.
During the course of the game, you end up playing as either a
soldier on foot, or dressed up as an MCA [Mobile Combat
Armor], an equivalent of a 'Mech. Difference is, the MCA plays
very similar to the soldier, in the sense that you can pick up
weapons, strafe and duck, among others. It removes the
cumbersome control of the real Battlemechs, such as those in
Mechwarrior - but for those of you who complain about that,
think of it this way - this is not a 'mech simulator, this is a 3D
shooter.
The graphics in the game are completely incredible. Interior
environments are exquisitely done, with beautiful textures and
extra objects that play no role in the game but add to the
realism, such as bulletin boards, computer screens, and
miscellaneous posters (such as 'Do Not Beat Up The Witnesses'
in the Police interrogation room). However, in some places,
especially outdoor environments, such as cities, the texture
detail is just a slight bit lacking (but I suppose Monolith doesn't
really expect you to go around reading signs). The computer
screens are a bit hard to read, too - you pretty much have to
guess what's written. A very neat thing about the graphics
engine, the LithTech, is that it can dynamically modify the
complexity of the models to match your computer's power.
That way, slower computers don't have the problem of having
two fps when you need to jump from plate to plate over a
bottomless pit, or where you have to turn 90° to face an enemy
that's about to have you for lunch and, being impatient, you
oversweep the mouse, have to turn back, etc. Also, models can
have their own sourced lightning, generating more realistic
smoke, and being better streetlamps. And, what's also very
cool, is that models can have models attached to them, so the
same type of enemy, for one, can have different weapons to
fight with. This beats the raw sourced lightning eyecandy that
Unreal was. The special effects in the game are amazingly
well-done, as well - blood, for example. Not only are the blood
particles realistic 3D objects, unlike, *cough* Rainbow 6, for
one, but if you shoot an enemy standing next to a wall, the
blood will actually splatter against the wall. More so, you can
shoot already dead bodies for an extra effect of throwing them
around and bloodying up the place even more. Not surprising,
considering Monolith did Blood, one of the most violent games
ever. As well, another incredibly neat feature is that dead
bodies can actually prop against walls, with proper bending of
legs, torso, etc - absolutely no clipping! Beat that, id.
Explosions are absolutely wicked, as well - for example,
depending with which weapon you hit your adversary, be it a
soldier or an MCA, different things will happen - either he'll just
fall down (if you used a rifle or a machine gun) or pieces of
him will fly all over the place, if a high-explosive weapon was
used. The death animations are cool too, with enemies falling
down on the ground differently, depending where you shoot
them. The only complaint, a minor one, is that they don't fall
down on the ground, if you sniper them off a ledge. Oh well.
And, of course, the graphics take a toll on your system - I have
a P200 with a Voodoo card, and I pretty much had to turn down
most of the graphic detail.
The gameplay is plain wicked - with no environments ever
repeating (except for some cities), it's always fun to see what's
around the corner. Level design is clever, although, perhaps,
not mazey enough - there's always pretty much only one way
to go. I guess level 6 of episode 4 of Wolfenstein 3D still haunts
me. But it'd still be neat to see some advanced mazes in
today's 3D shooters. Except for Quake that is, I think id lost their
touch on gameplay, it's just pure demolition these days. Make
the walls destructible or something then! On the downside, the
enemies are a bit unvaried though, with the majority consisting
of heavy-armored soldiers light-armored soldiers and civilians,
armed, respectively, with an assault rifle a machine gun and
nothing, sometimes substituting the MG for a shotgun and
sometimes swapping the nothing for a pistol. Boooring. The
MCAs are a slight bit more varied, with more than two types of
attackers. The weapon choice, on the other hand, is very cool -
considering how much developers have to invent these days to
not look like another Quake rip-off, this is pretty good. You got
the standard array of pistols (dual ones, a la Rise of the Triad),
a shotgun, a machine gun, an assault rifle, and some more
inventive ones, such as two types of grenade launchers, a
rocket launcher, etc. A word of complaint about the grenade
launchers: one type bounces TOO much, it feels like a rubber
ball rather than a real grenade (and you have to aim extremely
well to get a guy around the corner - I just gave up on that),
and the second type, I still have to figure out the difference
with the rocket launcher. Maybe range, not sure. The weapons
for the MCA are more fun - you get a laser cannon, a sniper
rifle and a few more cool guns.
