Firestarter (PC)

Reviewed by PETER ELEY

Herald rating: * * * * *

Firestarter is an interesting concept. In an age where the production values and plot machinations of many computer games equal those of movies, this first-person shooter adopts a less-is-more approach.

Firestarter is no bloat in the way of extravagant video clips explaining a labrynthine plot. It is full-on action from start to finish. The graphics won't win any awards, but there are many full-priced titles that don't look as good.

You get all the goodies in terms of lighting, shadows, transparency effects, explosions, high polygon count characters etc. Imagine Doom crossed with Halo and you'll get the picture.

And there are many $100 titles that you'll finish in a fraction of the time you will need to clock Firestarter.

There's other good stuff too. The artificial intelligence makes the gameplay more than just a gore-fest, there is a good selection of weapons, and six quite different playable characters, which add lots of replayability.

In the plot it's the year 2010 and a virus has infected a virtual reality gaming machine.

You're a player whose mind is trapped inside the game. The character you control has to blast its way out inside 48 hours through an interesting assortment of monsters.

There are 16 levels set in five game worlds, and rather than adopt a linear approach, the player is set quite different tasks, which can range from a need to survive for a given time to eliminating a particular monster.

Again, there are some quite original concepts in the gameplay, which elevates Firestarter above the status of bargain-bin title.

If you want to try before you buy, a rather good 65mb demo version is available for download from some gaming sites. It is also doing the rounds on CD-Roms available with some computer magazines.

GSC Gaming

* Email Peter Eley