Giants: Citizen Kabuto

I understand the appeal of this game. And I regret I didn't get to play it back in the day. Now it's just a bit too frustrating in places, bad design getting in the way of enjoyability. + the humour is really specific and I don't really get it. Still, most of the time it's a fun shooter with interesting features.

Not sure what to make of this whole mess? After reading this post you'll know all you need to know about this wierd tactical outdoor action game, where you play either as a leader of a tactical squad of Cockney spacemen, a spell casting water nymph clad only in a transculent loincloth if you remove/rename the censorhip file or a rampaging King Kong. Even more confused now? Well, this is why my post is rather lenghty, but trust me - you WILL have a good picture of what the game is all about when you've read through this review! Here it goes! Giants: Citizen Kabuto is a mix of: -First person view (can sometimes make it a bit easier to aim) -Third person (you can, and should, swich when you feel like it, diffrent views are good for different situations, even if there isn't really a situation where 3rd person doesn't work) -Three vastly different species (think Aliens versus Predator) -Very British Monty Python-esque humour -Action (i.e. fire fights) -Tactics (choice of weapon, issuing orders to your teammates - don't worry, you don't have to keep them alive to win!) -Strategy (attack North instead of South - fully doable!) -Stelth (never the only option! - neither "spotted - mission failed" nor "spotted - good luck surviving now!") -Racing (in four single player missions, don't worry - they're fun, well balanced and not that hard) -Base bulding (in four other single player missions and in multiplayer - well implemented into the game, you just collect some resources from the map and use them to erect buildings where from where you can buy items) All elements work VERY well on their own! Giant's wouldn't have been a too shabby racing game, for example. And the mix DOES work, the whole is even greater than the sum of the components! Anything bad about Giants. Well, there's no way to save in the middle of levels, no cheat codes (save for one that lets you skip levels) and no way to change the difficulty level! But don't fear! The levels are very short and if you're patient and methodical in your approach you hardly ever have to risk your life (for example, as all levels are outdoors you can snipe any foe from afar and there are always supply stations nearby with infinite refills of ammo and healing items)! The only exeptions are the base building missions (but there you get to keep your buildings when continuing after losing - so you'll win out in the end no matter what) and the racing levels (one race doesn't take too long to redo even if you screw up during the final lap and they aren't that tough either - I won the three first on my first try and the fourth on my second). Also, don't expect lots of opportunities to play Giants online. You'll have to persuade friends at a LAN party to give Giants a try or make plans on the net (maybe here on GoG?) for a scheduled game. This could be because the game doesn't allow players to join in the middle of a match (I'm 100% sure that joining isn't possible though) but also because the game is old and wasn't that popular even when it was new. Giants got great reviews and was well regarded by almost everyone who gave it a serious try. But high system reqirements at the time meant that not everyone had the possibilty of trying the game out, and I'm also sure the quirkiness confused many players enough to leave the game be. Today, the game works on any almost computer (and the graphics still look good!) and I hope that this review removes the any off-putting confusion from you! Believe me, the quirkiness certainly works in favour for Giants: Citizen Kabuto!

I first bought this when originally released. Loved the game. At the time the graphics where fantstic and the music was great. Gampeplay was easy to get into and above all else fun. A game that had a good sense of humor that had me laughing for ages. The action can get frantic but fun. That was the past now what is it like now. Graphics are still very good bright landscapes and characters look pretty cool. Music just as good now as back then and adds to the gameplay. Humor and gameplay remains unchanged still as good now as back when first released. Its a pity the development team went bust after the game would have loved to see a follow up. Certainly an original game. Would i recommend it hell yes the game is a true classic and certainly better than most of the AAA games released in the last few years. For $7 this is a steal.

Honestly, i don't know whether to be overjoyed or disgusted by the price of this game. All I know is that you MUST BUY IT NOW. Excellent graphics, hilarious dialogue and a unique blend of shooter, action, RPG and RTS makes this one of the best, most original games ever produced. Oh, and the multiplayer is more fun than a pool full of money.

If you are on the fence about buying Giants, let me explain a few things to win you over... *Three playable sides, including British-accented alien space marines. *Dialog that ranges from "tongue-in-cheek" to "ball-bustingly" funny. *A solid shooter with fun weapons, fairly large environments. *A resurrected multi-player mode thanks to GOG's cheap-as-hell price! This is quite a gem, and it's great to be able to play it stable and smooth. Also, native wide-screen support!