to put it short: a game you can't walk by
Tell me, what other FPS takes you through 2 types of playing where sometimes you'll play 'as a human' and sometimes you'll be in a Mechanical Combat Armor (MCA)? what other FPS has 2 different sets of weapons where you'll need each weapon to complete your missions? what other FPS game gives you a mission where you have to find and recover a squeaky toy you use as an actual weapon to get an old woman's cat?
The plot is's a simple as it seems: Far away from earth, on some very distant system, there is planet called Cronus, which is rich in a mineral, if to be called like that, called Kato. Kato is a somewhat unique and powerful resource for weapon and transporation development as it doesn't only emit enormous amount of enery when used as a weapon, but that same energy can be used for hyperspeed travel when Kato is used as fuel. Unfortunately, there isn't enough to satisfy everyone, so a 3-sides war is engaged. the three bands are the United Corporate Authority (UCA), the Cronian Mining Consortium (CMC, also a part of the UCA that declared itself independant) and a terrorist group native from the planet called the Fallen. You play the role of Sanjuro Makabe, a young UCA promise, until you are sent into a mission to the Avernus, where an earthquake happens, you hallucinate and end up shooting at your lover, your brother and your childhood's friend, and are later on diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
When the game begins the war has been on for a while, and you have started dating your ex-lover's sister, who is also your Admiral's daughter.
Admiral Akkaraju, your superior, comes up with a plan to finish this war once and for all, to send someone behind enemy lines and kill the Fallen's leader: his acecard. That would be you, Sanjuro.
The game counts with 2 sets of about 10 different weapons each you are independently going to rely on to complete each mission.
As a mecha, you have to your disposition a shock-weaving pulse rifle, an armor piercing laser cannon, a spider-mine launcher, a multi-headed rocket launcher, a gigantic rifle that can also be used to shoot enmies from a distance, a shell launcher and a multiple-headed and highly fast explosive laser launcher, A.K.A. the Shredder
As a human you're getting the common weapons: a couple of powerful dual pistols, a silent machinegun, a highly accurate assault rifle, 2 kinds of grenade launchers: the Energy grenades thaat cause high damage and the Kato (yes, Kato) grenades that have pretty much the same effect as the Energy grenades, just that you can bounce off walls to catch your enemies unwarned......and a TOW rocket launcher. oh yes.
Oh, i forgot, the squeaky toy that can only kill one thing: yourself if you use it anywhere else in the game other than to rescue the cat
The graphics are rather impressive and it makes you feel the environment a lot more than most FPS games: when you're in your MCA you can see the clouds' shadows crawling about on the ground below and the scales are just great: you can walk over soldiers and if you crouch and take a close look ate them (or whatever is left of them) you can see them with the same detail as if you were on foot. Weapons aren't much worse: each type of weapon you use in the game leaves its own trail marks of lost bullets, explosions, bruns, etc left on the walls they impact, and the game is so detailed you can shoot up a wall, go eat and take a shower and when you come back, the marks will still be there
Sound isn't left behind, as every sound in the game is highly recognizable and by the end of the game you will be shooting rockets and grenades around corners waiting for the enemy to yell a long yell, or a fallback order to know they're dead. the weapons also have amazing sound effects and you never get tired of them from how realistic they sound, as you hear the Kato grenades explosions with joy everytime you see it exploded right where it had to, just as you hear several people yelling their lungs out as they get vaporized to their death; bullets ricocheting off walls; the laser burning holes in the walls; the energy emitted from the Energy grenades and some others. The gore sound effects are also amazing, as you will also find yourself unconciously wincing at the sounds of blood and body parts hitting the walls
Only lowpoint of the game is the enemies' AI: you'll have to go throuigh the hardest levels to get a decent challenge, as you can be standing right next to an enemy and he still won't see you. the guys at Monolith made up for this by spawning enemies at the most uncomfortable and hard to reach spots so they can be bugging at your butt until you get to fire a well-placed shell or rocket in them
Overall, it's a game you have to get, since the fact it was outshined by Half-Life still doesn't make it an overrated game, but an underestimated and awkwardly unknown masterpiece you just can't walk by without giving a try