How
Truly Odd
Review by Chris Seip
Following up on a unique and successfully 2-D side-scroller named Oddworld:
Abe's Odyssey, GT Interactive has offered another helping of tricky puzzles, unearthly
creatures, and danger. Its sequel, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, doesn't stray far from the
original; the game engine appears to be the same, but other improvements are evident.
In Abe's Exoddus (that's not a typo!), you play the cute little blue weakling known
as Abe. A refreshing change of pace from the usual "macho Marine" computer game
hero, Abe is a shrimpy blue alien creature in a loincloth, who chants spells toward open
portals to freedom for his enslaved brothers. Like Abe, the innocent blue guys are
Mudokons, and they're being put to hellish work by the capitalist Glukkons and their
machine-gun-toting henchmen, the Sligs, whose faces only a hermit crab could love. If you
accept Abe's task to lead every Mudokon to safety, you'll find that things get even
tougher when you need to rescue Mudokons whose eyes have been sewn shut--a case of the
twined leading the blind. The Glukkons don't want the Mudokons to see exactly what they've
been mining to produce Soulstorm Brew.
Changes from Abe's original game are all welcome improvements, from richer
background art to the ability to speak to-and lead-multiple Mudokons at once. Oh, the joys
of reduced back-tracking! Also new to Abe's Exoddus is a more flexible save-game system.
You can "Quiksave" at any point, within any level...and yes, it's quick. Funny
touches lighten the dark story and environment of Abe's Exoddus, including the nasal
Mudokon voices, the marvelous character animations, and some slapstick violence. For
example, when a Mudokon crosses through a gas pocket, he'll be goofy and uncooperative
until Abe slaps him. Annoy a Mudokon with too much slapping, and you'll have to learn
Abe's keystroke to emit a sympathetic "aww." But make no mistake about it, even
if you see the comedy in Abe's world, it's still a darkly comic place indeed. Violence,
death, and sadistic bad guys lurk around every corner.
Figure 1. Meet Abe, the friendly protagonist of Abe's Exoddus.
I hope nobody has made the mistake of thinking that 2-D side-scrollers were
dead. Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus is slickly and successfully implemented, in rich detail. Its
levels are clever enough to engage your intellect. Its responsiveness is arcade caliber.
And yeahhhh, it's pretty odd stuff. Grade: A.
Your computer won't run like a Slig if it meets the following minimum
requirements: Windows 95 or 98, a 166-MHz Pentium (a 200-MHz Pentium MMX is recommended),
16 MB RAM (32 MB or higher recommended), 2 MB video card, quad-speed (4X) CD-ROM drive (8X
recommended), and a 100 percent Sound Blaster-compatible sound card.
Those Buzzers and Bells
Review by Chris Seip
Unlike any other pinball game, Microsoft Pinball Arcade attempts to portray
some of the history of pinball. Playing the seven digitized Gottlieb tables in this
collection, you can see such things as the progress from vertical to horizontal tables,
the introduction of flippers, ongoing experimentation with flipper placement, and the move
toward electronics. There's quite a span of time covered here, from 1931's pachinko-like
Baffle Ball to 1992's Cue Ball Wizard.
This gives Pinball Arcade historical depth and variety well beyond any other
PC pinball game on the market. On the other hand, Microsoft opted not to include the
play-tuning features that you're likely to find on top-notch pinball games, so there's no
adjusting table angles, ball speed, bumper energy, and the like. Simplicity rules
here-which is okay, since the Gottlieb recreations are done so painstakingly, and the ball
physics are fine. I didn't feel the urge to tweak and tune the games, though your
reactions may differ.
Sounds are great in Pinball Arcade. The developers must have taken great care
in capturing the original machines' noises, and the audio complements the games well.
Maybe I noticed it more because as an older pinball player, I still miss the busy little
mechanical dings and clanks that pinball games used to make. It's truly nice to hear all
that fine racket so clearly on the pre-computerized games, though I still am having
trouble figuring out why Pinball Arcade's sound effects are coming through my PC at two
distinctly different volume levels.
Figure 2. Knockout represents 1950s pinball in Microsoft Pinball Arcade.
Stacked against modern pinball games, especially against pinball games on the
PC, these seven historical tables are pretty weak. You likely will not spend countless
hours absorbed in a Civilization-like trance. But I offer the thought that Microsoft's aim
was at once larger and smaller than the usual PC pinball game offerings, as described
below.
Larger: Glimpsing the history of
pinball in a playable format is a unique idea and definitely the "right" way to
portray this fun subject. I had only mild curiosity about the subject, but the on-line
historical narrative was an enjoyable read, and there are gameplay hints as well as a
Pinball Trivia Challenge.
