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Review By: Christopher
Coey |
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| Developer: |
VIS |
| Publisher: |
Rockstar |
| # of
Players: |
1 |
| Genre: |
Action |
| ESRB: |
Mature |
| Online: |
No |
| Accessories: |
Memory
Card |
| Date
Posted: |
4-23-02 |
A lot of
people had very high expectations of this game. Let’s face it,
Rockstar’s last effort blew nearly everyone away. Of course I’m
talking about Grand Theft Auto
III, what many consider to be
last year's game of the year. I’d say that following up such a
huge and widely respected game would put a lot of pressure on
the publisher. But, games now days take so long to develop,
that no one could have known how big GTA3 would ultimately
become while they were developing this one. If they had been aware of the success of GTA3,
maybe they would have spent a little more time on this game.
It’s not that State of Emergency isn’t a solid game.
Rockstar as a developer has their act together; they know how to
make games. Even the concept had a lot going for it. When I
first saw the previews, I was really looking forward to playing
it. I did think the idea of a riot game was kind of unusual, but
it certainly piqued my curiosity.
So what is the concept? The game is set in the future. A major
multinational corporation (the American Trade Organization) has
grown so massive, that they basically provide and sell
everything to everybody. People live, work,
and shop all in the same small area. And everything in the area
is owned by the corporation. Anyone familiar with the background
story behind the RoboCop movies should know the routine. Evil
CEOs want to control the lives of everyone, and eventually the
repressed people snap and revolt. How do you revolt against a
corporation who is trying to control everything? By taking away
their control. Thus, the revolution. You, the gamer, take the
part of one of a number of ‘citizens.’ Initially only two
are available, but there
are three others to unlock. Each of the characters has a small
background story which explains why they want revenge against
ATO. You begin in the first area, and are contacted by a local
resistance leader. From there, your
contact will send you on a number of various missions along a
similar thread. They range from blowing up a certain building,
to taking out a
corporation employee. Sometimes all you need to accomplish is
the delivery of a package. Other times, the missions can get
fairly involved: find a guy, take him somewhere, guard him
against a horde of oncoming men with guns, take him somewhere
safe. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Here’s where the game starts to fall apart. Some of the
missions (and there are around 175 off them) are extremely
difficult. Especially the ‘guarding’ missions. All too
often, the person you are supposed to be protecting will fall
behind, or worse, will be right behind you, but the poor camera
placement will put them off screen. So, while you’re taking out
the two guys in front of you, another three are off screen
killing your charge. If you happen to be on the last step of a
multi-step mission, you have to start that mission right back at
the beginning. After the seventh or eighth
attempt at saving the same idiot who has no sense of
self-preservation, you’ll be throwing your controller at the
TV screen. Games often walk a fine line between frustrating and
challenging. This game steps WAY past the line,
deep into the frustrating territory.
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