microprose before finally ending up at Microsoft. All the different versions have had some species of merit, and in this case, it's a slick simulation with terrific graphics and good sound.
If the FASA programmers take Mech 4 just a bit further by adding an expert mode to the mechlab and providing an extra galaxy of free-range scenarios, then Mech 5 could be an immortal classic. (JS)
American McGee's Alice
PC CD-rom £29.99 Electronic Arts ****
What's this? Lewis Carroll's whimsical children's tale transformed into a black, twisted, gore-spattered nightmare? What would little Alice Liddell say? "Cool," probably.
In Electronic Art's latest release, the Queen of Hearts has plunged Wonderland into chaos, and as the A-line-skirted heroine, it is up to you to put things straight. A psychedelic take on the 3D first-person shooter, Alice pits you against all manner of unlikely foes, and throws in a few traps and puzzles to boot.
Making full use of the Quake 3 engine, Alice looks a treat. Lighting and weapon effects are distractingly beautiful, and the sinister soundtrack is every bit as good. You could quite easily play the opening levels just looking and listening in awe.
Fortunately, there's plenty to do as well. A surprisingly high number of elements from the original story have been worked into the plot, usually in ingenious ways: in the course of the game you will fight (rather too many) card guards, take hints from the Cheshire cat, and struggle to decipher the ramblings of the Mad Hatter. The tools you get to do the job are also fun: take your pick from lethal jacks, death-dealing dice and jack-in-the-box bombs.
As ever, there is a price to pay for quality - and that price will probably be around £100 for a top-of-the-range graphics card. The game's demanding specifications require at least a 400MHz processor, too.
A more legitimate gripe is the difficulty level; odd, given its use of the Quake 3 engine, that Alice features enemies significantly less intelligent than Quake 3 bots. And it might have been nice if gameplay had been weighted slightly more in favour of story ahead of mindless combat.
Frankly, though, with its luscious visuals, relentlessly atmospheric music and intelligent level design, you will be well into the action before you notice any of these drawbacks.
This is one game that deserves to have a little label attached saying, "Buy me." (AB)
