'Deer Hunter' rocks

'Deer Hunter' rocks
Do you like to hunt? Even if you don't, Atari's "Deer Hunter" game is definitely something different.
With excellent graphic presentations, "Deer Hunter" sends you to the woods to go after real game. Competing online with up to four players is a cool feature, as you will work together with partners to corner your prey. But I had more fun playing alone. The real-life locales, like Montana and Tennessee, looked authentic, and the animals -- bears, lions, goats, elk -- sounded and looked like the real thing, too.
To keep things interesting, you'll also operate ATVs, boats and bikes to move quickly through the forests.
There are nearly 20 different types of weapons to use and some real (at least they seemed that way) dangers to navigate. I'm not saying this is classic by any stretch, but it's a nice diversion from the standard video-game fare.
Grade: B, Atari for all consoles
'Sims,' bustin' out
The original "Sims" was one of the biggest-selling PC games of all time. It was ported to game consoles and was a hit there, too.
As in the original, the "Bustin' Out" sequel is the "Seinfeld" of video games, an adventure about nothing. You basically create a human character or a family, choose a profession and live your life.
Some people get totally consumed in their "Sims" world, which has grown in this new incarnation. Now you can become a movie star, go to a dance club or even a military command center. If you spend enough time with this, it can be quite addicting. It's kind of like watching a soap opera. You just want to see where everything will end up. Except in this soap opera, you're in control of your characters. That can be pretty cool.
Grade: B-plus, Electronic Arts for PS2
Sonic heroes
Sonic is back in a team adventure, still flying around like Speed Racer through mazes and recovering items for points. As a player you choose a team to play with, but there's a key feature here: You can switch between the good guys and the bad guys as you go through 14 stages to try to save the day -- or to stop the good guys from doing it.
Grade: B, Sega for all game consoles
'Armed & amp; Dangerous'
Created for XBox and XBox Live, this Microsoft studios effort is pure violence. As a member of a small armada called the Lionhearts, you try to defeat an army of huge robots to save the world. The robots are trying to burn the world down. The game is beautiful to look at and quite violent, but it'll keep your attention through 21 missions because the action is hot and heavy.
Grade: B, Microsoft for XBox
XReviews by Langston Wertz Jr., Knight Ridder Newspapers