October 15, 2008

RescuePro Deluxe 4.0 (*** out of four) is a utility program designed to recover damaged or deleted files from camera or portable music player’s memory cards. The program will also work on other removable storage devices as well. The types of files that can be recovered include most common digital image formats, such as RAW, music, video, documents, mail and more. A special feature is the ability to recover worldwide files of MPEG audio or MPEG video; i.e. those coded for other parts of the world. The program can also work directly with USB or firewire connected devices, such as digital still or video cameras, Palm Pilots or Windows CE devices, to recover files. There are versions of the program for Windows and Mac, and it will run on Linux too.

The program begins by scanning the selected storage media and reporting all recoverable files. A click allows you to view the images or hear the sounds before recovery and select what you want to recover. In many cases, even formatted cards can be rescued as long as they haven’t been over written.

RescuePro Deluxe will automatically save data as it is scanned and includes a utility to create an image of your media for later recovery, when you have more time to deal with it. An image is a piece-by-piece copy of the media card, irrespective of file structure.

We’ve heard many stories from people who have accidentally erased or damaged memory cards and were heartbroken at the prospect of losing irreplaceable photos and other files. This program can make a happy ending to these kinds of experiences that happen all too often.

A Secure Erase utility is also included if you want to permanently delete selected files, files that for whatever reason you don’t want to see again or want anybody to see for that matter. This secure erase works not just for image files, but any file.

RescuePro Deluxe is the kind of utility you hope you never have to use but are glad it’s there if you need it.

Code of Honor 2: Conspiracy Island (** out of four) is the second in the Code of Honor series following along the exploits of an elite brigade in the Foreign Legion. The storyline: a highly classified secret island science outpost is overrun by terrorists, who kill the scientists and threaten to blow up an experimental nuclear reactor located there. The terrorist act would not only destroy the island but also spread nuclear fallout over a wide area, sickening or killing millions. Your job as leader of the brigade is to secure the reactor against explosion, safeguard the secret documents located in the facility, search out and get rid of the terrorists.

There are a total of nine missions to complete, and the game provides two different endings (depending on your actions). As a player, you and your brigade will have to work your way through rugged island mountain terrain, a complex series of underground caves, an ancient prison, and the science facility all the while battling off the terrorists. There are a few puzzles to solve as you go helping to break up the action. You can play the game in three different levels of difficulty (hard, moderate or high) to best suit your skills.

Game play is typical: shoot or get shot, blow up or get blown up. You’ll have a choice of long-range and short-range weapons at your disposal for the chores at hand. And you can modify your weapons on the fly. As is typical for a first person shooter-type game, you have to control your on-screen persona by using both keyboard and mouse controls: make your soldier go forward, backward, move to the side, jump, run, fire weapons, throw grenades, and the like. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of thinking needed--just good reflexes and some experience with similar games.

The graphics are OK and depict the surroundings in reasonable detail, showing the characters as tough soldier types. Character animations are reasonable, but control of motion and direction seems somewhat stiff and jerky. The ability to change weapons on the fly is a plus. Music is good and appropriate for the story, as are the sound effects.

The game is rated M for Mature, 17+ for excessive violence and language. It always strikes us as too bad, given the interesting story line, that many of these types of games use violence and blood just for the sake of violence and blood, and that the game designers didn’t build in more character development so you could know the characters and their strengths and/or weaknesses better. For players who would like a little more than shoot ‘em up, it would add much more interest and appeal.