


In What's the Big Idea, the players appear as small humanoid icons at the base of a pyramid. All that is needed is to register online, download the client software (approximately 3MB) and you are ready to play for free. Games such as What's the Big Idea (provide gentler entertainment, and at no cost. Not all online gaming has to be about gunning down an opponent. Civilisation fans, however, can prepare themselves for some of the most compelling gameplay ever to grace a PC or indeed a CD. A player can alter the landscape to suit their needs, design their own weapons, tell their scientists what areas to concentrate on, and decide an almost infinite number of other things.Īlpha Centauri is quite a complicated game and perhaps not suited to players who have not played anything similar before. In Alpha Centauri, the player is responsible for diplomatic relations with the other six factions, breaking and making treaties. During the journey to Chiron, problems arise, the pioneers divide into factions and when the game starts, the player has to decide which faction to identify with. War, famine and disease are winning out on Earth and it becomes imperative to colonise a new planet. What it is really about is advancing the race, giving these people a better place to live, a better understanding of society, increased knowledge and, of course, power.Īlpha Centauri, unlike Civilisation, is not played out on Earth, but on the planet Chiron. The player is responsible for a race of people, ensuring that they have food and other resources. Anybody who has ever played those games knows how engrossing these turn-based strategy games can be and Civilisation is one of the all-time great games.Īlpha Centauri is similar in many ways. A South Park buff who intends to use its multi-player option might extract some enjoyment from this game, otherwise it is best left alone.Īlpha Centauri is the latest game from Sid Meier, the man behind Civilisation and Civilisation II. Some weapons are amusing but not inspired enough to hold interest for long. There are other weapons and enemies, and the graphics are, well, like South Park. After hitting turkey after turkey with a snowball, the player begins to feel like one. There is no interaction with the environment and the level design is dismal. There are moments which might provide a laugh, but after a while it becomes repetitive. Unlike these games, however, it lacks any imagination or style, and the opportunity to harness some of the humour of the show has also been lost. South Park is a 3D first-person shooter, like Duke Nukem, Quake and Turok. Sell it probably will - more than it deserves to. After playing it for about 15 minutes it became clear that it was released far too soon, or that it was rushed, or that those producing it decided that the name would sell it, whether it was a good game or not.

It was inevitable that a game based on this popular comedy would appear sooner or later.
