PC Gamer Issue 43

Features:

• Cover Story - Holiday Extravaganza!
  • Top 40 Games
    • 688(i) Hunter/Killer
    • Betrayal in Antara
    • Carmageddon
    • Dark Reign
    • Diablo
    • Dungeon Keeper
    • Extreme Chess
    • F/A-18 Horner 3.0
    • FIFA Soccer 97
    • Interstate '76
    • Jack Nicklaus 4
    • Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2
    • Jetfighter III
    • The Last Express
    • Links LS 1998 Edition
    • Lords of the Realm II
    • Master of Orion: Battle at Antares
    • M.A.X.
    • MDK
    • Moto Racer GP
    • NASCAR Racing 2
    • NHL 98
    • Privateer 2: The Darkening
    • Pro Pinball: Timeshock!
    • Realms of the Haunting
    • Screamer 2
    • Sega Rally PC
    • Shadows Over Riva
    • SkyNET
    • The Space Bar
    • Spaceward Ho! IV
    • Stars!
    • Tomb Raider
    • Triple Play '98
    • War Wind
  • Previews
    • Blade Runner
    • Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far
    • The Curse of Monkey Island
    • Fallout
    • The Golf Pro
    • Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny
    • NBA Live 98
    • Nuclear Strike
    • Quake II
    • Command & Conquer: Red Alert: The Aftermath
    • Seven Kingdoms
    • Sid Meier's Gettysburg!
    • The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield
    • StarCraft
    • Tomb Raider II
    • Wing Commander: Prophecy
    • You Don't Know Jack, Vol. 3
    • You Don't Know Jack Television
  • Hardware
    • ACT Labs PowerRamp Mite
    • CH Force FX
    • Logitech WingMan Extreme Digital
    • Saitek X36 Flight Control System
    • Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro
    • InterAct 3D Program Pad
    • ACT Labs EagleMax
    • Gravis Blackhawk
    • SC&T Ultimate Per4mer Racing Wheel with Force Effects
    • ACT Labs RS and Force RS
    • Thrustmaster RAGE 3D
    • ATI All-in-Wonder
    • ATI-TV
    • Canopus Total 3D
    • Diamond Monster 3D
    • RealVision Flash 3D
    • Hercules Stingray 128/3D
    • Jazz Adrenline Rush 3D
    • VideoLogic Apocalypse 5D
    • STB Velocity 128
    • Intergraph Intense 3D Voodoo
    • Diamond Stealth II and Viper V330
    • Canopus Pure 3D
    • Matrox M3D
    • Guillemot MaxiSound Game Theater 64
    • Diamond Monster Sound
    • AVM Apex Sound Card
    • Cambridge MicroWorks and PCWorks
    • Diamond Audio S2 Multimedia HPM-4060
    • Altex ACS48 PowerCube Plus
    • Falcon Mach V
    • Gateway Destination DS-200
    • Hi-Val DVD PC-to-TV
    • Diamond Wireless GyroMouse
    • Bebob Bytes Back
    • CyberMedia Oil Change
  • Kids' Software
    • Orly's Draw-A-Story
    • Print Packs Super Jewelry Kit
    • SimTunes
    • Crayola Magic Wardrobe
    • Big Science Comics
    • Humongous Games
    • Rockett's New School
    • I Spy
    • Other Electronic Storybooks
    • Disney's Magic Artist
    • Space Station Simulator
    • Sky Trip America
    • Invention Studio
    • Curious George Early Learning Adventure
    • Math Blaster: Ages 9-12
    • All Dogs Go to Heaven Activity Center
    • The Complete National Geographic
    • National Museum of American Art Smithsonian Institution
    • Animaniacs Game Pack

Departments:

