X2: The Threat
PC, Koch Media, £29.99
***
Retro games are rubbish, with most only entertaining for a nostalgic few minutes. Elite, however, is still relevant today. The 20-year-old space sim remains the benchmark for galactic trading games.

The latest challenger is X2: The Threat - a title with looks to die for. Gorgeous graphics aside, this is an amazingly complex space epic that simulates an economy ripe for player influence. Starting off with an underpowered craft, your aim is to do pretty much what you want. Players can immerse themselves in the minutiae of trade routes, building up their fleet and business, or adopt a laissez-faire attitude and become a freeloading pirate.

There are moments early on, as you build your empire, that are immensely satisfying. Finding a lucrative trade route or buying a new ship certainly keeps you playing. But problems aren't many parsecs away. The interface is appalling, requiring dextrous use of the keyboard to do relatively simple tasks. Combat is hit and miss, and a joystick is necessary to get a real feel. Then there is the clichéd plot and flat voice acting, and that's before I've even mentioned that your character is called Julian.

But the main problem with X2 is the sheer amount of effort required to get anywhere. It takes hours to make even a small dent in the game world. But those with the time and inclination will discover that X2 makes a gallant, if flawed, attempt to knock Elite from its pedestal.
Greg Howson

Delta Force - Black Hawk Down: Team Sabre
PC, Ritual/Novalogic, £19.99
***
Despite its dubious taste, Black Hawk Down was a cracking little game - full of sound and fury. This add-on loses the original connection to Somalia in favour of two new single-player campaigns set in Columbia and the Persian Gulf. You get a handful of tasty new weapons and a new character (an SAS agent) to join the Ranger and Delta Force, but the new scenarios expose rather than limit the original game's failings.

Put simply, sheer weight of enemy firepower cannot conceal Team Sabre's rudimentary AI. Armed with a good sniper rifle and a generous amount of ammo, most of the 10 missions can be tackled with impunity. Enemy soldiers rarely do more than duck, and as their weapons are incapable of penetrating buildings or trees, you can hang back and pick them off.

This is the best strategy, as your teammates have a habit of either shooting you or each other in the back. Those spoiled by the free-form levels of Hidden & Dangerous 2 or Call of Duty are in for a rude awakening; stray too far from the recommended path and the mission abruptly ends. Team Sabre's saving grace is the selection of online extras. With an impressive 40 new multiplayer maps, Novalogic's servers should be buzzing for weeks.
Mike Anderiesz

Kill.switch
PlayStation2, Namco/Sony, £29.99
***
Kill.switch is a first-person shoot- em-up that commendably adds up to more than the sum of its often mediocre parts. Graphically, for example, it is deeply unimpressive, it barely even bothers with a plot, it has no two-player mode and is too short. But while it lasts, it provides plenty of great, high-octane action, and an imaginative gameplay twist fools you into believing that you are playing a game which is mildly inventive.

Kill.switch blurs the boundary between first and third-person action by letting you crouch behind objects that can provide cover, or lean out from corners to shoot. When safely ensconced behind your barrier, you can either stick your gun above the parapet and shoot semi-blind or stand up briefly to gain accuracy. As you progress through the game, you acquire some impressive weaponry, which must be employed in an increasingly tactical manner.

Plentiful first-aid kits reinforce the arcade-style feel, but ammunition conservation becomes increasingly important. Kill.switch's unusual gameplay - in which you are constantly having to run 50 yards, dive for cover and work out where your enemies are and how to take them out - proves to be addictive.
Steve Boxer