Urban Chaos

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A Techtite Review

If you're like me, you waited patiently for an intriguing interactive cop-drama ever since Sierra Online's Police Quest 3 (one of Techtite's choices for Top 50 Multimedia Classics). Now, finally, there's Urban Chaos, a 3D action-adventure police game from Eidos and Mucky Foot productions. Although its timeline makes it one of a zillion entertainment products that attempted to ride on the coat tails of 12/31/99 "millennium madness" (making the storyline now a "flashback"), it makes several successes along the way.

The heroine is D'arci Stern, a rookie cop. A "Wildcats" street gang has run rampant in Urban City, and it's up to her to stop them. You get to seek out criminals, engage in combat if necessary, and either eliminate or arrest them. Meanwhile, unlike other no-brainer, kill-everything-moving shooters, there are dozens of innocent civilians on the street, and you must keep them from harm as well. Soon, D'arci uncovers the truth about the Wildcats, and, perhaps, a doomsday plot they're involved in.

Not unlike Eidos' other games --particularly the Tomb Raider and Thief series-- this game has an excellent grasp of how to merge the thrills of real-life with the thrills of gaming. You can slide into criminals from behind, then cuff them while they lay on the ground; "You're busted, creep!" gloats D'arci (this is one action-heroine with no shortage of macho catch phrases to yell at crooks). Other missions allow you to gather evidence, prevent murders, and even drive automobiles (drive a van to the sidewalk, and more easily climb up to a roof!). You can even slide down cables to reach other buildings (as shown here). Even with all this realism, there's a slice of good game-fun; a handy dandy radar scope at the lower left of the screen shows you when a crook is near. Go get them!

With all these game options, how can you get used to the controls? No problem; there really are only five major buttons besides the direction keys, and they provide all the control you'll need. No less than seven "quickie" practice levels allow you to get used to these keys, within the safety of a police training area. There are two sets of three missions each, for driving lessons as well as combat. An additional introductory mission is an obstacle course, to get you used to moving in general. You'll be busting crooks in no time.

Once in the real game, it is even easier to get into. Each mission has a set number of goals which must be achieved, within a specific area of the city (i.e., "level map" to gamers). Such missions include meeting informants, stopping a rooftop suicide, tracking down a murder suspect, and so on. One aspect of the game I liked were the missions with no time limit; you could search the streets and rooftops at will, for every single criminal (every end-level screen gives a summary of criminals arrested, killed, or still-at-large).

Please note that this game has an extreme level of Mature Content. However, while some games use such content for mere shock value (i.e., the use of the F-word ad nauseum in Kingpin) Urban Chaos is more like one of the better R-rated crime movies (interpret that as you will, though it was meant as a compliment). Hit an enemy hard and --no surprise-- they start to curse (only PG-rated cursing, though you'll hear it a LOT!). The AI for these crooks is excellent, and although you can kick their weapon away, they might just pick it up again(!), so keep on your toes! Be on the lookout for crooks that carry knives, baseball bats, and even guns. Defeating an enemy "the hard way" leads to a puddle of blood underneath their body; walk in this puddle and have bloody footprints for a few yards...talk about realism! As I said, for some, this may be too much "Mature Content" for one game. For fans of crime dramas, however, this might be just what they're looking for.

As for game gripes, there's the typical console-itis; there is no way to save your game within a level! At first, this is no biggie, when up against about 6-10 crooks. Soon, however, that number rises to gang-war status with dozens of crooks! While there are numerous healing power-ups, it's quite a let down to work so hard in a level, only to be defeated by crook #15 (or so). You can dodge most of them, or just shoot them, and yet a save game option would've been best. On the other hand, the way this game's save feature is set up, you can replay any prior level at will, and attempt for a better rating/mission score (titles of completed missions are crossed out, though still able to be chosen!).

There are a few other gripes as well. The final level is totally out of place; a bunch of catwalks and moving platforms that are way too "Super Mario" for a game of this type! I also didn't like the missions that are timed; not half as fun as the ones that are not, with more freedom to explore. Murders, in one game level, are not preventable --they can only be "witnessed" nearby-- which I had some problem with. Last of all, there's no multiplayer, which would have been way-cool; imagine a team of police, to defeat even tougher criminals!

The bottom line is, if you watch TV like NYPD Blue, and movies like Lethal Weapon, this game is right up your dark alley. With a vast array of crimes to prevent, murders to solve, and a gang leader to apprehend, there's more than enough crime-drama for everyone. If anything, a sequel is possible. I hope Murky Foot makes such a sequel, regardless of a (thankfully) non open ending. After all those crooks to arrest, D'arci Stern more than deserves another crime story someday.

	Final Rating : Large Crater. Just one (final) jumping level away from a Deep Impact score. A unique, gripping 3D action adventure with a whole city to explore!
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Also available for the following game systems (click on system name to order): Dreamcast , Playstation

 

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