~Games Coming Soon Compiled by Martin Keen With Christmas fast approaching the computer industry has got itself into a games releasing frenzy, all hoping their products will find their way into your Christmas stockings. So all the big names were at the ECTS show recently to show off their wares. Here's a preview of some of the hottest games to be released within the next few months: ~MAGIC CARPET 2 - Bullfrog - Due Out: Now Bullfrog have an superb history when it comes to producing quality games. Last year Magic Carpet was the biggest seller over the Christmas period, and now they're hoping to do it again. But recently there have been suggestions of Bullfrog cashing it on its Magic Carpet game engine. High Octane used the same system but was a car racing game - unfortunately nobody seemed to realise that the car wheels would need to touch the ground but the game was released anyway. Will the sequel consist of just a few tweaks or will it be a genuinely different game? The information we've managed to maintain remains inconclusive. You'll find new landscape effects and new creatures, and a completely new set of spells available to cast. But none of these seems to significantly add to the gameplay over the original. No doubt Bullfrog will have this one looking great but the jury is still out as to whether it's going to be a worthy sequel. ~FATAL RACING - Gremlin - Due Out: October There are a whole load of racing games coming out over the next few months but one of the first to hit the shelves is going to be Gremlins Fatal Racing. Its kinda a Stunt Car Racing for the 90's. Loops, jumps, ramps and even corkscrews come into play in this 3D romp. It all aims to be as realistic as possible with state of the art graphics but don't believe everything you see. Just about all the screenshots you'll see for this game are from the SVGA mode, but unless you've got a Pentium you're not going to be able to use it. Instead the VGA mode is a pixel-fest. Quite franky it looks a mess. The Amiga was producing clearer graphics than this in 1985. But after the disappointment of the graphics this game has a lot going for it. There's the chance to play a 16 race championship in a 16 player network should you find a suitable computer setup. There are also 8 different cars on offer all from 8 different car companies. And the Artificial Intelligence has been cranked right up for added realism. With so much competition on its way Fatal Racing is going to have to be pretty good but as far as release dates go its in Pole Position. ~NORMALITY INC. - Gremlin - Due Out: November The Gremlin press release given at the ECTS does its best to skip the rather important subject of Normality Inc.'s genre. Its one of these CD-ROM extravaganzas with fancy graphics that just about take the form of a graphic adventure. In most games of this type the adventure part always seems to be an afterthought that has been added in once all the graphics have been finished. Hopefully this one won't be anything like that. Normality Inc. is set in a 3D environment that allows total freedom of movement. There's no moving along preset paths as in The 7th Guest here. You'll find 120 locations to explore as you watch your on screen character move around with the help of motion capture. It should lead to some pretty smooth movement. Thrown in for good measure are over 100 FMV scenes which always add so much to a game's budget but so little to its gameplay. Maybe just for once graphics and gameplay can successfully be combined in a rendered adventure game. ~ACTUA SOCCER - Gremlin - Due Out: October The big selling point of this impressive looking football game is England goalie Chris Woods has been motioned captured to make the computer drawn keeper's moves look realistic. Umm, excuse me here. ENGLAND goalkeeper Chris Woods ?!? Five years ago maybe! If we forget about that everything else seems very impressive indeed. All the outfield players have been motioned captured too thanks to the movements of Andy Sinton and Graham Hyde. And here's where Actua Soccer really gets one over on its main rival FIFA Soccer - they've enlisted the commentary of Barry Davies, the man who did both the World Cup and FA Cup finals. That beats Tony Gubba anyday! This game will also have a co-commentator in the Andy Gray mould who will give general comments on how the game is going. Graphically the game uses the same engine as Fatal Racing which means although the action can be played in 3D the sprites pixelate badly unless you've got a Pentium handy to run the SVGA mode. But that aside there are the whole host of moves available: everything from Matt Le Tissier style shots [MATTY FOR ENGLAND!] to players taking Klinsmann type dives. Camera angles can be placed anywhere to capture the action as the 44 real international teams compete. Look out for a '5 players on one PC' option too. Overall Actua Soccer looks set to be the new footie king but unfortunately for Gremlin EA's FIFA 96 with Virtual Stadium is just around the corner. ~SENSIBLE WORLD OF SOCCER - Sensible Software - Due Out: November As the computer industry evolves Sensible Software are getting further and further off the pace. In this day of true 3D and CD-ROM Sensible still vow to stick with their tiny character sprites and back dated graphics. This one is no change either. When the original Sensible Soccer came out it scored highly with magazine reviews but couldn't compete with Kick Off 2 and Goal as far as most gamesplayers were concerned. The sequel offers nothing more than a few tweaks to the game engine; most of the improvements have been concentrated in building up a management option. There are 1,400 clubs, 131 national sides, and 24,000 players to choose from which is about as comprehensive as possible but once you get playing its back to those tiny graphics. Sensible desperately need to keep up with the times - this one is laughably behind Actua Soccer and FIFA 96. ~Z - Bitmap Brothers - November Basically its more or less Dune 2 brought up to date. This one features robot soldiers with indiviual personalities apparently so each needs to be treated differently. Get it right and they'll fight for you but mess up and they will run a mile instead of go into battle. There are modem, network, and serial links allowing up to 4 players to play at once which should add significantly to the gameplay. There is also the promise of CD speech and music too. As good as it sounds there are three words which make all of this obsolete... Command And Conquer! ~BAD DAY ON MIDWAY - Inscape - Due Out: November This is the follow up to the little known but particually weird Residents Freak Show. Its again features the musical talents of Californian band The Residents in an off-the-wall adventure. Its almost impossible to describe so if you want a real taste of this game try to get hold of a demo. It all boils down to solving puzzles and listening to (what can loosely be described as) music. Who knows what to make of it all. Probably set to take a cult following.