Broken Helix
Developer - Konami
Publisher - Konami
Players - 1
Extras - Memory card
The bit on the box
"Enter the dark and forbidding world
of Broken Helix. You are Jake Burton, explosives expert. Explore the depths
of Area 51, blasting the bad guys and unravelling the mysteries locked
deep inside. Broken Helix features multiple non-linear storylines. You
can become the leader of a marine platoon, join scientists in a struggle
of good vs. evil, become an alien warrior or simply follow the mission
objectives. It's up to you. Explore over 1,600,000 virtual square feet
of an interactive 3D world, talk to characters and choose your attitude
with over 95 minutes of voice dialogue, 56 fully rendered movies enhance
the already in-depth storyline. Have you got what it takes?"
Graphics
Broken Helix looks very much like other 3rd person
games in the vein of Tomb Raider and Duke Nukem, but in direct
comparison looks rather dated. The game environments are light sourced
and textured, and while it all comes across very smooth it lacks the sharpness
and finesse of more recent titles. I will say though that the virtual camera
used here is actually much better than those said games, as it stays right
behind you at all times rather than suddenly spinning around to look at
a wall in the midst of battle. This meant I spent more time solving puzzles
and shooting enemies than cursing out loud because I couldn't see what
I wanted to see. Broken Helix also has quite a few CG cut-scenes
throughout the storyline, though these also lack the quality of more modern
titles.
Sounds
The sound effects and speech in Broken Helix is
by far the most outstanding and fun part of the game. The main character,
Jake Burton, is played by the trash talking Bruce Campbell who uses his
sharp wit and snide comments to add much humour to the storyline, which
improves the game tremendously. Here we have some of the best voice acting
in a game, and when mixed with the bells, whistles, whizzes and bangs associated
with the army (as well as some hilarious radio communications) you soon
forget the old-style graphics and become fully absorbed into a fascinating
action adventure. The music is also excellent, though in the thick of the
fighting you may be hard pressed to hear it.
Gameplay
It took me a little while to get used to the controls
of Broken Helix, and the aiming system used for fighting could have
been designed better for more ease of use. Line of sight is used rather
well (especially with security cameras which you have to avoid while trying
to find two bombs to defuse on the first two levels) which adds a slightly
stealthy element early in the game, but soon it all becomes the usual mix
of shooting and puzzle-solving seen in Fade to Black. There aren't
that many platform areas where jumping is needed to reach another area,
but there are enough surprises lurking around each corner to stop the game
becoming repetitive or boring. There are also 4 clearly different storylines
which add great depth as well as value for money.
I feel a verdict coming on
This is not a game for novices to this style of gameplay
as Broken Helix is incredibly tough throughout. Most levels have
some sort of time-limit (either with a bomb about to go off or the level
slowly filling with deadly gas) and while this will put off many gamers,
others will see it (as I did) as an extra challenge. The voice acting of
Bruce Campbell almost sells this game by itself, but if you look past the
dated-looking graphics there is also a pretty good game and story to be
had here too. Definitely not for the faint hearted, but those looking for
a really hard game among all the easy-beats currently available on the
market should at least give this one a rental. And if you don't like it?
Well who cares? It's fun to abuse you!
Review by D.R.T.Barrett
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