Severance: Blade of Darkness
PC 29.99 Codemasters ****
Codemasters has released Severance: Blade of Darkness, but convincing occasional PC gamers of its merits is proving difficult.
"Yes," I keep saying, "videogames have changed." Gone are the days when little Billy fought goblins in his bedroom. Now it is all interior furnishings with The Sims and ironic body popping to Dancing Stage. But it is too late. They've seen Severance on the monitor and gaming appears guilty as charged.
"OK, so the game is a fantasy hack'n'slash affair that prides itself on its gory content, but it does have original features." I'm getting desperate now.
"For example, if you fancy a change from swinging your sword then you can simply pick up a freshly severed arm to club the baddie. Great, eh?"
Silence.
"Er, well, what about the lighting, then? Look at that torch flickering, and see how the shadows dance on the dungeon wall."
A murmur of approval.
"Gorgeous, isn't it. Fancy a go now?" I know the stunning visuals will tempt them. "The controls are simple. Double- clicking the mouse makes you run, while pressing the tab key makes you target the enemy and, er, yes, a joypad would be far more enjoyable to use. But don't worry about the clumsy keys: after a little practice you'll be thrusting and parrying like a veteran."
However, one look at the character selection screen, complete with Tukaram the Barbarian and Naglfar the Dwarf, and they seem to lose heart.
"Yes, I know it's fantasy cliche, but give it a chance."
They leave.
It seems that innovative combat and some of the most impressive PC graphics ever are not enough. A shame, as Severance is too good for just the hardcore fraternity. (GH)
Kingdom Under Fire
PC £29.99 Phantagram **
Few genres have been flogged to death so viciously as the RTS (real time strategy) game. For the past five years, publishers have been banging out games about mining resources, building lots of tanks and charging headlong at the enemy, but significant advances over the original Command & Conquer remain few and far between.
Kingdom Under Fire attempts to bring a touch of role-playing to the mix, by including heroes who can be dispatched on individual quests to accumulate some of the 60 or so magical spells. In theory, protecting these units adds another level to the gameplay. Sadly, with KUF, the extra weight is enough to bring the whole structure tumbling down.
For a start the graphics are small and only viewable in a single 2D resolution. Admittedly, they do improve later on, with flying dragons making for some thrilling aerial bombardments, but this is still not a patch on Total Annihilation: Kingdoms, itself badly flawed and now more than two years old.
Worse still is a fiddly interface where mouse clicks are frequently ignored and every skirmish turns into a prolonged struggle against the intelligence of your own men. If units are cornered, they often refuse to retreat or fall over each other. Your heroes thus become all important and, with no mid-level save, later missions almost encourage you to slaughter your own men in order to gain extra hero experience.
In fairness, some of these problems have already been fixed with a patch and the game is keenly priced. But KUF is still a hotch-potch of half-developed ideas from a newish developer too influenced by the Warcraft titles.
More seriously, the RTS is fast going the way of the platform game: a popular genre being used far too often to prop up sub-standard ideas. Yes, you could level similar criticism at mega-hits like Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2, but at least these were executed with panache. Style over substance can often be forgiven; having neither is a bit harder to swallow. (MA)
Tokyo Highway Challenge 2
Sega Dreamcast £39.99 Genki/Ubi Soft ***
Boy racers start here. Soup up your boxy Japanese car with a custom plate, decals, new bumpers and spoilers, and a range of performance tweaks. Then you can hit the roads, flashing your headlights at other drivers, challenging them to short races. You can spend the winnings on improving your car, eventually buying less brick-like models.
The tweaking is great and takes place on screen in real time: change the wheels on the spec and the wheels change on the car. You can also design your own decals.
The use of shadows and specular reflections means the game sometimes looks great, though all the racing takes place in the dark on boring flyovers or in boring tunnels on boring urban expressways. Japanese road signs and markings add the merest touch of glamour to what is otherwise a dull scene. Basically there's only one track, and it is not very long.
Unfortunately, the racing is not very exciting, and there is not even a two-player mode to rescue what quickly becomes a samey game.
The other problem with Genki's game is that what was original when the first version appeared on the Sony PlayStation looks much less striking now. Games such as Metropolis Street Racer and F355 Challenge mean urban driving is not the novelty it was. Nor are high-resolution car graphics, reflections and motion blur enough to sustain long-term interest, especially if they are the reason the action sometimes slows almost to a halt.
This isn't a bad game, by any means. It is just not good enough. (JS)
