~Eight Game Reviews This compilation of reviews obtained off the Internet. A little old but I'm sure most of these games are available on budget label now. Oh, please note the author of these reviews is oviously American. ` 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 `Vol2. � Software Review � ` � by Gabor G. Laufer, M.D. � ` 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 During the last couple of years the software market is being flooded by CD based programs. I find it hard to keep track, so I read as many reviews as I can before buying a game. Unfortunately the "professional" reviewers seldom get to test a game in depth, thus even the magazine reviews sometimes "miss". I buy many games, I play many games, I play a lot and I decided to share some of my experiences with you. Games reviewed here: Noctropolis, Cyberia, Cyberrace, Megarace, Lost in Time, FIFA International Soccer, Under a Killing Moon, Sherlock Holmes ~旼컴컴컴컴컴컴� ~� Noctropolis � ~읕컴컴컴컴컴컴� Weird is the best way to describe this game. If you are a cartoon freak, this game is for you (too bad I am not). Seriously, the game has it's moments, good still graphics are intermixed with stamp size videos (the one they promise will be banned by FDA, DEA and all government agencies....just kiddin' Again, if you have the "thing" for weird, this game is weird as it comes. Now, you better have good eyes, because while the graphics are very high-res, well detailed, the programmers made a point of making things tiny and as invisible as possible on the screen what you supposed to find. It is one of the "challenge" to find what is on the screen. I don't like this type of challenge, but you may. Music is so so, sound is acceptable but far from great. If you are bored of traditional adventure games, buy this. But if you don't have Under a Killing Moon....well....you may want to postpone it. ~旼컴컴컴컴� ~� Cyberia � ~읕컴컴컴컴� CD-ROM based game by Interplay. Advertised as "better than Rebel Assault and 7th Guest" Opinion: No, it isn't. Cyberia is an interesting mismatch between various parts of the game. There is a "Rebel Assault" type flying-shooting sequence, which is indeed spectacular. It is high speed, photo-realistic, exciting, great voice/sound, almost as if you were there, sitting in a fighter plane, looking out the real world on a mission. It is quite playable because at the beginning of the game the "arcade difficulty level" can be set, so everybody can match his or her own skill. This part of the game is indeed better than I have seen, yes it is even better than Rebel Assault. Unfortunately this sequence is only a relatively short part of the game. The rest is a dumb adventure game with some moments of equally dumb shooting. The puzzles are far cry from 7th Guest, or almost any of in this class. The greatest "puzzle" is to figure out which key does what. The authors of the game may have intended an "intelligent interface", but something totally different came out of it. The keys function depending of the situation. If, for example, the "hero" of the game can go only forward and backward, the left and right arrow flips the character 180 degrees. If there is three way intersection, the arrow keys will flip the character 120 degrees. The up arrow sometimes acts as a "go forward", sometimes acts as a "look at the puzzle" key. Even that would be okay, if there wouldn't be scenes where it is time-critical to know which key will do what. For example, there is a scene where there is only 1.2 seconds to shoot three characters. Even if you succeed, and you even figure out that the down arrow will "hide" your character, seconds later you get blown away by additional characters who show up. You are supposed to shoot them too, but from the angle of your character and the others, it is impossible to logically figure out which key will do exactly what. And you have only fractions of seconds before you die and reload, just to go through the same aggravation again. I was sitting and wondering: just exactly what type of challenge am I facing? Logic? Hardly. Skill? Not by a long shot, only pure luck can lead to get all the characters on the screen. Other puzzles are only slightly better. In other words, the adventure part of Cyberia is plain lousy. If Interplay wants to create a great seller, they should expand upon the flying scene and make a full blown arcade game out of it. The characters are futuristic looking human size "puppets". Or whatever they really are, they don't look human. The sound is so so. During the flying sequence it is good. I had the distinct impression that the flying sequence was both designed and programmed by different people from those who created the adventure sequences. Of course I can be wrong. There is a touch of class in the save-load function. Once a sequence is completed, it is automatically saved. When loading is invoked, small pictures on the screen indicate the beginning of the given sequence, with the cursor a frame can be moved over the picture and pressing