Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter

THE BAD:
-

SUMMARY:
This reminds me of Tachyon: The Fringe. Wrongfully accused, voice by a famous actor (Bruce Campell), seek revenge. Only Mace Griffins voice is by Henry Rollins and you get to walk around. Or to be more accurate you get to use space ships. It has a not too shabby storyline, the graphics ain't bad, and its got weapons. The only thing is that those weapons suck, and when you finally find a good one, there is only a little ammo. I was confused a few times, and the space combat is hard. Really what po'ed me about this game was that it is just not special! It was supposed to be a great game, but I find out that the space combat is boring and frustrating, and the rest of the game is nothing special. The graphics are nothing to be sneezed at but hi-res environments and detailed enemies just don't cut it. If you have Halo, you've basically played Mace Griffin. That is the feeling I get through the whole game; "Oh my god I'm playing Mace Griffin, that fabled game! Wait a minute, this doesn't feel that fun."

THE BAD:
The CG cutscenes...but really who cares, just press Y!

SUMMARY:
Well the long awaited Mace Griffin has finlly landed and I was fortunate enough to play through a couple of missions, therefore granting you guys a sneak peek at this exciting and hard hitting game! The story that Mace Griffin tells is not one that is unfamiliar...revenge. Sure we've seen it all before, and at first you're thinking, ah well. But once you play through that part of the story, and once you go through the mission parts, feeling the attitude and tension that Mace(for some reason I keep on wanting to call it Max Griffin), brings, you can't help wanting to play through, just to see what happens next. The games seamless transition from space flight/combat to the more natural style of FPS gaming is done wonderfully, even if your a crappy flyer like I am, you quickly adjust. I love the way you need to clear the landing area, dock your ship, get out, wipe some arse,get through your objectives, then have to get back to your ship, take off and fight some more. It truly is a sweet change from the continous forward motion that most FPS's follow. The controls are spot on (did someone say Halo), and even the shield/hp's work nicely (again ala Halo). The way you approach the game is entirely up to you, however it seems that a more stealthy, tactical approach is recommended, highly recommended. Why, well the AI is particularly interesting, some of the best I have seen. They hide, roll, flush you out, attack, retreat...even play dead. The action plays well with the brief periods of explore time...so its not an all out blast fest. The graphics are wonderful, the metal doors have an amazing gleem to them. The weapons are very cool, most coming with an alternate firing mode. The sniper rifle is the best I have ever seen, fully controllable, not in increments like most, but zoomable to any range. The game physics thus far are also cool, body parts explode, flying here and there, with a nice splatter of blood. But the best part of the game is a certain experience you go through, when someone throws a stun grenade in your general direction. Its almost like bullet time, your heart rate drops and becomes audible, your vision blurrs to near blindness, the controller vibrates, uncontrollably (no pun intended), leaving you in a somewhat drunken state...truly an accomplishment on the part of the developers. Well done. All in all, the game is addictive, fun and full of tension, and I have only started.