News

At a recent computer fair I saw some of the Unlock the Secrets
range of software. These are interactive, multimedia guides to
some of the most popular games around - Tomb Raider, Nascar 2,
Lords of the Realm 2, Duke Nukem 3D and Phantasmagoria 2. Others
are coming soon for Magic the Gathering, Diablo and others. They
come from GameWizards who are part of WizardWorks and contain FMV
scenes from the game to guide you through potentially tricky parts
of the game, full guides to each level and maps, where
appropriate.  Contact them on www.gamewizards.com or
www.wizworks.com

History of the World is a world domination strategy game based on
a top-selling multiplayer board game. The computer version
contains some computer-specific improvements such as
score-tracking and a hint feature. 1 to 7 players can compete
against each other or the computer. It comes from Avalon Hill at
http://www.avalonhill.com

If you're into wargames, Talonsoft have their 6th and 7th games
out in the Battleground series. These are Napoleon in Russia and
Bull Run which is set in the time of the American Civil War. Both
have Internet play and the Battleground series have won many
awards.  Contact Talonsoft at www.talonsoft.com. Talonsoft have
recently signed Norm Koger who is working on The Operational Art
of War which should be out in spring 1998. They have also changed
distributors, moving from Empire Interactive to Broderbund.

Did you enjoy Sierra's Indy's Desktop Adventures which was a
random collection of mini adventures to run under Windows when you
wanted something to give you a quick break from more serious
stuff? Well, if so, and you are also into Star Wars, Sierra have
released a similar package called Yoda Stories.

Three patches are available to let Tomb Raider fans take advantage
of the new 3D accelerator cards - 3Dfx, Rendition and Matrox's
Mystique. They can be downloaded from Eidos' site at
www.tombraider.com/features.html. If you want one of them and
haven't got Net access, let me know and I'll download it for you.

Hexen II is also due out soon and features many varied levels such
as an Egyptian level and one based on Roman times. In all there is
a total of 30 levels. There will also be 4 deathmatch levels. In
it, you have to face and destroy a third Serpent Rider, Eidolos
and you'll have a choice of 4 characters to play, 2 evil and 2
good - necromancer, assassin, crusader or paladin. Each has his
or her own unique abilities, weapons and skills. Raven have also
gone for increased realism in the way that objects react in the
game and generally improved atmosphere (pardon the pun) such as
the introduction of rain.

You can also look out for several Quake add-on packs - Scourge of
Armagon, Shrak, Qzone and Dissolution of Eternity: Mission Pack 2.
The latter sounds the best and hardest of them all.

I often get calls from people asking where they can get hold of
the old SSI RPGs. Now I can tell them about the Forgotten Realms
Archives, a collection of 7 of the SSI games (Pool of Radiance

etc), plus Menzoberranzan, Eye of the Beholder 1, 2 and 3, and
Dungeon Hack. The whole collection of 12 games comes on 4 CDs.

The second game starring Twinsen, Twinsen's Odyssey (Little Big
Adventure 2) is on its way and looks even better than its
impressive predecessor. The basic plot is that aliens are planning
to take over the world of Twinsun and, once more, Twinsen is the
hero to save Twinsun-kind.

Zenobi Software have a stack of new emulated games on their books
if you're into text adventures. Their 128K Spectrum games will run
on the PC and Amiga and the rest will also run on the ST. The
major title is Murder Mystery Weekend from Jon Scott which is a
128K game based on the annual Adventurer's Convention. See who YOU
can recognise!  Look out for the review in this issue from our own
Jenny Perry. Jack Lockerby has three games out - Wizard of Oz,
already reviewed by Bev, Zen and The Citadel while Laurence
Creighton has released Laskar's Return and Beyond Eldorado.  Karen
Tyers' Rhyme Crime (128K) and Edwina Brown's Hide and Seek also
sound intriguing. To order one of these, or any of the other games
produced by Zenobi, send œ2.99 to Zenobi Software, 26 Spotland
Tops, Cutgate, Rochdale, Lancs OL12 7NX.

Finally, for the Command and Conquer enthusiast who wants
_everything_ to do with the game, The C&C Gold Edition for Windows
95 has features such as SVGA graphics, head to head play over the
Internet and a C&C Theme for Microsoft Plus.












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