SHOGO is kind of unique game in reasonably stale genre of first-person shooters. It combines fast action with big robots straight from anime, lots of explosions and blood with cheesy, but not-that straight storyline. It's the first game using LithTech engine, and it shows - gibs sticking from walls, hands peering through doors, occasional problems with elevators, levels are underdetailed and some problems on modern machines. Despite those technical flaws, MAD is a solid shooter - there's a lot of enemies, and weapons used by mechas are really destructive (most of the guns are explosive based - have fun blasting other robots and tanks using them!). There are 4 robots to choose from, and few times during the game you will have a chance to change. The levels on foot, on the other hand, are quite hard (hint: use assault rifle as often as possible) and tend to be maze-y, with looking for switches and new passages. Enemies are quite dumb, but shoot well and many times you will die after 2-3 shots, or just one in later levels, as the tend to carry shotguns. Speaking of weapons, there's quite a lot to choose from, in usual Monolith style. Sanjuro can use double pistols, shotgun, smg in vein of ingram, assault rifle (most of the game you will use it, thanks to it precise fire, large ammo count and sniper scope), two forms of grenade launcher and TOW, heavy rocket launcher. Mechas use pulse and laser guns, spider bomb launcher (those who've played Shadow Warrior, should instantly hear in their heads "Sticky bomb like you!" - spider bomb works virtually same way in Shogo!), Bullgut (multiple rockets launcher - real killer!), sniper rifle (one shot = one kill) and two super explosive cannons (shredder is my favourite, it turns battlefield into scrapyard in matter of seconds). And because there's plenty of enemies, virtually around every corner, you'll have plenty occasions to use them all. Graphics are quite dated, but look good in terms of late '90s design - some colour lightning is implemented, and levels are quite big. Action is very fluid and fast, which shows great in multiplayer action! Overall, Shogo: MAD is a good game - it's dated and flawed, but it's definitely more fun than it's sister game Blood 2, which is beyond awful. If you're thinking which one to choose - pick big robot action.
Remember early Duke Nukem games? Or Bio Menace? Alien Rampage? Zombie Wars? Liked them? Manhattan Project is definitely for you. 2,5D platform game with a lot of shooting through 24 levels will deliver lot of enemies to blast, babes to save and one-liners in beloved Jon St. John's voice. Despite the looks, MP tries quite often to vary things - some levels are built upon one interesting concept or unique puzzle, and later areas are quite big. Camera is most of the time placed just to show all the important action, but it often changes place and angle, to keep with the dynamic gameplay. MP is an interesting addition to one's GOG shelf - it keeps the spirit of old MSDOS shareware platformers, while keeping it's own style. Worth checking!
Back in 1997, MDK seemed to me as a game from the future - fast, dynamic, balls-to-the wall action in alien world, all in 3D. 14 years later, I finally tasted the whole thing (back in the day I only owned small demo), and here's my review. MDK is excellent, unique, sometimes bizzare but very, very fun, as most of Shiny's games. Everything in the game is just screaming awesome. Very impressive engine, with it's fast and flashy 3d rendering, making big alien landscapes possible and looking great, together with hundreds of great animated baddies. Can't put enough emphasis on much how the game looks great in 100% fluid action, straight from something you'd suppose to find in PSX's library. Animation of enemies and bosses is very detailed. Shot aliens start running, they lose their limbs, fall on their backs or just run at you holding giant bombs. Ridicoulously funny bosses do all sort of things inspired by Looney Tunes cartoons. Music sometimes sounds very industrial-like, sometimes adrenaline-pounding to make shooting even better, and sometimes it goes into James Bond-style '70s soundtrack. Great job! But what's with the actual gameplay? It does not disappoint. Imagine Tomb Raider mixed with healthy dose of Quake and usual Shiny's wackiness - you've got MDK. Action is fast and fluid, there's always some aliens to blast or acrobatic jumps to make. From time to time you'll find a tricky, but not too hard puzzle to solve and push things forward. And in some levels you'll find flying platforms or snowboard - then you'll be flying through arena, shooting everything in sight, trying desperately to catch some powerups. And speaking of them, powerups are in this game absolutely crazy. Usual grenade or chaingun upgrade doesn't make much of it, but when you'll find items like The Most Interesting Bomb In The World or Tornado or Cow Air Strike (straight from Earthworm Jim), you know it's not a typical game. Overall? Great treat for every fan of fast shooting 3d action. Definitely a worhy addition to that virtual shelf. While the game isn't perfect (difficulty level may be for some people too high on later levels, and the game itself is definitely too short), it's still great and worth that cult following it. Try to end the game to see a special surprise!
Tyrian 2k is a refreshed version of classic PC shoot'em up, which brings many console counterparts to shame. Dozens of levels filled with enemies and secrets, mad Super Arcade mode with hidden ships, huge arsenal of weapons to buy - T2k is one of those games which make you wonder how in the world they were surpassed by much worse products (here it would be Raptor - rather okay game, but nowhere as big and complex as Tyrian). And it's freeware. You have no excuse - go and play it!
