Shogo: Mobile Armor Division
Warning: Playing this game will give you an overpowering urge to walk around an sing "Intergalactic" until your friends beat the crap out of you. Nice intro eh? SHOGO:MAD is an FPS from Monolith that is a weetad different from the usual kill em all affairs that we are normally subjected to. In a nice change of pace, the game is powered by a new engine, the Lithtech engine. I like it because instead of Open GL or Glide, it runs on Direct 3d, and still manages to produce some stunning graphical effects, which is good for my sh*tty graphics card. 400MHZ asskicker, and they wouldn't throw in a Voddoo2? Jeez. Anyhoo, S:MAD is unique in that it has two modes, an on foot mode, and one where you hop into a giant robot, and lay the smack down on whole cities. Mmmmm. There is a nice mix of missions for each mode, making a wonderful well rounded package. The story is ripped right out of the best Japanese anime movies, and its a good thing. Although the eyes on the characters still scare the crap out of me. Why are they so damn big? WHY?!
GRAPHICS
Sweet. That sums it up. The game is played from a first person perspective, so you see the carnage you create through the characters eyes. First off, the environments and characters are well detailed. As you trample through the cities, you get the feeling that the developers played Duken Nukem, as there are multiple"Holonudes" stores. But I won't go into that. The enemies are well detailed and well animated, and bleed like stuck pigs when you unleash your wrath on them. The weapons are top notch, and well varied. The mechs have the typical giant weapons, laser cannons, etc. But my favorite two mech weapons are the Bullgut, and the sniper rifle. The Bullgut fires four rockets at once, leaving a smoking bright trail behind them, and making all enemies in their path you bitch. Mmmm...damn...drooling again. The sniper rifle is cool too....it lets you zoom in on the enemy, and blow their head off, if the mech has a head. For the foot version, you have the typical weapons, but the two best there are the simple pistols and the TOW launcher. The pistols obviously pay homage to John Woo, as you have two of them and as you draw them they spin around. It really can't be explained, but half of the time I just kill everything with the pistols, even if I have the best weapons. The other fave is the TOW launcher which simply fires a rocket. But its like the smaller bullgut. It fire, leaves a trail behind it, and blows up everything in the room. Then you snap the weapon open, slam another round in, and the fun starts anew. All of the weapons, whether on hand or in Mech, leave a wide path of destruction behind them. The environments are fully interactive, so cars, bridges, walls, ect, can all be blown up. And the bullets blow holes in the wall. I dare you, DARE YOU, not to try and spell your name, or anything else[pervert] in the wall with a machine gun. Its fun in multiplayer to leave messages for the opposition. No better way to say "I'm gonna make you my bitch" than using a heavy machine gun.
SOUND
Sound, ah, the glorious sound. It is very crisp and clear, with great voice acting, and excellent sound FX. Each weapon has its own unique sound while firing,and when they hit the enemy. Also, when using a bullet weapon, its cool to hear differect effects depending on what surface you hit. Too cool. And when your a mech, its an evil thrill to shoot an enemy on foot, then hear the squish. Overall, very high quality sound, especially if you have a 3d sound card.
CONTROL
Its an FPS. Use a keyboard and mouse, and you'll be fine. No need for a joystick or gamepad, stick with the simple things.
GAMEPLAY
The true meat of the game is the gameplay. This is a diverse, and deep title, as it offers two modes of play, with the mech and on foot action. Both modes have different goals, and must be managed differently.
There are a ton of single player missions, with enough depth to merit a chunk time on your hard drive. And there is the multi player mode, which is a blast, if your ISP is good. There is a fairly large multiplayer community, so you can always find a good fast deathmatch. There are also several mods and TC coming out, one to keep an eye out for is the Capture the Flag mod. We all know how fun CTF is. Anyone remember their first CTF match with Quake? I do. Ah, those were the days. The big question is, how does this FPS stack up with the other big hitters, Quake 2, Unreal, Half Life, Sin, and Tresspasser? The problem is alot of elements of these games are similar, but each one has enough differences to merit a purchase. Here's my take. S:MAD has great graphics, but not as good as Unreal. Its sound is on par with all titles. Control is the same as all other games. Story is tied with *gasp* Halflife, as is the gameplay. The weapons are insane, and will have you howling wildly as you level your opposition. AI is good, but takes second place to Halflife. Overall, if I could only buy two of these games, it would be Shogo and Halflife. The others all fall behind these two masterpieces. Each has great graphics, tight control, good sound, a story with depth, and fast multiplayer action. So, go pick up Shogo and Halflife, you won't be sorry.
SUMMARY
Graphics: 9/10
Sound:9/10
Control: 9/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Overall: 9/10 A must have for any anime or FPS fan.
Madgrad
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