Well, this game is a little hidden gem and a half. I had it back in the day, and I did enjoy the game, even though the story was a bit silly, but then again, the background stories in games in general made very little sense back then. It was just an excuse to shoot stuff. :D This game came out some time after Wolfenstein 3D, the predecessor to many later FPS-games. It was originally released by Apogee as a Shareware game, like many games did back then. Okay, time for me to stop rambling about its roots. Into the game already! The game starts up with you standing in a small hallway with your trusty pistol, with a mission to eliminate Dr. Pyrus Goldfire, who has obviously gone bonkers and is a threat to humanity. It doesn't take long for you to realise that the mission is not quite as simple as it initially sounded like. Hostile guards, robots and mutants are roaming the levels of the 10-story building and the architect must have been smoking something. Traps, hidden rooms and levers are scattered all over the maps, and your task is to get to Dr. Goldfire and put a bullet in his head. But it is certain he has taken that possibility into account so he may have a surprise to the unlucky agent who makes it to the top of the building... The controls are very simple and easy to learn, and the aiming of the gun is forgiving in the sense that you don't need to be exact with where you are pointing your gun to kill enemies, which is a good thing since keyboard control is sometimes a bit tricky to align to the target. The graphics of the game are dated, but functional and they don't have much of an issue to someone who loves retro games like I do. This game also need a little bit of strategic thinking, an agent who runs head-first into enemy will become a "retired" agent very quickly. You can open a door and fire your gun to attract attention of the enemies in the room next to you, or try to peek around the corner and get a silent kill. There are non-hostile scientists on the levels giving you information and sometimes they give you food tokens to spend at a dispenser and ammuniton, but they can also be angered, so sometimes you need to be careful in your approach. Even they will pull out a gun if they think something is wrong. Sometimes it is also better to leave some ammunition and supplies on the ground for later use and come back for them when you really need them. All in all, the gameplay is smooth and fun even today. It may not be deep in terms of story but it is still a fun game and deserves a place in the shelf of every FPS veteran. You can also put it on your netbook and play it on a lunch break or commuter train. The system requirements are very low and it can be played on low power setting. :) The one star was reduced because the game hasn't aged to well graphically but I still recommend it warmly.
This game brings back some memories. I did have this back when it was released, and I did play it quite a bit. This game has fairly good selection of interesting tracks and different cars that accelerate, turn and handle differently with top-speed differences which was becoming a standard in the time. The differences are not massive, but some cars are just a little bit better for different tracks. the controls are quite fast and responsive, and the landscapes slip past you at a very nice speed while you race around the track. The graphics are very good for a game of its era, and they still look pretty decent today. You have 4 views to choose from, which are bumper cam, inside view (fixed), close behind view and the chase cam. The music on the background is quite good (created bya computer game music veteran Allister Brimble), and it doesn't get on your nerves after listening to it for an hour. :) I have a small complaint about the logic behind the power-slides. Sometimes it acts a bit weird. Sometimes the tail slides nicely around the corners, sometimes it doesn't. It is almost as if it was scripted to happen in certain bends and corners. Sometimes when braking it goes into "hand-brake" mode which locks the rear wheels and the speed slows down while you have easier time turning the car. This seems to have a fixed duration. A good idea, But sadly this tends to happen at the most inopportune moment, causing you to lose speed, and sometimes crash into a wall because of an unexpected change in control modes. I would still recommend this to a gamer who is into an old-school arcade racing games, as this was one of the best in its time. Despite it's single flaw the game is very playable and good fun for anyone interested in old-school arcade racing.
