They might be shy on technical polish and certainly lack the huge marketing budgets of the game-publishing giants, but “value-priced” games can often offer rock-solid fun nonetheless – and at budget-conscious prices!
Seems everyone loves a good micro-management simulation, considering the glut of “Tycoon”-this and “Sims”-that games on the market. Vying for your holiday-shopping dollar with fire-sale pricing is “Mall Tycoon 3,” a clever and engaging mall-managing sim that may not look too pretty, but we’re not shopping at Saks now, are we?
GS Software; Windows PC; $19.99; ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) (comic mischief)
A compilation of 22 good-to- great arcade games from yesteryear, “Capcom Classics Collection” not only offers worthy leisure-time distraction, it serves as a reminder of just how busy Capcom has been over the years, churning out one benchmark game after another. “Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins”? Still awesome. “1942”? Still freakishly addictive. “Final Fight”? Still so clunky it’s goofy. You used to pay a quarter for 15 minutes with these games. Now it’s about a buck apiece and you play them forever.
Capcom; PS 2, Xbox; $19.99; Rating: Teen (13+)
A military shooter for free? Yes. Though there are full- priced versions from Ubisoft for PS2 and Xbox, “America’s Army: Special Forces” is a free PC download at americasarmy.com, or you can order a DVD- ROM stocking stuffer for about $5 (shipping and handling). Regardless, “AA” should not be confused with other cheapies or freebies.
This is as solid a soldiering simulator as you’re going to find, running the gamut from realistic boot-camp training, plausible real-world war scenarios and a few far-fetched ones with authentic weaponry and realistic rules of engagement. Thing is, it’s an official recruiting tool for the U.S. Army and, like any good bait worth its salt, it’s both very impressive and tantalizingly inexpensive.
“America’s Army: Special Forces”; U.S. Army; Windows PC; Free; Unrated
Though you’d think a camping-with-guns game would just be a dumbed-down version of “Doom,” “Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures” is actually much more. The whole ball of woodsy wax, in fact. You’re not just squatting in the woods, patiently waiting for big game to stroll by so you can stalk them for the next 20 minutes, or just sitting in a boat wishing you had a virtual beverage on hand to pass the time because the fish aren’t biting, though there is that.
The game also does a decent job of simulating the whole hunter/gatherer experience, or the cool, modern bit with guns and ammo, anyway, from rifle shopping to riding your ATV through rugged terrain, from picking off rodents to rescuing hapless outdoorsmen.
Activision Value; GameCube, PS2, Xbox; $29.99; Rating: Teen (13+)
Though formulaic, “Ty 3” stands out in a crowd, first, by its kid-friendly (10+) flavoring, and second, by otherwise not pretending to be anything more than its value pricing suggests. What’s more, the game and its character do have genuine personality, while the sheer volume of things to do (running, shooting, fighting, driving, flying, berry picking and puzzle solving), though derivative, would seem to show that “Ty 3” is not a knock-off of one particularly benchmark platform-hopping adventure, but all of them. It’s the very definition of “bang for your buck.”
Activision Value; GameCube, PS2, Xbox; $29.99; Rating: Everyone (10+)
Check this out: A shooting game where nobody dies! Who knew? “Renegade Paintball” may look a little clunky by today’s standards, but it’s no worse than its budget pricing suggests. It plays as well as other first-person shooters of its ilk, except less violently; more of a team-based sport simulation of actual paintball tournaments, less a rampaging gun game, right down to the fact that you don’t so much shoot paintballs as lob them on an arcing trajectory, so the whole thing has a certain measured pacing to it all, which is nice in an respite sort of way.
GS Software; Windows PC, Xbox; $19.99-$29.99; Rating: Teen
Think “Diablo” in space and you’ve got “Space Hack,” an effective, sci-fi dungeon-crawling hack-‘n’-slash game that neatly proves if you’re going to rip off someone else’s game, you might as well rip off the best and then cost less. It does.
Meridian 4; Windows PC; $19.99; Rating: Teen (13+)
Shaun Conlin is a freelance games reviewer for Cox News
Service. E-mail him at shaunconlin@evergeek.com.
