Icewind Dale, published by Interplay for PC

SPECS: Pentium 233, 32MB RAM, 600MB hard drive space, 4xCD-ROM, 4MB video card

TROUBLE is stalking the land, the call has gone out for a strong sword to destroy evil... a hero is needed.

Following on from the success of Baldur's Gate, Black Isle Studios have produced Icewind Dale something of a stop-gap measure before the release of Baldur's Gate 2. Based on the novels of Robert Salvatore, Icewind Dale pits you against the evil plaguing the Spine Of The World Mountains.

Unlike Baldur's Gate, where you collected characters along the way, each with their own distinctive traits and particular history, here you create your entire party from the beginning of the game.

Although you can customise the characters so they are exactly the way you want them, the plot isn't strongly attached to your characters and less involving as a result.

Nevertheless, we're still talking about a very high-quality game here. It's just once you've seen the splendour that was Baldur's Gate, you maybe hope for something a little more.

Essentially, Icewind Dale becomes something of a dungeon hack, taking on some quite huge monsters through a succession of caverns and labyrinths. It is far more linear than its illustrious predecessor, and yet the combats can be much tougher, making it more fitting for those who have played similar games before rather than the beginner.

The game can be played by up to six players over the Internet or through a network, which adds a great deal of fun to the game. All in all, it's something of a mixed bag, with a few refinements over Baldur's Gate, but largely with the feel of an in-between title.

Graphics 4/5

Sound 3/5

Gameplay 4/5

Gamespan 4/5

Overall 4/5

STEPHEN HUNT

Resident Evil: Code Veronica, published by Eidos for Dreamcast

THE latest instalment of the Resident Evil series is the coolest yet, with a combination of the same old classic gameplay, much improved graphics over any previous episode and cut-sequences that would make John Woo sit back in admiration.

The action has moved on from Racoon City, thankfully, and events start out in a distant arctic lab, where Claire Redfield is imprisoned after an abortive raid on a facility belonging to Umbrella, the evil organisation at the root of the Resident Evil conspiracies. An attack leaves the base decimated, and Claire is left to try and find her way to freedom, with the aid of fellow prisoner Steve Burnside and, eventually, her brother Chris making his return appearance in the series after the very first game.

In terms of gameplay, little has changed over previous episodes, but if it ain't broke, why fix it? This title merely adds some spit and polish, and a tighter plot than usual to make sure the nights of gaming in darkened rooms zip by. A cracking game, nothing less.

Overall 5/5

STEPHEN HUNT

4 Wheel Thunder, published by Sega for Dreamcast

THUNDEROUS the mighty four-wheeler trucks in this game may be, but they can be equally ponderous when it comes to manoeuvring around some tracks which are distinctly unsuited to such vehicles. In the end, 4 Wheel Thunder turns out to be a run-of-the-mill race game, notable only for some reasonably pretty graphics and some unusual vehicles. The Dreamcast is begging for a top-notch race game. I'm afraid this isn't it.

Overall 2/5

STEPHEN HUNT

Streetfighter EX2 plus

Published by Capcom

Fighting games you either love them, or you hate them. So you'll either be very pleased or in dismay with the news that Streetfigher is back again with another offering in its now long running series.

Graphically this game is quite pleasant, the numerous characters available (both new and old) are nice and bold, and as with recent versions are now in 3D (though oddly the game still plays in a very 2D fashion)

The sound is ok too, though nothing out of the ordinary, with the typical plodding music and average effects that you tend to expect. One slightly annoying feature however is that at the end of each bout the victorious fighter celebrates in Japanese hmm..handy!

If you have any experience of playing the previous Streetfighter games then you will have the advantage of being able to pull off the various 'combos' available, of which there are many. An abundance attacks, throws and special moves are at hand (or foot...) to beat the living daylights out of your opponent which is nice!?! The rest of people though will tend to find themselves just bashing randomly at their gamepad buttons in frustration!

But when it comes down to it there isn't exactly anything new here, and if you are out to buy a fighting game then personally I would maybe be tempted to head off in the direction of something like Tekken 3 instead.

Graphics 3/5

Sound 2/5

Gameplay 3/5

Gamespan 2/5

Overall 2 (and a half!)

RICHARD GOWLAND