Glorious return of a golden oldie

YOU know a publisher has high hopes for a game when it comes with a special "Making of..." DVD in the same box.

Gamers with long memories won't be surprised. A decade ago the Broken Sword adventures represented the very best video games playing experiences available. The two protagonists, George Stobbart and Nico Collard, were worshipped with the same kind of devotion that we wouldn't see again for a generation - and only then thanks to the power of PlayStation bringing Lara Croft to life in three dimensions.

Those original Broken Sword games were resolutely two-dimensional. Computer hardware simply wasn't capable of rendering scenes in 3-D.

They may have lacked the third dimension, but both Broken Sword adventures looked terrific, thanks to their painstakingly illustrated backdrops.

Now the adventure continues and this time, the technology exists to bring Broken Sword back in all its majesty. Interestingly, gamers who enjoyed the first two adventures will find the control method almost identical. You control your character with the analogue stick and select from a context sensitive menu if you want to interact with the lavish sets.

This game also borrows a neat conceit from the Resident Evil titles: objects of importance sparkle when they are on-screen so you don't spend hours roaming around fruitlessly.

That's not to say this game doesn't have some tricks up its sleeve - sometimes you interact with a clue only to find out later on that it's a red herring and you have been led a merry dance. It's a neat way of preventing you collecting everything on screen in the hope they will lead you to the answer. From the moment the game begins, it is obvious that Broken Sword III is more than just another 3-D adventure. There are times during your quest when it seems you are taking part in a film, so complete is the illusion created by the character animations, the complex plot and the sweeping orchestral score. This is the kind of game Tomb Raider should have become instead of the gentle descent into self-parody it appears to have chosen instead.

I mentioned one of my favourite games earlier - Resident Evil - and Broken Sword reminds me of that zombie masterpiece in another, less favourable, way - loading times.

One look at the screen is enough to confirm that Broken Sword is maxing out your hardware - the amount of detail is terrific. The downside to this comes when your characters move to a new room or location; the PS2 simply grinds away for an age, loading new scenery into memory. It's the same whichever platform you happen to be playing on. Eventually, it becomes as frustrating as those infernal creaking doors that disguise the same thing in a Resident Evil title. If you were lucky enough to find a PS2 or an Xbox beneath the tree yesterday and you need something to show off, then Broken Sword III is that game. Players who value substance over style will also find much to enjoy here. Welcome back old friend, I didn't know how much I'd missed you.

TOP SPIN. Publisher: Microsoft. Format: Xbox. Price: £39.99.

TENNIS has enjoyed a pretty good run on video games consoles. From Pete Sampras on the Mega-Drive through to Virtua Tennis on the Dreamcast, we've grown used to fluid movement, smooth gameplay and decent button press response that makes long rallies possible.

Top Spin builds on those impressive foundations with more of the same: terrific graphics (provided you can live with those long load times, again!), an intuitive control system that's augmented by risky shots that can win or lose a match depending on timing and, best of all, the chance to challenge players on-line via Xbox Live.

The risky shots are tough to pull off but you'll need to master them before you can really give a good account of yourself, either against the Box itself or playing a human opponent. For gamers without a Live connection, there is a versatile and engaging career mode. Many critics (including me) thought Virtua Tennis probably represented some kind of ultimate for this sport simulation. I'm happy to report that Top Spin has proved me wrong (again!)

HACKING THE XBOX. Published by No Starch Press. Price: $24.99.

FANCY yourself as a bit of a PC wizard? Reckon you know everything there is to know about over-clocking, tweaking your graphics card and building your own dream machine? This book will make you think again.

Author Andrew Huang bought an Xbox, played a few games, then put his console away. Unfortunately, curiosity soon got the better of him, so out came the screwdrivers and he was soon delving further into the Xbox innards than anyone had gone before, bar Microsoft itself. This book is the fruit of those labours.

The topic - how to hack your Xbox to make it do things Microsoft never intended - is controversial to say the least. So controversial, in fact, that Huang's original publisher got cold feet at the prospect of a Microsoft-inspired law suit and pulled the book.

In the very best spirit of the hacker, Huang then published the book himself and sold it to friends. He reckoned, probably correctly, that such a large conglomerate as Microsoft wouldn't come down on some bloke churning out a few books from his apartment. Hacking The Xbox soon became something of an underground cult, with copies selling for many times the original cover price. Unsurprisingly, this success soon attracted another publisher with a bit more chutzpah than Huang's original backers.

Hacking The Xbox isn't a technical manual but you do need a sound understanding of computer theory and a healthy disregard for your console warranty. Armed with the book, a soldering iron, a handful of Torx screwdrivers and some masking tape, you are invited to embark on a voyage of discovery that will see you bust the Box wide open. It explains how to replace your power supply with an ATX PSU from a PC, how to replace the DVD so Xbox can read CD-Rs and how to programme your own software. You will look in vain, however, for details on how to copy games - this book is about legal hacking only.

Along the way, you will discover some interesting aspects of Xbox architecture and how to emulate other consoles. The whole lot concludes with a discussion on the rights and wrongs of hacking - is it harmless curiosity or an act of piracy?

Hacking The Xbox isn't a book for every gamer but it is a fascinating read for anyone who has ever fancied themselves as something of a home programmer.

www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk

/leisure/bytes.html