• Editorial: EiC Gary Whitta offers holiday cheer and urges you to buy a 3D card lest you be left out in the cold in 1998.
• The CD: This month, you get two demo discs for the price of one, packed with:
  • Resident Evil
  • Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror
  • The Top 10 Demos of 1997 (Tomb Raider, Heroes of Might and Magic II, MDK, Blood, Interstate '76, Shadow Warrior, Moto Racer GP, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, Hexen II, and Links LS)
  • Zork Grand Inquisitor
  • Dark Earth
  • Pro Pinball: Timeshock!
  • You Don't Know Jack V.3
  • Nebula Fighter
  • Take No Prisoners
  • Baseball Mogul
  • Byzantine: The Betrayal
  • Incubation
  • Nuclear Strike
  • Worms 2
  • Shipwreckers!
  • Entrepreneur
  • The Game Club
  • Civil War Generals
  • Man of War
  • Dark Angel
  • The Golf Pro
  • Steel Panthers III
  • 7th Legion
  • Quake Add-Ons
  • HEAT.net online service
  • MindSpring online service
  • EarthLink online service
  • Try Before You Buy: Bricks, Eudora Pro, Internet Utilities '97, Lose Your Marbles, MicroHelp Zip, Monologue '97, Sidekick '98, Spaceward Ho! IV, Vegas Games for Windows 95
• Eyewitness (News, previews, and behind-the-scenes reports): GT Interactive just bought MicroProse, Kesmai files suit against AOL, Warren Spector joins ION Storm, Half-Life and Starship Titanic are both delayed, DirectSound is here, trademark hassles for Civilization, LucasArts is making Grim Fandango, and much, much more!
• The Hard Stuff (Systems, Peripherals, and Controllers): The PC Gamer editors ask, "What's the Rush?" about 3Dfx Voodoo chipset and GLQuake benchmarking, then delve into the reviews proper:
  • Media-On Expert II PC
  • Utobia Hollywood DVD
  • Labtec Universal Subwoofer LCS-2408
  • Saitek PC Dash (Editors' Choice)
  • Laral Unwired Stereo IR 1000 headphones (Editors' Choice)
  • Metabyte Gia 3D DX card
  • CH Racing Wheel
  • STB Velocity 128 graphics card
  • SC&T Ultimate Per4mer racing wheel
  • Intergraph Intense 3D Voodoo graphics card
  • Wireless Computing SurfBoard keyboard
• Extended Play: T. Liam McDonald examines some new add-ons, patches, and bug fixes.
• The Learning Game: Kids at the Keys Heidi Aycock shows off four typing programs aimed at teaching kids the basics of keyboarding.
• Alternate Lives: Michael Wolf reminds gamers to look at what the consoles are offering from time to time.
• The Desktop General: William R. Trotter rates the war games and simulations.
• Sim Column: Dan Bennett likes the new MicroProse bundle offering, even if the classics are showing their age a bit.
• Letters: Know what these are? Good.
• Reviews Index: PC Gamer breaks down every score they gave to every game they reviewed in 1997 in this handy-dandy chart.
• The PC Gamer Hardware Reviews Index: Just like the regular reviews index, only for hardware, see?
• Next Time: Prepare yourself for the Ultimate Strategy Guide, Online's Top 10 Games, and a whole slew of reviews, previews, and game demos!

Scoops (aka Previews):

• SiN
• Star Wars: Rebellion
• Populous: The Third
• Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor

Reviews:

• Star Wars - Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (94%; Editors' Choice)
• Mageslayer (79%)
• Moto Racer GP (91%; Editors' Choice)
• Dark Reign (89%; Editors' Choice)
• Hexen II (86%)
• 20th Century Trivia Challenge (23%)
• Shadow Warrior (75%)
• Take No Prisoners (70%)
• Dilbert's Desktop Games (24%)
• Legends '98 (73%)
• Virtua Fighter 2 (82%)
• Monday Night Football '98 (53%)
• Man of War (83%)
• Dragon Lore II: The Heart of the Dragon Man (35%)
• Claw (65%)
• Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance (68%)
• Age of Empires (86%)
• Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (80%)
• Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (62%)
• NHL 98 (90%; Editors' Choice)
• Baseball Mogul (84%)
• Rebel Moon Rising (54%)
• War, Inc. (67%)
• Terracide (27%)
• World Wide Soccer (79%)
• Achtung Spitfire (85%)

