This month's top games reviews from 'PC Gaming World'

This month's top games reviews from 'PC Gaming World'

The Golf Pro Empire pounds 34.99

*****

Recently, golf games developers have been trying to increase realism by using the mouse attached to your PC virtually to "swing" the club. The Golf Pro, Empire as near as dammit perfects the method. You slide your mouse right to start a swing, then slide it left again to complete the shot (reversible for left-handers). The on-screen golfer moves the club simultaneously with the mouse's movements, which makes it easy to see what is happening. A traditional-style power bar also gives a graphic representation of your shot strength. The speed and smoothness with which you move the club, the amount of follow-through you give it and the way you twist your mouse during the swing will give your shot accuracy, distance and draw or fade. The South African pro Gary Player provides superb tutorials to get you used to the system and, believe it or not, some of this advice should also help your real game. Two beautifully re-created courses, St Mellion in Cornwall and Hilton Head in the US, provide some stiff challenges when you tackle them from the pro tees.

Redline Racer Ubi Soft pounds 34.99

****

Whether you're a biker or a wannabe biker, or you just like a good old racing game, Ubi Soft's Redline Racer should sate your thirst for motorcycling without your having to leave the desk. It contains eight GP superbikes with graded performance levels and another five weird and wonderful "special bonus" mounts including a Vespa-style scooter and a T rex (yes, a dinosaur). There are 10 challenging tracks with snow, beach, desert and English countryside scenery, and three difficulty levels for long-term playability.

The game offers surprisingly accurate bike handling, but it's really in the graphics department that Redline Racer excels. It demands that your PC has a Microsoft Direct 3D-compatible video card installed (most 3D card brands support this), but the results are spectacular, especially on the snow and English countryside scenarios. It also supports Force Feedback joysticks for that shaking feeling as you go around a bumpy corner, and up to eight players can compete on an office network or, eventually, over the Internet.

Battlezone Activision pounds 29.99

****

Based on a 17-year-old arcade game classic, Battlezone is an action/ strategy hybrid that combines elements of Quake-style first-person shooting with Red Alert-style resource management, unit building and tactical command. The setting is anachronistic and futuristic, with America fighting the Soviet Union for domination of the Solar System, spiced up by the appearance of alien artefacts. Think Stanley Kubrick's 2001; A Space Odyssey crossed with John Sturges's Ice Station Zebra, but with more action.

Inside your own combat vehicle not only are you able to pursue and shoot at the enemy, you can also issue orders to factories to produce more tanks and aircraft to back you up, co-ordinate attacks by other units, set up base defences and more. Sounds complicated? It is - there are dozens of key commands to remember if you want to play the game effectively. But it is surprisingly easy to get the hang of and the mission structures give you a chance to learn the system before all hell is let loose.

Like Redline Racer, it requires a Microsoft Direct 3D compatible video card as standard, but similarly the graphic rewards are immense. With the amount of strategy involved it won't automatically suit Quake fans, but Red Alert aficionados looking for something more immediate will love it.

Alan Dykes