SOS: The Final Escape
PlayStation 2 £39.99 Big BenInteractive/Irem ****
SOS: The Final Escape has cult classic written all over it. A gripping premise - escape from earthquake-ridden city - is combined with brain- over-brawn gameplay and flawed graphics.
Although not in Ico's class, SOS does have a similar feel of player isolation, with the environment the main obstacle to success. Although SOS has many elements of the survival horror genre - puzzle solving, inventory management, dodgy controls, laughable cut-scenes - this is no Resident Evil clone. Here, falling masonry and crumbling bridges have replaced zombies and spooky mansions. The entire city feels alive, with each aftershock dynamically affecting the surroundings. Unfortunately, the linearity of proceedings can be stifling with only one way to solve the puzzles. This can dissipate the atmosphere. You want to avoid the crumbling ruins ahead. The game won't let you until you've rummaged endlessly through your rucksack.
Both the controls and visuals feel raw, lacking in the polish of bigger budget releases. A horrendous camera and overcomplicated inventory system don't help. But look past the unpolished graphics and you've got a gaming slow burner that will grip those who give it a chance. (GH)
Dark Angel
Xbox, PlayStation 2 £44.99 Vivendi Universal ***
The games industry's relationship with the world of television is nowhere near as cosy as its relationship with the movies: popular TV series usually have to prove themselves before being turned into games. But Dark Angel suggests that, just possibly, a cosier relationship may develop between the two.
Originally a Fox TV series conceived by Titanic director James Cameron, Dark Angel was canned after two seasons. The suddeness of its demise would suggest that the TV original was, to put it charitably, unimpressive, but the game is decent enough. It is a third-person adventure that would have been pitched as: "Buffy meets Metal Gear Solid". In a post-apocalyptic Seattle, you play genetically engineered female super-soldier Max, who embarks on a variety of missions involving avoiding the sinister powers that be and hooking up with her peers.
The gameplay involves a combination of stealth and hand-to-hand combat, plus moderately imaginative use of found objects. The game's graphics are very impressive, as are Max's moves and abilities. You can, for example, set about groups of assailants by grabbing one and throwing him at his colleagues.
Dark Angel cannot be said to break any new ground, but it is pretty satisfying to play, and should please fans of the TV series which, judging by the number of its fan-sites on the web, has something of a cult following. Like most games, its script and voice-acting has an air of naffness, yet the action makes up for that. Maybe that was what killed the TV programme, though. Could this be the first game to outshine the small-screen original that spawned it? (SB)
Unreal 2
PC £34.99 Legend/Atari *****
Given the first person shoot-em-up (FPS) was the PC's first native genre, which started in 1992 with ID's Wolfenstein 3D, it has stood relatively still for the past year. In fact, the FPS has been waiting for a killer ap since Medal of Honor - and now it finally seems to have one.
Unreal 2 is a grand-scale game that combines dramatic set-pieces with the kind of instinctive gameplay for which the franchise is already well known online. It also regularly surprises you: one minute you're all alone waiting for the next swarm of terrifying beasties to attack, the next, you are given intelligent colleagues or mechs for defence and have to choose how quickly you sacrifice them to save your own skin.
Weapons come in a baffling variety of forms, most with a dual firing mode and all incredibly instinctive to use. Enemies are drawn and animated with great skill, with Boss characters making a welcome return to the fold and providing a tense challenge to overcome.
On the negative side, this is a resolutely solo experience, with no opportunities for hooking up with mates to test out some of the great weaponry. However, given the Unreal Tournament 2003 has been on sale for a few months, this redresses the balance.
So is it a classic? Certainly, it's the finest FPS on the shelves right now. Stunningly beautiful and always imaginative, it manages to surpass most of what went before without necessarily making an indelible mark on the future. Doom 3 is out later in the year and could well stick in the mind more firmly, despite being a very different experience. Until then, though, Unreal 2 is the man - and, on a nostalgic note, it's nice to see a quality game bearing the once-mighty Atari label. (MA)
