Chrome

Rating:
Summary: Er, Tin maybe...certainly not Chrome.
Review: OK, credit where it's due - the graphics are nice and the gameplay seems to be inline with most other FPS's. It's reasonably well thought out (although a little corny) and the vehicles are cool. So why the three stars? Well, if you wanna play a fast paced game with plenty of action this ain't it, this game just seems to drag on and on. Get use to sitting and watching video. I got tired of being interrupted during gameplay just to watch another video to explain to me what I obviously needed to do next. If you enjoy that sorta thing then this might be a nice addition to your collection, if on the otherhand you just wanna jump in and start kicking butt, try Unreal Tournament 2003.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Title for a game
Review: The previous reviews are very accurate...overall this was a great game. The graphics are superb except for the character's faces. I think for the extent they went thru for the enviroment, weapons, vehicles etc...they could have made the faces more realistic and less cartoonish....anyway 14 great missions with the 14th mission an interesting scenario,,,,I will not say more and spoil it....a very challenging game,,,thank goodness for quick saves!!!! 5 stars....get it.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Title for a game
Review: The previous reviews are very accurate...overall this was a great game. The graphics are superb except for the character's faces. I think for the extent they went thru for the enviroment, weapons, vehicles etc...they could have made the faces more realistic and less cartoonish....anyway 14 great missions with the 14th mission an interesting scenario,,,,I will not say more and spoil it....a very challenging game,,,thank goodness for quick saves!!!! 5 stars....get it.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutly Awesome!
Review: This game is truly awesome and very enjoyable. The graphics are top notch and very realistic, right down to the grass blowing in the wind and the occasional butterfly that flies around. The indoor environments are somewhat repetitive but it is no bother since pre-fab structures would most likely be the norm in space exploration. The game is sort of a mix of Deus Ex and Operation: Flashpoint, but it is more comparable to Deus Ex.

The story lacks the depth of Deus Ex but it is servicable for a game of this type. You play a mercenery named Logan who does dirty work for the various corperations and colonists of the "new frontier" and in this New Fronteir exisst a substance called Chrome. The game never fully explains it but it is a rare substance that is used for terraforming, mass destruction weapons, and as an energy source. It is very much the equivilant of Gold or Uranium. And much like those susbtances, mega corperations are willing to to anything to get their hands on as much of the stuff as possible and develop technologies and make profits based on the material. There are plenty plot twists and turns.

Much like Deus Ex you have augmentations, called implants in this game, and instead of having to watch the bio-electric energy consumption you have to watch your neual health as the implats tend to put it into overdrive and cause it to heat up, which can lead to brain damage. I ended up not needing the implants as much as the augmentations in Deus Ex but they are useful, especially the targeting assistance, eye scope, and dermal armor.

In this game you get to pilot various vehicles, the most interesting of which are combat walkers, which are sort of like mechs. The infantry weapons are typical for a game of this type but at least they are not too quake-like. You get a combat knife, a pistol, a submachinegun, an assault rifle, a heavy assault rifle and my personal favorite, the 14mm Sniper Rifle. You also get a rocket launcher (despite being called anti-tank, it is not very powerful and even light vehicles can take several direct hits), a railgun-type weapon and a Electromagnetic beam weapon (basically a MASER). The default vehicle weapons are also quite limited, being mostly of 20mm cannons and missile launchers for the large walker. The game is moddable (I do not know to what extent) so that could be fixed.

The game's multiplayer is nothing special, being the usual Unreal-like setup and while the game supports bots, they are only used to even out teams. Hopefully mods will change this. And if you have a 56k, stick to games with less people (16 at most). This game is a dark horse and blows other other titles like Halo and Unreal 2 out of the water.

The developers did a great job with the engine. Do not worry about the steep requirements, the game will run quite well on a mid-range system, even if they are equipped with GeForce MX Cards. The detail settings have a minimal impact on the graphical quality so you can set many of the settings to low and you will generally not notice much difference in visual quality. In some places the framerate will choke up, but you can solve it by saving, then quitting and reloading and in some cases even pausing and un-pausing.

Rating:
Summary: BEST SCI-FI ACTION SHOOTER of 2003? YES!
Review: Wow. Wow. Wow. What a nice surprise. SOOOOO Much better than Deus Ex 2--Invisible War. Terrific Action. Enormous outdoor environments that are incredibly well-designed and realistic. Driveable vehicles. DX-like cybernetic modifications. This is the game Deus Ex 2 SHOULD have been. Great strategy component, too, as you can only carry a realistic inventory and you're often outgunned in firefights unless you use a bit of strategy. The only flaw is the facial modeling of the characters is a bit weak, but the lip-synch is actually darn good, as is the acting and the story. Buy this instead of DX2! You'll be GLAD you did.