Beijing 2008 Review

Well it's been a long while since a true Olympic Games title was bestowed upon the gaming world, where man or woman must delve deep into the core of their soul in order to strive for that coveted gold medal. But here are Eurocom and SEGA ready to carry that torch on forwards in the form of Beijing 2008. By the way, there's no way I am classing Mario & Sonic as a true Olympic title.

After a brief install of the game onto the PS3 hard drive which will take approximately 2gig of storage you'll be introduced with the usual welcoming menu screen, from here you can choose single events, a full Olympic campaign or multiplayer. Not just split screen multiplayer mind you, but 8 player online capabilities, which if my memory serves me right is the first time an Olympics title has been developed to include online modes.

Campaign wise, you choose a country of your choice where you must qualify for events each day before moving on towards that Olympic gold medal, also you must achieve the daily target for that day, essentially qualifying for X number of events, otherwise is game over. Along with this you earn points per event which vary in value depending on what placing you get in the said event; these points are then placed in several skills of your own choosing in order to improve your team, such as stamina, accuracy or reducing your overall team fatigue.

So what's in store event wise for the player? Well how about 40 individual events spanning from 100m sprints to archery and gymnastics so there is bound to be something to suit all tastes of gamer. Each event will allow you to go over the controls so you are able to get to grips with them before you start, and to the game's credit not everything is a button mash like the good old days. The developers have actually given this some thought, to use the 100m sprint as an example you may if you wished mash the pad until your fingers bleed in order to gain that extra 100th of a second or waggle an analogue stick of your choice to prevent crippling your hands and developing arthritis in later life.

Swimming events have you rotate both sticks in alternate directions as if to give a feeling of simulating your arm swings through the pool, but not all events work as well as others. Judo is pretty much abysmal with its poor button matching system in order to pull off moves, seriously if anything else occurs rather than dance with your opponent before falling to the floor then losing the match while you sit there looking bemused at what has just been portrayed on your screen then please let me know, and don't get me started on the kayaking either, I think I would rather endure several days of telly addicts than attempt that event again.

Though these are mediocre downsides to what is a rather enjoyable game, the visuals are pretty damn good yet I don't really have an Olympic title to compare it with unless I dig out Daley Thompsons Decathlon for the Commodore 64, which in that case the visuals are out of this world. Everything is nicely rendered and animated, the stadium, Olympic pool and gymnastics hall look marvellous while the animations on the athletes seem pretty much spot on for each event.

I have to admit though, the audio of the game didn't do well to help make me feel more part of the game, I suppose functional would be the best way to describe it. Don't get me wrong, the sound isn't bad at all just I felt that the commentary on the events seemed a little strained at times but it is nothing too distracting as it's only at the start of events, which you can skip, also at the end of events which funnily enough you can magically skip too.

Now I'm sure that the live 2008 Olympics will put most of you in the mood for some digital events for yourself and I recommend picking this up for your PS3, 360 or PC and having a crack at that magical gold medal or world record.

"It is the inspiration of the Olympic Games that drives people not only to compete but to improve, and to bring lasting spiritual and moral benefits to the athlete and inspiration to those lucky enough to witness the athletic dedication."
-Herb Elliot