A word of complaint about the AI. Perhaps my paranoia
actually backfired this time, and the difficulty level prevented
me from having any major fun, so I'll be sure to set it harder
next time - but the enemies are kinda weird. They never come
running for you, for one thing (which, actually, is maybe a
good thing - for them, though). And they are too slow to pull
the trigger (though this, I'm sure, is determined by the difficulty
level).
The game environment is wicked. In the earlier levels, you
walk through an Officers Lounge type of room, where you see
people hanging about, and you can actually hear what they
say, as you walk past - nice added effect. The music, however,
could use some work - the menu music sounded somewhat
better than the actual game music. In fact, one of the themes in
the menu reminded me a lot of the Crusader music, which I
still believe to have been some of the best music ever done in
a computer game. The sound array is okay, with footsteps,
shots and glass breaking sounding just like it should.
The multiplayer in the game is fun, albeit somewhat slow in
our tests over a dialup connection. LAN is, obviously, fine - so
there's not much to be said on that particular account.
Shogo: MAD is an innovative game from an innovative
company, which hasn't ceased to amaze me in the past while,
with titles such as Get Medieval (I know some will argue, but
damn, I've spent so much time playing Gauntlet I was innately
bound to love this one), Rage of Mages, now Shogo,
sometimes soon Blood 2, and so forth. Shogo definitely, in my
view, belongs in the annals of better games, with an
interesting twist on the anime theme, great graphics, and fun
gameplay. Good one, Monolith folks. Quoting the ending credits,
which were about the funnest credits I've seen in a game,
'Monolith Rulez. Shogo Rules. Breaking rules rules.'
Highs: great graphics, nifty gameplay, great storyline, strays
from the usual flock of boring 3D shooters
Lows: high system requirements, unvaried enemies, texture
detail could be increased (heck, it's slow already, so who cares
if it'll be a bit slower).
Rating: 94%
Written By: Pseudo Nim
Game Over Online - http://www.game-over.com
Many 3D shooters are coming out these days. There are decent
ones, there are good ones, and there's sheer, utter crap, of
which, unfortunately, there's the largest number. Paraphrasing
a columnist in PC Gamer, 'As far as I'm concerned, most 3D
shooters out there can be taken, burn on CD, and then that CD
can be burnt' (he was talking about level addons). However,
there are always a few gems in the dust - Duke, Jedi Knight,
then Unreal, and now Shogo: Mobile Armor Division. (I'm not
mentioning Quake since, much as I don't like that, it pretty
much is the plank to which everything has to measure up, for
whatever reason).
Shogo takes a slight variation into the theme, following in the
steps of Jedi Knight rather than Quake, meaning it actually has
a story. Not just that, but the story isn't some abstract concept
that is told to you in two paragraphs before the game starts (or,
even worse, that you hear about in the manual or from friends,
like, *cough*, Unreal) - but you actually get spoken dialogue
and engine-rendered movies that give you a pretty decent idea
of just what precisely is going on. Also notable is its anime look
- characters, surroundings, everything is reminiscent of a
good-quality anime universe.
The story of the game is not as far-fetched and epic-sounding
as that of Jedi Knight and its addon, Mysteries of the Sith - but
it's enough to get you deeply involved in the game and keep
you playing. The incredibly detailed Shogo: MAD universe is
based on a rather lengthy background which can be found at
Planet Shogo.
During the course of the game, you end up playing as either a
soldier on foot, or dressed up as an MCA [Mobile Combat
Armor], an equivalent of a 'Mech. Difference is, the MCA plays
very similar to the soldier, in the sense that you can pick up
weapons, strafe and duck, among others. It removes the
cumbersome control of the real Battlemechs, such as those in
Mechwarrior - but for those of you who complain about that,
think of it this way - this is not a 'mech simulator, this is a 3D
shooter.
The graphics in the game are completely incredible. Interior
environments are exquisitely done, with beautiful textures and
extra objects that play no role in the game but add to the
realism, such as bulletin boards, computer screens, and
miscellaneous posters (such as 'Do Not Beat Up The Witnesses'
in the Police interrogation room). However, in some places,
especially outdoor environments, such as cities, the texture
detail is just a slight bit lacking (but I suppose Monolith doesn't
really expect you to go around reading signs). The computer
screens are a bit hard to read, too - you pretty much have to
guess what's written. A very neat thing about the graphics
engine, the LithTech, is that it can dynamically modify the
complexity of the models to match your computer's power.
