[ « Previous Page | 1 | 2 | 3 ]
Free radical have kept with their unique styleThere are many redeeming factors however, and most of them are found in the armed combat. The targeting system is refreshingly easy to get to grips with, once the camera allows you to see your enemies. Hold down the right mouse button and targets are isolated. Move the mouse to refine your aim and pick off enemies with headshots.
Free Radical has also done an excellent job with the sniper rifle, a difficult thing in a third person game. Once targets are found, hold down the right mouse button and an inset scope appears at the bottom right of your screen. A slow zoom allows precision shots and a satisfying thump is heard when the bullet enters flesh.
AdvertisementThen there are nice, personal, humane touches here and there. The first person narrative never grates, and can be fairly useful when you hit a brick wall. It often feels like the good Doctor isn't just lending you his body for your every manipulating desire, but his mind also.
And, of course, there are CCTV cameras - a self-referential wink from Free Radical's time at Rare and the legendary Goldeneye. Shooting them out brings on tear inducing nostalgia for the N64 landmark.
There are some great tocuhes in the game that most people will never seeThis brings me nicely back to that elevator, a trademark of Free Radical's games. After coming to terms with the death of the guard, you check the computer terminal the poor sod was looking at when you interrupted him. It seems he was in the middle of a network chat with 'Bunny', his loving wife. The last recorded entries include the guard telling her he needed to pick up some groceries on his way home from work, Bunny telling him she misses and loves him and some discussion about working too hard. Then, as a result of your interjection, she starts to ask what's wrong, where are you? Is everything OK? Stop it I'm worried!
Of course, everything is not OK. You have murdered her husband. It might not have been your fault, but you killed him nonetheless. Strangely, you feel remorse. He may have been a simple guard, an enemy among the hundreds you will encounter in the game, but, for the first time in a game - I felt my actions had some ramification outside the typical game mechanic.
It may have been for a virtual character I'll never see, and something many gamers will have missed anyway, but it's a lovely touch from Free Radical, and one that reminds you of the passion the Britsoft developer puts into every nook and cranny of their games.
For that minute alone, it made the frustrating but intriguing few hours I'd played up to that point worthwhile. How sad then that the basic game mechanic fails to live up to it.
[ « Previous Page | 1 | 2 | 3 ]
