SimIsle
Article Abstract:
Maxis' $39.95 SimIsle simulation game offers detailed graphics and challenging scenarios, but it ends up not being very much fun. In contrast to Maxis' other Sim games, SimIsle provides built-in objectives, making it more of a strategy game than a simulation game. Players are asked to utilize a staff of agents and a modest budget to find a happy balance between development and ecology on 24 islands of rainforests. The game offers an attractive display that can be rotated. The minimal point-and-click controls are intelligently laid-out. Also included are 24 graphs and a notebook containing a plethora of data on rainforests. Although each step the player makes has an impact, SimIsle lacks the open-endedness of other Sim games. Players will probably discover that it is not much fun despoiling or preserving a rainforest in a computer-game format.
Publication Name: PC Entertainment
Subject: Hobbies and crafts
ISSN: 1093-295X
Year: 1996
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Daryl F. Gates' Police Quest: SWAT
Article Abstract:
Sierra On-Line's $54.95 Daryl F. Gates' Police Quest: SWAT is the first full-motion video title in the Police Quest series and is somewhat disappointing because game play is too restrictive. Players participate in field missions called 'call-ups' that take place in crisp first-person video. The overall look of the game is very classy, with a cinema-verite angle and a range of tasks and tools for the player to learn, such as hand signals and the use of LASH radio. Scenarios can be involving and intense, but the designers' approach of offering a small number of missions that are tackled in different roles and unfold in different ways is a mistake. Earlier Police Quest games emphasized freedom of movement. In SWAT, the video is the entire show, limiting the player's freedom of action. SWAT is also buggy and sometimes fails to work under DOS.
Publication Name: PC Entertainment
Subject: Hobbies and crafts
ISSN: 1093-295X
Year: 1996
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Shockwave Assault
Article Abstract:
Electronic Arts' Shockwave Assault simulation computer game bundles Shockwave: Invasion Earth and Operation JumpGate into one package. Shockwave Assault involves a War of the Worlds situation, in which users must destroy aliens circling the Earth. To complete the game users must battle through difficult scenarios all over the planet in a series of divided levels. The Macintosh version of Shockwave is solidly constructed and utilizes plug-and-play. However, the Windows 95 version has many limitations. Shockwave for Windows restricts users to a narrow strip of terrain for the majority of the game. The Windows version also fails to take full advantage of the 3-D environment. Other drawbacks include machine lock-up, action pauses and a difficult-to-control joystick. Shockwave costs $54.95 for the Windows CD and $49.95 for the Macintosh CD.
Publication Name: PC Entertainment
Subject: Hobbies and crafts
ISSN: 1093-295X
Year: 1996
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