AGE OF EMPIRES III

Publisher: Microsoft

Format: PC

Price: £34.99

Family friendly? 12+

IF you enjoy strategy, the chances are you'll already own the first two games in this long-running series. Along with Command & Conquer, Total Annihilation and Dark Reign, Age is a classic of this genre.

This three-quel follows the highly successful template already laid down by its predecessors - build settlements, recruit armies, go to war and collect resources. You take up the game where the second instalment left off in the 16th century and must fight to assume control of the Americas.

The single player story places you in charge of three members of a family who - as well as discovering large chunks of the Americas - have to stay one step ahead of the bad guys because they possess the secret of eternal life.

The combat dynamic is pretty much the standard RTS fare - a colourful re-tread of the scissors-paper-stones game you played as kids. Cavalrymen can beat infantry, pikemen can put cavalry to the sword and infantry can beat pikemen etc., etc.

The way to win is simple: build a bigger, more powerful army then go looking for trouble. The Art of War, it ain't. You can also ally yourself with the locals if you need more manpower and there are limits on building items like ships. These games have always looked good. The battlefield is now beautifully rendered in 3D and provided your PC's graphics card is up to the job, the incidental effects are terrific. An explosion does real damage to the landscape, bits blow off buildings and rain down on your troops. Sending infantry into battle against artillery gives new meaning to the term cannon-fodder.

There's an option to turn off the eye candy if your gaming rig isn't up to the job, but doing so robs the game of a lot of atmosphere.

Age of Empires III draws you in slowly but quickly becomes insanely addictive once your army is well established. This may be just more of the same but when the formula works so well, why change it?

THE SIMS 2: NIGHTLIFE

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Format: PC

Price: £19.99

Family friendly? 12+

YOU'VE got to hand it to Electronic Arts. It sure knows how to milk a franchise. If you've grown weary of your virtual Sims family, EA always stands ready with a plethora of expansion packs designed to pep up your gameplay.

This is the second expansion disc set for The Sims 2. It adds a new neighbourhood that's packed with restaurants, shops, parks, bars and clubs for your virtual folks to visit.

Go alone or go in a group - the decision is all yours. You can even go on a romantic date.

Throughout the game your performance is under constant scrutiny. If your character out-stays his or her welcome, you can expect to be punished. There's nothing worse than being the one who has to pick up the bar tab after a night out.

All the nightlife is geared to romance. Every bowling alley, bar and club is a potential dating venue so you can go for a bit of nosh then dance until you drop.

Bizarrely, if you aren't in the mood for love then this set gives your Sim the chance to become err...a vampire. Once transformed into denizens of the dark, they stalk the streets looking for new victims and generally becoming pain in the neck.

You can also buy cars so your Sim no longer has to rely on public transport and there are 125 new objects to play with. And that's about it.

So is what amounts to a package of extras (remember you'll need the original game as well) worth the money?

If you enjoy raising a Sims family then Nightlife certainly adds an extra and, at times, rather surreal aspect to the game but beneath the gloss it does nothing new.

One for the true Sims fan only I'm afraid, even at a bargain price.

COMPETITION

LAST year there was Singstar, this year it is Buzz and it will cause more arguments than enough from now till summer.

Buzz is the game which brings the music quiz show right into your living room, testing your music trivia and buzzer skills. The Northern Echo has teamed up with CHIPS and Sony to offer three copies.

Included with the game is a set of four bespoke buzzers which lets four people play right away and provides an interface that even a techno-zero would understand.

'Buzz' is your host, complete with an all-knowing smile, a catchphrase, a glamorous assistant called 'Rose' and his very own theme tune. You can select a playable contestant to suit your personal music taste, choose from 16 different characters including a pop diva, a rocker, a punk, an Elvis and a disco dude.

There are over 1,000 music clips - all international chart-toppers from the 1950s through to 2005 - and more than 5,000 questions to test your knowledge, either by playing solo in a fast paced single-player mode or with your friends in the multiplayer game.

All wins and losses can be saved to memory cards if you need to refer to them at a later date.

Buzz is available for the PS2, with buzzers at CHIPS stores across the region for £37.99.

CHIPS buys, sells and trades new and secondhand consoles, games and accessories and has 29 outlets across the UK including stores in Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Redcar, Hartlepool, Northallerton, Guisborough, Consett, & Chester le Street.

To win one of these three great Buzz games answer this correctly:

Name the host in Buzz.

Send your answer, name, age and address to Buzz Byte Competition, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington DL1 1NF. The closing date is January 30 and usual newspaper competition rules apply.

www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/ leisure/bytes.html