Question: What do you get when you mix a cliched storyline with so-so gameplay, acceptable sound effects, and above average graphics? Answer: Machinehead. If you play Machinehead for more than a few minutes you may find yourself asking, "Is that gun powder I smell? Or is that something else?"
The game's story goes like this: It's the future, and a man-made virus threatens to destroy all of humankind. A lone hero must unleash bucket-loads of carnage to cleanse the world of the diseased. A task this big means the hero needs the right tools for the job, right? How about a space-age hovercraft bristling with chain guns, photons, and ion-storms? Wake me up when it's over.
Machinehead is a first-person MechWarrior-type game that is similar to Krazy Ivan for the Playstation. Once in command of the mighty hovercraft, you follow a map of the doomed world, blow away enemies, and collect keys that allow access to other areas of the level. To complete the game, you must explore four main areas, each with several missions. Sound familiar?
Even though poor graphics and sound can break a game, the designers of Machinehead don't seem to have realized that flashy graphics and thunderous sound effects don't make game work. While the game's controls are fine and the game itself looks nice, there's really nothing to do but cruise around, hope to find stuff, blow up giant spiders, and shoot gangs of rancid zombies. Unfortunately, the enemies seem to blend in to the background, which quickly causes major eye strain. The sameness of backgrounds also makes it easy to become lost the moment after leaving the starting point.
The painfully obvious conclusion is that this game simply does not provide enough variety (or fun) to keep you entertained for any length of time. Machinehead does pack a pretty package, but it doesn't pack a punch.
