|
By Lonnie on December 19th, 2001
Introduction Your spouse and best friend are murdered in an attack on your colony and you have no choice but to seek revenge, right? You play as Sanjuro, who by this time had earned the rank of Commander. Shogo is a story driven FPS that is filled with plot twists and turns inspired by almost every Anime imagined. You will most likely want to read the very in-depth backstory. This game truly belongs in any Anime fans PC game library.Presentation Shogo delivers the goods with an arsenal of sadistically satisfying guns, including a number of classic archetypes along with a few unique additions. Though the assorted weapons in the game appear unwieldy or even uninteresting as you lug them about, they’re remarkable when put to use. When you’re on foot, you do business with a number of sleek pistols and machine guns that all look and sound as if they pack a serious punch, with especially nice muzzle flare effects. When you’re strapped into the Mobile Combat Armor, your arsenal is a hi-tech mix of energy and ballistic weapons, many of which look astonishingly powerful. It’s a safe bet that between the laser cannon, the multi-warhead launcher, and the rapid-fire machine gun that doubles as a sniper rifle, there’s a little something for everyone in Shogo.Graphics & Sound While the lithtech engine isn’t as popular as the Unreal or Quake II engines it gets the job done. Outdoor areas are expansive and desolate, with clouds casting foreboding shadows across the land. Indoor areas are realistically lit, and the architecture is plausible. For a game based on everything we red blooded Americans love about Anime the soundtrack is very impressive with a lot of Japanese folk music mixed in with upbeat killing tunes. This game also has some great sound effects with explosions and the appropriate thumping of Mechs. Gameplay The Gameplay is standard FPS fare: strafe, fire, kill. You will get two modes, MCA and foot, in which to splatter and explode the bad guys. The array of weapons are far prettier to watch than any previous FPS, and I often found myself getting nailed just to see the smoke trails end in dazzling explosions. This isn’t as risky as it sounds since an AI bug makes the enemies rather docile. Shogo also relies heavily on the old FPS solution to bad enemy AI by placing enemies around corners or on both sides of a door so that the only way to see them is to get smacked, reload a save, and then launch grenades appropriately. Still, it isn’t that often, so you’ll spend most of your time picking off groups of enemy soldiers and MCA’s from a distance. The AI on the MCA’s seems a bit more intelligent and you’ll find the MCA aspect of this game far more fun to play.Lasting Appeal Shogo will appeal to Anime fans as well as the casual gamer. Released back in 1998 at about the same time as half-life, Shogo was passed up by many. If you are sick and tired of FPS games that have no plot, no story, and no real purpose, Shogo is for you.Conclusion Shogo has been re-released in a very cheap twin pack. You can find the game at almost any wal-mart for about 10 bucks. However, the game you get with it is worth that much ass well. |
