Deus Ex
PlayStation 2 £39.99 Ion Storm/Eidos ****
A PlayStation 2 conversion of a two-year-old PC game may not seem newsworthy, but Deus Ex is a title that deserves a wider audience. A genre-bending mix of first-person shooting (FPS) and role-playing (RPG), Deus offers an innovative, if, at times, frustrating, gaming experience. The graphics have been spruced up - although they are still only perfunctory - and the interface has been simplified, but this is otherwise the same game. You play JC Denton, an android caught in the middle of a futuristic government/terrorist punch-up. Despite the numerous sci-fi cliches, the plot remains engaging and integral to the game.

But, as before, it is the freedom to choose that most impresses. For example, in the first level you can either storm the front door or sneak around and find a quieter back entrance. This pattern is repeated throughout the game and becomes especially important when combined with the RPG elements.

Achieve your goals, and skill points are awarded that allow you to upgrade your character. Players can create computer-hacking, combat avoidance avatars or go for a gun-toting approach. Unfortunately, this aspect doesn't live up to its potential, with skill differences not really becoming necessary until the latter stages. Then there are the controls which can't match the accuracy of a mouse and keyboard.

But perseverance is rewarded by an engrossing gaming hybrid that makes up in design, atmosphere and player freedom what it lacks in looks. (GH)

FIFA World Cup 2002

Xbox/Gamecube £44.99 PlayStation 2 £39.99 PC £29.99 EA Sports ***
EA Sports' determination to squeeze every drop from its expensively acquired official Fifa licence always throws up World Cup-specific games, and leaves the company open to accusations of cashing in. Fifa World Cup 2002, at least, offers substantial alterations to Fifa 2002, which help to recover the ground lost to the superior Pro Evolution Soccer.

EA Sports has plagiarised one of its own games (the dire FA Premier League Stars) to introduce the concept of star players who have conspicuous strengths. Michael Owen, for example, has blistering pace and breathtaking shooting skill inside the area, and you can reproduce Beckham's curling free kicks.

Heading requires a single button press rather than a press-and-hold. EA Sports has also tried to improve the passing engine, which retains the trails showing off-the-ball runs. Although it is now infinitely better, it still compares unfavourably with Pro Evolution Soccer's passing.

For the first time in a foot ball game, faces modelled from digital photos look like their real-life counterparts, and the level of detail that has gone into the virtual reconstructions of the stadia and crowds (including country-specific chants) is impressive. A new "Beginner" difficulty level, designed to make the game accessible to novices, renders proceedings laughably easy for anyone who has played football.

Fifa World Cup 2002 is a step in the right direction for a once-great franchise, but all but the completists and Fifa fanatics will be better advised to save their money for Fifa 2003, which should benefit from EA Sports' realisation that it must start again from scratch. (SB)

Star Wars: Obi Wan

Xbox £45 LucasArts/ Microsoft ***
The Xbox has enjoyed a blistering array of games, but the honeymoon had to end. Unfortunately, it does with one of its biggest exclusives. Obi Wan caused howls of dismay when it was revealed it was not heading for the PC: now, perhaps, we understand why.

First impressions are promising, with an impressive sense of scale as your young Jedi begins his 15-level journey through events pre ceding the first movie (Episode 1). The sound is first class, full of stirring music. Even better, your main weapon - the mighty light-sabre - performs just as smoothly as you imagined, crackling with energy and deflecting laser blasts as it swings. All this is intelligently mapped to the controller, making combat and movement almost instinctive.

However, the first level sets the tone for the whole game; huge expanses are depressingly empty, then suddenly swarming with enemies that must be dispatched at regular intervals. Stealth is almost impossible to use as a strategy, and you soon get used to simply rushing at groups of enemies slashing wildly with your sabre (although other weapons are available). After a few levels you tire of the unhelpful camera, which makes random button presses just as effective in combat as proper fighting techniques. The graphics are nothing special and the missions overly scripted and reliant on regenerating enemies to add a false sense of longevity.

Star Wars fans will rush out and buy it as if under the influence of Jedi mind control. The rest will yearn for the far superior Jedi Knight 2 (PC) and wish that Microsoft had waited a few months and released a more accomplished title. Obi Wan is just an intriguing novelty - pretty much like the last movie, in fact. (MA)