SCI GameCube Games

The plotline is standard military sim fare--strategic targets must be blown up, prisoners rescued and bullets expended by the thousand--but the extra edge provided by the ability to drive vehicles and to creep around undetected by the excitable Iraqi guards makes this a must-have rather than a nice-to-have. The maximum squad size for any given mission is four team members, each soldier having a special ability ranging from marksmanship to explosives use. In theory, handling four troops simultaneously sounds like a tall order but developers Pivotal have done a great job of creating a control system that works well, even in the heat of battle.

Desert Storm is not an easy game by any stretch of the imagination and the learning curve can be quite steep; stick with it, though, and there's much to recommend it. For the cautious player there's an excellent training mode which gives thorough instruction on how to perform all of the basic functions guaranteed to turn you into a killing machine. --Chris Russell

Of course, replicating dangerously jingoistic American movies is exactly what Conflict: Desert Storm II is all about and there's a ton of new hardware in this sequel to get even the most steadfast pacifist reaching for the Arnie one-liners. You've got new phosphor grenades, a laser designator to call in helicopters and jet planes and, best of all, the chance to jump in a jeep and spray bad guys with heavy machine gun fire.

As well as adding new features Conflict: Desert Storm II also fixes problems with the original game, in particular the often highly erratic frame rate, which is a lot smoother than before. The co-op mode is also back and better than ever, especially as you can now pick any level from the single-player mode to play through at any time. --David Jenkins