If I have to say a few words to describe this game it can be summarised as suffering from an identity crisis or maybe lacking vision. I’m not sure why I decided to play this game – maybe it’s because it’s published by Interplay and I have faith in these guys. Whatever it was, this game surely confuses the hell out of me as even though it plays as a FPS, there are so many elements that screams out other FPS games that places a question of ‘What were they thinking?’ – Maybe they were fans of these other FPS however it’s not a good thing if you are trying to make your mark in the ever so crowded FPS genre. Regardless of the reasoning, the only thing Morytr has done is making this game unremarkable and unforgettable.
Its main drawcard was playing in both the past and the future so having a taste of both worlds. Not a bad idea if you can pull this off as technically it can be regarded as two games rolled into one. However it didn’t as both eras plays almost identical save the different visual effects. So the premise is in 2093, the Nazi World Order controls the planet with an iron fist. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Earth’s weather pattern is going on a ballistic rampage – call it global warming however Jurgen Mortyr, a Nazi officer suspected something different – some kind of ‘Wunderwaffe’ that assisted the Nazi win the war. So it turns out to be a time machine is the cause of all this so the mission was quite simple – destroy its creator and who’s better than sending Sebastian, his son to do this as after all, his son is the uber weapon specialist.
Admittedly it’s not a bad premise however the moment the game starts, it fell into a confusing mess as there are way too many elements of other FPS games that cannot make this game memorable enough. Looking at the entire game as a whole, it’s a reminisce of Wolfenstein – the main character with his (almost pathetic) quotes like ‘this looks a like huge refrigerator’ referring to the time machine itself, the smart remarks when exiting the game; e.g. ‘Too scared to continue?’ – It’s a little too much for comfort. Then throughout the game, it screams Quake 2 with its level design and flashes of Half Life, all you can do is shake your head in distaste. A small saving grace though was the occasional personal notes / diaries scattered throughout the game explaining more of the backstory however it wasn’t enough to wet my appetite.
Being a very typical FPS, you have a decent array of weapons ranging from the worthless knife to the useless flamethrower, semi decent MP 40 and my personal favourite, only because it works well, the Mauser Rifle model 98. Yet because the latter third is all in the future, you have the ammo hungry laser pistol, plasma launcher and others. There’s also a mixture of enemies ranging from the Sturman and Scharfuhrer et al to the future ones like the biocyborg and turrets. Not too imaginative yet still recognisable to say the least. Sadly though, the AI, whilst being really stupid as they all run in a set pattern, are crack shots that can even kill you through walls.
Whilst the level design is quite repetitive as it plays on the good ole collect the key to move on, visually it’s not too bad considering. I believe the engine was initially designed for CAD drawings then sometime later, used for this game. The lighting effects were pretty decent and some of the textures quite detailed. They even plastered some pictures of almost naked ladies in some areas so that’s a plus. The sound quality is not as good as it plays on the typical looping ambience noise – the sound effects are pretty decent however the obvious looping isn’t. Yet there’s a very small portion where you can hear Hitler’s speech yet this only happens on the rarest of occasions. A shame though as more of this would of added immersion to this game.
The game itself covers about thirty levels and splits into roughly twenty being in 1944 and the latter 2093. However the levels themselves shouldn’t take long to complete therefore an average FPS player can take roughly ten to fifteen hours in total to complete it. Note that the enemies are crack shots and if you get a little frustrated, just crouch and fire as their chance of missing somehow increases ten folds. However, because everyone can take ten plus shots before they roll over, you will soon realise that conserving ammo is a must. I’m not sure if this is intentional (highly doubt it), yet because of this, you will be forced to use clever tactics with your weapons at hand – other words, you will be swapping your weapons often to get the maximum outcome.
Developers polish Mirage Media had a decent concept making this game unique enough to stand out on its own (i.e. playing both the past and future) however things fell in the wayside all too quickly. Obviously heavily influenced by Wolfenstein and Quake 2, this is where the game fell apart as it feels all too familiar. If they have increased the number of personal notes / diaries lying about and ensuring that both time periods do feel different, then we have a great game as it would set it apart from its competitors. However this was not the case as it seems that developers Mirage Media just want to use the same ole formula to promote their game. A big loss and a total lost opportunity.