Burton's Bytes: Game of self-preservation is just the job

The Italian Job may have been released in cinemas way back when even Pong was just a glint in Nolan Bushnell's eye but it seems like a natural subject for a video game.

For the record, Charlie Croker (Michael Caine) and co. did the business by nicking $4 m from under the Mafia's nose in 1969. Nolan's (and the world's) first video game - called Computer Space and quickly followed by the groundbreaking Pong - was still two years away from fruition.

Things have moved on since then.

The planned sequel to The Italian Job (ever wondered why the movie ends on such a literal cliff-hanger?) never got off the ground because the Americans decided making movies in Britain wasn't viable any more.

And video gamers demand something a bit more exciting than two blobs batting another blob across a screen (that's Pong for those too young to know).

When it came to making a game of The Italian Job, developer Pixelogic decided to play safe. Instead of taking the film's ending as a starting point to create a sequel (a draft of the movie sequel still exists apparently), the programmers decided to recreate the first film's big action set-pieces.

All your favourite characters are present and correct, including Croker, Mr Bridger (the jail-bound Mr Big behind the job), Camp Freddie (Bridger's stooge, not one to run off with your girlfriend), Professor Simon Peach (who else could turn all those Turin traffic lights to red?); even Beckerman the Italian who came up with the original plan.

Jump straight into the movie mode and Bridger will brief you on your first mission through the streets of London. Complete one and another mission becomes available.

This way you play through the plot of the film, travelling from London to Turin and then on into the Alps.

You've probably already guessed that it's a driving game. No surprises there; the original film is famous for the driving stunts and the plot is secondary to the on-screen action.

It's a bit like Driver in that the missions aren't always about finishing first. Sometimes you have to drive with quiet precision to avoid attracting unwanted attention; other missions will have you thrashing your Mini Cooper S to the very limit in a bid to escape the Italian police in their Fiats.

There are other modes, the most useful of which is the ability to drive around the city maps scoping out short cuts. Both London and Turin are massive so it pays off to make certain you know your way around otherwise you could be driving into a dead end.

The Italian Job has been out on PlayStation for some time now. This PC edition benefits from slicker graphics and smoother screen up-dates. Its humble origins are evident, however, in the lower than usual minimum specs and the visuals aren't going to push your Geforce 4 graphics card near where near its limits.

That said, fans of the movie should find this game a dream come true.

Vampire Night. Format: PS2. Publisher: SCEE. Price: £34.99

THE Italian Job may have packed cinema audiences in three decades ago but the big movie of the moment in 2002 is Blade 2, the kung fu vampire fest starring Wesley Snipes.

Coincidentally Sony has a vampire theme shoot 'em up out at the same time.

Vampire Night is a co-production between two of the biggest names in video games - Namco and Sega. As such it ought to be good - and it is. Up to a point.

Vampire Night is an on-rails shooter in the mould of Virtua Cop or House of the Dead. Unlike, say Quake III or Half-Life, you don't have total freedom of movement.

Instead, you shoot what comes at you on the screen before the camera moves you on to the next load of vampire bad guys.

The plot is a real back of a cigarette packet job - you're a vampire slayer on a mission to rid a village of blood suckers - and nothing more than an excuse for all- out action.

Graphically, it looks greater, much, much better than Resident Evil Survivor 2 the other PS2 horror shoot 'em up, and provided you have a light gun, it's fun in a brainless kind of way.

The game attempts to give you more bang for your bucks by throwing in some extra mission- based alternatives to the game proper but, in all honesty, a seasoned gamer would be able to complete Vampire Night in a weekend.

As a way of relieving tension after a stressful day, Vampire Night is good fun. As a pointer to the future of interactive entertainment, it's nothing more than an anachronism.

Headhunter/Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles. Both available on: Dreamcast and PS2. Price: see your local store for good deals on both.

SEGA'S late lamented Dreamcast just refuses to lie down and die, it seems.

It's more than a year now since Sega pulled the plug on its machine but, in the UK at least, Big Ben Interactive is to be congratulated for continuing to support the DC format.

Two recent releases, Headhunter and Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles are interesting examples because both have also appeared on the PS2. To be honest a comparison does the DC no harm at all because, despite the Sony machine's on-paper superiority, they are virtually indistinguishable.

That was perhaps to be expected for Headhunter. It started out as a DC game coded by Sega then jumped ship to PS2.

But Evil Twin is a Ubisoft game from a publisher with no ties to either format.

Of the two, Headhunter is likely to make the biggest stir on the DC because it shares more than a thing or two in common with one of the greatest games of all time: Metal Gear Solid. On the PS2 it disappeared without trace, a victim of the Metal Gear 2 launch - on the DC it has no such competition.

Evil Twin is a straightforward adventure game set over more than 70 sprawling levels. It breaks no new ground but software-starved DC owners will be grateful for something new to slap into their GD-ROM drives.