Strategy Central:

• Hexen II (Part 1 of PC Gamer's strategy guide)
• Resident Evil (Part 1 of PC Gamer's strategy guide)
• The Space Bar (Part 2 of PC Gamer's strategy guide)
• Age of Empires
• Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
• Diablo
• NHL 98

Ads (in order of appearance):

• Quake II
• Test Drive 4
• Total Annihilation
• Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro
• Rubies of Eventide
• Combat Chess
• Resident Evil
• Shipwreckers!
• Liberation Day
• EBWorld.com
• iF-16
• Men in Black: The Game
• The Great Battles of Hannibal
• Flying Nightmares 2
• The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time
• East Front
• Vigilance
• Tex Murphy: Overseer
• Armed & Delirious
• Adrenix
• Starcraft
• Front Page Sports: Ski Racing
• Age of Empires
• Carmageddon
• Heavy Gear
• Longbow 2
• Incubation
• Extreme Assault
• Panzer General II
• Bass Tournament U.S.A.
• Matrox m3D 3D card
• Uprising: John or Die
• Twisted Metal 2
• Star Command Deluxe
• Jet Moto
• Byzantine
• Evolution: The Game of Intelligent Life
• 3dfx VooDoo accelerator cards
• X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter + Balance of Power expansion campaign
• Micron Electronics brand PCs
• CIV II: Fantastic Worlds
• MageSlayer
• Blade Runner
• Sub Culture
• Steel Panthers II
• Half-Life
• Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far
• Burnout Championship Drag Racing
• You Don't Know Jack, Volume 3
• The LucasArts Archives Vol. III (The Dig, Full Throttle, Star Wars: Dark Forces, Afterlife, Monkey Island Madness)
• Virgin Interactive white label games
• Zork Grand Inquisitor
• Temujin
• ATi Xpert@Play TV tuner and 3D accelerator cards
• Creative Labs PC hardware
• SODA Off-Road Racing
• Techmedia 3DZoneMaster controller
• Gundam 0079 The War For Earth
• EarthLink online service
• Microsoft SideWinder Game Pad
• WarGames
• VR Baseball
• CH Products Gamestick
• CyberMedia Oil Change
• Heavy Gear (Special Wal-Mart Edition)
• Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny
• Deadlock II: Shrine Wars
• Diamond Multimedia Monster Sound and Monster 3D cards
• Flying Corps Gold
• Choose Your Own Nightmare
• M.A.X. 2
• G.Police
• Frogger
• JSF: Joint Strike Fighter
• Tomb Raider II
• Dark Earth
• F22 Raptor
• Hellfire Expansion Pack for Diablo
• ACT Labs Force RS Racing System
• Nintendo 3Di Joystick for PC
• Of Light and Darkness
• Pro Pilot: The Complete Flight Simulator
• Sega PC Games: Buy 2, Get 1 Free offer
• Manx TT
• Daytona USA Deluxe
• NBA Action 98
• Worms 2
• Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror
• Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
• Dark Reign: The Future of War
• Descent to Undermountain
• Comanche 3
• Red Baron II
• Dungeon Keeper
• The Tone Rebellion
• Front Page Sports: Football Pro
• Flesh Feast
• Baldur's Gate
• Madden 98
• Jetfighter: Full Burn
• Myth: The Fallen Lords
• Falcon 4.0
• Hexen II
• Subspace: The Internet Game
• Stars!
• Warlords III: Reign of Heroes
• Virus: The Game
• Pax Imperia: eminent Domain
• Powerboat Racing
• Aquazone
• Flight Unlimited II
• ION Storm game studios
• Heroes of Might and Magic Compendium
• Falcon Mach V gaming PCs
• NASCAR Racing 2
• The Curse of Monkey Island
• MadCatz Puma GT Steering Wheel
• Saitek X36 joystick
• Redneck Rampage
• Intergraph Intense 3D Voodoo graphics card
• Microsoft SideWinder Precision Pro joystick
• Saitek PC Dash touch-screen controller
• Front Page Sports Trophy Rivers Fly Fishing
• Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers
• Thrustmaster Millennium 3D Interceptor, Rage 3D, NASCAR Pro, and TOP GUN controllers
• Altec Lansing True Digital Audio
• Civil War 2: The Generals
• Deathtrap Dungeon
• Fallout
• netWAR
• Return Fire II
• Heat.net online gaming network
• Wireplay
• Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000
• Greyhounds of the Sea
• Precision Racing
• Take No Prisoners
• Outlaws
• EF2000 V2.0
• FA-18 Korea
• Wing Commander: Prophecy
• Outpost 2: Divided Destiny
• Smart Games 2
• Virtual Pool 2
• Wanton Destruction expansion pack for Shadow Warrior
• Segasoft "Be A Vigilance Operative" Sweepstakes
• Jack Nicklaus 5
• Earth 2140
• 7th Legion
• Ingram Micro Cyberstik joystick
• Riana Rouge
• Mission Chameleon
• X-Com: Apocalypse
• Chasm: The Rift
• Heat.net "December Sizzles" special promotion
• Police Quest SWAT 2
• Intergraph Computer Systems PCs
• Seven Kingdoms
• WarWind II
• Media-On gaming PCs and hardware
• Microsoft Flight Simulator 98
• Tom Clancy's Politika
• Armored Fist 2: M1A2 Abrams
• Excalibur 2555 AD
• Cyberswine
• Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire
• Dreams to Reality
• fin fin: The Real Computer Creature
• Die By the Sword
• Real Pool
• Jazz Multimedia Adrenline Rush 3D card
• Oil Change
• Star Trek: Generations
• PC Gamer subscription cards
• PC Gamer customer service line
• Try before you Buy software service
• Chips & Bits, Inc. mail order
• Computer Express mail order
• Columbia House CD-ROM Direct service
• PCConnection.com website
• PCGamer.com website
• PC Gamer reader service card
• UnitedCDROM.com website
• PC Gamer's X-Car contest
• PC Gamer t-shirts and sweatshirts
• gexpress.com mail order
• imaginezone.com website
• Next Generation free issue offer
• RPM Computers mail order
• Lords of Magic
• Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Extreme 3D card

