Games: Smuggler's Run Warzones <br/>Timesplitters 2

The Smuggler's Run format of charging around explosive global trouble-spots in jeeps with big wheels is entertaining enough for a while, but it is not a long-term attention-grabber. GameCubers will be cheered to know that the game loses none of its smoothness in the conversion from the PS2 version, but Smuggler's Run Warzones is something to rent rather than to buy. The missions are fast and furious, but there are 175 of the buggers, and there really only are so many times that you can pick up a box and drop it off at a checkpoint.

Smuggler's Run Warzones, Rockstargames (GameCube), £34.99

The Smuggler's Run format of charging around explosive global trouble-spots in jeeps with big wheels is entertaining enough for a while, but it is not a long-term attention-grabber. GameCubers will be cheered to know that the game loses none of its smoothness in the conversion from the PS2 version, but Smuggler's Run Warzones is something to rent rather than to buy. The missions are fast and furious, but there are 175 of the buggers, and there really only are so many times that you can pick up a box and drop it off at a checkpoint.

**

Timesplitters 2, Eidos (PS2), £39.99

Lots of characters, lots of weapons and gorgeous graphics sweeten the pill considerably, but Timesplitters 2 is not a major leap in gaming from the original. For fans of first-person shooting games, this clearly borders on must-have status, but it is unlikely to win armies of converts. The story mode (which starts like a carbon-copy of GoldenEye 007) is the usual mixture of stealth and carnage, but is obviously not the prime selling point of the title. The game comes into its own in multiplayer mode, where it is, in the current market, probably the most fun four people can have with a plasma rifle and a hand grenade.

***