Multiplayer Tactics

KNOW THE LEVEL. This is probably the thing that will increase your score the most (besides using the mouse to aim). Know the location of every item, health, ammo, secret location, and power-up on each level. This comes mainly from experience, but you can get a head start by loading up a Bloodbath level on your own and playing just by yourself.

RUN PATTERNS. Once you know a level by heart, develop a pattern that will take you to all the ammo, items, and power-ups. This will enable you to quickly equip yourself and dominate. You should also know the quickest way to get to any ammo or power up from every respawn location. Again,experience, but you can quicken things up by paying attention and playing the levels on your own to practice.

DON’T STAND STILL. Never stop moving. Ever. This is important for single-player games, and it goes triple for Bloodbath. A stationary target is an easy target, and an easy target is a dead target. Even if you’re waiting for an elevator to come down, run around in circles until it arrives just in case somebody is watching with a Sniper Rifle. Also, make sure you have the “always run” option selected so you move about more quickly.

BE WASTEFUL. First off, grab every piece of ammo you can, even if you don’t need it. Even if you don’t have a Flare Gun, you can grab those flares to keep your opponents from using them against you. Second, if you’re at full health or armor and see a Megahealth or Necroward, do a little damage to yourself (by, for example, pointing the Howitzer or Tesla Cannon at your feet and firing) so you can grab it. You’ll be at full capacity again afterwards, and it will keep your opponents from acquiring the added protection.

There is no honor in this game. Scavenge for kills whenever you can. If you see two guys duking it out, take them both out from a distance with a napalm rocket or the Tesla Cannon’s alternate fire while they’re preoccupied with each other. Also, large area attacks like the alt fires of the Life Leech or the Voodoo doll are great for picking off several weakened combatants at a time.

Rayman 2

In order to keep things moving, the Rayman 2 team has settled on a mix between the two styles of 3D platform-ers. “The game is not ‘two-and-a-half-D’ like Crash Bandicoot,” says Ancel. “Some parts start wide open with mag¬nificent perspectives, then you get to narrow paths that are more intuitive and rhythmic, and you finally end up with an incredible panoramic view. There will be some passages with more freedom of movement, but the player will always know where to go.”

One of the funkiest aspects of the original Rayman was that the main character had no arms or legs. Rayman had the ability to wind up a punch and send his fist flying the whole way across the screen. And hitting the jump button while in mid-air would trigger Rayman’s hair to spin — dropping him gently to the ground like a helicopter. Ancel promises expanded character actions. “We’ve improved all of Rayman’s actions from the original game. Rayman walks, runs, climbs, swims, does loop-de-loops under water, slides, spins, climbs rock faces, and swings from hanging hooks,” he says. “He can also grab things, throw them, or use them as weapons.” You can also count on Rayman water-skiing with a sea serpent, and riding a cartoony two-legged missile, Dr. Sfrangelove-style.

The use of color is truly extraordi¬nary, and the environments’ jutting angles and surreal landscapes are beau¬tiful to behold. Ancel states that the game’s artistic vision came from the Russian, Chinese, and Celtic stories he would read as a child — “but with a more contemporary and cartoonish touch. The concept is similar to that of the movie The Dark “

The first Rayman featured some truly bizarre character designs, and the sequel’s baddies will be just as interesting. Among the rogue’s gallery are piranha, robotic pirates, spectacled gorillas, and zombie chick¬ens. In terms of gameplay, the team’s biggest influence was The Legend ofZelda on the Super Nintendo — especially its aspect of exploring and finding new powers. “Zelda is a linear game, but it doesn’t seem like it,” says Ancel. “The player can walk around, and get stuck as he advances. But by exploring and acquiring objects, the player remembers many places where he was stuck, and can eventually go back and unlock them. We’re doing the same thing in Rayman 2.” The teamalso cites network Quake as inspiration, in terms of raw stress and intensity, and even Indiana Jones is reflected in Rayman’s ability to perform a wide variety of daredevil actions in a rhythmic fashion.

