More Developers on Board

Games released over the past two months show that while individual authors are still cranking out homespun titles, more major players in the game industry are creating content. EverQuest for the Pocket PC: Attack on Qeynos shows that Sony has a continued interest in developing content for Pocket PCs. Although Spawn doesn't have innovative game play, it's a step up from some of Zio Interactive's earlier titles in terms of graphics and construction. Frontier Studios, headed by designer David Braben (creator of the legendary Elite series of adventure/ strategy desktop PC games in the early 80s), has managed to create a fast, attractive, and addictive shooting game called DarXide EMP.

EverQuest for the Pocket PC is the handheld version of the highly popular online adventure game released by Sony. I reviewed EverQuest Chapter I in the last issue of the magazine. Sony has now released Chapter II: Attack on Qeynos, offering new locations and more quests, some of which are secondary and not connected to the main storyline. This time you're out to find out why the city of Qeynos is being attacked by evil monsters called "gnolls."

The second installment of EverQuest for the Pocket PC offers new maps, adventures, and monsters.

Chapter II: Attack on Qeynos uses the same isometric (overhead scroller at an angle) interface as Chapter I, but animation is faster, and your character walks and regenerates hit points faster. You can open chests to obtain treasure, although some are booby-trapped with monsters. This is a stand-alone game (Chapter I is not required to play). However, you can import characters from Chapter I as well as create a new character from scratch (no new character types are offered). This episode doesn't break any new ground, but the game is already so absorbing that you might not notice.

For more information, visit the Sony Online Entertainment Web site (http://eqpocket.station.sony.com). EverQuest for the Pocket PC: Attack on Qeynos supports Pocket PC 2002 devices. A trial version is not available at this time, but you can download a free demo of Chapter I at the EverQuest Web site (http://eqpocket.station.sony.com/patch.jsp). The full version can be purchased for $19.99.

Zio Interactive's Spawn is a straightforward beat-'em-up game reminiscent of some older desktop PC classics (Street Fighting Man, Robocop, and others). Based on the popular and highly stylized superhero comic of the same name, Spawn uses a 3rd-person 3D perspective to place you in the middle of a series of missions in which you achieve special objectives while collecting weapons and advancing to higher levels.

It doesn't have much depth, but the appeal of beating up bad guys still comes across in Spawn.