Pushed to limit as 'Quake' hits 'Jurassic Park'

By Peter Eley

Turok 2

Acclaim

N64

M $129.95

Although the N64 lives in the shadow of the PlayStation, the quality of games such as Turok 2 and Goldeneye means it's not about to roll over and go to Silicon Heaven just yet.

Turok 2 is an excellent game, although probably not quite as good as Goldeneye in terms of gameplay, especially the multi-player death-match mode, which is probably used more than the mission-based option.

Turok 2's graphics make full use of the Nintendo's 64-bit capability and are possibly the best yet on a home-console system. Plug in a 4Mb Ram expansion pack and they rival those on a Voodoo-capable PC.

The sound, too, is good, with blood-curdling screams and darkly atmospheric music.

Add a nicam stereo hometheatre system with at least a 29-inch television and you're in for the ultimate gaming experience.

But Turok 2 is more than mere eye candy: it's also a sophisticated and demanding game that pushes the player to the limit.

A first-person shooter, the enemies are humanised dinosaurs - Quake meets Jurassic Park, if you like.

Like almost all similar games, the plot is tortuous and not overly relevant to the action: kill or be killed is the rule.

However, one of the beauties of Turok 2 is the immense number of weapons you get to go about your mission. There are more than 20 available - ranging from a humble dagger to a bow, and rising in deadliness to mine-layers and grenade-launchers.

But the ultimate weapon, and the one you'll need to defeat dino-monsters in the later stages of the game, is a nuclear cannon.

One sticking point is that Turok 2 is hard. Although usually logical, ways out of situations are not always obvious and your enemies have a habit of attacking quickly with quite startling ferocity.

Best to choose the easy option until you gain more confidence.

West Front

Talonsoft

PC

G $109.95

Talonsoft have carved out a niche with their Campaign Series - turn-based simulations of real battles, such as Waterloo, Gettysburg, and Napoleon's invasion of Russia, to name but three in the series.

West Front is based on the Second World War conflict between the Allies and the Axis in Europe and North Africa from 1941 to 1944. They are similar to Microsoft's Close Combat series and will appeal to the same audience - older, educated, professional, with an interest in military history. Such people will have heard of Rommel and Montgomery - Desert Fox and Monty to the initiated - and will know that Patton was an American general, not something used to knit woolly jumpers.

Campaign games are not for casual players and have a steep learning curve. If anything, they are harder to get into than the Close Combat series, but probably more rewarding in the long run.

The players' guide is a daunting 254 pages and most of it is taken up with instructions. This is a serious game for serious gamers - light on graphics, heavy on reality.

It's the sort of game you buy and play until you die, or until you finish it - whichever comes first.

Required: Pentium 133, Win95/98, 16Mb Ram.

* Send your comments e-mail peter_eley@herald.co.nz