That way, slower computers don't have the problem of having
two fps when you need to jump from plate to plate over a
bottomless pit, or where you have to turn 90° to face an enemy
that's about to have you for lunch and, being impatient, you
oversweep the mouse, have to turn back, etc. Also, models can
have their own sourced lightning, generating more realistic
smoke, and being better streetlamps. And, what's also very
cool, is that models can have models attached to them, so the
same type of enemy, for one, can have different weapons to
fight with. This beats the raw sourced lightning eyecandy that
Unreal was. The special effects in the game are amazingly
well-done, as well - blood, for example. Not only are the blood
particles realistic 3D objects, unlike, *cough* Rainbow 6, for
one, but if you shoot an enemy standing next to a wall, the
blood will actually splatter against the wall. More so, you can
shoot already dead bodies for an extra effect of throwing them
around and bloodying up the place even more. Not surprising,
considering Monolith did Blood, one of the most violent games
ever. As well, another incredibly neat feature is that dead
bodies can actually prop against walls, with proper bending of
legs, torso, etc - absolutely no clipping! Beat that, id.
Explosions are absolutely wicked, as well - for example,
depending with which weapon you hit your adversary, be it a
soldier or an MCA, different things will happen - either he'll just
fall down (if you used a rifle or a machine gun) or pieces of
him will fly all over the place, if a high-explosive weapon was
used. The death animations are cool too, with enemies falling
down on the ground differently, depending where you shoot
them. The only complaint, a minor one, is that they don't fall
down on the ground, if you sniper them off a ledge. Oh well.
And, of course, the graphics take a toll on your system - I have
a P200 with a Voodoo card, and I pretty much had to turn down
most of the graphic detail.
The gameplay is plain wicked - with no environments ever
repeating (except for some cities), it's always fun to see what's
around the corner. Level design is clever, although, perhaps,
not mazey enough - there's always pretty much only one way
to go. I guess level 6 of episode 4 of Wolfenstein 3D still haunts
me. But it'd still be neat to see some advanced mazes in
today's 3D shooters. Except for Quake that is, I think id lost their
touch on gameplay, it's just pure demolition these days. Make
the walls destructible or something then! On the downside, the
enemies are a bit unvaried though, with the majority consisting
of heavy-armored soldiers light-armored soldiers and civilians,
armed, respectively, with an assault rifle a machine gun and
nothing, sometimes substituting the MG for a shotgun and
sometimes swapping the nothing for a pistol. Boooring. The
MCAs are a slight bit more varied, with more than two types of
attackers. The weapon choice, on the other hand, is very cool -
considering how much developers have to invent these days to
not look like another Quake rip-off, this is pretty good. You got
the standard array of pistols (dual ones, a la Rise of the Triad),
a shotgun, a machine gun, an assault rifle, and some more
inventive ones, such as two types of grenade launchers, a
rocket launcher, etc. A word of complaint about the grenade
launchers: one type bounces TOO much, it feels like a rubber
ball rather than a real grenade (and you have to aim extremely
well to get a guy around the corner - I just gave up on that),
and the second type, I still have to figure out the difference
with the rocket launcher. Maybe range, not sure. The weapons
for the MCA are more fun - you get a laser cannon, a sniper
rifle and a few more cool guns.
A word of complaint about the AI. Perhaps my paranoia
actually backfired this time, and the difficulty level prevented
me from having any major fun, so I'll be sure to set it harder
next time - but the enemies are kinda weird. They never come
running for you, for one thing (which, actually, is maybe a
good thing - for them, though). And they are too slow to pull
the trigger (though this, I'm sure, is determined by the difficulty
level).
The game environment is wicked. In the earlier levels, you
walk through an Officers Lounge type of room, where you see
people hanging about, and you can actually hear what they
say, as you walk past - nice added effect. The music, however,
could use some work - the menu music sounded somewhat
better than the actual game music. In fact, one of the themes in
the menu reminded me a lot of the Crusader music, which I
still believe to have been some of the best music ever done in
a computer game. The sound array is okay, with footsteps,
shots and glass breaking sounding just like it should.
The multiplayer in the game is fun, albeit somewhat slow in
our tests over a dialup connection. LAN is, obviously, fine - so
there's not much to be said on that particular account.
Shogo: MAD is an innovative game from an innovative
company, which hasn't ceased to amaze me in the past while,
with titles such as Get Medieval (I know some will argue, but
damn, I've spent so much time playing Gauntlet I was innately
bound to love this one), Rage of Mages, now Shogo,
sometimes soon Blood 2, and so forth. Shogo definitely, in my
view, belongs in the annals of better games, with an
interesting twist on the anime theme, great graphics, and fun
gameplay. Good one, Monolith folks. Quoting the ending credits,
which were about the funnest credits I've seen in a game,
'Monolith Rulez. Shogo Rules. Breaking rules rules.'
