Baldur's Gate, PC, £34.99
It is rare for games that come on more than two CDs to be any good. Often they are packed with full motion video which is great to look at but isn't what playing games is about. Baldur's Gate comes on a worrying five CDs, but the 160-page manual lends some assurance that there is more than pretty video on offer. In the tradition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (Forgotten Realms campaign setting), Baldur's Gate could be compared to Diablo, Daggerfall and Might & Magic VI. Before even beginning, players must choose a character by gender, appearance, race, class alignment, specialisations and more.
A novice at role-playing games might find Baldur's Gate daunting. While certainly aimed at more experienced players, it is compelling from almost the first moment, even for the inexperienced. Before you know it, you will be casting spells, doing odd jobs, battling it out with enemies, chatting to friends and resting your weary bones at the local inn. Speaking of friends, choose them wisely - their abilities and skills are what you really want, not just someone's shoulder to cry on.
Baldur's Gate is more a way of life than a game and can be replayed an almost infinite number of times with different characters. Getting through it just once will take a long, long time - but time flies when you're having this much fun. Fortunately, the manual is really only needed for reference every now and then.
[Req: Pentium166/16MB/Win 95]
A Bug's Life, Sony PlayStation, £25
Hopper and his army of evil grasshoppers are out to take over the ant colony. As Flik the blue ant it's up to you to save your Queen and win the heart of Princess Anna. You will need to enlist the help of other characters such as Heimlich, the Caterpillar and Rosie the Black widow.
There are around 16 levels that Flik must fight and figure his way out of. He can throw various bits of fruit at enemies and can even make plants grow instantly from seed to gain access to areas. A Bug's Life manages to capture the themes of the movie very well and includes clips from the film after each level to help the story along. After playing for a while, however, it becomes clear that there is not a great deal in the game to maintain interest. It is bright and colourful though, and much younger gameplayers (who do not have a great choice of games on PlayStation) will undoubtedly enjoy it.
Cheats
Baldur's Gate
To enable these cheats open the file baldur.ini in the game. Under the "game options" section of the file, type Cheats=1. Save the file, exit, then start the game. Hold Ctrl + Tab to bring up the console and type in the cheats below, they are case-sensitive. Cheats:Midas() - > 500 gold Cheats:FirstAid() - > 5 healing potions, 5 poison antidotes and 1 Stone to Flesh scroll Cheats:TheGreatGonzo() - > creates 10 killer chickens to fight for you
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Enter the following codes as passwords.
Unlimited Lives: - IGIVEUP
Power Ups: - TOUGHGUY
Fly the Millennium Falcon: - FARMBOY
Fly the Tie Fighter: - TIEDUP
Drive an AT-ST: - CHICKEN
Briefly
The Irish Quake team battled it out against its French counterpart in Paris over the weekend in the first international between European teams played over a local area network rather than the Internet. For match reports etc. see www.spinsol.com/quake.
Those who have Microsoft Plus!
installed on their PCs can give their desktops a new look with some videogame themes. A good place to start is www.gamesdomain.com/Themes/themes_body.html.
John Stirling (21) from Somerset in Britain is a huge fan of the Sony PlayStation. He is so keen, in fact, that he has changed his name by deed poll to Mr Sony PlayStation. Apparently it all started when his friends started calling him "Sony" for spending all day on the console, so he decided to make it official.
games@irish-times.ie