ROTT is different than your typical Doom-clone fare. It's fast, filled with puzzles, enemies and rocket launchers. The game does have some Wolf3d feeling (it's based on very expanded W3D engine) with it's armed soldiers, maze-like levels and bit "gothic" graphic style. ROTT is enjoyable for almost anyone for the first two episodes (and the shareware one, which contains unique levels) - sadly, the 3rd and 4th (especially the latter) are heavier on tricky moving and damned switch puzzles, which kills much of the game's novelty and charm of fast, arcade-style 3d shooter done with tongue-in-cheek. Still, Rise does have lots of rocket launcher-based weapons (mmm, flamewall...), many enemies to encounter, big levels and very interesting boss levels, especially the last one, which is very tricky to say at least. In the end, Rise Of The Triad is a good game, but probably only for connasseurs of the genre - people used to more classical Doom clone may be frustrated. The GOG version contains the original four episodes (more than 30 levels), the shareware levels (10 maps), Extreme Rise Of The Triad (another 30 levels or so - very hard!), pack of 21 rejected maps, some multiplayer arenas and replica of tthe very first level of Wolfenstein 3d.
The Witcher came with a lot buzz around, and still looks like is held in high regard among fans of the new cRPGs. Sadly, probably only them will love the game, while others will be annoyed by many things. First of all, game crashes randomly. It's an Enhanced Edition, the game's version number is 1.4, and it still can freak out to Windows. This is plain bull**it. While the game looks like a milion bucks in gold, and has great, fitting soundtrack (and not bad "inspired by" album), the gameplay is built mostly around fetch quests. Bring 10 skulls of monsters of certain type. Bring me 5 flowers. I need 15 wolfskins etc. It's just stupid, and pretty much ruins the interesting mechanic of dialogue choices, which can affect the non-linear story, the main feat of the game. Combat mechanics is a whole different story. At first, I was disoriented - why my hero just stands like a doofus and doesn't fight? The trick is, the combat is very simplified - you just can point the cursor at the enemy, and just click whenever the cursor changes it's shape. Yes, really, that's all about it. Of course, there are different kind of swords and styles, but it doesn't add much of a strategy - if the enemy isn't hurt by your constany swinging, just press key and try again. Which brings us to the camera setting - forget about the good 'ol isometric perspective, if you don't want to go insane, choose the OTS/TPP camera and keyboard+mouse controls. Oh, and the voice actors. While the Polish ones are fairly good, I choosed from curiosity the English, and later German. They sound horrible and make all the characters dumb, so you may want to disable the voice-acting at all, stick to the subtitles and just admire the music. Overall, The Witcher is not a bad game - it does have an interesting plot, looks and sounds good, comes with an adventure editor and is fairly playable and entertaining - it's not just "one of the best cRPGs ever" - this is pure PR crap. An okay game, for okay price, nothing more, nothing less.
Seriously. Spend your money on the other game, or give it to charity. Blood 2 isn't worth it. First of all, the game is ridden with bugs and glitches. Hilarious crap can happen, like flying corpses or pieces of crates, occasionaly doors can kill you or you can get stuck. And it will crash every ten minutes or so, if you will play it on higher res than 1024x768. And don't forget to set all the possible compatibility settings, because you may not run this piece of mess at all. It's not fault of GoG Team or your OS - my friend bought the rental version in '99, and the problems were present. Next, the gameplay. Blood wasn't an easy game, but the sequel is simply infuriating. Most of the enemies are sharpshooters and will in most cases shoot you first with rapid fire. Rest of guys will simply tore you to pieces with two hits. Have fun quickloading/quicksaving! Weapons are laughable. Pistols, SMGs and assault rifles are so weak, you will think you're throwing peas at enemies. Suprisingly, sometimes they will die after 3 shots, and sometimes 30 will be enough to lay'em down. All the "special" guns have little ammo, so no Tesla for you! And forget about the explosives, the most important thing from in Caleb's arsenal in Blood 1 - there are just a few rooms which will allow you to safely use such a powerful weapon. Visuals could be passable, but there's one problem - it's too dark. And no, you can't change the brightness. Have fun shooting in the dark! Also, the levels are laughably undetailed and boring. Forget about the chapels, asylums, dungeons, madhouses from the first game - here you've got boring generic industrial rooms and sewers. And yes, I know Quake 2 was also pure industrial style and had awful lot of sewer levels - but in id's case, it worked. In Blood 2, you are bored beyond your imagination. Playing Blood 2: The Chosen, one may undestand the major difference between good "real 3d" shooters and the bad ones. The good ones, like Quake 2 or Unreal have fluid gameplay, good guns, interesting level design and trick or two. Blood 2 is the complete opposite - you die a lot, you don't feel like undead badass cowboy, who went to hell and back - you just feel ripped and frustrated. So don't buy it.
