Article Abstract:
Electronic Arts' $59.95 Advanced Tactical Fighters (ATF) futuristic airplane wargame is a new and improved version of EA's US Navy Fighters. ATF contains technical information from the international defense-industry publisher Jane's Information Group. The game's new features include support for eight dogfight players over the network, additional futuristic aircraft, modem/serial connection head-to-head play and two new game campaigns. ATF's seven planes include the XF-29 Forward Swept Wing, F-22, F-117A Night Hawk, XF-32 ASTOVL short-takeoff/vertical-landing fighter, French Dassault Rafale multi-role fighter, XF-31A EFM fighter and the B-2A Spirit bomber. The two new campaigns include a flight over Egypt in 1998 and a Far East mission in 2002. ATF does not include graphics or frame-rate performance improvements, but includes several new functions and utilities. ATF is a serious simulation game and requires a powerful computer and lengthy training.
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Article Abstract:
Inscape's $49.95 Residents' Bad Day on the Midway presents a mystery with deep secrets, shifting personas, a Psychotic Killer and an amazing mixture of overall imagery and ideas. Its characters are more believable than those in the earlier, truly bizarre Freak Show CD-ROM. The full-motion video does much to capture the sensory-overload atmosphere of the carnival setting. The game revolves around an innocent boy named Timmy, who interacts with other characters and must switch places with them at various points to save the carnival from the IRS Man. This switching may be a serious design flaw, leading to inevitable confusion from the constant role changes and weirdness, but Bad Day on the Midway provides plenty of information that helps the player win and get used to the role-shifting. The graphics are excellent, and the sound effects are superb.
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Article Abstract:
Starjammer Studio's $48.99 This Means War! is a new real-time wargame that offers excellent graphics and sound but is overly slow and difficult to play effectively, even on a fast PC. It is Windows 3.1-based and far less efficient than competitors, such as Blizzard's Warcraft II and Virgin's Command and Conquer. Users click on units and drag-and-drop to position warriors for various strategies. Minerals are the valued material fought over in the game. Players start out with 50,000 units, but engineers must build a mine quickly and keep the barracks and factories working at peak efficiency. Combat is not as well-balanced as it could be, although the game does use line-of-sight well. Finely modeled units are rendered crisply in Super VGA, but the Windows 3.1 graphics engine is so slow that it severely hampers play.
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