A Quick Look At .. By Sue @~A brief look at some recent releases - full reviews would be @~welcome Obsidian - SegaSoft Yet another Myst clone arrives from the States, with shades of 2001 or the original tale from Arthur C Clarke, The Sentinel. Two researchers, Lilah and Max, have discovered a strange black crystal which, in just a few days, has grown into a black obelisk, several feet high. You play Lilah whose task is to find Max when he vanishes. All that is left of him is his hat at the foot of the black obelisk. It looks as though he has entered it in some way. Can you rescue him in time? The game comes on 5 CDs and takes you through a strange universe made up of 4 worlds, accompanied by music from Thomas Dolby and illustrated by impressive graphics and QuickTime video clips. The whole experience sounds very surreal and evidently features fairly original puzzles. The only annoying puzzle sounds to be one which requires a fair degree of co-ordination and could frustrate the less nimble of us. * The Last Express - Smoking Car Productions / Broderbund The Last Express is that rare animal, a real time graphic adventure. Whether you input anything on the keyboard, move around, or just watch ... life in the game world goes on regardless. This innovative game comes from Jordan Mechner, creator of the action games Prince of Persia 1 and 2. Like those games, The Last Express uses rotoscope techniques where characters are filmed and then turned into graphics through fancy art work (I read somewhere that the figure in PoP was JM's little brother!). However, this technique is not used through the whole game eg conversations evidently use static frames. The adventure takes place in 1914 on the Orient Express. It begins with the death of a friend of yours who had invited you on board the train to begin with and you will have to dispose of his body quick-smart if you don't want to be accused of his murder! Thereafter you assume his identity as you take part in a momentous journey across Europe on one of the greatest train journeys of all time, eavesdropping on conversations, sneaking about and generally trying to make sense of it all. With excellent voice work, dramatic music at appropriate times and a very forgiving system whereby, should you `die' you automatically go back to the best point to rectify matters, The Last Express sounds a great game for those into detective-based adventures. * The Neverhood - DreamWorks Interactive / Microsoft Anyone who has enjoyed and been impressed by children's programs or films using claymation techniques will be well advised to check out The Neverhood since the characters and backgrounds used in that were made using clay and animated in the traditional way, moving the characters in painstakingly small steps and filming the result frame by frame. Most of the game is in third person perspective apart from some first person FMV cut-scenes. The music isn't the usual MIDI but a more unusual and appropriate mixture of jazz and blues. You play Klaymen who wakes in an unknown place and with no idea of the task ahead of him. His ultimate goal, as you'll discover, is to defeat the evil new leader of the Neverhood. This he will do by solving a selection of puzzles in a point and click environment. In many cases, you simply click on an item and Klaymen will perform the logical action eg click a lever and he pulls it. Some of the puzzles are the familiar Simon or sliding puzzle type; others are more novel. The game runs under Windows 95 only and can be slow from what I've heard because of the complexity of the graphics unless you have a high-spec Pentium. * Shivers 2 : Harvest of Souls - Sierra I haven't yet played the original Shivers (now out on budget, folks) but I've heard it's great (right, Jenny?). By all accounts Shivers 2 is even better, Sierra having taken note of any criticisms of the first game and added improvements such as a larger inventory (removing some of the trudging about in Shivers 1 as you can now carry 12 items, not just 1) and a map to allow you to easily travel back to places you've already visited, plus a more user-friendly interface, an optional hot cursor feature and 360 degree panning viewpoint for added realism. The puzzles are similar to 7th Guest and 11th Hour - including logic and spatial puzzles with a fair mix of difficulty levels. The game takes place in the town of Cyclone where a rock band, Trip Cyclone, had gone to play and make a video. You travelled there too as an old friend of the band members. Fortunately they have left several videos for you which contain audio and visual clues to help you solve some of the puzzles. All you have to do is find the videos! Should the puzzles still be too much for you, there is a in-built 'solve' option or you can use an Internet button to log on, enter the Sierra site and converse with other players through a chat option while you're both playing the game! - o -