PLAYSTATION FEAR EFFECT 2 (Eidos) £29.99 oooo

The first Fear Effect title caused quite a ripple when it hit the streets last year. Its mix of stop- start gameplay. fantastic comic-art graphics and cracking scripting made for a rather unique game. Not to mention the fact that it had a female protagonist who wasn't all tits and teeth. Fear Effect 2 continues the stOry and. shock- horror don‘t tell yer mum, it turns out that the heroine Hana is maybe. perhaps. a lesbian! Although this smacks of sensationalism. it actually works well in the tight plot that unveils as you work through the four game discs. Graphically the second instalment is almost identical, if a little crisper. while the gameplay has been speeded up With better loading times. If you enjoyed Fear Effect then this sequel will more than satisfy. However. those looking for quick thrills may find the pace of Fear Effect 2 a little irritating. (lain Davidson)

ALSO RELEASED

X-Wing Collector (PC Activision $29.99) Red Five standing by.

Kuri Kuri Mix (PS2 Empire £39.99) Japanese madness involving two rabbits. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001 (PS2 EA 23999) Can you win four Masters?

Unreal Tournament (PS2 Infogrames £39.99) Quake III has a contender.

Batman Gotham City Racer (PlayStation Ubisoft £29.99) Let's hope Robin can read a map.

Intret

internet@|ist.co.uk

FLING THE COW http://www.fling thecow.com

“""' .3

Perhaps slightly perverse in inclu3ion With regard to the country's current livestock situation. but hey. Where would we be Without WOrthless online browser games? This is like darts. but uSing a cow and a catapult. Luckily there are no bullseyes.

SCOTTISH THEATRE http://www.scottish theatre.org

This site is a hive of theatre activity for all over Scotland. From listings in every town. to offers and competitions all year round. Read the notice board for audiences and critics alike so it's easy to catch up with all the gossip. And check out the weblinks to practically all major theatre groups in the country. It's a night out in itself.

THE WINE ANORAK http://www.wine anorak.com

It calls itself an ‘anorak' but it's not that geeky. It does contain dozens of articles about wine and debunks various myths about the subject. Even if your knowledge is minimal, you can learn enough here to knock the pomposity out of the hardened wine snob. Also check out the section on matching

Wine With food: it might revolutionise yOur next restaurant trip.

GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE http://www.ghostsin themachine.co.uk

Described as being ‘a Cyber soap yOu can watch. react or be part of“. every event is conveyed by e-mail. notice boards or chatrooms. The cast have never met each other in real life. and yOLi are inVited to take part. E-mail the characters to advise or inSuIt them. and slowly you might become one of the ghosts in the machine.

TEST CARD CIRCLE http://www.testcard circle.org.uk

With the recent death of the BBC test card creator. this is a fitting tribute to the man who brought us the everlasting image of the girl and her toy clown: an image that is burnt onto the retinas of everyone who can remember TV before morning broadcasts. It may be a strange subject. but it's certainly quite interesting (the X on the chalk board marks the exact middle of the screen etc). And. believe it or not. that is just the tip of the iceberg. (Steve Blair)

MOBILE PHONE TEN COMMAND- MENTS http://www.pcworld.c om/news/article.asp?a Id=17190

While using mobiles to help your social/drinking life is very high tech and modern. it can be grossly annOying to those around y0u. So here is a list of ‘Thou shalt nots' that should be adhered to. Amen.

TOP FIVE CULT TV SITES The Alternative Guide

wwwnyquist-mediaco.uk/television/c-indexhtml Directory of cult TV programmes. links. articles and more.

Children’s

www.bbc.co.uk/cult Thunderbi'rds. Bagpuss. Wil/o' The Wisp and BaSi/ Brush.

Boom boom. Fantasy And Horror

www.ar.com.au/~jriddler/horror.html Fans of Buffy. Monkey. TWin Peaks and The

X-Files alight here. Comedy

humourlinks.com/links/British_Comedy/TV__Radio_and_ Film/ Are you local? The League Of Gentlemen are. as are The Goons and Blackadder.

Sixties homeclaranet/clara.net/d/i/g/digger/webspace/sixties/tvlist.htm For fans of kinky boots (The Avengers) and raised eyebrows (The Saint).

