It had been well over a decade since I played this game. I had strong nostalgia for this one. I remember seeing the trailers on tv as a kid being so awestruck by the graphics and thinking it looked like the coolest game ever. I know I enjoyed it a ton when it came out and remember general plot points and gameplay but DAMN going back all this years later: this game kinda blows and it’s one of the most needlessly frustrating games I’ve ever played.
There’s no real gameplay loop to be had here. You’re either in third person shooter combat or piloting various mechs that all control somewhat differently but have different movement abilities and durability.
The only unique mechanic is since you’re in the freezing cold you’ll need to constantly be picking up thermal energy from checkpoints, killed enemies or destructible objects in the environment. If you run out of energy you freeze to death and it’s game over. It’s an interesting enough idea but I found there’s always a surplus of it as long as you’re killing everything and not taking too much damage so it didn’t really impact the gameplay too much or make me feel rushed.
Enemies are either various sized alien Kaiju, humans with guns or other mechs. Fighting the monsters is ok as there’s some strategy to hit their weak points and avoid their massive ground shaking attacks but fighting human enemies is dull garbage and the mech fights are clunky and not fun either.
There’s not much strategy to this game except run in circles and keep shooting. You have a grappling hook but it’s very slow and not practical to use in combat usually and you’re very limited in the areas you can access with it. You can also jump but that’s not helpful for the most part. There’s a dodge roll but it’s very clunky and requires you to click the left stick in a direction as you press the A button and just never felt smooth or useful.
It’s insanely frustrating that almost every attack from every enemy hard knocks you down and you take forever to get back up. If you’re surrounded by enough enemies you’ll get looped endlessly as there’s no way to get up quickly or roll out of danger. You’re jump also can’t really avoid explosions from rocket launchers or monster projectiles.
The shooting itself uses a strong lock on system and feels ok but again any time you’re fighting anything but the Akrid the game blows.
The game is still very visually impressive and holds up well and the scope of some of the more open snow covered areas is impressive. The scale of some of the monsters is also impressive too and the ground shaking making you stumble is a nice touch but in a game that is already painfully slow it just ads even more frustration as Wayne stumbles around everywhere and slowly picks himself up off the ground. I guess it’s supposed to be immersive but it just results in the game being totally unfun to play. I wanted to finish it but I tapped out with a mission or 2 left. I should have just kept the fond memories from my childhood but now I have a bad taste in my mouth and don’t think I’ll revisit this one ever again.
4/10
There’s no real gameplay loop to be had here. You’re either in third person shooter combat or piloting various mechs that all control somewhat differently but have different movement abilities and durability.
The only unique mechanic is since you’re in the freezing cold you’ll need to constantly be picking up thermal energy from checkpoints, killed enemies or destructible objects in the environment. If you run out of energy you freeze to death and it’s game over. It’s an interesting enough idea but I found there’s always a surplus of it as long as you’re killing everything and not taking too much damage so it didn’t really impact the gameplay too much or make me feel rushed.
Enemies are either various sized alien Kaiju, humans with guns or other mechs. Fighting the monsters is ok as there’s some strategy to hit their weak points and avoid their massive ground shaking attacks but fighting human enemies is dull garbage and the mech fights are clunky and not fun either.
There’s not much strategy to this game except run in circles and keep shooting. You have a grappling hook but it’s very slow and not practical to use in combat usually and you’re very limited in the areas you can access with it. You can also jump but that’s not helpful for the most part. There’s a dodge roll but it’s very clunky and requires you to click the left stick in a direction as you press the A button and just never felt smooth or useful.
It’s insanely frustrating that almost every attack from every enemy hard knocks you down and you take forever to get back up. If you’re surrounded by enough enemies you’ll get looped endlessly as there’s no way to get up quickly or roll out of danger. You’re jump also can’t really avoid explosions from rocket launchers or monster projectiles.
The shooting itself uses a strong lock on system and feels ok but again any time you’re fighting anything but the Akrid the game blows.
The game is still very visually impressive and holds up well and the scope of some of the more open snow covered areas is impressive. The scale of some of the monsters is also impressive too and the ground shaking making you stumble is a nice touch but in a game that is already painfully slow it just ads even more frustration as Wayne stumbles around everywhere and slowly picks himself up off the ground. I guess it’s supposed to be immersive but it just results in the game being totally unfun to play. I wanted to finish it but I tapped out with a mission or 2 left. I should have just kept the fond memories from my childhood but now I have a bad taste in my mouth and don’t think I’ll revisit this one ever again.
4/10