That old black magic
Faust Cryo PC CD-rom £29.99
Atlantis 2 Cryo PC CD-rom £29.99
One unfortunate consequence of the regular increases in graphical and processing power is that some gaming genres get prematurely retired. Take 2D platform games for example.
Castlevania, on the PlayStation, was a superb title whose charms were widely ignored by a 3D-obsessed audience, and it's the same with point and click adventure titles.
The genre - developed by Lucasarts in the late 80s, and including classics like Monkey Island - has become increasingly overlooked by publishers, despite the sophistication of recent offerings such as Grim Fandango. Sad news indeed for anyone who enjoyed the style and wit of Guybrush Threepwood and co.
Bucking this trend, however, French developer Cryo has released two new adventures. The first, Faust, is set in an eerie theme park called Dreamland. As an emissary from above, your task is to listen to a motley bunch give their life-stories while assessing their suitability for entrance to the afterlife.
Progress is made by finding objects, solving puzzles and moving your cursor wildly round the screen in the search for hotspots - areas with which you can interact. These can often be annoyingly sensitive and cause the main problem in an atmospheric, if slightly odd, adventure.
Atlantis2 is a slower paced, Myst-style yarn involving sibling rivalry, set across some beautifully-drawn global landscapes. The authentic information about these areas does veer worryingly into infotainment territory while the solemnity of proceedings will be off-putting for Lucasarts veterans.
However, the puzzle-heavy nature will enthrall cerebral gamesplayers and there is plenty of scope for extensive beard scratching.
While neither title is perfect, their very existence will satisfy adventurers everywhere, and raise hopes of similar titles in the future. (GH)
Cartman and carts
South Park Rally Sony PlayStation £39.99 Tantalus Interactive/Acclaim
Hitting cows is no problem, but the snowploughs can flip you over, and being hit by a school bus is no joke. Or rather, it is a joke in South Park Rally, which is not big on realism. Or graphics. Or plotting.
The story is that, every year, South Park holds a race round snow-covered local streets and roads. South Park Rally lets you compete as Cartman, Stan, Kyle, Kenny or another character - there are 27 available. Foul play is almost obligatory, and various levels have a wide range of weapons and hazards. The action can get frantic.
But the graphics are crude, on the PlayStation, and the sound effects - characters making typical quips - are repetitive. These don't encourage you to keep going with what is quite a hard game, and you have to earn all the extra tracks and features: as a beginner, you get only one. There is a two-player mode that, even on the arcade level, can be fun. (The forthcoming PC, Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 versions will all support four players.)
South Park Rally is the best South Park game so far, but that's not saying much. There are a lot better games on the market, even in the post-Christmas slump. (JS)
Cannon fodder
Spec Ops II: US Green Berets Zombie/Take 2/Ripcord
Spec Ops: US Army Rangers, released in 1998, was a deserved hit: simple to pick up, well balanced, and often gripping. As the first team combat strategy title, it was ground-breaking, too.
In the interim, we've had Rainbow Six, Commandos, and Hidden & Dangerous... but to look at Spec Ops II, you wouldn't know it. Sure, it has more features -multiplayer capability, new weapons, dynamic lighting and music - but these have generally conspired to make the game more cumbersome.
As well as mouse commands, there are no fewer than 44 keys to keep track of. Why does the "use item" command need to be assigned to a different key from "open door"? Why can't the flashlight be incorporated into the inventory? As a highly trained US army officer, you're more likely to be undone by your typing skills than you are by poor strategy or slow reflexes.
The character models are singularly unattractive. This bunch of squaddies would have trouble pulling at a disco.
Of all the myriad camera angles, there isn't one from which it's easy to pick out your target except sniper mode, where you can't see anything but. And don't rely on your teammates to get you out of a sticky situation: chances are they'll have thrown themselves under the nearest enemy truck five seconds into the mission.
On the plus side, gameplay is smooth enough, and the sound effects are invariably spot on. But all in all, this is not a game that will be winning any medals. (AB)
