Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2 (Mac)

Rating:
Summary: Good game - crappy port
Review: There is no question that if you like first person shooters with an actual story, such as the original Unreal or Deus Ex, you'll like this. The story is typical sci-fi silliness, but it doesn't take itself too seriously and it's imaginitive and doesn't get in the way of the game very often. There's a lot of talk about the graphcs, and they are great, but we've come to expect that sort of thing these days. There is also talk about the heroine of the game, Julie, who is certainly pleasant enough to look at, but unless you're 13 or in prison, I doubt it's worth getting the game to watch a computerized cartoon of a good looking woman run around. Game play is well done. You can fight with a weapon in each hand, you can climb and swing on ropes, you can grab on to ledges and pull yourself up. And, something I particularly liked from Deus Ex, there is a training course at the begining of the game to get you familiar with the controls and other concepts. Plus there is a generous helping of weird creatures and gorey violence. The play of the game is hampered by one major flaw, the design of the game itself. It's just glitchy. I have no idea how the PC version plays, but my guess is that this is just a poor port to the Macintosh. If you move too close to a wall you often get stuck and have to find just the right angle to walk away. This can get you killed in a fight. Julie also sometimes sheaths her weapons for no apparent reason or simply stops fighting. There are also video glitches were thngs disappear or are repeated infintely. Most importantly, there is a point in the game where it simply crashed until the publisher finally came out with a patch. And there is simply no Macintosh support anywhere on any of the four or five websites dedicated to this game. None of my e-mails for support were ever answered. Having said all that, I'm still logging plenty of hours playing this one. It is fun, but it can be frustrating.