ENTER quickly reloads the game. However... Overall: Unless you have money to burn, even the spectacular flying sequence, the well behaving save-load doesn't quite justify the purchase of this game. ~旼컴컴컴컴컴� ~� CyberRace � ~읕컴컴컴컴컴� The game is a sick joke. Isn't worth reviewing it. Just don't buy it. ~旼컴컴컴컴커 ~� Megarace � ~읕컴컴컴컴켸 First appears mediocre, but this game can grow on you. It is a futuristic car race, or rather it is the "TV broadcast" of a futuristic car race. Your host, the obnoxious "King Cool" is in a way cool. Too bad that after a few games you know what he will say, so you will SPACE to continue. But he gives a unique framework to the actual game. It kind of makes it FEEL realistic (opposed to LOOK). You start the race by selecting a car. They have different characteristics, which actually manifest during the game. During the race you are looking your car from "behind", while at the bottom of the screen there are some dials, indicators. Their role however, is rather secondary. The challenge is to outrun and/or destroy other cars on the road. It is the "road" which makes this game unique. The "3D-like" scenario fuses the road with it's surrounding and they all move together, giving a very enjoyable dynamic "being there" feel. There are many different roads, both in look and layout. The road surface contain items you can run over and pick up, other markings which can slow your car down, speed it up, make it swerve, slide and many other things. As you progress from one road to another, the road surface challenge gradually increasing in difficulty. The controls are easy to handle, the sound is good, the game is very playable, the graphics are "spectacular" without actually being spectacular, they are "just right" for this game. You can save and load a game, thus you don't have to start from the beginning if you don't want to, even if you eventually "die". Together with the scoring, this is a very decent arcade game. Worth the money. ~旼컴컴컴컴컴컴커 ~� Lost in Time � ~읕컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 20 minutes into the game I got lost in time. The game hung. I tried all the recommended settings by Sierra. The game hung again. I tried Sierra's technical support. It is automated, no humans will come to the phone and of course my problem was not addressed. I tried Sierra BBS. I left several messages, I waited over three weeks, nobody bothered to respond. So, I just returned the game. Sierra became too successful and too arrogant. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, apparently I solved the "mystery", which was partially my fault. Only partially. At installation time the program allows to pick only a drive, doesn't allow to pick the "usual directory of your choice". So, I moved the entire game to the directory of my choice, thinking that if it inappropriate the game will not work. But it did. For 20 minutes. Then it hung, giving no error message whatsoever. Finally I put back the game to the "forced" directory. It did work there. Now, you can imagine I anxiously waited for the "real action". Forget it. The game is lame as it can come. The "company" uses the same interface they used in the incredible Inca I (and in the pathetic Inca II). You are girl who got lost in time. She doesn't know where she is, and why she is there. Neither can the player. You aimlessly trying to solve moronic puzzles. I mean moronic. Listen to this. There is one scene where there is door you can't open. There is another scene where there is an elevator. Now, if you could simply go from one scene to there other, if they would be seemingly near to each other, I could understand. But they are not, at least if they are it is far from obvious. What you have in your inventory is a garden hose. Which as it happens you can screw to the faucet in the garden. But that is NOT what the hose is for, at least not at this stage. You have to figure out the following truly unlogical correlation: Tie the garden hose to the door know you can open. Go to that other scene where the elevator is. Tie the other end of the hose to the rail of the elevator. Press the elevator button. Supposedly the elevator will pull the garden hose and rip the door open. In real life? Fat chance. The moronic nature of this adventure doesn't stop here. The most irritating feature is, that you can use items from your inventory in a totally logical way, just to find out later that that was not their intended use. If you think you can go back and recover the item, you are wrong. You have to go back hours of work, reload from where you "misused" the item and start all over. Now, that is a structural error which should never happen in any worthwhile adventure game, and it happens in this one several times. After having had to restart again, after 2 hours of work, I just threw back this program to the pile never to be touched again. ~旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 ~� FIFA International Soccer � ~읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 