Document text
007: Tomorrow Never Dies; Resident Evil 3; Warpath: Jurassic Park By Chip & Jonathan Carter Tribune Media Services 007: TOMORROW NEVER DIES, FOR PLAYSTATION � The good news is, almost everything you loved about Goldeneye is back in Tomorrow Never Dies. The bad news is, this isn't Goldeneye. You get a great array of weapons, from your beloved Walther PPK pistol to assault rifles to everyone's favorite, the sniper rifle. The graphics are great � more realistic even than Goldeneye � and the story follows the plot of the movie in 10 missions and locations that'll seem familiar to anyone who's seen the flick. You have plenty of moves � side-to-side strafing, tuck and roll, dive and fire � but the big issue here is that they're kind of hard to pull off. As so often happens, especially with the PlayStation, control's, you simply do not have the kind of responsive plug-and-play easy glide you get with action games for the N64. That said, you can master the movement in this one � it's just tough, and it will try your patience before you get good at it. There's nothing worse than getting picked off by a Russian sniper 15 times in a row because the game control won't allow you the precision to slip directly behind a tree, un-sling your sniper rifle, and pick the sucker off. What happens instead is you always end up a little too far to the left or right. Aim is another slippery issue here. There's an autolock mode that does it for you, or you can take things over manually. But again, be ready to spend some serious practice time to get it right. There are some cool levels that have you driving or skiing while you're blasting away at bad guys. The control is better in those levels, since the movements don't require pinpoint precision. The other big not-Goldeneye drawback is the absence of a multi-player mode. Even though Goldeneye's been out for ages now, we still play it regularly due to the fantastic four-player hunt-'n'-seek action. It's sorely missed in Tomorrow Never Dies. Don't get us wrong � this is a fine game. But it's not Goldeneye, and we suppose that's what we were hoping for. JONATHAN SAYS : I'm a Bond freak, so I'm glad to have any 007 game, especially for the PlayStation. It's not the big G, but I'll happily take it. A. CHIP SAYS : I have to say this one's a bit of a disappointment, mainly due to the control issue. I know the PlayStation control's never gonna be what you get on the N64, but I thought Electronic Arts came awfully close with Medal of Honor ... and I had hoped that would carry over to TND. OVERALL RATING: B+ � Rent it for ages 12 & up. RESIDENT EVIL 3: NEMESIS, FOR PLAYSTATION � Poor Jill Valentine � she just can't get away from the zombies in her 'hood. A few weeks after the last Raccoon City disaster, Jill decides to give up her place on the Special Tactics and Rescue Service of the city police department and try to get away for a while and get her head together. It's September now, six weeks after the bizarre incident at the old mansion in the Arclay Mountains, the one that destroyed most of the S.T.A.R.S team members and sent the rest for some R & R in Europe, the one that unleashed an unimaginable biohazard on the people and animals in the area, turning them into flesh-devouring zombies. Like the rest of Raccoon City, Jill just wants to forget. She can't do that, of course � or else there wouldn't be a RE 3. A series of strange murders have left the locals scratching their heads ... and the dreaded T-virus has begun to spread again. Almost immediately, Raccoon City has once again become a teeming mass of zombies intent on destroying any evidence of human life. Once again, it's up to Jill to snuff out this new threat and find out what's behind it once and for all. So yeah, it all does sound a little familiar, but that won't matter to fans of this outstanding series. And yes, as you'd expect, 3 is the best of a very good bunch. There are some new features here. One of our favorites is an option that lets you combine items. For instance, you can combine various grades of gunpowder to make more powerful ammo for your pistol, magnum, shotgun and grenade launcher. There are dozens of combinations, each with varying results. Another very cool feature is the Live Selection screen. At points in the game, when you're faced with a dangerous situation, you'll be given a choice, i.e., fight with the monster that's in front of you, or step into the police station to your left. Your selection redirects the plot and story line. Careful though � you have to choose quickly, or the CPU will make a choice for you that will often put you in an even more precarious position than before. If you're a RE fan already, there's no doubt you've got to have this one. If you've never played the series, this is as good a place as any to start. JONATHAN SAYS : Somehow RE3 doesn't seem as scary as the first two. Maybe that's because we've seen it all before and we're over the shock. In any event, that minor complaint aside, this game is simply outstanding. A+. CHIP SAYS : As much as I've always liked this series, I've always hated the control, and I still do. I don't like the shifting directions of the d-pad; sometimes up is forward, sometimes back, sometimes left, depending on which way you're facing. I've always found it an awkward way to play, and I still do. B+. OVERALL RATING: A � Buy it for ages 12 & up. WARPATH: JURASSIC PARK, FOR PLAYSTATION � Hey, did anybody ever wonder what happened to all the dinosaurs after the people left Jurassic Park? Here's the answer. Seems like if you leave a bunch of dinosaurs alone in one place, they'll battle it out for dominance. Hey, maybe that's what happened to the original crop! This one's like Street Fighter with dinosaurs. Not cartoony, typical video game dinosaurs, but bone-crushing, drippy-fanged, snot-blowing, flesh-ripping thunder lizards who're ready to battle to the death. You get 14 different dinos to choose from, including T-Rex and Mega-Raptor. If you want to know more about them, there's a museum that lets you get all the info you could ever want on each beast. After you pick a dino, you enter an arena, from either Jurassic Park or the Lost World. From there, you can either battle it out against the CPU or a friend. You can also select teams of dinosaurs to scrap against each other one at a time. If simply sinking your teeth into an opponent's not enough to make you happy, you can also toss off dinosaur taunts. As you do that, and attack, your "frenzy meter" begins to turn from yellow to red. When it turns completely red, you can unleash a frenzy attack that'll do extra damage. If you're taking a licking, you'll be glad to know there are power-ups available, mostly in the form of animals and the occasional renegade human who wanders onto the scene. Bon appetite, as it were. JONATHAN SAYS : This one's pretty cool. I'd have liked to have seen it when I was younger and more into dinosaurs, but I can still appreciate the idea. B+. CHIP SAYS : These beasts are ferocious. The power's overwhelming. I've had my fill of brawlers with human combatants, but this one's kind of cool. B+. OVERALL RATING: B+ � Rent it for ages 10 & up. TIPS AND TRICKS RESIDENT EVIL 3: NEMESIS � When you reach the area where the Umbrella team captain shoots one of his own team members, head for the computer on a nearby desk. Try these passwords: ADRAVIL, AQUACURE or SAFSPRIN. One of these will work, and open the door. The combo to the safe in the RPD station can be any of these: 0153, 0513 or 4312. Chip & Jonathan Carter are a father/son gaming team who've been twiddling their thumbs professionally since 1990. For more tips, tricks, reviews and news, check us out on-line at http://vgames.webpoint.com/vid/ecol/mainpage . Or e-mail us at [email protected] . Got a question? An inside tip you'd like to share? Write to Chip and Jonathan Carter in care of this newspaper. While they cannot respond individually, they will answer questions of general interest in their column. (C) 1999 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC. Techno file index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA