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PC Products.
Shivers II: Harvest Of Souls
Rated: MA15+
Metro Games / Sierra
RRP: $89.95 (Australian)
Shivers II is in every way a step
above its predecessor. It contains loads of imaginative, new features that make it an
overall great game. It contains a new 360-degree rotation view, similar to the one in
Phantasmagoria II: A Puzzle Of Flesh. The graphics in the game are richly detailed, as I
have come to expect from Sierra products. The setting of a deserted desert town is a nice
change in a computer game, and makes for some beautiful scenery.
Well, the graphics may be nice, but you're probably wondering, how is the game? The answer
to that is, good. It consists of the usual variety of door puzzles and puzzles to obtain
certain valuable objects (in this case, ancient American prayer sticks). But Shivers II
also threatens with the possibility of death along the way, which happens when evil
petroglyphs in the canyon steal your life essence. Overall, there are twelve of these
prayer sticks to collect, and usually about two puzzles encountered for each one. The
puzzles, for the most part, are challenging enough to keep someone interested, but easy
enough not to get really frustrating. If the puzzles get too hard, there's always the
option of having it solved for you (with the loss of points, of course). The game is in
the tradition of Myst, but has more practical puzzles and immersive graphics. I would say
that it is a cross between Timelapse, Zork Nemesis, and the original Shivers. Unlike the
original, however, Shivers II has added the feature of inventory, which adds more to the
game than just a multitude of puzzles. Another neat feature is the map, which saves hours
of pointless wandering around, and lets you transport from place to place immediately.
There are also three different endings, which adds to the replayability of the game.
Overall, the game is very good with careful attention paid to the sound, graphics, and
puzzles, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys beautiful, inventory-based puzzle
games.
Phantasmagoria II: A Puzzle Of
Flesh
Rated: MA15+
Metro Games / Sierra
RRP: $89.95 (Australian)
You play the role of Curtis Craig, a quiet young man
who, after one year out of the mental hospital, must once again face his own insanity when
his colleagues are mysteriously murdered and uncover a secret that links his very
existence and the alien Threshold project (after all, we are just human, or aren't we?).
Written by Lorelei Shannon (not Roberta Williams who wrote Phantasmagoria I), A Puzzle of
Flesh is not meant to be a sequel but stands as a separate adventure with original
characters and story in part two of a planned three part anthology. Calling this game just
darker and bolder than its predecessor will be a complete understatement! Subject matters,
dramatic elements, and its psychological impact are definitely not for the squeamish but
only for the most mature of audience. It portrayals on the fragility of human psyche and
the lust of human sexuality (S&M, homosexuality, voyeurism etc.) are, to say the
least, distributing, and will certainly raise much controversy in a product meant to be
entertainment! The author must be given credit for her attempt to deal with such subjects
in the most mature fashion possible. Story is tight and well executed with a nice
climactic twist (confrontation between Craig and Hecatomb). It delivers a significant
impact on players, from both the physical and psychological horror. Acting is above
average with an unknown cast (Monique Parent plays Jocilyn, who has been featured in
Playboy video "Rising Stars" in the past) and is more down to earth than its
predecessor. Ambient music are superbly done and adds to the suspense of the story (though
not as bone chilling as the Consumite Furore theme in Phantasmagoria I).
Phantasmagoria I was banned in Australia, as was the uncut version of Phatasmagoria II.
Click here to find out more about these decisions at Anthony Larme's site
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~larme/
Outlaws
Rated: M
RRP: $89.95 (Australian)
Metro Games/LucasArts
Outlaws is a first-person, gun-slinging action/adventure in the style of a Spaghetti
Western.
You play former marshal James Anderson, on a mission to retrieve your daughter, who has
been kidnapped by an evil land baron. Drawn into a conflict that you never wanted, you
will be forced to use your wits (as well as your trigger-finger) to save your family. But
it won't be easy. Out to stop you, is a notorious group of the West's toughest outlaws and
their gangs.
Outlaws features highly stylized characters with distinct personalities and weapons, an
original soundtrack and sound effects, realistic 3D environments, and more. It uses both
the 3D engine from LucasArts' "Dark Forces" and the engine from "Rebel
Assault II" to deliver all the components of classic 60's Westerns in an interactive
format.
Yoda Stories
Rated: G
RRP: $39.95 (Australian)
Metro Games / LucasArts
Yoda Stories chronicles Luke
Skywalker’s intriguing adventures as he trains to become a Jedi Knight under Yoda and
battle the evil Galactic Empire.
Yoda Stories is a collection of short quests in which players encounter a variety of
well-known Star Wars characters in several familiar environments. Each game begins as Luke
lands his X-wing in the thick swamplands of the mysterious planet Dagobah. As Luke, your
initial task is to find Yoda who will send you on a quest and provide you with a valuable
item to assist you in your travels. Your trek then takes you to one of several exotic
worlds or Imperial strongholds where you must solve a sequence of puzzles. To successfully
complete a game, you must thoroughly explore each world, interact with other characters,
collect artifacts, tools and weapons, trade goods, and combat Imperial stormtroopers,
bounty hunters, unfriendly locals and a variety of alien creatures.
