Shogo: Mobile Armor Division

This is a title i never got to play when it released and subsequently forgot all about but here we are decades later and im having a blast, literally. Had a devil of a time re-binding the keys to WASD and figuring out that when configuring the mouse buttins you got to use the arrow keys to choose the function- unless your'e stuck with a laptop with a mouse and are like me, content to use the space bar as a the fire button and tap the mouse pad to jump as i've done with past games. so that and a clear lack of explanation as to how to zoom in with the sniper scope (it's #6 button- not on the numpad) among a few other quibbles with lack of direction this game is a gem and i highly recommend it.

I had to jump through hoops to get it to run and to sort out the resoultion. Great game though, involving mech shooting then back on foot levels. Story was excellent and i love the music.,

Great game - did not realize there are a lot of technical challenges with trying to get certain vintage 3D games to work, especially at higher resolutions. I think you will have to fiddle with a few things to get this to work, but you should be able to get it working. What worked for me was implementing the fix on ModDB and then just running it at 800x600. I could not get it to run at high resolutions on my machine without constant crashing or other problems. BUT that is that way it was played back in the day and it looks fine for this. Just a lot of fun and worth the effort. Just know you will likely have to experiment and dig a bit.

First of all, be aware that this is a game which may require some fiddling around with before it will run ok. I've brought it to a point where it is playable, but will still crash at times - usually soon after launching the game. Switching between piloting a massive mech and being on foot is a great gameplay mechanic. While in the mech the world looks miniature and the people are like ants, and on foot the game is just like a normal FPS. The weapons are different and the gameplay in general is different between the two modes. You almost get two games in one, and I still remember my mind being blown by this concept way back when the game was new. It's still a concept that works exttremely well, and a shame that it's rarely been seen since then. Dialogue and story is cheesy, and obviously the game mechanics are a little dated at this point, but it's fun and different and has old-school simplicity.

It's so fun, with gore, japanese characters, mecchas, BIG GUNS, and awesome single player levels! In my opinion the Lithtech engine has done its time... There are several bugs very annoying on the newer PC like the foes with extreme low reaction time (more like wallhack, heh). This drawback is also to be mentioned on Shogo's brother, Blood 2, sadly. Few missions will stay in my mind, like fetching a cat to open some gates and solving little puzzles to break the gore (yes, the game is very gorish). So put apart the Lithtech engine, it's a very good game with a lot of action and very cool stuff (pictures, easter eggs...) Definitely worth it. Oh, did I mention it contained two different endings? Well in one you get a big BIG gun...