Highs: great graphics, nifty gameplay, great storyline, strays
from the usual flock of boring 3D shooters
Lows: high system requirements, unvaried enemies, texture
detail could be increased (heck, it's slow already, so who cares
if it'll be a bit slower).
Fall rush is upon us. With a great game here and
many of good games on the horizon this season looks like it
may be one of the best yet. I checked out Shogo: MAD and was
thoroughly impressed by its fresh take on the First Person
Shooter genre. We're got a lot of ground to cover, so let's get
on with the show.
[Graphics: 16 / 20]
Monolith's shiny new game engine is the muscle
under the hood of Shogo. It sports a lot of old standards for
graphical effects and some new tricks as well. Most noticeably
is the interactivity with the environment. Bullet holes mark
walls permanently, windows shatter and wooden crates can be
smashed to reveal power-ups and ammo. Shogo shows off the
scalability of its engine by using it for both Gameplay and
cinematic sequences. During the game entering a new area or
meeting someone will cause the camera to pull back into third
person to progress the plot with a sort of built-it cut scene.
These kinds of smooth graphical transitions enhance the
continuity of Gameplay. I have heard that another upcoming
game, Half-Life, will incorporate these same transitional
effects. And if Shogo and Half-Life are any indication of the
new direction in First Person Shooters, I'd say we all have a lot
to look forward to.
However the graphics in Shogo do have flaws. The largest
distraction from visual realism of Shogo was the overuse of the
blood effects. They just bleed so damn much. Shooting one or
two of the little soldiers while in your towering Mecha will
literally spray the entire street/building/wall an abundance of
blood. Each human appears to lose about 50 gallons of blood
each, which looks really cool and exciting the first couple of
times, but it quickly gets old and over done. When playing as
Sanjuro outside of the Mecha the amount of blood lose is
decreased, but it certainly manages to get all over the place. It
flys all over the place, dripping and splashing on to the walls
and ceiling. wiping out an entire room of guards with a rocket
extremely satisfying to the inner-sadist in all of us.
While not as all out mind blowing as the current big sluggers in
the FPS genre, Shogo offers plenty of eye candy. On the
upside you don't need the ultimate gaming machine to
appreciate it. A P233 with 3D acceleration will do, anything
less is going to require tweaking. The advanced options allow
plenty of configurations of special FX levels, texturing and a
variety of visual effects. So grab your keyboard and get ready
to enjoy the rocket/explosion flares, dynamic cameras and
buckets of the red stuff.
[Sound: 14 / 15]
Cool. I am easy to please when it comes to sound. I
like the thump of teeth rattling explosions, I like the ambiance
of humming lights. I like the growls and screams of battle and I
like interesting and plot developing dialogue. The point is to
enhance the realism. The point is to immerse you the
atmosphere of the game. Monolith succeeds at doing this with
Shogo in many ways. Shogo has a nearly complete package.
Spent shell casings clatter to the floor, each weapon produces
its own distinct firing sound, and each character has a voice
that matches their personality and disposition. Strangely the
voices all have American and/or English accents. It being a
Mech/Anime styled game, Asian accents would seem more
appropriate. However the English voices detract little from the
games ambiance, but its worth mentioning.
Another thing worth mentioning is the music that accompanies
Shogo. First let me make it clear that I like the music to fit with
the game, and unfortunately many games seem to put little
value in matching the soundtrack to the games mood and
atmosphere. In a recent review of a Quake 2 mission pack Ned
said it best, Heavy Metal just does not go with everything. And
apparently realizing that, the clever lads at Monolith have
incorporated IMA or Interactive Music Architecture into Shogo.
I am not sure exactly how it works, but the game basically
plays mood music, based on what is happening in the game.
During combat a really kicking techno track is plays, and after
you wipe everyone up the music segues into a calmer quieter
refrain. Game music that adjusts according to situations in the
environment is a big step in the right direction. And Shogo
scores big because of it.
