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Review: Criticom |
Kronos had the right idea when they begin developing Criticom - lets introduce a few gameplay and options so our game can be as original as possible. Unfortunately, the terrible gameplay and graphics left this game in outer space.
With a great full motion video introduction and some really great graphical effects throughout the introduction you would expect this game to come out a winner. This however is not the case. The characters in Criticom fall short in comparision to Tekken’s established masterpieces - beautifully done textured polygons. While Criticom attempts very hard to hide its polygons, the blocky features of the characters and real bad texture easily reveal the truth behind it all. The animation, unlike Tekken’s, seems dull and very unhuman like. It seems like Kronos did not completely finish their “Motion Capture” techniques for this game - which is really sad. There are a few good points however, in the versus screen while the game loads has some great still shots of the characters and the light sourcing done in this game is great! The characters themselves deserve a price of admission with a huge rock character (Gorm) and a nearly naked female character (Demonica) you got a very hot character line up in your hands.
With very average music this game is really nothing that will give your ears something to get excited about. The music is basically some really bad techno and science fiction mixes which fit the game’s theme, but the overall feel of the music simply stinks! The sound effects do nothing to help this game’s really dull music. Unlike Tekken’s loud thumps, smacks, and bone cracks, Criticom offers some real bad sound effects. When you hit a character you do not “feel” the punch as you do in Tekken. When you throw an opponent to the floor you will not hear the “thumps” you hear on Tekken. This portion of the game is a big let down, a serious letdown.
With a great full motion video introduction and some really great graphical effects throughout the introduction you would expect this game to come out a winner. This however is not the case. The characters in Criticom fall short in comparision to Tekken’s established masterpieces - beautifully done textured polygons. While Criticom attempts very hard to hide its polygons, the blocky features of the characters and real bad texture easily reveal the truth behind it all. The animation, unlike Tekken’s, seems dull and very unhuman like. It seems like Kronos did not completely finish their “Motion Capture” techniques for this game - which is really sad. There are a few good points however, in the versus screen while the game loads has some great still shots of the characters and the light sourcing done in this game is great! The characters themselves deserve a price of admission with a huge rock character (Gorm) and a nearly naked female character (Demonica) you got a very hot character line up in your hands.
With very average music this game is really nothing that will give your ears something to get excited about. The music is basically some really bad techno and science fiction mixes which fit the game’s theme, but the overall feel of the music simply stinks! The sound effects do nothing to help this game’s really dull music. Unlike Tekken’s loud thumps, smacks, and bone cracks, Criticom offers some real bad sound effects. When you hit a character you do not “feel” the punch as you do in Tekken. When you throw an opponent to the floor you will not hear the “thumps” you hear on Tekken. This portion of the game is a big let down, a serious letdown.
The game play element is rather original. When you fight the computer you recieve special moves as well as normal moves which will help you become more powerful and effective during battle. The nice thing about it is that when you obtain these levels your character looks stronger physically as well. Sounds good? Well the idea behind it is, but when you actually sit down to play the game its bad, really bad. The characters move very choppy due to the lack of motion capture technique — at least thats how the animation seems to be. When you press a button to perform a move, the character does so when its already too late. Some moves/combos which thrust the the characters foward will usually cause you to end up OUT of the ring; and during the heat of the battle thats really the last thing you want to happen!
If Kronos would have taken just a little more time developing this game it could have been a sure fire contender. With descent graphics and music this game can not go too far. The gameplay elements that Kronos attempted to add were alright, but the play control killed this game completely. Hopefully a sequel would fair better… or would it?
- HardCore