Yoda Stories, like its predecessor Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures, features
unique world generator technology capable of creating countless varied, short game
scenarios, each designed to be completed in about one hour.
Australia On CD ROM
The 1997 RAA Travel Guide
Reviewed By Mike Somerset
Holidays are a time of relaxation and recharging the
batteries and what better way to do this than to go on a trip in Australia, experiencing
new places and people. But where to go? What to do? A holiday can be a nightmare if you
are faced with a lack of information. Even if you have pamphlets and guide books to hand,
they can be out of date or hard to organise and this will only increase your headaches.
Your problems are over with the new RAA Travel Guide CD-ROM 1997 edition. The amount of
information stored on this single CD is staggering making information gathering and trip
planning a breeze. Bigger and better than the 1996 edition, this new release covers all of
Australia and includes;
· 4,152 detailed town descriptions
· 12,633 places to stay in every state
· 2,026 events all over Australia
· 6,228 attractions all over Australia
· 1,128 full screen colour maps
· 20 adventure games
· 679 full screen photographs.
It's bigger than big, it's huge! And to really make this Travelguide a winner, it is so
easy to use. Searching for information is quick and simple with the use of the icon bar at
the top of the screen. After a few hours of familiarisation, you should be able to find
your way through the information to access exactly what you need. For instance, to obtain
information about Port Pirie you can use the search facility, just by typing in the name
of use the map facility to click on Port Pirie. Besides a general description of the city,
you will also be offered a list of 36 entries comprising of tourist sites, annual events
and accommodation. Selecting any one of these entires will give you more detailed
information on that item. This includes current 1997 dates for events and 1997 prices for
the accommodation.
The maps cover all of Australia and at selected areas you can zoom all the way into
Central City streets, the Sydney Opera House or the car park at Ayers Rock. The calendar
icon gives details of major events throughout Australia for any given date at the click of
the mouse button.
A major feature of the Travleguide that will take the hassles out of planning your holiday
is the trip planner option. By using the various maps and clicking on the towns and cities
on the route you wish to take, the planner will automatically calculate the kms between
the towns, the total kms from start to finish of the trip and the approximate driving time
it will take you. As you select your choice of sites to see, accommodation and events on
each town or city you pick, it will be saved on your trip planner. You can devise and
print a detailed and personalised itinerary of your trip complete with maps. The
Travelguide even gives you climate details for various parts of Australia-another feature,
which will help you optimise, your holiday enjoyment.
Installing the Travelguide is easy, just follow the prompters and you can't go wrong. The
following are what you need to install and use the Travel guide on your computer;
· at least 8 MB of RAM (16MB preferred)
· Windows 3.1 or better
· 486 processor or better
· at least 256 Super VGA display
· sound system (it will work without sound)
· mouse
· and, of course a CD ROM drive
Whether its for a local trip ,a major holiday, or just to find out information an a
locality, the RAA Travel guide is a definite plus in anyone's CDROM reference collection.
At $69 for members or $79 for non-members , the RAA Travelguide is recommended.
Buying educational software for children.
As Christmas approaches there is pressure upon parents to buy computers and software. Part of the sales hype is selling educational software that will help children in their academic careers.
There are so many software programs to chose from that the choice is bewildering. If you look at the latest top ten software packages you will discover that educationally unsound programs are the most popular. War games, car racing and flight simulations, as well as martial arts games usually feature very strongly.
A good educational software package should contain many of the following features.
.A clear description of its aims.
.It features non-sexist, non-violent and non-racialist language, rewards and activities.
.It should be easy to run.
.The monitor should be easy to read or understand.
.The process of using the program should be user friendly.
.It should be fun.
.It keeps a record of the user's achievements and adjusts its activities to suit the user's progress.
.The program should use the computer's potential to set different scenarios, or provide information and rewards.
The following tips may help people who are unsure of how to make sound choices.
.Go to software retailers who specialise in education. These people know their product and should be able to give expert advice. Often larger retailers do not have specialised knowledge in the education field.
.Ask to preview the software before you buy.
.Check the system requirements on the side of the package to see if your hardware can run the software. Make sure that you know what your computer system's hardware is before you buy software. Specially look to see how much hard disk space the program requires. Check to see if the program needs sound cards, joysticks, Windows95 etc
.Inspect the manuals that come with the package to see if there are clear directions and documentation to support the retailer's, and manufacturer's, claims.
.Do not buy programs which feature activities that can be done more easily or beneficially without a computer. A set of golf clubs and a walk in the fresh air is far healthier than playing golf on a computer. Colouring in by hand develops hand and eye coordination far more than using a colouring in computer program. Playing scrabble or other board games against a real opponent allows you to develop social skills.
.Talk to other people who have brought software. Friends or relatives may let you see how it works on their machine.
Watch out for old software that has been dumped onto CD-ROMs. Many of these programs were good in their day but do not use the modern computer's potential.