| Publisher:
Arena(now Acclaim)
Developer: Teeny Weeny Games/Perfect 10 Prod.
Size: 8 megs
No. of players: 1
Official Ad: Yes
Got it for: $1.99, cart only. |
|
In
the midst of the constant gang wars that Los Angeles has been experiencing,
an alien force has descended into the city. Upset with the high price of
beer at local sporting events, these reptile-like hunters go crazy and begin
killing any human vendor they can get their laser sites on! Die you overcharging
bastards, die! I'm not sure if this is the official story for Predator 2...but
it's close enough...
What's it all about?
It's a seriously fast paced, overhead shooter. Imagine Smash TV or Total
Carnage, but set in the streets of LA and you'll get the picture. Playing
as Mike Harrigan, you'll follow in the footsteps of the movie(loosely) as
you attempt to make it through each of the levels. Gameplay consists of
running around inside any given level, shooting down drug dealers and gang
members while trying to rescue hostages. To put sort of a sense of urgency
in your rescue(or more likely, a substitute to an in-game time limit), the
Predator is also looking for these hostages and will kill them within a
certain amount of time if you don't get to them first. You'll constantly
see his little tri-laser cross hair moving around the streets, you'll have
to get to the hostages before it does or he'll blow up yet another poor
sap. Along the way you can acquire up to seven extra pieces of weaponry
that'll help you drop the Predator every time it decides to show up...
|
| Graphics
- Ok, I guess. The enemies and the Predator(s) are a sorta mesh
of half-assed animation and color, but as you only get to see them briefly
before blowing them to bits, it's not too bad. The levels look ok, but lack
diversity as most use the same artwork, just placed in different spots and
such. |
| Sound
- Mediocre, at best. The music itself is just so very unfitting
for the game on most levels, and on top of that it sounds almost NES-like(no
shit). The sound effects are pretty generic with a few bits of speech(from
the hostages) and the usual explosions and gunshots from everything else. |
| Control
- A little odd at first, but once you get used to it, it's quite
good. Your character hauls ass around the screen, so even if you're outgunned,
you can always try to make a break for it. As for attacking you can use
two types of shooting methods: Standard(allows you to move in any direction,
but only shoot in the direction you're facing) or Locked(you will constantly
face one direction while moving about). Though it's not nearly as great
as the four button setup(each button shot in that particular direction)
that SNES Smash TV gave us, it still works... |
| AI
- Cheap. Not only are the enemies impossibly good shots, they come
out of *everywhere*. They can hurt you just by touching you, so you're treated
to a lot of mandatory hits a lot of times. The human bosses(all *two* of
them) are extremely cheap as well, sending hundreds of shots your way, from
multiple angles which always result in, at least, one hit. On top of it
all, the game is incredibly hard on just the "normal" setting. |
| Replay
value - Moderate. There's only seven levels to the game, and it
takes all of about twenty minutes to beat...so it's not really a long or
tedious game...but then again, it's not really that involving either. If
you're into super fast, arcade-like shooters you'll probably come back a
few more times...if not, you may only break it out every now and then, if
that... |
|
Tips
for better gaming experiences:
Once
you acquire the Spinning Blade from the Predator, break that bastard
out. You can use up to four at a time, and they make for some excellent
shields to block the constant hordes of gang members you'll be facing.
Also, make good use of the Predator's Spear(once you get it) and the
Shotgun, they are the two most powerful weapons in the game. |
Save yourself some frustration, drop the difficulty level down to "easy"
in the options screen. You still face the same amount of enemies and such,
but you're allowed to take more hits and lose more hostages. It's the way
to go, trust me...
|
| My
rating: 73(out of 100) - A decent enough shooter that takes a good
idea and tries to work at it from a different angle. Sadly, the extremely
cheap AI really knocks it down, and the incredibly short levels didn't help
either... |
Sega
Visions gave it: 65(graphics), 58(sound/music), 68(controls/gameplay),
54(depth & challenge), 60(overall fun)(out of 100)
GamePro gave it: 3.5(graphics), 3.5(sound), 3.5(control),
4.0(funfactor) (out of 5) |
|
|
| Kitty
Predator's opinion: Seems like a really lame attempt at doing
another Total Carnage/Smash TV clone or something. The hits are cheap
and the constant barrage of enemies really sucks. This kitty will
pass... |
|
| |
|
Fatality! |
Playing
a nice game of frisbee with the Predator... |
|
|
The
Predator will show himself occasionally, when you piss him off by saving
all the hostages. |
There's
just a few more Predators on the ship than you may remember from the movie... |
|
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