~Recent Game Sightings GAMES I HAVE SEEN JUST LATELY By Lu Richardson Well, it's nearly Christmas. I have been looking at a number of CD games, in search of something original you would want as a present - but, folks, though I have seen some spiffing stuff, it's still all aimed at young men aged between 14 and 21. I can't imagine why, people that age can hardly said to have purchasing power. Nor is the entire population of game players formed exclusively by aggresive teenagers, come to that! Practically all the products which have passed through my hands are action oriented, with hardly any element of puzzle solving, heavy on the speed and with the only aim of killing and maiming. Now, I don't want to be a spoil-sport, but there are limits to the amount of that sort of repetition one can take. Yet, that's mostly all there is. Apart from the ever-popular driving, flying and sports simulations, I ought to say that two type of game formats seem to dominate the market to the exclusion of almost all else: Doom-style shoot'em ups and variations of the Civilization theme. I guess if you produce an outstandingly successful piece of entertainment such as Doom or Civilization, everyone is bound to want to jump on the bandwagon - that's why we keep seeing games which remind us of other games. The Doom clones can be straight violence or more complicated action adventure games, with the odd puzzle here and there. The Civilization clones all involve hidden territory and the aim is to conquer it with well thought-out strategy. The thing that beats me, and most of my other fellow gamesters, is why RPGs such as the Eye of the Beholder series, which had a tremendous following, and fun adventure games in the Monkey Island style, which were also very popular, seem to have been abandoned. Why, oh, why? Answers on a postcard, please. Anyway, here is a brief summary of some products I have seen lately. ALIEN ODYSSEY by Philips Great 3D graphics and animation, and that's about all that I can tell you. The game starts with a chase in which bombs are tossed at you (and which you have to avoid or shoot) and in which you have to destroy the guys ahead of you, but not your mate (who invariable gets between you and them, just as you have them in your sights). This chase on a bike of some sort, between the trees and rocks, might be very exciting, but A) you have no immediate means to see what damage you've sustained, B) it's the devil to control your craft, C) you don't seem to be able to follow to the left or right when the enemy turn that way. Oh, ah, and D) YOU try and avoid the obstacles in the middle of all this hassle! Although, from the introduction, you think you are going to solve some interesting problems, really it's mainly a 3D shoot'em up. Later one you get to control the character and exercise your brains a little, but altogether I wasn't terribly impressed - that's just me, 'cause I don't go for this sort of game. Others who like flying around and shooting things and people will love it. CRUSADER by Origin Now, here is a neat game, with all sorts of options, which rather reminded me of Little Big Adventure. The graphics are just too neat for words, though the animation is a little jerky for my liking. You have various missions to accomplish, all of which involve killing no end of guards (which regenerate if you leave a room and then come back, should you have the vague feeling that you left the iron on). Apart from the various people and robots who attack you, it's very nice to wander around and take in the wonderful detail of everything on the screen. I feel that this is one of those games which really grab you after a bit, you know, the sort that sucks you in before you know it. And the only thing I found awkward was the interface - by the time you've got your guy sorted and shooting in the right direction, he has taken a lot of damage. Nevertheless, I reckon this product will be very popular. Honestly. HEXEN Hey, what can I tell you, if you liked HERETIC as much as I did, then here is a worthy sequel. It's a little more difficult than HERETIC and slightly more complicated, plus you can choose to be one of three characters with different abilities. Whichever one you elect, though, you are in for the usual mayhem. Tremendous fun! Let it all hang out and go for it! DUNE II Sorry to take you back to this one - the thing is that I had never played this game till I heard that Command & Conquer was very similar to it. So I had a bash and found that it was even better than Command & Conquer, and that you could play with three different slants instead of just the two (goodies, baddies and in-between). Those of you who have just enjoyed C&C and haven't experienced Dune II might like to know that... Copyright (c) 1995 Eurowave Leisure Ltd.