Anyone who’s played the original Rayman can vouch that it was one of the most insanely difficult side-scrollers ever made, topping even the Mega Man series in terms of raw, hair-pulling frustration. Ancel reports that the difficulty has been toned down for beginning players, but the hard-core group will be sat¬isfied with some optional chal¬lenges. “There’s a normal way to complete a level, and for the more clever gamers, there are hidden paths which are much tougher to reach,” he says. “The aver¬age player can walk through the game without seeing any of these hidden paths. Rayman’s new powers — mainly his shooting abilities — allow him to reach places that are inaccessible at the beginning, which brings a real replay value to the game. We do not want to bully the player.”

The latest batch of console plat-formers have benefited from the use of analog gamepads, so Rayman 2 will sup¬port these — along with standard digital control. “Players need to react quickly in Rayman 2 and the analog controller is very comforting for the player,” says Ancel. In terms of tech specs, you should be able to pull between 30 to 60fps on the base system of a Pentium 166, and you’ll need to have a Direct3D-compliant video card (though the game is optimized for 3Dfx boards).

Rayman 2 is set for release this spring. If you’re on the lookout for a visu¬ally stunning platform game with old-school action-adventure elements, we’re ready to bet our paychecks that youU have your hands full with Rayman 2.

Driver4

Qn the world of actionoriented driving games, innovation and creativity are all too rare commodities. While high end simulations become more sophisticated and complex by adding more believable physics and greater control, the arcade scene has remained fairly static, offering up the same features and functions with few variations over the years. Though arcade racers have come a long way since Pole Position the workmanlike concepts of time trials and checkpoints are getting very long in the tooth. But now, the action racing genre is about to get a welcome kick in the pants with Driver, the latest creation of Reflection Studios.

As the creator of Sony’s popular Destruction Derby series, Reflections has already proven it knows how to breathe new life into the racing genre, and its latest effort looks like it should shake things up even more with its attractive game design and technical prowess.

It all starts with a criminally attractive concept. You’re a new getaway driver olfcring your services to anyone who can afford them. You’ll find work from such unsavory types as mobsters to bank robbers who need vour lead foot abilities to avoid getting caught The only trick is that you’ll have entire cities to race through, filled with pedes trians, traffic, and lots and lots of police cars hot on your trail. Brought to life with 70s-style late night movie car chases and built from the ground up on an entirely new graphics engine, Driver is re-inventing the racing genre to the nth degree with convincing environments, believable physics, and fast-paced gameplay that would make Starsky and Hutch proud.

Making no effort to disguise influences from dozens of car-chase themed I V shows and movies. Driver’s mission-based gameplay has you taking on jobs left on your answering machine (a la The Rockford Files”) and selecting the ones that match your skills or, at the very least, pay well. In some missions, you may need to be at just the right place at the right time to collect a troupe of bank robbers as they complete their heist, while in others, you’ll have to troll the streets to tail a specific car. As you gain experience or become too hot for a particular area, you’ll move on to test your skills in urban locations all around the U.S., such as like San Francisco, Miami, and Los Angeles.

Driver will be played from a third-person perspective, and the designers have gone out of their way to make sure it has the fast-paced chase scenes they’re shooting for. The third-person perspective has allowed them to develop an intelligent camera system that shows off the car and the environment without compromising control. Make a quick, hard turn under heavy acceleration, and the camera doesn’t stay locked in a oehind-the-car view — it lingers for a moment, allowing you to appreciate the hubcap-loosening forces as the car’s body rolls and tilts into the turn. Once you start accelerating forward again the camera snaps oack smoothly to the default view.

Like any ’70s cop show or late right car chase flick, Driver’s selection 3f cars are more like starring characters than vehicles and it’s apparent that each one has a different personality on screen. Though the complete roster of :ars hasn’t been finalized, the designers assure us that some popular heavy  eight American iron from the ’70s has been recruited to ensure that the look

and feel of these exciting chases is as true to the concept as possible. During our demonstration, the designers showed off an early ’70s Buick Skylark, a blunt-nosed 4,000-pound hulk prized for its massive engine and tire-churning power. As our host wheeled the car around city streets, the car would respond with an amazing display of physics that accurately depicted the car’s weight and power as it bounced and jostled.

Chron X

T he year is 2091, and the population is I staining the Earth’s resources but J technology hasn’t reached the point 1 where it can offer any assistance. The U.S. has collapsed into feudalism, and the United Nations is barely keeping order around the world. Things are pretty much looking grim across the board and rumor has  it we’re approaching a new epoch, a time known as Chron X, when the destiny of mankind will be determined.

