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The rebels are coming! The rebels are coming! Well, that might be pushing things a little, but thats not a big deal. This game came out in May 2001 with a lot of hype going for it. The geo-mod engine was the large part of the hype, and the fact that you could literally change the surface and the backgrounds was irresistible to a lot of gamers, and it is hard to argue with them once you observe this game. The game had the basic rebel story and it was backdropped on Mars in the future, a neat idea, and an innovative one, at that. The game has the right feel with a majority of the game in the bright red environment. This game took a few gameplay elements from Half-Life and it made them even better.
The story is you are Parker, a worker for Ultor, an organization that is treating its miners like virtual slaves. When a revolt starts, and the leader, Eos, wages war on Ultor, you find yourself fighting against an army. With only a 12mm pistol, the battle begins... Now, it is interesting that all of your friendlies, and sometimes, even your enemies primarily speak to you over the radio. This idea could have been mishandled so easily, but Volition makes it work nicely. There is little dialogue for Parker, but the dialogue that he is given does shape him as a hard, bitter, repentant character, which is about what we expect out of him. The other characters are also fairly three-dimensional, except for Kapek, one of the bosses. He doesn't have too many traits except for being a raving madman. Overall, this part of the game connects in as many ways as it can, and you do feel satisfied.
The graphics are close to flawless. The changing of the environments are superbly done and you will have fun doing this, as well as exploring the game, which is rare. The only flaw here is you might see some pop-up, but it doesn't really exist with the exception of places very far away.
Play control is very easy to get used, like it is for most FPS games. Just give it a few minutes and you will be shooting with the best of them with ease.
The music is very solid for this game and the voice-overs aren't cheesy at all, even though that could be debatable in some camps. You make the call on this one. I personally think they are acceptable for this one.
Overall, this game is wonderfully constructed from beginning to end, and in spite of some long load times, a game that isn't terribly long, and some anemic multiplayer options, you are getting one very nice game and one that should have an even better sequel. With such potential, there is little doubt in my mind. -- Chris Vavra, PGNx Media
---- Sep 30, 2002
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