Game interface
Well the controls are so simple that it took
away the space simulation style and changed it into an arcade style. It makes
you feel like you are flying a miniaturized plane. With the almost invincible
ship and brainless kills, it just got dumber. It sure is fun when you like
to kill, blow things up and keep your brain on status (OFF). Well if you don’t
have to use your brain in the game, think about the enemy AI (Artificial intelligence).
"They have AI." Yes, but all they know to do is to either shoot
you or fly. So, don’t even bother trying high manoeuvrable piloting. You just
have to turn around and shoot them, they will not even try to evade.
You have only one side and one ship to play with,
so not much for options here. The status and radar are simple to use. The
voice acting is just horrible, I’ll explain further. All you do is to hear
the person’s monotone speech. The way you recharge your health and shield
is to touch a power up of what your dead enemy have left. It’s the same way
to get weapons. Well at least you got 10 weapons to switch from as you progress
through the missions.
If you want to play it with a person or people,
you will have to either know someone that has Bang! Gunship Elite or you will
have to sign up with Mplayer so that you can play with anyone around the globe
who is available. Since it’s an arcade game, it’s very fun in multiplayer
because most arcade games are made for Net plays.
As for the box, ha, funny I should say that.
I didn’t get any box at all, just the manual and CD. The reason that they
didn’t send me the box I suppose is because this is a review sample. In anyway,
we always prefer receiving products boxed. The manual of the game has a colourful
cover, but once you opened the book, you will want to close it right away.
It has three colours only: Black, White and orange. It is somewhat boring
because they made it look too serious.
Video and sounds
When I started to play, the first thing that
dazzled me was the graphics. I said to my self: "Man, I gotta stop the
ship and take a look around!" While some games take the real face of
deep space; a dark and cold place. This game gave it tenderness and warmth.
It felt right at home. This game’s strong point is here, the graphics. Too
bad that Red Storm wasted all of their time on the graphics and didn’t think
about improving its weaknesses. The worst thing is, it needs a quality graphic
adapter to fully enjoy it.
Music, What music? I didn’t hear any music during
the game. Well yeah sure, there is music in the intro but that’s it. Actually,
the music is very weak for some unknown reason. Nevertheless, if you put the
music level to max and the sound FX level to low you will hear some minor
music. Cannon shots sound effects are all annoying after a while because it
just keeps playing the noise repeatedly. Explosions are different, especially
when you have a Sub-Woofer on your audio system. It’s just a well being sensation.
Remember when I said that the voice acting was horrible? Well, my opinion
stands. Because first, at the briefing, you will have someone talking to you
with a voice that has no tone. It sounds cold and boring. The breaks that
the voice actor gives are not in the right timings. Second and last of all,
the taunts of an enemy pilot have Russian accents. Why do Russian people always
have to do the "bad guys" voices in movies and games? (I am just
trying to support our Editor in chief here who happens to be Russian) J
Conclusion
If you love arcade games, want good graphics,
simple controls and don’t care about the sound, then you will adore Bang!
Gunship Elite. Its unique graphics gives you the feeling to explore the environment
instead of fighting. Well, my main critics are focused on poor voice acting
and weak volume on music. However, most of the graphics covers the game’s
weaknesses until you get used to it. Because after you got use to it, you
will start to notice all the smallest details. We all know Red Storm corporation
for their all time Hit "Rainbow Six" and several other quality simulation
games, and we believe that they should continue doing of what they do best.
Bang! is a great game, but we believe Red Storm could have done better.
"BEN" Ping-Yu
Ni
ping@targetpc.com