This game got some good reviews. It certainly wasn't checked by people who knew soccer real well. If you are familiar with soccer, the greatest aggravation is waiting for you. This game is the most irritating mismatch between "looks, sound" and the actual game value, gaming enjoyment. As you open and install the game, the first sight and sound is pretty. The movement of the players are very realistic, the sound (the digitized crowd noise and actual voice broadcast) makes it sound like you would be really there, the different options to play (exhibition, kind of round robin and world cup type tournament) are well designed and you have the impression that you have one of the best game in your hands. Not so. One thing you can learn from this game is how to rig a soccer match. Because clearly, that is what's happening. After a few games it becomes more and more clear that your actions, skill has little if any influence on the outcome. It becomes more and more clear that if the program "decides" that you will score, believe me you will. Even if it is a ridiculous shot from 63 meters, it will be a goal. But far more often when the program "decides" that you won't score, believe me you won't. Not even if you come up with the most amazing combinations, shots from as close as 5 meter, not even if you end up bombarding the computer opponent's goal keeper as many as 40-50 times. I don't know why the programmers did that, but it is likely so the game will LOOK exciting. The level of "rigging" is to the point where I actually learned to predict which team will score next. If it is not "your turn" to score, the ball will bounce toward your territory sometimes against all known laws of physics, and when you get more than one free kick against your team within 30 seconds, might as well go and eat your dinner, you are doomed to get a goal. So, no matter how realistic this game looks and sounds, if you are familiar with soccer, this game is pure aggravation, because the score depends on some warped "plan" of the programmers and not your skill. --------------------------------------------------------------------- For all fairness: I got some feedback from other users. They think FIFA soccer is great. Well, I guess you can enjoy this game, if you don't REALLY know the game of soccer. ~旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 ~� Under a Killing Moon � ~읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 A truly spectacular production. It comes on 4 CDs and it is one of the best, if not the best multimedia adventure game I have ever played. I am very critical, but I couldn't come up with any fault. The story line is very well written excellent science fiction novel. The game has "atmosphere". You not only play the role of Tex Murphy P.I., you do feel like Tex. He is funny and his "P.I. humor" permeates the entire game. The adventure game features are thoroughly logical, not too difficult, but not too easy either, just right. The music/sounds are appropriate to the given situation, pleasant, and part of the "atmosphere". The graphics are great. You hear a lot of claims about "virtual reality" (which of course is not possible without stereoscopic 3D vision), but if there was one game which got real near to the effect, this is it. In this game the "virtual reality like" effect is not only parts of the game, but the entire game happens in moving 3D-like surrounding. There is a complete built in help system, so if you get stuck you don't have to order hint books, you don't have to call BBSs for help files, you just have to click and it is all there. Even the help system was perfectly designed, you can't get a hint you don't want to see. If you like multimedia type adventure games, interactive movies, good music, good story line, appropriate humor, 3D-like environment, the type of program which makes you feel "to be there", UKM is probably the best of it's kind today on the market. Extremely highly recommended. ~旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 ~� Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective I II III � ~읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 This game is almost history. But you may have missed it and you shouldn't. It was one of the first multimedia game with full motion video. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it is authentic, you DO feel like you are Sherlock Holmes, the stories and the puzzles are perfectly logical, no nonsense clues, everything fits together if you have the mind for it. Each CD has three independent case to be solved. The voices are NOT choppy even on a slow 386. The video is fluid and the synchron is perfect. Several games came after this one with terrible video and sound and I was always wondering how come they didn't follow the technology this company used. The gaming value is tremendous. These were selling for $55 each. Now I have seen them all three for $19.95 I don't think you can buy that much good game for that little, perhaps ever. Very highly recommended.