TOCA Race Driver
PS2 £39.99 Codemasters ****
Vroom, vroom, snore? If the thought of yet another PlayStation 2 racing game fills you with apathy, then TOCA Race Driver may change your mind. This is an above average racer made great by two elements - narrative and damage.
As a rookie driver, you will experience revenge, love and betrayal, emotions not normally associated with a racing game. Of course, traditionalists will be happier fiddling with downforce and tyre grip, with the tinkering element almost as important here as it is in the petrolheads' favourite Gran Turismo 3.
The graphics, nice as they are, aren't up to GT3's standards but the effects are more convincing. However, it is the non-visual touches that impress most. Hanging back in second, approaching a part- strewn bend? Then listen as your pit team offers encouragement.
Cut up an opponent, pausing only to flick a V-sign in the rear view mirror? Then watch as he seeks revenge and confronts you afterwards in an animated cut-scene. These features elevate TOCA above its rivals, although there are problems. The handling of the cars makes for some fiddly control issues, while lengthy loading times do their best to dissipate the atmosphere. The difficulty level is high, with single mistakes in later races making victory nigh on impossible. But with 38 tracks and 42 cars, and a touch of narrative fairy dust, TOCA has re-ignited the PS2 racing genre. (GH)
Beach Life
PC £29.99 Deep Red/Eidos ***
Gratuitous violence apart, the games industry tends to be more politically correct than you might expect. This very British effort refreshingly bucks the trend. Beach Life is, essentially, Sim Ibiza: a conventional sim game in which you take charge of various island resorts, fulfil missions and make money.
Thus, you may have a certain number of days to cure the water supply problem, or develop a virtually deserted island in shark- infested waters into a posh, safe resort. Beach Life does not push the sim game envelope, but it is well executed, with an intuitive interface and a rare aura of coolness.
The game's delights stem from the way the virtual holidaymakers behave - or can be made to behave - as though they were the average infamous Brit abroad. Cranking up the strength of the beer and slashing its price, for example, will fill your coffers but breed widespread fighting.
You can even sell a type of beer that leads to over-amorousness and, if your customers get bored, a wet T-shirt contest should pacify them. The biggest drawback, though, is that it should be much longer: some of the missions are too short and there are not enough of them. (SB)
Aliens vs Predator 2: Primal Hunt
PC £19.99 Monolith/Sierra ***
You have to feel sympathy for Sierra. In any other year, Aliens would have been a shoot-'em-up everyone talked about. It is long, tense and genuinely different, depending on which of the three characters you played. The problem is that 2002 has been deluged with quality titles in a similar vein.
Unfortunately, this mission pack will neither attract new legions of bug-hunters nor satisfy the existing ones. With a mere nine missions available (three for each of the marine, alien or predator categories), and only a handful of new weapons and adversaries, it remains fun to play but only for a short time. The scripted interludes suck you into the story. However, the level design is perfunctory at best, with miles of gloomy tunnels, an over-reliance on unavoidable shock-attacks and the familiar imbalance between the characters.
The marine levels remain mindlessly enjoyable, while the alien missions see you scuttling up walls like some heavily armed cockroach and the predator looking far from the fearsome hunter we know and love.
The story, too, is disappointingly predictable, with lame conclusions to the missions. Once again, use of the Lithtech engine means only high-powered PCs will see the most impressive lighting effects. At best, the action is fast and tense with a stronger multiplayer element and improved AI.
At worst, it is too short and too predictable - a pity given the potential of a killer licence so far overlooked by the movies. (MA)
