Red Card
PlayStation 2 £39.99 Midway ***
The referee may practise self-abuse and "not know what he's doing" but if he sends off Red Card we'll all applaud. This is a footie game that models itself on the Leeds team of the 1970s rather than the Brazilian champions. So expect gruesome fouls rather than flowing moves.
If you are more interested in lunging tackles, coordinated elbowing and two-footed flying kicks, then Red Card has its moments. But when the novelty of karate chopping your opponent becomes (quickly) dull, you're left with a half-baked footie game that can't decide what it wants to be. The unrealistic arcade action means Red Card won't appeal to real fans, while soccerphobes will soon tire of the foul play.
The players bear little resemblance to their real-life counterparts. Beckham, in particular, looks more likely to shatter mirrors than break hearts. The two-player option offers the most entertainment, with post-pub the optimum playing time. Even then there are niggles, such as the erratic keepers who are regularly beaten from long range. For single players, the main challenge allows you to play against teams of dolphins, samurai and Swat teams.
Ultimately, it depends on what you want. If you prefer high-scoring farces, try EA's glitzy, yet woefully uninspired Fifa 2002 World Cup. For a proper football simulation, get the peerless Pro Evolution Soccer. If you want to play against a team of dolphins, you need your head examined. (GH)
Frequency
PlayStation 2 £29.99 Harmonix/Sony ***
During the reign of the original PlayStation, Sony pursued clubbers, and it has been attempting the same trick with the PlayStation 2. Frequency is a slightly odd effort that draws its gameplay from dance music. As with the likes of Parappa The Rapper, you must hit the correct button right on the mark - triggering music samples - to prosper. But the point is to build up entire tracks from their constituents. Thanks to an interface reminiscent of retro classic Tempest 2000, you choose which track part (beats, keyboards, guitar and so on) to attack first, and when you've nailed two bars you can move to the next.
Power-ups, which automatically hit the beats or multiply your points, add a hint of variety to proceedings. There are five stages, each consisting of five tracks, and you must amass enough points to unlock the last track in each stage. A non-competitive remix mode lets you fiddle around with the music. Frequency's strong point is its music: the game features credible artists such as Orbital, Roni Size, and the Dub Pistols, but its lurid visuals let the side down. The game's novelty value soon evaporates, and once you have opened up all the tracks, there is little replay value. One for the music game completists. (SB)
Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza
PC £19.99 VU Games/ Piranha Games ***
Bruce Willis' barefooted John McClane has become something of a pinup in the action movie hall of fame. Unfortunately, his history on the PC has been less iconic, with a paltry collection of DOS-based games and PlayStation ports, but this incarnation, the first-person shooter (FPS) Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza, is the best of a bad bunch.
The game sticks, as far as possible, to the movie story line with the New York cop stranded in a 40-storey skyscraper being overrun by terrorists. This works well nostalgically, as the game also uses characters and environments from the movie, but badly in terms of limited weapons and an obsession with correct narrative over gameplay realities. The developers have tried to vary the 30 or so levels, but unfortunately, they don't look that great, which is surprising as the game uses the LithTech engine, which produced Alien Versus Predator 2.
However, the artificial intelligence of the terrorists is pretty good, and many will duck, roll and hide during fights. Aspects like morale, which affects the way John shoots and how the terrorists react to him, are also innovative. The game seems a strange venture since the film is now 14 years old. It's also being released in the wake of some stiff competition such as Medal of Honor. Fans of the film will enjoy the inside-the-movie feel.
However, against the competition, Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza doesn't really stand up. It stoops and winces, as its reluctant hero did, over the shards of what would have been a great game about five years ago. Right man, right game, wrong time. (RP)
