To view the Report card.
All the participating editors rated the games they sampled; our Report Card shows how each stacked up against particular criteria. Reviews of the winners and runners-up in each game category appear here. One point worth noting: Although it comes up as a runner-up on our Report Card rankings, the editors' all-around personal favorite, on a purely subjective scale, was Interplay Productions' Carmageddon. Co nsider it a gift.

Strategy Games
Best: Accolade Deadlock (Tie )
In Deadlock from Accolade, each player represents a race of beings trying to compete with other races to conquer the newfound world of Gallius IV. Players take turns trying to become the first race to build seven city centers or attack and drive off the other races, thus winning control of the planet. The game can be played against the computer or against six other players over the network.

To aid you in your quest for world domination, you can tell your race of creatures to build farms, factories and armies; ore mining facilities; research technology; or conquer new lands. Each race has specific abilities. Some are better at producing food to feed the masses, while others excel at research. After winning the game with one race, we found that the same strategy may not always work when playing as a different race. This keeps the game exciting and fresh. --James Drews

Best: Origin Systems
Ultima Online (Tie)
Internet gaming takes on a whole new dimension with Origin Systems ' Ultima Online. Ultima Online is a classic role-playing strategy game taken to new heights on the Internet. Unlike many of the other games we tested, Ultima Online isn't about how many kills you log or how fast you can click the fire button. Instead, Ultima Online sweeps you away to a world where role playing is king and chivalry is far from dead.

To begin the Ultima Online adventure, you create a character with specific traits. Once you've created a character, what you do is up to you. Interact with thousands of other players like yourself and seek quests to earn money, improve your character's skills and meet other people with similar interests. Ultima Online is the ultimate MUD (multiuser dungeon), and thousands of people have taken up the game in the few short weeks it has been on the shelves.

The only catch with Ultima Online is the ongoing price--you'll pay about $10 a month. Depending on how much ti me you spend playing games, this may or may not seem like a bargain. The world of Ultima Online is huge and there are plenty of places to go and people to see. No other game even comes close to this style of interactive gaming. --Joel Conover

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