Dance and duel
Sid Meier's Pirates
Xbox, £39.99
Take 2, ****
No science fiction, fast cars or urban violence. Pirates is a breath of fresh air for the Xbox. Set in the Caribbean, this mix of trading, swordplay, dancing and sailing bears all the hallmarks of Civilization designer Sid Meier.
At the beginning, you are given a ship and a starting country. What you do next is up to you, but it is likely you will want to attack enemies. Or maybe you'd prefer to seduce, and eventually marry, the local governor's daughter by dancing and showering her with gifts? These aims and more are achieved through a series of mini-games.
For example, dancing is performed by responding to the on-screen directions, while fencing on the ship deck is an addictively straightforward you- thrust-I-parry affair. But while these mini-games are quite simplistic they fit in perfectly with the wider action. Pirates really is greater than the sum of its parts. The real pleasure is the open-ended feel, although it is more focused than the original PC title. Players are free to plunder the seas and explore, but the basic story - rescuing your kidnapped family - is easily returned to.
Pirates won't win any graphic or audio awards, but this is all about getting drawn into your character's world. Having the option to dance as well as duel helps widen the appeal. There are precious few games on the Xbox that make use of your brain and your brawn. Pirates does though, and for that reason alone it deserves a place in your game collection.
Greg Howson
Restore the faith
Worms 4: Mayhem
PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC, £29.99
Team 17/Codemasters, ***
Gamers of a certain age ought to be aware of Worms. This 10-year-old franchise, which concentrates on simple but satisfying gameplay, has sold a total of more than 9m units.
Nevertheless, Worms 4: Mayhem has a lot to prove. Its predecessor was the first attempt at a 3D version, and it was not a complete success; a recalcitrant camera and clunky worm movement meant it provided as much frustration as enjoyment, and left one yearning for the 2D games of yore.
Mayhem, happily, solves those problems to a large extent - it is now simplicity itself, for example, to trigger a top-down or first-person view, a helpful radar shows you where enemy worms are hidden and your worms no longer get stuck on almost imperceptible undulations in terrain.
The gameplay is still gloriously simple: your team takes it in turns to pick off enemy worms using a variety of amusing weaponry, and useful items such as ninja ropes and parachutes.
But despite new weapons (of which the Inflatable Scouser - which grabs enemy worms and floats into the sky before self-immolating or dropping them into the water - is the most amusing), new territory-based multiplayer modes and an editor that lets you create your own outlandish weaponry, the game feels a bit too similar to what has gone before.
At least the Xbox version can be played via Xbox Live. Devotees of the franchise will find that Mayhem restores their faith, but those who never developed a commitment will probably find the game underwhelming.
Steve Boxer
Feel the vibes
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Nintendo DS, £29.99
Ubisoft/Gameloft, **
One of the best things about Splinter Cell games is that they drop you into what feels like proper action rather than a handholding mission thinly disguised as training. There is training in Chaos Theory, but it is described as such and once you get into the proper stuff, you genuinely feel the cool and stealthy vibe of Sam Fisher.
Unfortunately, you feel somewhat less cool trying to get used to the way the controls have been adapted for the DS. Movement is done through the D-pad, while weapon changing, camera angle and aiming are done through the lower touch screen.
The game encourages you to be as stealthy as possible, but that's more because of the ungainliness of the controls than any genuine gameplay feature. Many of the problems arise if you get spotted by a guard, as it is quite tricky to turn and aim accurately without finding yourself running into a wall or floundering about.
The game's manual mentions two "mini games" but this basically means lock-picking (an easy trial-and-error game) and tapping numbers into a keypad. It is nice to see alarm levels back, which add an extra challenge, but a rather dodgy frame-rate and blocky graphics, mixed with cumbersome controls, don't do anything to recommend this adaptation.
Rhianna Pratchett
Top 5 games
PC
1. Battlefield 2
2. Half-Life 2
3. Guild Wars
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
5. The Sims 2
· Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, © 2005 Elspa (UK) Ltd
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