I played this game when it first came out, when I was still young, likely more than 10 years ago. To this day I remember it for its musical score, surreal environments and the theme of desolation that underlies it all. There is a story to it, told in the instruction booklet, as it was custom back then. It is detailed as a journal, up to the point where the game begins. Dr. Hawkins was a cientist that left earth on his space vessel, along with his janitor, Kurt, and would not come back until he had some great discovery to show the cientific community back on Earth. Eventually he discovers magnetic streams that are getting bigger and bigger. Only he realises that they're not getting bigger, they're getting closer! It's the aliens that came with their streaming technology to our system: they pretty much can turn matter into stream and travel, materializing at the arrival. So what happens is that great minecrawler cities materialize to rob earth of its resources, killing millions in the process. That's when Kurt is sent with the experimental coil suit to save the day. Take too long to finish the level, and a city may be wiped out... That's the green bar - how many people are dying! This explains why the itens fall from the sky - the doc launches them for Kurt as he makes them. Kurt falls to each minecrawler and seeks the pilot. Once he kills the pilot, the whole place is streamed back to the alien homeland! That's why Kurt is in a magnetic tube in space, and is pulled by Bones back to the ship. Bones is a robot dog that the doc created to make them company - The VHS tapes were running out, Kurt's morale was lowering... I hope that makes some sense for the plot. Thinking of the characters, there is a depth to them if you infer by the journal entries and their choices. An underlying tone, but it's there. In all this, the graphics are really great for the time it was launched, and there is a great variety of scenarios within each minecrawler. Some areas really show that it is a sort of alien city, with some features that make are "civil", so as to indicate they live there. You even crash a party and make everyone run in despair! And all of the presentation is utterly surreal (Shiny made Sacrifice too!), because of the shapes and colors, but at the same time, it can be understood what they represent somewhat, like the aforementioned party. The soundtrack goes along greatly with the experience; I for one get a sense of majesty and gloominess just from the menu theme: The characters make a huge difference, though lives are lost regardless of their best efforts. There is humor into the game, but it's from the alien's perspectives, mocking the humans! Gameplay wise, it can be repetitive once you learn to effectively deal with the enemies. But the landscapes change constantly, so the experience is refreshing from the beggining of the game until the end. That is possible since the game is somewhat short: A sad thing considering it can be such nice experience for so many players. On the other hand, perhaps it was what allowed for the originality to be kept, as a tight and well done package. Quality over quantity, to be sure. As far as I can remember, you can choose dificulty levels, and save at anytime pressing F2 (as other reviews said), so it should not be impossible to get through. The controls are not the best suited for those acostumed to modern controls. They can be reconfigured, with the use of the mouse for looking as well. All in all, if you liked old action oriented games (like doom, duke nukem 3d etc), this one has all that packed action and several other artistic details to go along creating a quite unique experience; if you are inclined to pay attention to such details. And if not, you get a chain gun for a hand and a sniper rifle for a helmet. Bullets and running all around non-stop! Thus, this was one of the first games (if not the first, it's hard to tell) where you could headshot and make it count...
I bought this game on GOG based on it's reviews, and I most certainly do not regret it. Have a look on the internet, as I did, and most likely you will find that this game is very well spoken off, but sold poorly. It's odd but it happens, and you will do well in believing the good word about it. I for one am a guy who's been playing games ever since I was 5, being 23 now, and I like to know about games of different genres, and what goes around on the market in general. I say this, because there are games I've heard about, but not played, and this is the opposite: It's unknown but great. Utter personal qualification aside, here's something to know about it if you're deciding. The gameplay is similar to the Zelda games, a comparison often made because the games are dated nearly in the timeframe. For the most part you control Jade as she is on foot, but there are distinctive elements depending on where you are. On some places, you can fight straight up, with a simple but fun combat system; on others, you have to stealth around, using line of sight mechanics to pass by. In some cases, you don't have to stealth all the way, you can defeat the sentries while they're not looking. There are also race tracks, where you use a hovercraft as a vehicle, and a part later on where you use a spaceship. The game allows itself to continue fresh throughout by changing the gameplay sightly like that. There are no difficulty levels, and overall it is easy, though there are parts where one may be stuck a bit. However, not too much, and there is not much grief in trying over again. The learning curve is smooth, as the gameplay is rather simple. There are also some mini-games! There are elements of scavening hunting, that you can go after if you want full completion of the game, but are not entirely necessary for the development of the plot. That gives some room for exploration, although for the most part the game is linear. That, in the end, is not at all bad because the plot is well constructed, and it was seen as a necessity to develop it, being pretty much one of the best allures of this title. The characters matter, the songs make you feel involved with the feelings at hand, and it there is a nice twist in the story. Proof of that: One of the cutscenes made me cry. Damnable damnsels in distress! The graphics here if compared to nowadays would make it even easier to convey the emotion, but even with what you see in the pictures, their faces move enough to make you understand. It's the little things, like Jade laughing after beating another player at a mini-game, or your companions becoming ecstatic about winning a race. One detail that could be seen as a drawback is that the game is relatively short, especially for when it was launched. There are at about 15 hours of play, which can vary, of course, if you want to find all the itens, likes to explore, etc. All can't ever be roses, so to be fair, there are some issues I had. Mainly with the controls and the camera, that oftentimes turned to its whim, especially in narrow crawling spaces, and made me be seen by the sentries, or go back to the room I just came. Also, it was sometimes hard to steer the hovercraft. Maybe it's me though and lack of practice, but the camera sometimes didn't help. If you buy it on GOG, be sure to read the readme that comes, because even tough your computer is probably more advanced than the needed to run the game, the screen may tear and become all unstable with some o the functions on. Should that happen, unmark the fancy graphic settings and try again. End result: A game that costs little here in GOG, that has a great plot, a neat universe to check out, different gameplay modes that work, and a sense you played a masterpiece. "Carlsooooon and Peteeeeeeers!!!!" - Buy it, play it, understand it!
