Originally developed for Nintendo 64 four years ago, the reworked and graphically overhauled X-Box version of the toilet humor oriented adult adventures of Conker the alcoholic squirrel makes for an amusing play.
In Conker: Live and Reloaded players take on the role of Conker, a far from cute squirrel who enjoys nothing better than getting trashed in the pub before going home to face his girl, or rather squirrel friend. The action takes place on one such evening, when, after leaving the pub, instead of going directly home Conker ends up running foul of a heap of odd characters.
The adversaries include zombies, a highly-strung panther and his weasel army, the Mightypoo, who predictably enough makes revolting use of excrement as his ammunition of choice and the fearsome Tediz, who are basically Nazi-like teddy bears.
The game is inane and not one that serious gamers will find much solace in. Those with a love of toilet humor, or those who are simply looking for something different will find plenty to laugh about in Conker: Live and Reloaded.
The crux of the game's humor revolves around public urination, foul language and risque adult oriented situations, which are made even funnier by the game's weird and wonderful cast of characters.
The game is part third-person shooter and part basic run and jump linear puzzle solving. Although the latter is far less fun, both parts of the game will keep those with a whim for banality amused for several hours. It is not without its faults, as movement can prove annoying and basic combat is at times boring.
Designed for kids, Activision's game version of the recent DreamWorks computer animated comedy, Madagascar is both pla-yer-friendly and graphically
pleasing.
The storyline of Madagascar is based on the movie and follows the adventures of a group of eccentric zoo animals who, after undertaking a breakout from a New York zoo find themselves washed up on a tropical island.
There's Marty the zebra, Alex the lion, Melman the giraffe, Gloria the hippo and several independently minded penguins. As the game progresses players get to control each and every one of these characters.
Gameplay is simple and experienced gamers will find Madagascar less than gratifying. But then it is designed for kids and anyone who decides to either purchase or rent the game should bear this in mind.
While the game provides players with a lot to do -- puzzle solving, fighting, collecting items and even a minigolf game -- all of which should keep kids busy and amused for a lengthy period of time, the game does get repetitive after a while. This is not helped by the lack of environments in which the action takes place.
The game is graphically sound, but environments are all too same-same. This is a pity, as in contrast to the visually stunning movie, what Activision settles for is flat textures and repetitive scenes.
Playability is simple and, regardless of age it will take gamers about 15 minutes to master the controls and interface. The bottom line is that if you have a child aged from between seven to 12 then Madagascar could prove a big hit, but for those for who play technically advanced games then it is best to avoid the game and go for something else.
Crash 'em, bash 'em and smash 'em is the order of the day with Empire Interactive's latest driving simulation FlatOut. Like last year's Test Drive: Eve of Destruction, FlatOut is aimed at those with a fetish for car wrecks and allows them to live out their dreams without hurting anybody.
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