What do you do when you're thrown into the middle of a city ruled by Tek Lord kingpins with an arsenal the National Guard would be jealous of? That's right, you blow the crap out of everyone in sight!
TEKWAR is a typical first person shooter. Walter Bascom, a.k.a. William Shatner, will debrief you on your mission objectives; then, depending on whether you succeed or fail, he'll shower you with praise or threaten you with deep-freeze. As interesting as the premise sounds, the game just isn't that exciting. The missions quickly become repetitive and tedious as you hop the subway over and over again, traveling from one section of the city to another in search of the Tek Lords.
Although the city scenes in TEKWAR are realistic and intriguing, the graphics are blocky and the movement of the characters is jerky and lifeless. In the Matrix level, which you can only access after you have captured all the TekLords, the simple and repetitive graphics are confusing and it is easy to get lost. You'll wonder why you bought a $3,000 computer to display circa-1978 graphics.
TEKWAR's artificial intelligence is also feeble. For example, a Tek goon can unload a barrage of bullets on you and the city's police officers won't shoot back. However, if you whip out your gun to return fire, the cops will start filling you with lead. This inevitably leads to the annihilation of a whole city population as you gun everyone down to keep yourself alive. (Take it from me: go for the kneecaps and the head!)
However, TEKWAR's biggest shortcoming is its lack of solid documentation. William Shatner's mission briefings are uninformative and you are often left to figure out on your own exactly what to do. Also, there is hardly a mention of the Matrix in the documentation, which adds to the confusion on this already mind-boggling level.
TEKWAR has an interesting story line and is certainly a nice anti-aggravation device, but it fails to accomplish anything else. This is a shame; the premise behind the game had the potential to be a real treat. In a market overloaded with 3-D shooters, TEKWAR offers nothing new or innovative; it's mediocre, at best.
