Jeff Criscito, GiN Staff

Recent Posts

Take it to the Maxis!

Maxis and EA Games have released Sim City 4, the updated version of its hugely successful Sim City series. I will now go over the basics of Sim City game play just in case you’ve been in a cave the last decade or so. In Sim City 4 you are the mayor/city planner. The goal is to take a plot of land and build it up from a one-horse farming town to a bustling mega-city. To do this you have to zone the land for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. You have to supply the zones with water and electricity. … Continue reading Take it to the Maxis!

Something Smells Fishy

Fishing? I’ve never understood the lure (excuse the pun) of fishing and deer hunting games. To me, they are as exciting as watching grass grow, however, I am going to be as fair as possible. Big Bass Fishing from Take 2 Interactive is a fishing sim for the Playstation 1. In Big Bass Fishing, players can hook 14 different types of freshwater fish, using twenty assorted fishing lures, in three separate game modes and five different fishing events. In Big Bass Fishing, the three game modes are challenge, competition, and arcade. The challenge mode contains varying trials which, when successfully … Continue reading Something Smells Fishy

Off the Job

Charlie Croker, fresh out of a stint in the big house, already has hatched a plan to swindle 4,000,000 pounds out from under the Italian mafia and the Turin police. This is The Italian Job, a driving game from Rockstar Games, the same people who brought you the Grand Theft Auto series. The game is based on the movie The Italian Job, released 1969, starring Michael Caine and (of all people) Benny Hill. I wonder if anyone under the age of 30 knows who the hell Benny Hill was. But, I digress. The Italian Job the game, like the movie, … Continue reading Off the Job

Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy

From the smoldering ruins of the great war, four tribes claw and scratch to rebuild and gain control. Afghanistan? No, Nevendaar. This is the basic story behind Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy, the turn -based strategy sequel to Disciples: Sacred Lands from Strategy First. In Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy, like its predecessor, you control one of four races; the humans, the dwarven mountain clans, the undead, or the legions of the damned. There are full campaigns and one-mission sagas type games for each of the four races. Disciples 2 is completely old school turn- based strategy. During each turn, your squads … Continue reading Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy

Martian Gothic: Unification is still kicking

In the year 2019, Vita 1, the first manned base on Mars, sent this mysterious message to Earth and was never heard from again, "If you send a manned craft, warn the crew to stay alone, stay alive." This is the beginning of Take 2 Interactive’s nightmarish mystery, Martian Gothic: Unification, for the Playstation 1 game console. You control a three-person crew sent to Mars to investigate the fates of Vita Base One’s crewmembers, only to find that the station is overrun with the undead. Each member of your team enters the base through a different airlock, following the "stay … Continue reading Martian Gothic: Unification is still kicking

Grandia II marries PC and console RPGs

Ryudo is a sword for hire who takes a job protecting Elena, a young priestess on her way to a very important ceremony to seal the remains of the evil god, Valmar. Before they know what has happened, they are caught up in a battle of good versus evil and the world hangs in the balance. This is Grandia II from Ubi Soft and Game Arts. Grandia II is a RPG for the computer that looks and plays more like a console based RPG. When I say "console-based RPG," I mean Grandia II is reminiscent of games like Final Fantasy … Continue reading Grandia II marries PC and console RPGs

Spec Ops: Covert Assault

Once again, Marxist guerrillas, communist dictatorships, and the mafia are threatening world security, you, and your crack squad of highly skilled rangers is charged with thwarting their twisted plans. This is Spec Ops: Covert Assault, the second Spec Ops game released for the Playstation 1 game console. In Covert Assault, you control two rangers at a time through four different stages executing stealth attacks on enemy strongholds, rescuing hostages, disarming explosives and missiles, and fighting scores of bad guys. The game starts off in Sicily where you battle the mafia whilst trying to recover personnel and top secret documents from … Continue reading Spec Ops: Covert Assault