Game Reviews

While it all sounds like a great scenario for a truly kick-ass game Eidos' Republic: The Revolution falls rather flat and is riddled with more problems than the game's fictional ex-Soviet satellite state.

Part strategy, part action, the latter of which is somewhat questionable, the player must undertake a series of time consuming, clumsy and at times downright boring missions such as leafleting, surveying and investigating individuals.

Graphically the game works well. Viewed in 3D the town's environment is spot-on. People walk around the city and sometimes interact, cars will drive by and stop at lights and the buildings look incredibly real. A 2D-overview map mode allows players to see enemies while keeping an eye on the town's numerous districts.

Player friendliness on the other hand rates an absolute zero. There is no tutorial and the learning curve is steep and will have anyone with a whim for quick action giving up and uninstalling Republicwithin minutes. The game's interfaces are easy to see, but not easy to understand. The sheer number of them makes managing them and following events almost impossible, and certainly far from enjoyable.

The bottom line is that if Castro, or Lenin for that matter, had played Republic: The Revolution before they set about instigating their own insurrections, then they'd have probably given up and settled for a nice exciting job at a haberdashery instead.

Unreal Tournament 2004

Release: already available

Fantastic graphics, oodles of blood, loads of explosions, bad guys galore and more imaginary military hardware than it's possible to comprehend make Epic's Unreal Tournament 2004 a real gem of a game for anybody with a psychotic love for first-person shooters packed with mayhem and wanton destruction.

There is a wide variety of maps and modes to choose from, graphics that include wonderfully detailed skies and dreamlike planetary landscapes and a selection of great sound effects and stirring atmospheric music. The game's interface is faultless, easy to see, easy to use and the on-screen info isn't distracting and doesn't impede play.

In addition to the out-of-this-world audiovisual feast, the game allows the player to use some awesome killing machines to lay waste to enemies, which, after all, is the whole point of Unreal Tournament. Armored vehicles such as the Goliath tank, the raptor fighter and the five-man leviathan supertank are great fun to run amok in.

There's no limit to the number of hand-held weapons you can carry, which means you can carry a weapon that fires a high powered plasma-like grenade and still be able to strafe your way out of a tricky situation with your basic assault rifle.

The only draw back to Unreal 2004, is its sheer size, as it requires a monstrous 5.5GB of hard drive space in order to install it.