SCANNER
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Games and Internet
PLAYSTATION World League Soccer
98 (Eldos) £30 * ~ “-
WLS98: own goal
Wrth software shops (urrently ('onstru( trng extensions to house the plague of football games destendrng on the PlayStation, Erdos release therr effort \‘vrth the sort of bravado that tomes from never havrng heard the term 'market saturatron’
Strrtt FIFA regulations ensure that rnrtral attempts at game-play disappear rn a flurry of (ards and early baths. If you do keep eleven players on the freld for any length of trme, you'll frnd yourself playrng the ktnd of 'one l()tI( h football' pioneered by Konamr's ISS Pro Gamers famrlrar wnh that (lassrt wrll frnd nothing new on show here, extept perhaps a |d( k of goals And exutement In fatt, storing (an be suth a Hert ulean task that you’ll be erlrng your strrkers to take a drve rn the hope of getting a penalty. All the motron (aptured graphrts tn the world (an't make up
PLAYSTATION Everybody's Golf (SCEE) £34.99 ~ ~ r
Note the title. Promising universal appeal and a pick-up-and~p|ay quality, Everybody's Golf delivers to a tee. This fun-packed golfing sim has already shifted 1.5 million copies in Japan and it‘s easy to see why: simple techniques and attractive graphics drag this out of the tedious realm of authentic sporting simulation and into the day-glo world of post-pub entertainment.
Golfing sims are usually about as enjoyable as being beaten about the head with a five iron, a problem largely due to frustrating emphasis on realism. Everybody’s Golf avoids such sandtraps with a
simplistic control system (hit a button once for power and again for accuracy) and anti-realistic Manga-style graphics. No dodgy motion-captured Colin Montgomery for Sony's baby, instead you get cool Japanese teenagers with punk hair or tartan mini-skirts.
You begin with access to one character and one course, although you can ultimately access ten characters and five courses, and one bonus course. Each character is rated according to three attributes: power, concentration and spin. As you access more characters, your power and spin will increase as your concentration
decreases. This means you have the potential for more technically accomplished shots, but have to become better at the game to actually pull them off.
If all this sounds like a bit too much, why not opt to play a mate in Mini Golf mode. This is essentially a putting game and it's the one you'll keep coming back to when suitably ‘refreshed' by lager and kebabs.
Everybody's Golf isn't the most lifelike golf game out there, but that’s a point in its favour. Check out this little beauty and leave the real sport to the blokes in funny kecks. (Peter Ross)
golden opportunity (POI
for your fourth goal-less draw rn a
If the World Cup has you (onsrderrng one of the myrrad of football games available, WLS 98 rs a sound If unrnsprrrng purthase But, at the end of the day, Brian, you (an't help feelrng the boys have missed a
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90 THE lIST 923 Jul 1998
Heart Of Darkness: Whisky galore
Cardinal Syn (SCEE) £34.99 + + l. .-.
PlayStation purrsts would have rt that In the world of beat 'em ups there rs Tekken 2 End of story.
Rrvals are derided and (onsrgned to the but as also rans In the (ase of Card/na/ Syn that would gurte lrterally be a bloody shame Thrs medieval tournament of brg swords and drrty tricks rs heavy on the gore A serres of unsavoury (harat ters (ompete to wrn the rrght to take on an CVIl female tyrant the woefully named trtle (hara( ter
The unique sellrng pornt rs that the batkgrounds are more rnterattrve than most rn the genre You (an push your opponent Into an oncoming mrne (art or a pool of festering slrme Scattered (askets (ontarn maglt potrons and swords
Far better though, are the glorious statalogrcal special moves Try Mongoro the (yt lops who, at key moments, (an unleash a t()XI( fart Or there's the /ombre Plague, who can throw up a porsonous pavement pwa
Drsappomtrngly, the solo game can be beaten farrly qurckly, but most of you Will strck llllS on after the pub and grve your mates a good hrdrng (SN)
Heart Of Darkness (Ocean) £40 at at r:
WlTISky rs a boy's best friend That’s Whisky the dog, loyal canine (ompanron of Andy, the young hero of Heart Of Darkness, Ocean’s much-
heralded 2D platformer
Thrs IS a trtle whrth has n<)tl""g at all to do With rvory traders gone loopy rr‘ the Jungle, and everything to do wth Spielberg movres The feel :s extraordinarily frlrnrt, With a soundtrack rentrhrstent of E 7 and the hero a yOung lad whose daydrtntrn‘ng keeps getting hrm rnto trouble with hrs tea( her When Whisky :s nabbed by the Fortes Of Darkness (ltrl‘i'tq a solar et lrpse, Andy, who as stared of the dark, goes after the poo( h :n a pan- drmensronal flytng lil<l(l‘ll)(‘ v-xhrth ne promptly wraps around a brg rock
All thzs rs explained In an extellent lengthy anrrnated opening seguente \Vl‘r|( h the subsequent 2D game, for at: Its lov'ngly rendered detail, doesn't quite measure up to Even though there rs an (‘fIJchlblO (artoony feel to Heart Of Darkness, the gameplay rs pretty standard platformer fare of the run, Jump, shoot variety Thrs :s a decent enough trtle whrth proves there's lrfe tn the old 2D dog yet, but It’s not gorng to wrr‘. any prl/es ‘or Innovation (PR)
PC
MechCommander (Ivllcroprose) £34.99 * it +
Thrs rs the latest take on the 'BattleTet'h' genre of games Prevrous titles, lrke Met'hl/L/arr/or and G-Nome, have all been set rn the same sort of futuristic, rnterplanetary sooety, nven by conflict between ferocious clans (not unlike the East End of Glasgow)