News The first module in the Elder Scrolls, called Arena, from US Gold/Bethesda is out now. A 33mhz 386 or better is recommended and 4 meg RAM needed. The game looks similar to Underworld and features over 20 different creatures to cause you a lot of problems as you search the land of Tamriel in search of the eight pieces of the Staff of Chaos. Once these have been recovered, you will be able to rescue the Emperor of Tamriel who has been imprisoned in another dimension by an evil mage. The first add-on module will have a Gothic horror setting and will be called Mournhold. Games with a horror theme are big news at the moment. Let's take a quick look at a few of them ... The latest Quest For Glory game, Shadows of Darkness (QFG4) from Sierra, also features vampires, Necrotaurs and similar creatures. Then there's the forthcoming Harvester which features the most gory graphics I've ever seen. The designer has aimed for a Psycho-style build up of tension and the storyline sounds very chilling with the town of Harvest being controlled in many ways by the Order of the Harvest Moon, a strange and very powerful Lodge. SSI/US Gold have released Strahd's Possession which is set in their Ravenloft game world. Again, it is an RPG but unlike Elder Scrolls is a four-character game. Finally, in August, you can be terrified by Noctopolis, a point and click graphic adventure cum interactive movie. Again, the initial screen shots of vampires and gloomy rooms look suitably menacing. We can't seem to get away from RPGs at the moment. Fans of Ishar and its sequel will be pleased to hear that Ishar 3:The Seven Gates of Infinity is on its way. So is The Seventh Sword of Mendor from a Hungarian team, Flatliners Design, which will feature 90,000 locations over 25 dungeon levels and 6 cities. Estimated completion time is 130-150 hours. It's going to be a busy summer! Now the snippets. More on these as further info becomes available. Westwood Studios have released the CD-ROM version of Lands of Lore and the sequel will be available through Virgin in September. They are also working on a strategy game called Command and Conquer which will be released around the same time. Cyberdreams UK will be releasing an RPG cum adventure called Red Hell about the time you read this. It has over 70 locations and 3D cinematic animation. A CD-ROM version is also promised. Brian Moriarty has dropped out of production of The Dig. The game has now been delayed until the end of the year and though the initial release will be on CD-ROM, a cut-back floppy version should follow. Theme Park, which was due out mid April now has a release date set vaguely at 'summer' according to Electronic Arts when I rang them. Damn. I'm looking forward to that coming out! A follow-up to Darkseed is on its way, graphics by HR Giger again, and a CD-ROM version of the original game is due soon. Games out now or to be released soon ------------------------------------ Archon Ultra - SSI/US Gold œ29.99 Arena:The Elder Scrolls - US Gold/Bethesda œ45.99 Battle Isle 2 - Blue Byte - CD-ROM œ54.99 or œ39.99 according to different sources! Beneath a Steel Sky - Virgin œ39.99) Civilization for Windows - MicroProse œ44.99 Complete UMS - Intergalactic/Mirage, œ44.99 Conspiracy - Virgin - CD-ROM œ44.99 Daemonsgate - Gametek œ29.99 Hired Guns - Psygnosis œ44.99 Journeyman Project - Gametek CD-ROM œ39.99 Merchant Prince - Mirage œ44.99 Nomad - Gametek œ29.99 Patrician - Daze Marketing - CD-ROM œ39.99 Privateer:Righteous Fire - Electronic Arts œ19.99 Red Crystal - Mirage œ44.99 Sim City 2000 - Maxis œ39.99 Star Trek 25th Anniversary - Interplay - CD-ROM œ49.99 Ten Year Anthology - Interplay - CD-ROM, œ49.99 Wizard - Psygnosis œ39.99 - o -