Babylon 5: Shadow Wars

Let's define "Entertainment Utility"

First of all, if you aren't a die-hard Babylon 5 fan, leave. This is not for you. Well, the verdict isn't much different even if you are a fan, but perhaps you should stay and find out why.

Subtitled "Arcade Series Entertainment Utility", Shadows Wars is actually a collection of images, video clips and sound samples from the hit TV series, bundled with a proggy that will replace your screensaver with one that cycles through the said multimedia clips and replace some of your icons and pointers.

Ah, there's also a game, which seems to be bundled for good measure. It is a Space Invaders clone (you know, ship at the bottom, aliens swooping in from the top) and not a particularly good one at that. The less said about it, the better. It will last you for about 5 mins.

How much "Entertainment"?

OK, nothing wrong with putting together a multimedia pack for Babylon 5. Such things sell, witness similar pacakages from Lucas Arts for example. But perhaps a touch of originality and innovation is essential.

Instead what we have here is 23 (the package is lying, it's not 25) stamp sized AVI video clips with sound (that is not integrated into the .AVI files so you can only view them with the built in viewer), some 70+ still images which are nice shots, but unfortunately 256 color and 640x480 only and thus look rather grainy when scaled and stretched, some audio clips from the show which anyone with a VCR can sample for themselves (admittedly, the classic "You have to go where everyone has gone before" is included) and some rather crappy icons and pointers.

As you can see, the only thing worth a second look are the video clips, which display the spectacular CGI work from the show, which incidentally isn't that spectacular at 160x200 resolution but still interesting to own for fans.

Better luck next time

This is supposedly a 100,000 copy limited edition. I'm really sorry for the state of the software industry if this dreck sells even half as much. A few AVI files is simply not worth anywhere near the ridiculous asking price.

Review By GamesDomain