I had absolutely no idea what type of game this was going to
be when I first got wind of it. Considering how much of the
gaming industry is built around hype I wasnt really expecting
much from an unknown title (not to mention a release crew
primarily known for trainers and addons). But in this line of
work we aren't paid to stand around and whine like a bunch of
girlie reviewers so I bit the bullet and went for that 'install'
icon.
"Not bad!" were my first words on seeing the installer Warrior
did up for this title. After hearing CLS's South Park installer
with the cheesy hard-on-the-ears fat kid remix, the short and
sweet little Drum 'n Bass track really sounded great. A
good-looking progress marker was also a nice touch on the
installer.
But what the hell, we don't play the installer, we play the
game! So on to the action...
The story here is that some criminal mastermind behind a
terrorist nuke detonation has escaped from prison during what
was intended to be his execution. Since you were the FBI
agent to get the original collar, the Agency calls on you once
again to bring him in. If you think that is easy, try also juggling
a bitchy boss and a relationship with some sexy bird named
Samantha who works down the hall from you and then toss in
a few everyday cases as well for good measure. Ahhh it's a
dirty job but someone's gotta do it...
The graphics in the game are split between a number of
different formats. All movie and still shots are done 'comic
book' style with some small amounts of animation. They have
a nice lightweight feel to them that keeps you from taking the
game too seriously. Player control is done in a 'Bladerunner'
type pseudo-3d view with your character getting larger and
smaller as he moves closer and farther away on the landscape.
You can set the FPS the game uses for moving its characters
around but the default is very smooth so there is really no need
to mess with it. The other view you will be seeing a lot of is
the overhead map. You use it to get around between sites in
your car by clicking on buildings. And finally, on occasions
you will zoom in for a very smooth looking rendered 3d
closeup view for manipulating small objects (like defusing the
bomb). One thing I have to mention is the gore. Don't let the
cartoony atmoshpere throw you - there is plenty of gore and
also some nudity thrown into the game for good measure. I
just about fell out of my chair after seeing the slo-mo closeup
of some guy's head disintegrating in a shotgun blast early in
the game. So if you are the type of person that doesn't like
Itchy and Scratchy, definitely avoid this title. Having said that,
I recommend getting the movie addon because it really clears
up the plot and without it you often aren't sure exactly what's
going on. Despite the fact that there is no 3dfx acceleration, it
really doesn't hurt the game and the graphics suit the game
type very well.
One of the first pleasant surprises I got was in the main menu:
MUSIC! And good stuff too at that! There are a number of
songs throughout the game with a Tarantino-esque flavor to
them. They have full vocals and really add to the atmoshpere,
this was one of my favorite parts of the game. Unfortunately
most of the music is slightly lower quality and sans vocals but
at least they have spaced out the good tracks so you are sure
to hear them on a regular basis. The other in-game sound
effects are nothing special... small .wav files now and then to
represent in-game events like a clipping sound when you but
the leads to the bomb detonator. Out of all of the areas of the
game, sound effects was definitely the weakest.
Kult: fire your sound FX guy and get someone decent. Better
yet, stop making the janitor do your sound FX for you and hire
someone with talent.
The game is easy to control with your standard single player
adventure game 'point-and-click' interface. Talking is done
similar to Monkey Island where you have a list of 5 responses
to continue a conversation and what you choose will have
some effect on the outcome. One of the great anti-frustration
features they added was the ability to skip some of the boring
walking sections. If you double click with the mouse instead of
single clicking, it will often skip right to the next area. This is
really a big deal and lets you keep your sanity while you play
the game as well as preventing you from smashing your
keyboard in frustration. The overhead map is well thought out
with pop-up labels for all the buildings so you don't get lost.
In adventure games there is always a fine-line between an
enjoyable difficulty level and Zork "I HATE THIS @#$@$ GAME
*SMASH* *SMASH* *SMASH*" aggravation. Hopkins FBI does a
pretty good job of keeping you playing with a series of puzzles
that range from easy to medium difficulty. The hardest puzzle I
found while I was testing was how to get that @#$# flirt
Samantha in the sack. No luck yet but I'll keep you posted.
Overall I really enjoyed this game. If you are a fan of the
classic Police Quest games, don't miss this one. It has some
great funny parts and a nice interface that won't drive you up
the wall. It's too bad all of the music wasn't as good as those
few tracks with vocals, but I guess a rip is a rip and usually
music is the first to die.
The Good: A few kick-ass music tracks with full vocals, solid
interface and good looking artwork
The Bad: Sound effects are few and far between, it's too hard
to seduce the women in this game
By: 