SLAI: Phantom Crash Hands-On

The action is fast, and the music is pulsing in Phantom Crash. Click "Stream for Free" for higher resolution.

At Konami's press event in San Francisco, we had the opportunity to get hands-on with SLAI: Phantom Crash for the PlayStation 2. The game is set in the year 2071, when, as the result of some apocalypse or other, the earth's cities have all become uninhabitable, and robot fighting, which takes place in those cities, has established itself as the planet's most popular sport.

Before getting into the game proper, we were transported to a Tron-esque virtual world of Haven, in which we were able to purchase complete mechs directly from their manufacturers. Furthermore, we were able to visit mechanists to obtain extra parts and modifications. The robots in the game will come in numerous different shapes and sizes, and, according to Konami, there will be more than a million possible robot and weapon variations in total.

One thing that all of the robots in the game have in common is the ability to use "optical camouflage," which makes them invisible to enemies and to weapons that were previously locked on to them. When activated, the optical camouflage only lasts for a short time, during which you'll be completely invisible to enemies and will be able to sneak up behind them to attack them where they have the least armor. The visual effects that are used to camouflage your robot are reminiscent of those in the Predator movie, and they're actually one of the most impressive things about the game's visuals, which we'd have to say looked a little dated.

All of the four weapons that our mech was armed with were projectile-based, which, since we'd chosen one of the relatively slow-walking models, seemed like a good choice. Some of our opponents controlled incredibly maneuverable, hovering models, though, and were able to dole out some pretty significant damage with swords, chain saws, and suchlike. The hovering robots were also able to jump incredibly high, affording them access to vantage points that proved quite tricky for us to reach.

Aside from the extensive robot customization options in the game, which we didn't really get to explore, the most significant feature of SLAI: Phantom Crash is that it will boast online support for up to eight players. What's strange about the online game, though, is that only four of these eight players will actually be able to battle simultaneously. When any one of the four combatants is killed (or voluntarily exits the arena to recuperate) he or she will be replaced by one of those persons who is waiting on the sidelines. It doesn't sound like a particularly good idea, right? But having played the game, we can report that since the arenas aren't huge and since the action is fast and furious, you're really not likely to spend any significant amount of time awaiting your turn. Split-screen support for two players will also be a feature in the game, though we didn't get a chance to check this out at today's event, unfortunately.

SLAI: Phantom Crash is currently scheduled for release during the first quarter of 2005. We'll bring you more information on the game as soon as it becomes available.