Jak & Daxter
PlayStation 2 £39.99 Naughty Dog/Sony *****
The pre-release hype compared the new PlayStation 2 game Jak & Daxter to such classics as Zelda and Mario. For once, the marketing execs may have nearly got it right. This is a gorgeous and highly enjoyable platform adventure created by the team behind the Crash Bandicoot games.
As Jak, your aim is to jump, spin and collect goodies in a freeform environment that at times resembles a Disney movie. One of your main tasks is to turn Daxter, your sidekick who has unfortunately been turned into a wisecracking rodent, back to his former self. The comparisons with Zelda are a little off - Jak & Daxter has only a small number of elementary puzzles - but the seamless world, which allows you to go anywhere you can see, is reminiscent of Zelda's Hyrule Field.
The Mario comparisons are more apt, with objects to find and precision jumping required. Thankfully the designers allow you to keep items you find in a particular area, encouraging players to explore leisurely and not get stuck in one section. This makes the difficulty level just right, with even the tougher challenges satisfyingly achievable. And it is not all jumping and running. Hover- bikes and giant birds provide transport and the numerous in-game characters, all very well vocalised, set varied challenges ranging from sheep herding to pest control.
Perhaps most impressive are the visuals. From sunlit beach to volcanic crater, Jak & Daxter sets the graphical standard for the second generation of PS2 games. By pilfering the finer elements of the all-time greats and placing them in a peerless graphical environment, Jak & Daxter is one of the games of the year. (GH)
Battle Realms
PC £34.99 Ubi Soft *****
If any genre has been flogged to death this year it is Realtime Strategy (RTS) with more than two dozen titles all adding little bits to the formula without necessarily taking it forward. Could anything turn up at this late stage to renew flagging interest?
Well yes. Battle Realms is very good indeed, but when you realise that Ed del Castillo is in the credits this comes as no surprise. Everything about it seems fresh and risky, just like the original Command & Conquer he worked on more than six years ago. This is a game you actually care about playing, where guarding your precious Samurai becomes almost as obsessive as, we can only imagine, it would have been in the distant Japanese era the game explores.
In fairness, it seems to owe a heavy debt to Shogun, with its authentic music and over the top animations, but the main reason it works so well is the addictive blend of role playing game and real time strategy. Your big, clunky warriors are a delight to watch and a thrill to lead into battle - with superb fighting animation as swords are brandished and spells hurled. Even the resource management is good - your peasants are able to water paddy fields with the same buckets you can use to douse a burning building. Similar imagination is exercised on the buildings themselves, each one with a dramatically different function but all working together to retrain your soldiers in different warrior skills. When a battle begins you will invariably find yourself frantically clicking to train another Geisha girl and heal your battered heroes. Lovely stuff.
And so we at last have an RTS worthy of its name. In the heat of battle, time never felt this real - but planning a strategy avoids panic measures. On the down side, your units have a habit of charging to certain death unless you click on them individually. But if you like this genre, Battle Realms is a strong contender for game of the year. (MA)
Planet of the Apes
PC £19.99 Ubi Soft/Visiware *
Released to cash in on the Tim Burton remake, this is actually based on the 1968 original. It would be a forgivable deception if the game had some merit. Games are supposed to be fun. But after a couple of hours playing Planet of the Apes, you're still asking: "What's fun about this?"
Perhaps it's the story? You wake up in a cell as a prisoner on a planet ruled by primates. And... you escape. So not that.
Maybe it's the fast, challenging gameplay? No. The combat involves either running away or frantically stabbing at the attack button until you, or they, are dead. The puzzle solving? Well, it consists solely of finding keys or items and the place in which to slot them.
The graphics? No. The backgrounds are dull and blocky, and you could make better character models with some crayons and a napkin. The sound? The voice acting has all the emotion of a speech synthesiser, and the music isn't good enough for a department store.
The gameplay is linear, the level design is unimaginative , and the interface that doesn't even conform to minimum standards (sidestepping and changing the camera angle are impossible). To top it all, you can only save at the end of each level.
Lets hope a Planet of the Apes CD-Rom isn't among the artifacts from our civilisation discovered by the future rulers of the earth. We did know how to have a good time, honest. (AB)
