Game reviews

NBA LIVE 2000 By Aaron Wood Maker: EA Sports Rating: three and a half stars System: PC CD-ROM System requirements: Pentium 166, 32MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM, 4MB video card Suggested price: $40 Number

Friday, April 7th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NBA LIVE 2000
By Aaron Wood
Maker: EA Sports
Rating: three and a half stars
System: PC CD-ROM
System requirements: Pentium 166, 32MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM, 4MB video card
Suggested price: $40
Number of players: Up to 8 via Internet

NBA Live 2000 is the latest in the long-running series from EA Sports, and itâ€™s better than ever. From the opening tip-off to the final horn, this game will keep you NBA fans happy.

The graphics are outstanding, with most players looking exactly like their real-life counterparts. There is even the option to import your face into the game and play with the pros. And with a good game pad, you can pull off an amazing assortment of jukes, drives and dunks. My only complaint is that it is almost impossible to make jump shots without the CPU assist turned on.

The list of features is worth noting. Not only can you play the 1999-2000 regular season, but you can also use a playoff series or franchise mode, where players age and retire and you must replenish your roster through trades and the draft. See if youâ€™ve got what it takes to build a dynasty. You can also take control of one of the all-decade teams from the last 50 years. Then thereâ€™s the ability to take any two players and pit them against each other for a little one-on-one action. Throw in four difficulty settings, and thereâ€™s some basketball to be played by all.

If you like basketball, take your game to NBA Live 2000. Recommended for all ages.

Aaron Wood is a student at Richland College.

ULTIMA IX: ASCENSION
By Harold E. Scull Jr.
Maker: Electronic Arts/Origin
Rating: 1/2 star System: PC CD-ROM
System requirements: Pentium II/266 MHz (400 or higher recommended),64MB RAM (128 recommended), 600MB hard drive (1GB recommended), 8X CD-ROM drive, 8MB 3-D card
Suggested price: $40
Number of players: 1

Buyer beware: Enjoying the final installment of the Ultima series requires a beefed-up PC that exceeds the system requirements noted by Electronic Arts. You will definitely experience delays, breaks in sequences and game crashes. Itâ€™s a shame, but the last version of what has been a classic action/adventure series is absolutely bug-ridden.

The story line is good, but the climax is not as magnificent as I anticipated. As Avatar, you return to the new land of Britannia with the mission of restoring a sacred circle of stones that binds the forces of eight separate virtues - honesty, humility, compassion, valor, etc.- to its unique world. To do so, you must acquire eight runes, the pure embodiment of each virtue, that are salted away in monster-filled dungeons. Clasping a rune empowers the wielder to unlock and restore its secret to the Shrines of the Virtues.

On the upside, Britannia still remains rather isometric, but it now features impressive primary and secondary lighting effects with changing views from a floating camera. The citizens remain somewhat robotic, expressionless and sluggish. Graphic realism was applied to dungeon detailing/textures, moving skies and adverse weather conditions - a drastic improvement. The soundtrack is superb and sets the mood.

On the downside, fight scenes - the most important part of any role-playing game - are either not integrated or synchronized with the three-dimensional environment, causing hang-ups that can last for several minutes and magic spells that last for only seconds instead of minutes. EA not only released this game with understated system requirements, it compounded the problem by necessitating Internet-patch downloads to rid it of bugs and glitches.

Rated for ages 13 and older.

- Harold E. Scull Jr.

SYPHON FILTER 2
Saving the world - from a virus
By Harold E. Scull Jr.
Maker: 989 Studios
Rating: four stars
System: Sony PlayStation
Suggested price: $39.95
Number of players: Up to two

In this action-packed sequel, the ultimate biological weapon named Syphon Filter is for sale and the buyer will become the first terrorist superpower.

Action hero Gabe Logan, a covert operative previously assigned to eliminate terrorists and save the United States from viral bombs, is now joined by Lian Xing. Gabe and Lian discover that corrupt elements within the Agency, a supersecret U.S. intelligence group, are the driving force behind these dangerous events. Because they are attempting to expose the conspirators, the Agency has alerted the military and law enforcement that Gabe and Lian should be eliminated.
The objective is to strike with deadly efficiency while leaving innocent personnel unharmed. Patience, strategy and precision are the main ingredients of success in several stealth missions. However, there are several action-packed missions where you have to blast your way with an arsenal of heavy firepower. In this huge game, you explore more than 28 international missions with about eight to 10 objectives in each.

Syphon Filter 2 has awesome environments, immersive design, tense music scores, fantastic voice acting, and surpasses the original in presentation and game play. As an added feature, you can engage in a multiplayer death match in some of the areas you experienced in the single-player mode. As in the first game, you still can combine run-aim-shoot motions without pausing and taking body hits.

Studio 989 can step out from behind the oppressive shadow of Metal Gear Solid because it tweaked an excellent original into a great sequel. This game demands crack timing and dead-on aiming throughout almost every mission. Therefore, the casual player may find Syphon Filter 2 a bit difficult. Even the hard-core player will encounter borderline frustration and tense action right up to the last spent shell.

This game is rated for a teen audience because of animated violence and blood. It has high replay value and is a terrific investment for any serious role playerâ€™s game library.

Harold E. Scull Jr. is a free-lance writer in Fort Worth.

QUESTIONS? Send comments and questions to Bob Bersano, Personal Technology, The Dallas Morning News, P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas 75265, or send e-mail to personaltech@dallasnews.com. Include your name and daytime phone number.