The video game industry was that rarest of phenomena in 2001: a success.

While nearly every other technology-related industry cut employees, slashed budgets, tightened belts and issued low revenue warnings, console vendors reported record sales.

Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox was probably the most anticipated new game platform of last year and it managed to deliver on that hype -- largely because of the impressive array of games it pulled together for launch time.

Chief among those titles is Halo, a first person shooter title from game developer Bungie Studios. The game is one of the better shooters to come along in the last few years, successfully combining the no-guts-no-glory approach of the Quake series with the stealthy finesse of Golden-Eye. It delivers on the action front, but surrounds that action with superior artificial intelligence and great replay value.

The Halo story is set in a future where earth has come into conflict with a mysterious and belligerent alien species called the Covenant. As lead character, you're the Master Chief, a commando leading ground troops against a swarm of single-minded aliens, all preoccupied with separating your limbs from your body with a nasty array of weapons.

The story unfolds against a number of backdrops. You start in your ship, which has fallen victim to a Covenant raiding party. Once you've safely escaped their clutches, you move onto levels including snow-topped mountains, beaches, swamps and numerous alien complexes.

You can't really take a wrong turn in the game. It moves inexorably towards its conclusion, and no wrong move, short of death, will lead you away from that conclusion. It doesn't feel that way while you're playing though, since there are several ways of finishing a level. And it's difficult enough that you'll have to replay some levels many times over before you hit upon the right offensive strategy to finish it.

You can jump right into the fray and blast away at everything in sight, or choose a more stealthy path, dispatching dozing guards with a rifle butt. Your troops will back you up in a firefight or lay low while you pick off targets with a sniper rifle. They'll even vent a little testosterone by pumping extra rounds into alien corpses, yelling things like "Don't bother getting up."

One thing you'll have to closely monitor is ammunition. You're only allowed to carry two weapons at any one time, so it pays to know which ones to save and which ones to discard. A rocket launcher isn't going to do you a hell of a lot of good in a close range firefight, but it sure comes in handy when tanks come rumbling over the horizon.

You'll man a range of vehicles yourself, starting with the Hummer-like Warthog jeep. If you drive near one of your troops, they'll jump into the passenger seat or man the massive gun mounted on the back while you concentrate on keeping all four wheels on the road.

Less enthralling is Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee from developer Oddworld Inhabitants. It's only real saying grace is the total weirdness factor.

Where to begin? You play one of two characters: Abe, a long-legged alien with bug-eyes or Munch, an amphibian who hops along on a single flipper. Munch swims quite happily in water, and is sometimes aided with a wheelchair on land due to his lack of workable limbs.

Before you are a series of puzzles which must be completed in order to get through the levels. You can toggle back and forth between Munch and his pal Abe on certain levels to get the job done. Abe can enlist the help of his friends to unlock doors, avoid traps, and fist-fight various bad guys. Munch comes equipped with a radar that helps him locate furry critters called fuzzles, and he also shoots out lightning charges to shock enemies.

Still with me? The game is entertaining up to a point, but the tasks become repetitive. It makes a few well-placed attempts to skewer the excesses of consumer culture by having Abe do things like drink espresso to gain super-speed. But what served to entertain me and a group of friends who dropped by to check out the Xbox is what I can only describe as the fart button. Push the button and Abe lets forth a cloud of noxious green gas; accompanied by a satisfying raspberry noise.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Plesman Publications
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group