Game Reviews: Far Cry and Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance II

Far Cry is brilliant. The single player campaign is superb with one exception. I hate "boss" encounters with a passion. Console games seem to demand them, and every FPS since, well Wolfenstein in fact seems to have some badass guy at the end of the level with lots of health and an infinite supply of devestating ammunition - usualy of the Rocket variety. In certain classes of games it works, but the sudden switch to arcade mode totally ruined Metal Gear Solid for me, and the one boss encounter in Far Cry certainly taints the game. But theres only one boss, and once passed, the rest of the game was pleasingly free of the "locked in a small room with a seemingly immortal opponent" mechanic.

The other game on my menu at the moment is Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance II for the PS/2. Full of boss encounters, but in this game they are expected and add rather than detract from the game. My only gripe though is, compared to the original game, BG:DA II lacks breasts. I mean, theyre there, but they just dont move as much. The Dead or Alive team know it, and given BG:DA I I thought that Black Isle knew it, but gratutious breast physics is critical to a console games success.