Notable Stuff:

• At the time, this was the single largest issue of PC Gamer published, weighing in at 456 pages. Sure, about half those pages are ads, but gaming mags in the 90's are big, beefy things of beauty we'll never see again.
• Despite it being the "Top 10 Demos of 1997", the magazine only lists nine of them and omits Blood.
• The directory for the Zork Grand Inquisitor demo contains a sub-directory called TXTGAMES. Inside it, you'll find free versions of the first three text-based Zork games, plus the brand new fourth chapter entitled Zork: The Undiscovered Underground.
• Despite a PS1 "Director's Cut" release, the only way for North American gamers to see the complete, uncut edition of Resident Evil in English is to buy the PC version. All the others have a censored cut of the opening FMV.
• "No one will ever have made a game as great as ours." -- Harry Miller, CEO, Ritual Entertainment on SiN.
• "Bullshit." -- Areala, contributor and index dominatrix, Retromags.com, on Harry Miller's statement.
• 'Eyewitness' predicts Final Fantasy V, VI, and VII for the PC in 1998. Well, one outta three ain't bad I guess.
• There are an awful lot of console ports on their way to PC, according to the ads, previews, and reviews section.
• The ad for Jetfighter: Full Burn features one page in Russian, the next with an English translation. Pretty nifty!
• Ed Maurer writes in to correct the PC Gamer staff: he was the lead programmer and technical designer for Privateer, not Edwin Herrell as previously reported. Oops...
• Why is there an All Dogs Go to Heaven title being released ten years after the film came out?
• Dilbert's Desktop Games scores a whopping 24%, proving Scott Adams is funnier when confined to the newspapers apparently.