|
|
Urban Chaos
Click
title art above, to purchase this game.
 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.
To purchase Urban Chaos, Click Here
Also available for the following game systems (click
on system name to order): Dreamcast
, Playstation
| All text, Title
graphics, and pix not of reviewed product, are created by Techtite,
copyright 2000; all rights reserved. Screen captures of program
reviewed are discrete thumbnails, used only for the purpose of
review, and by no means represent any affiliation with Techtite and the distributors of that product. For further "legalese"
& disclaimers, click here... |
|
Burnout
Near
Miss
Small
Crater
Large
Crater
Deep
Impact