Chron X is an urban combat game you play over the Internet. Two gamers, each representing the leader of a combat unit, battle It out in cities around the world with the simple goal of destroying the other’s headquarters. Each player com¬mands a varied group of mercenaries, street thugs, hackers, and corpo-ratejkillers in a world of endless wars and dwin¬dling resources. If you’ve played collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering, you’ve already got a basic under¬standing of how to play the game; if not, this demo will give you a pretty good look inside the world of Chron X.

Like those collectible card games, Chron Xcan be rather complicated and involved; it’d take a few pages to explain how to play the demo but you’ll find a pre extensive online manual on The Z In Adobe Acrobat format, but you the Acrobat viewer on The CD, toe the de from our PC Gamer CD, your nor-Internet connection and phone fee apply while you’re playing the den online. Chron Xwill probably nes-download the latest program upca before the game begins, so keep rj mind if your Internet provider pla: time limit on your online sessiors

L.A.P.D.

The L.A.P.D. has armed itself with similar weapons, one of which is a mech hover vehicle armed to the teeth with machineguns, rockets, and grenades. You’re going to need all that firepower to get the job done, because this Los Angeles is no city of angels.

The demo for Future Cop: L.A.P.D. puts you behind the wheel of your own mech hover vehicle. After starting the demo, you’ll be able to set up your pref¬erences and change both the configura¬tion of your video card and the type of controller you’ll use. We recommend a gamepad if you’ve got one (the gamepad setup menu lists “Sony” and “Sega” for some reason, but your average PC gamepad will work).

Once you’re done fooling with the demo’s configuration, jump in. The opening screen offers a lot of options, but the only one you need to concern yourself with is the Start button, placed under the map. Click it, and you’ll be tossed into the action.

Your machine guns will auto-target (a thin line extends from the front of your vehicle to show where you’re aiming). The other weapons are a bit trickier to use; you’ll need to estimate where their fire will hit and lead your targets appropriately.

The action in the demo is fast and furious, with plenty of butt-stomping to go around. Don’t be ashamed if you’re crushed like a grape the first time around; with a little practice, you’ll be able to show those crooks who’s boss.

Klingon Honor

Last year, a little game called Unreal I was released, and it sported some

pretty spiffy graphics. You might L remember hearing about it. And cer­tainly everyone has heard of Star Trek, that venerable series of TV shows, movies, books, and lunchboxes. Now the two meet in Klingon Honor Guard, a first-person shooter set in the Star Trek universe and built on the Unreal engine. In the game, you’re an elite warrior training for induc­tion into the Klingon Honor Guard  until somebody tries to kill Gowron, the leader of the Klingon High Council. You’re thrust into active duty and sent off to capture the scum-bags responsible.

The demo for Klingon Honor Guard lets you try out a bit of the full version. If you’ve played first-person shooters, you already know the drill: journey through the levels, fight off the bad guys, and uncover the truth along the way. After you start the demo, you’ll come to a screen that gives you your objectives for this level. Essentially, you’re smuggled aboard a space station to capture an evildoer named  Thress. Press the Fire button (left mouse button) to enter the demo. If you want to access the options for the demo {control settings, audio and video modes, etc.) you’ll need to hit the ESC key.

As the demo begins, you find your¬self inside a cargo crate  turn around and grab the weapon behind you, then head out. You’ll be con¬fronted by a guard; take hi.n down Klin-gon-style. Head up to the upper level of the shipping area  and you’ll need to figure out the rest for your self, Klingon-boy.

Remember, Klin-gons do not accept failure   so if you screw up, don’t even think about returning home. Just go hide out in a bar somewhere on the other side of the galaxy. Maybe you can get a job mopping the floors on some Federation cargo ship.

Pro PinbaLL

When video games started popping up in the arcades, people every¬where were sure pinball b= going to die a slow death ttfie hands of computer tech¬*: cgy. Pinball would just fade i.’.ay quietly, until at some point in the future it would only to frighten small

if you don’t take out the Hash, the giant silver ball will

for you!” But that never I opened; pinball retained. It survives to this day

One reason pinball is still ound in the age of computers

the quality of games like Pro  Pinball: Big Race USA. This spiffy little game has cast various cities as tables, and we’ve got the killer demo. The kids still love to slap around the little silver ball, and who are we to try and deny them that joy?

