Virtuoso may not be the worst 3DO game ever, but it's pretty bad. No plot, just a generic blonde hero w/ a Shotgu
In any language, this game has major flaws.
The graphics are choppy, the hero's back somewhat obscures the actual view of what lies ahead, the enemies look like a weird acid trip and the story is virtually nonexistant.
The 3DO controller's shift buttons can be used to make "our hero", as he is described in the instruction manual, sidestep left or right.
I hate to say this, but if this guy is our hero we're in trouble.
The man seen in the game and on the cover looks more like a member of the band Whitesnake had way too much to drink.
As a matter of fact, if you read the manual it has some bizarre story about a rocker suddenly being taken into "virtual reality". Hence "Virtuoso".
Yep, it's that kinda 3DO game.
There are a total of 24 levels, divided into 8-level long missions. Gameplay progress is saved after each level.
Your goal is to find the key that will access the level exit, while carefully watching your radar to be ready for the extremely unusual adversaries.
Once you have eliminated an oncoming threat a respective score will be displayed in place of the enemy.
Since his default weapon is two Double-Barrel Shotguns the recoil value is minimal.
When obtaining a weapon icon that you have already found before, you will upgrade the respective weapon for as long as it is being used, resetting to default strength upon picking up another weapon.
Among them are a Guided Missle Launcher, a Plasma Bolt gun, and a Laser Bolt firearm.
The upper-left corner of the screen shows your current health, to the right of it your score, and the radar to the screen's northeastern corner.
Beneath the score is your present amount of lives available, and to the west of that, below the life meter are indicators for your inventory of Smart Bombs, and, should you have obtained the level key, it will also be depicted here.
The options menu allows you control over the music level, or whether you want what is a self-overrated soundtrack.
SFX can also be turned on or off if the mediocre-sounding double-barrell gets on your nerves.
Difficulty levels range from "Easy", "Medium", "Difficult", to "Impossible".
Chances are you'll find yourself killing endless creepy snowmen.
Pressing the Stop button will allow you to access the in-game map once you have obtained the respective icon.
Thing that can be obtained throughout gameplay are a map, radar, key, score bonuses (ranging from 1,000. 3,000 and 10,000) extra life and health bonuses, and gold coins which are used in eliminating the suit of armor foe.
Chances are Virtuoso will either bore or frustrate you within ten minutes.
Poor enemy variety, drab and depressing level environments and a digitized-looking hero all make for a lackluster game that you almost feel sorry for because it has a workable engine, just no story, depth, substance, or much of a point to completing it.
If somehow you don't mind the mindless hunting for a map or a key amongst the most mundane (though snowmen can be particularly disturbing) enemies, the gameplay isn't impossible (unless, I suppose, you choose that difficulty setting) just graphically inferior, and if you can stand staring at the back of that guy's poorly-transferred head, then Data East didn't _completely_ waste their time in distributing this unusual drunken nightmare of evil snowmen.
Frankly, DE has made better games.
I'll never look at a snowman the same way again,
Blessed Be