Salt Lake 2002
PlayStation 2 £39.99 PC £29.99 ATD/Eidos **
You have to feel a bit sorry for any game based on a licence as unexciting as this. The Winter Olympics have always lacked the glamour of their summer equivalent.
Despite the antics of Eddie the Eagle, Brits have never taken to snowy sports and this videogame is unlikely to change opinions. Based on the upcoming games, Salt Lake 2002 recreates six events, including downhill skiing and bobsleigh. Initially, it all looks promising.
The visuals are crisp and cold, while the commentary and presentation are spot on. However, there are only six events. Yes, 17 years after Winter Games on the Commodore 64 - which had 10 events on a tape-loading 64k computer - Salt Lake 2002 only offers six. This would have been excusable if each one was diverse and varied.
Unfortunately, the two skiing events are mediocre, while a third downhill event replaces skis with a snowboard to little effect. SSX fans tempted by tricks on the freestyle aerial event will be disappointed. Only the bobsleigh and the ski jump offer any real thrills. The bobsleigh in particular is well done, simulating the speed and insanity of two people plummeting down an icy tube. The saving grace should be the multiplayer mode but even this is mainly turn-based rather than split screen. There is some fun to be had in going for Olympic gold. But even if the Winter Olympics are essential viewing for you, the game itself will mainly disappoint. A ho-hum licence and lack of events mean Salt Lake 2002 barely scrapes bronze. (GH)
Monsters, Inc: Scare Island
PlayStation 2 £25 Disney/Sony **
If you have booked a seat for next week's release of Disney's Monsters, Inc, the latest computer-animated film from Pixar, then you are a target for the game of the film. If you want something stimulating, however, you - or your kids - are not going to get excited about this one. Monsters, Inc: Scare Island is a simple 3D platform game, similar to Spyro the Dragon.
But where the Spyro games were cute, colourful and challenging enough for the 12-30 age group, Scare Island is a plodder. This may mean it is accurately targeted at the under 10s, but I suspect even they will get through it pretty quickly. The plot is straightforward. You play either of two monsters, Sulley or Mike. Your task is to collect lots of green, primordial ooze until your power level is high enough to scare a nerve to death. This isn't a bad game. It just isn't as rich or imaginative or innovative as the games Sega and Nintendo were doing a decade ago with Mario. Now that's scary. (JS)
Dark Age of Camelot
PC £19.99 Wanadoo ***
Dark Age of Camelot draws on a mish-mash of Arthurian legend, Celtic folklore and Norse mythology. This online role-playing game has the advantage over standard Dungeons & Dragons fare of introducing familiar locations such as Hadrian's Wall or the land of Beowulf and replacing the ridiculous names found in most RPG such as EverQuest. There's no proper story, although you do get to team up with other players and go on the usual quests, as well as join sieges and battles against other players.
But online RPGs are not about becoming lost in a complex bit of fiction. They are about dressing up in robes and silly hats without anyone seeing your face. They're about hacking away at monsters with no other purpose than gathering experience and making your character stronger. And, most of all, they're about pretending to be a dwarf and sitting down to chat for hours with someone pretending to be an elf.
As with all online games, newcomers will find it an intimidating experience at first, especially because this one has been out in the States for some months now. But Camelot has certainly thrown its rather shiny gauntlet into the online arena. EverQuest's days of domination could finally be over. (MH)