(Victoria Gooch)

Video] DVD

video@|ist.co.uk

DRAMA

THE DARKEST LIGHT

(12) 90 mins 00

Wnter director Simon Beatiny must have been born With a psychic gift. Either that or the success of The Full Monty did strange things to his head. because The Darkest Light (made in 1999) is so spookily prophetic you have to wonder where he got his idea from. A Yorkshire farming family struggling to deal With their yOung son's leukaemia. are beset by yet more tragedy when their cattle becomes infected with . . . foot and mouth! Cue mass cuttings and incinerations it‘s just like watching the news. Yet amazingly. neither a child's fatal illness nor a destructive epidemic can summon an ounce of emotion out of this dry tale. (Fox widescreen €14.99) (Kelly Apter)

COMEDY BEDAZZLED (12) 90 mins .00

Ithl)_\

Iil'Cl )

This remake of Stanley Donen's 1967 Faustian comedy has hapless nerd Elliot (Brendan Fraser) sell his soul to the devil (Liz Hurley) for seven wishes. Sexy Liz fulfils his every wish to the letter but she always finds a way to spoil them. After having turned into a Colombian drug lord. a 7'6" basketball champion with a little winky problem and other painful incarnations. he finally learns to be careful what he wishes for. Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day) delivers his comedy fast- paced and entertaining with a predictable yet sweet happy ending. Maybe no stroke of genius. but worth watching. (Fox Pathe rental) (Dunja Brill)

URBAN FABLE GHOST DOG - THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI (15) 110 mins 00000

Jim Jarmusch's urban fable of a modern-day contract killer twing by the teachings of an 18th century Japanese warrior text is a strikingly original film. Forest Whittaker is superb as the eponymous hit-man. who has pledged his loyalty to LOuie, a small-time mobster who saved his life. Their two vastly different codes of honour the Samurai and the Mafia are brought into sharp contrast when a hit goes wrong. and Ghost Dog becomes a target himself. The haunting minimalist soundtrack by The RZA (founder of the Wu- Tung Clan) adds to the Zen-like atmOSphere of this powerful and elegant film. It blew me away. (FilmFour/VCI £14.99) (Kirsty Knaggs)

This Life - Complete

Series 1

The entire acclaimed and much loved first series spread across 2 DVD discs no extras of note. but you can skip straight to the best bits

Tenth Kingdom

Triple DVD release of last year's Sky TV series DVD contains a making of. documentary. cast and crew information and search for the tenth kingdom game

Loser

Comedy reuniting American Pie stars Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari - DVD features loads of extras including behind the scenes features and the Wheatus pop promo Stir Of Echoes

CIaSSy Sixth Sense type horror thriller starring Kevin Bacon extras on the DVD include a director's commentary. behind the scenes and music video promos Purely Belter

Quality Newcastle based football fan feature. from the director of Little Voice disc extras include cast 8 crew interviews and

Video/ DVD

CRIME COMEDY IT WAS AN ACCIDENT (18) 97 mins .00

Mama 7

This London gangster niowe follows Nicky (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who. encouraged by the beautiful Nei'een (Thandie Newton) and his son Danny. tries to change his life. shun his dodgy past and go straight. Unfortunately. his friends drag him back into their mad scams. Add into the mix two local gangs headed up by a pair of complete idiots and this can only make for a lot of hassle. As yOu would expect With a gangsta tale. there is plenty of profanity and a pinch of

behind the scenes features

High Fidelity

The ever excellent John Cusack stars in this bestseller based comedy DVD includes deleted scenes and interview with directOr Stephen Frears

Star Trek 5: Final Frontier

Next in the franchise instalment from Paramount is another 2 disc DVD set this is available initially with a soundbyte CD from the Original series

Third Rock From

The Sun

First DVD release from the TV comedy series - extras include feature length episodes. complete with 3D glasses and over 70 mins of making ofs

HMV

Stores at Edinburgh Princes St St James Glasgow Argyle St, Sauchiehall St. Union St. Braehead Centre 8. Olympia Centre. East Kilbride

26 Apr—10 May 2001 THE LIST 1 13