The demo lets you try one table from the full game; it has a time limit, and it’ll also stop if your score gets high enough, but you’ll get a good idea of how Big Race USA works. After starting the demo, you’ll have two options select the icon on the right to configure the game options to your liking, or use the one on the left to jump directly to the flying-flipper action. The controls are pretty simple  the left and right shift keys control the left and right flippers, and the Enter key launches the ball. Since everyone knows the basics of pin¬ball, you should be able to take it from there. And, if you’re not familiar with the basics  if, for instance, you’ve been living under a damp sponge in a tavern in Estonia for the past 100 years  well, you’re in for a treat, cause pinball is fun.

Tomb Raider 3

Everyone’s favorite adventurer is back L on The CD! That’s right, Lara Croft  makes a return visit with the exciting !L demo for Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft. This time around, Lara’s in search of four artifacts that came to earth inside a meteorite. It’s your job to direct her through her jumping, swimming, lead slinging quest.

The demo lets you get Lara’s dainty feet wet and catch a glimpse of the gameplay contained in the full version. Start the demo and hit Enter twice to get straight to the fun. You’ll start off in a situation you’ll find very familiar if you played either of the first two Tomb Raider games: You’re standing at the edge of a cliff and you need to get to the bottom.

If you’re new to Lara’s world, take a gander at the Control Keys above. If you and Lara are already acquainted, you’ll be right at home; the only difference between this game and the others is the  addition of “save crystals,” which you must have in your inventory before you can save your game.

Slide down the cliff, taking care to avoid the spikes. Once you’re at the bottom, you’ll find yourself in the ruins of an ancient city. Explore the city, wade through some quicksand, and fight any animals that may cross your path.

Be sure to draw your weapons before entering any dark passages; you never know what baddies may be lurk¬ing inside, and you can’t take any chances. The full version of Tomb Raider III game boasts many more levels and several new locations.

came to earth inside a meteorite. It’s your job to direct her through her jump­ing, swimming, lead-slinging quest.

The demo lets you get Lara’s dainty feet wet and catch a glimpse of the gameplay contained in the full version. Start the demo and hit Enter twice to get straight to the fun. You’ll start off in a situation you’ll find very familiar if you played either of the first two Tomb Raider games: You’re standing at the edge of a cliff — and you need to get to the bottom.

If you’re new to Lara’s world, take a gander at the Control Keys above. If you and Lara are already acquainted, you’ll be right at home; the only difference between this game and the others is the

Settlers 3

One of the best known series in this so-called god-game genre is the Settlers series. And as you’ve proba¬bly guessed  Settlers III is the latest Installment in that series.

This demo lets you jump straight into the action or take your time and learn how to play the game properly with the tutorial. We recommend taking a trip through the tutorial before you go nuts with the whole god thing; on opening screen, just click on Tutorial.

You’ll soon find yourself gazing at the main game screen. Along the bottom you complete each task, click the little arrow to progress to the next lesson. The first thing you’ll be expected to do is create a lumber mill. On the left side of the screen, toward the top, is a menu with icons. Click the build icon, and you’ll get a listing of structures avail¬able to you. The lumber mill Is the building in the upper left-hand corner. Select it, then simply click where you want the building to be constructed, and your boys will go to work.

There’s also a combat element to Settlers III. If you find yourself in a situation where It’s necessary to crack some heads, left¬click with the mouse to select your military units. A sword will appear, and you’ll be able to send them off to die by clicking again. To scroll around the map, hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse.

Resident Evil 2

After the mishap with the T-virus in II the original Resident Evil, everyone fcl thought the Umbrella Corporation I iwould’ve learned its lesson and stopped fooling with zombie-making concoctions. No such luck, though. There’s a new virus on the loose, and this time it’s managed to find its way into Raccoon City  and, wouldn’t you know it, bloodthirsty zombies and all manner of horrible creatures are running loose across the city. It’s up to you to put a stop to the madness in the demo of Resident Evil 2.

The Resident Evil 2 demo lets you play for 10 gory minutes as Leon (in the full version, you can play as either Leon or Claire). Once you start the demo, you can enter Options to select your video on the right-hand side.

That’s all the help we’re going to give you, but you’ll want to stick around and watch the owner of that gun shop.