Smaller: Given its minor disk
space requirements (15 MB plus a large swap file), that it can be played without the CD
present, and its low price, I began to think of Microsoft Pinball Arcade as part of its
"smallish" product line that includes the little Arcade/Return of Arcade
recreations. In short, if you're looking for something to replace Quake II or Total
Annihilation, this is not it. But if you enjoy quick little laptop-compatible games in
between writing memos, this is an easily suitable competition for Solitaire.
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The main problem with Microsoft Pinball Arcade is that, as much as I like
those old-style pinball noises, the historical tables cannot compete with the allure of
modern pinball games. Boredom pays an unwelcome visit, and relatively quickly. You may
pick out tables in this collection that are hardly worth a second visit. On the other
hand, I cannot help but hope Microsoft will follow this up with another collection of
pinball recreations. Two suggestions for a sequel: Work out that tiny bit of nagging
jerkiness in the motion, and please include some Bally tables! Grade: B-.
Lighter Blue: Mini-Reviews
A Brief Look at Sentinel Returns
From Light Blue's Grievously Overdue Software Reviews pile came a work of stark
originality.
Hookstone and Psygnosis have
brought back an old 8-bit (Commodore 64 era) classic, Sentinel. This equally sparse and
eerie sequel, Sentinel Returns, has been given far more detailed landscapes -- 3D
acceleration optional -- and a soundtrack by filmmaker John Carpenter. There's even a
multiplayer option available, though you may prefer the intensity of yourself, alone,
going head to head against ... you guessed it ... the Sentinel. You're always working step
by step across the squared landscapes, until you can attain the position of the Sentinel
and get transported to the next of 650 levels. Or one of 10,000 randomly-generated levels.
Figure 3. The Sentinel surveys his eerie landscape.
There's a surprising abstractness to the gameplay of Sentinel Returns. The
Sentinel slowly rotates, sweeping its energy absorption slowly around the game board. You
can destroy and create trees to block the Sentinel's view of you, boulders to raise your
elevation, and robots to transfer your consciousness. The robots can pivot in position but
cannot walk, so your means of travel is jumping from one robot to the next, destroying and
rebuilding objects constantly to conserve energy.
It's weird and moody, and unfortunately may take a good 15 minutes to figure
out how to get started -- a short on-line tutorial would have been great! The levels can
in many cases be played quickly, so it's a quick and unique diversion, really pretty
interesting. The vast number of levels guarantees you'll be bogged down in repetition
before you get to the end of it. Grade: B.
A Brief Look at Freddi Fish 4 and Putt-Putt
Enters the Race
What's new from our pals at Humongous Entertainment? Well, they do seem to
keep stamping out those sunny little kids' adventure games. The latest two are sequel
appearances for Freddi Fish and that chipper purple car, Putt-Putt. Pretty standard fare
for Humongous, if you've seen their other adventure games. Cheerfully chatty characters,
innocuous stories, little mini-games within the adventure, zillions of clickable "hot
points," and high quality production values make these two adventures suitable
additions to its Junior Adventures product line (and your kids' software collection).
Figure 4. Freddi Fish embarks on another adventure.
In The Case of The Hogfish Rustlers of Briny Gulch, Freddi Fish and her
ever-present sidekick, Luther, must find Cousin Calico's kidnapped hogfish. And Putt-Putt
Enters the Race features a search through Cartown for the proper items to get Putt-Putt
ready for the big race. These adventures are for ages 3-8, but the younger ages might be
overwhelmed by the complexity of all the characters, remembering who can give you item X
in exchange for item Y, not knowing the location of item Y, and having a fair number of
locations to keep in mind too. Parental participation should smooth out any worries.
Anyhow, these two games are clean fun and offer a great way to get kids playing adventure
games. Grade: A.
A Brief Look at 3D Railroad Master
Abracadata has been excavating an interesting software niche, specializing
lately in software for model railroaders and railroad enthusiasts. Perhaps its most
broadly appealing title is 3D Railroad Master, in which the player becomes a railroad
engineer, driving along the rails with a first-person view, meeting scheduled pickups and
deliveries, avoiding collisions, controlling switches, and even coupling and uncoupling
cars.
3D Railroad Master simulates the job of a railroad engineer, but its design
may leave it lacking an enthusiastic audience. As a sim, it's devoid of complexity and
strategy--just keep making those deliveries! As a model railroader's plaything, it's
lacking one of the best activities of the hobby, setting up your own custom track layouts.
However, layouts can be imported from Abracadata's own 3D Railroad Concept & Design.
The graphics are not hardware- accelerated, and they could use quite a bit more detail. On
the other hand, the sound effects are reasonably good, and that helps get any railroader's
juices flowing. Just watch out for all those wandering animals and pedestrians! Grade: C+.
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