[Gameplay: 27 / 30]
Without elaborating too much on a very complex
plot I will try to sum it up. You play the part of Commander
Sanjuro Makabe. Your ex-girlfriend and ex-squadmate Karu
died during a mission with UCA Security Force, and guess
what, it was your fault. Not wasting anytime you are quickly
started dating her sister, Kathryn. You now have been assigned
a mission to redeem yourself, both for Karu's memory and the
UCA. Along the way you find out that Karu is alive! And I don't
want to give away too much of the plot, but being the man
between sisters can get really sticky (pun intended! :D) Doesn't
sound much like any Quake clone you ever played does it?
That is the beauty of the Anime story line; Giant Robots,
Ex-girlfriends returning from the dead and a Midget named
Hank!
Its unique, to say the least. However I can see why all gamers
won't get into this game. Some gamers enjoy a very
straightforward end goal orientated game progress, and Shogo
does not deliver that. The plot and game do not always
progress in a linear fashion. The push-button open-door
formula is not abandoned, but there are plenty "splinter levels"
where you have to complete an obscure task to achieve the
more return back to the original goal. For example in one
"splinter" you have to fight your way through a building to
rescue some old ladies cat. But here is where the plot thickens.
The cat wont just come to you, so you have to search for a
heavily guarded (get this) squeak toy. Those of you who played
FF7 will recognize similar elements of game structure. (Ahem..
Cloud in a dress?)
Shogo is not the usual stomp through an enemy filled level for
the sole purpose of finding an exit to proceed on. Levels link
back to each other, but not in that annoying and repetitious
way that Quake 2 did. The part that shines about Shogo the
most is its variety. Monolith offers a multitude of scenery,
weaponry, and goals. The game has its share of blood and
mayhem, but it's not the typical 20 level kill-fest. Though its
obvious not every gamer is going to be interested in the
somewhat obscure and twisting plot. Monolith is hoping
gamer's are ready to take a step away from the typical
marine-grunt-kicking-demon-ass formula. I think a lot of us are.
Fun Factor: 19 / 20
Fun is firing 12 spiraling rockets or 3 shots of the "BigGut" into
a downtown area filled with tanks and enemy Mechas. And
there is plenty where that came from. Shogo does not waste
time with useless, non-city block leveling weapons. With over
20 weapons total the name of this game is variety of firepower.
Both human Sanjuro and Mecha Sanjuro can equip a large
array of arsenal. Some weapons can be zoomed into sniper
mode, for those quick and easy called shots. Other weapons
bounce timed energy blasts which are perfect for corner shots
and room cleaning. Hit someone in the head or heart and
you'll see the words "Critical Hit!" and score a little free life. It's
a great incentive to make trick shots and do damage in style.
Other weapons are just nasty, the largest of the Mecha guns is
just basically a small scale nuclear blast.. Try dodging that
strafe boy.
If anything, the weapons seem too powerful at times. Killing
Mecha's and tanks only takes one or two shots at most.
However at higher levels of difficulty its somewhat a blessing,
as the AI's reaction time and accuracy improve considerably.
There are some really great levels that just beg to be trashed
(in single and multi) over and over. Cars and signs can be
crushed, but the buildings are not damageable. It would have
been a nice touch to be able to crumble bridges and ruin
high-rises during downtown showdowns. I hope Monolith
makes a serious effect to improve the latency in regular
modem play. As I have preached many times before no game
(especially FPS) is complete without stable multiplay. And this
game has been built to seriously rock it.
Multiplayer Play: 3 / 5
When I first played Shogo over my 33.6 I was ready
to break out with the stingy-ass reviewer attitude and just ice
this category. But on my second look I noticed a few very cool
things. I was impressed with the Multiplay Wizard that allows
you to quickly setup and configure a host or join a session in
less than a minute. Shogo also supports Gamespy, which
makes finding local fast servers less of a hassle. LAN play runs
flawless, and I understand that cable modem games are also
playable. In the past many great multiplayer games were
hardly "net ready" on release, the most memorable being
Quake, which took four or five major revisions before any
serious fraggin' could occur. I am willing to give Monolith the
benefit of the doubt, this time. Improving the multiplayer of this
game will round out an all around solid title. So if you Mono
boys are reading.. Hurry your asses up, we're armed and
ready.
Overall Impression: 9 / 10
It has been a long time in the works, and it shows. It
is innovative, exciting and unique. It's Shogo. If you are ready
for a something new in the FPS genre I highly recommend this
title. Yes, it does takes a lot to impress a stick in the mud like
me. But I am always ready to compliment a game that breaks
out from a tired formula or genre. And this title does that, in
many ways. Shogo is a great indication of what the future is
holding for PC games. Worth the price of admission, you need
to grab this slice of pie fast.