Role-play that's perfect for the patient

THE trouble with role-playing games is that unless you happen to be a bit, err, obsessive, they can be a mite boring.

Massive games like the Final Fantasy saga are the equivalent of those Hollywood epics directors like Cecile B De Mille cranked out in the twenties: wonderful to look at and terrific achievements but bum-achingly long and not always the last word in entertainment.

To their fans, video game RPGs can do no wrong. In Japan - where these games have their biggest audience - an entire industry has sprung up around the characters you control. Comics, cartoons, paintings and novels all serve to flesh out the make-believe world your electronic characters inhabit.

The trouble for the games companies is the changing way we play our games. Ever since the PlayStation made a post-pub blast on something like Wipeout "cool" a whole generation of gamers has grown up to think of electronic entertainment as something that's a five or ten minute high and not a deep thinking adventure that takes tens (sometimes hundreds) of hours to complete.

In the West, the epic RPG has been left to the hard-core gamers and folk old enough to remember playing Legend of Mana on a dusty old SNES (ask your dad). Final Fantasy X-2 was supposed to be the RPG that broke the mould: an adventure that moved faster than ever before and didn't consume itself with the minutiae that made FF such a cult but only to those with enough patience and spare time.

To be honest, the hype has been overdone. It may have a slightly more western feel but this game plays like any other RPG - long, involved quest, spectacular action, lots of battles and some magic nonsense to get your head around.

But wait, before you dash off to buy yet another first person shoot 'em up consider this: the Final Fantasy series has consistently set the standard on PS2 and PlayStation before it and this sequel (to Final Fantasy X) raises the bar yet again in several key areas.

It's also less plodding than previously. Your characters fly around in an airship and they can cover ground far faster than before; you can get straight into the action and drive the plot at a far more satisfactory lick using this device.

The RPG-lovers will probably reckon that's a bit of a cheat. Just for them the developers have included the option to tackle the whole journey on foot; and yes, it does take an age if you play it that way.

The fighting sounds bizarre but works very well. Your characters can assume different powers by changing costumes mid-scrap. To do this you'll need something called a "dress-sphere" and they are liberally sprinkled throughout the game world. Like I say, it sounds daft but works sweetly when you're in the thick of the action.

The level of character customisation (I haven't even mentioned garment grids and magic spells) is still frighteningly diverse; the hardcore will have a field day on FF-X2 but it could spell trouble for casual gamers, who will find it mind-bendingly complex.

Another RPG drawback is the random battle sequence wherein you will find yourself drawn into a scrap for no apparent reason. Present in every other RPG, it will surprise and delight for the first few hours but, believe me, joy soon turns to tedium when you are thrown into a dust up for the umpteenth time when all you want to do is get on with things.

Final Fantasy X-2 isn't going to convert tens of thousands of sceptical westerners who reckon RPGs are for folk who would otherwise play those bafflingly popular table top games with plastic figures.

It is slightly more accessible but beneath the "westernised" exterior hides an RPG of truly extraordinary proportions. As we've come to expect of Final Fantasy, it looks gorgeous and, for the most part, plays sweetly. The epic soundtrack is great, too.

If you enjoyed any of the Final Fantasy games up until this moment, then X-2 is probably a "must have" purchase. For the rest, FF X-2 is a beautiful game (and you certainly get your money's worth in terms of longevity) but one that demands a measure of serious commitment if you are to truly appreciate its many charms.

COLIN MCRAE RALLY 4. Format: PC, CD ROM. Publisher: Codemasters. Price: £39.99. Out this month.

COLIN McRae has already kicked dirt into the face of rivals on the PS2 and now he's heading for your PC to do the same.

Arriving a few months later has allowed Codemasters to add some nifty new features and polish up the already impressive graphics.

So computer users get a unique on-line option, enabling up to eight drivers to compete simultaneously through championship or rally stages. Even better, you can opt to go it alone or co-operate with a pal.

Otherwise there are the usual range of cars (20 in all), championships, countries (eight international locations) and gruelling special stages (all 48 of them) to race on.

Four-wheel drive or two-wheels only, the choice is up to you, as is the option to ditch modern day rally cars for the fire breathing Group B monsters of yesteryear.

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Published: ??/??/2004