Virtual fighting
James Fryer lets two of the latest releases battle it out for victory in the video games war.
Battlefield 2142
PC
In this bleak portrayal of the future, a new ice age has thrown Earth into crisis – most of the planet’s surface is inhospitable and what’s left can only feed a fraction of the world’s population. Sunlight fights its way through smog, reminiscent of Mad Max with twisted heaps of metal and concrete reminding survivors of a former life and setting the scene for an inevitable 22nd century war engulfing Belgrade and Berlin to the Suez Canal and Tunis. Whether you join the European Union or Pan Asian Coalition, a full arsenal of advanced weaponry is yours – electromagnetic pulse grenades, sentry guns, smart mines and cloaking devices... But, if you don’t join a squad and work as a unit, your in-game life is likely to be short. The basic strategy is to kill and not be killed, with the futuristic action centring around good old capture-the-flag action.
EA have also introduced a new dimension to the first-person-shooter genre with the titan mode. Each team has a flying warship hovering overhead which needs to be defended, while the enemy tries to bring down its shield and sneak on board to take out the reactor core. Servers cater for up to 64 players at any one time and the warground quickly becomes ablaze with carnage. Particularly when there’s a hefty Battle Walker stomping your way (think Robocop’s ED-209) – the most brilliant and fear-inducing of in-game machinery. Bases are also packed with an array of hover tanks, gunships and off road buggies to transport you into the thick of battle at breakneck speed. It feels like a Stephen Hawking and Stalin collaboration, but Battlefield 2142 is superbly atmospheric with plenty of gameplay to give even the most hardened PC-gamers a fierce case of trigger-finger RSI.
LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
CD | GBA | GC | PC | PS2 | Xb
LEGO Star Wars was a mighty miniature triumph last year, leaving big kids eagerly anticipating the sequel. The wait is over this month – the world’s most successful film series meets the world’s most successful toy for a second time in what’s already a sure chart-topper. The most memorable scenes from The Phantom Menace: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith are represented in their true glory. Whether you’re pod racing on Mos Espa, repelling the droid onslaught in the Genosain arena or reliving Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon’s fatal fight with Darth Maul, watching the little yellow men flip and thrash their way across the screen never fails to make you smile. And the game’s designers have done a sterling job of giving the characters an authentic makeover. The premise is simple – slash your way through the enemies that lie ahead in the colourful LEGO block world, and the addition of solving puzzles through switching between characters and using their special abilities works a treat. A drop in, drop out two-player mode means your mates can join the action at any point, and there are plenty of levels, vehicles and unlockable goodies to keep you hooked. And the Skywalker Studio soundtrack is indisputably awesome. Yes, it is a bit easy but, with a game this fun, you’ll be using the force on evil toy enemies for hours.