Reviewed: December 24, 2003
Reviewed by: John Carswell
Publisher
Lucasarts
Developer
Lucasarts
Planet Moon Studios
Released: December 2, 2003
Genre: Action
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen
9
8
8
7
9.0
System Requirements
Recommended System
As far as holiday seasons go, LucasArts looks set to have a great one. Aside from releasing the brilliant Knights of the Old Republic on the PC, their two action offerings (A&D and SWON) are both of excellent quality. In fact, Armed & Dangerous and Secret Weapons over Normandy share a few similarities. On the surface, both are largely straightforward action titles that rely heavily on the pre-established core of their genres. However, dig deeper, both begin to shine due to excellent variation, pacing and, in the case of A&D, a quirky attitude.
From Planet Moon, the creators of the brilliant Giants: Citizens of Kabuto, Armed and Dangerous is a fast paced action title whose gameplay shares few similarities to Giants but still carries much of that classic’s humor and attention to quality.
I couldn’t tell you a word about Giant’s plot and, frankly, I couldn’t tell you much more about A&D’s. Really, A&D’s story is more about how it is told rather than the actual plot itself. Still, for those looking for the basics, the plot revolves around Roman and a ragtag group of characters who have set out to steal a book and, in turn (and entirely by coincidence), fulfill a prophecy to end an evil king’s tyranny.
As a third person shooter, A&D performs admirably. The game’s controls are excellent where it counts, levels are laid out in such a way that you’ll rarely be wandering about without something to shoot at, your enemies are inventively designed and intelligent enough to put up a good fight, etc. I suppose it’s odd to gloss over a game’s core gameplay with a few sentences but A&D’s strengths come from the nuances and pacing that are built off of its solid third person engine.
Firstly, objectives vary greatly from one level to the next. There are naturally those levels that are purely about getting from point “A” to “B” and shooting everything along the way, but these appear to be in the minority. A&D instead relies heavily upon diversity and, in doing so, ensures that it is vastly more entertaining than most other third person shooters available. Better still, this diversity isn’t reached through clichéd escort missions and the like.
More often than not, you’ll find yourself freeing peasants being held hostage and dragging them back to their homes, manning a ball turret to defend a walled structure, or, in one of A&D most difficult and frantic missions, defending an entire town from waves of Zeppelins dropping heavily armed soldiers with only your personal arsenal and few stationary guns. Many levels also allow you to grab a jetpack that handles perfectly and will have you taking out snipers while on the move or simply running “hunt and peck” missions into hostile territory.
Of course, part of the diversity is how well it is paced and Planet Moon seems to have hit a perfect chord with Armed and Dangerous. Each level is distinctly different from the last in terms of your objectives, equipment, and layout. Additionally, each level is followed by a comical movie that pushes the plot forward and keeps you from entering a state of killing Zen. The result is a game that simply refused to become stale and held me captivated from beginning to end.
You’re seldom alone in your missions. Accompanied by Jonesy, a grumpy mole, and Q1-11, a robot obsessed with tea, many missions will have you fighting alongside this odd and noisy duo. Aside from the comical backdrop that their banter adds, they also are able to guard areas that you specify and will even help you out with a cup of life-replenishing tea should you be in need. During the ball turret missions, you’ll also receive assistance from The Shrub Patrol, a group of gardening bots gone Rambo who fight for no other reason than to help you destroy those that would harm the flowers and vegetables they once tended to.
Unlike most action games where weapons are simply tools, in A&D they are so full of personality that they almost become another character. While your core arsenal is comprised of a machine gun and rocket launcher, A&D also feature a handful of now-notorious weapons. Calling upon the assistance of land sharks, carrying around a black hole in a cardboard box, and flipping the entire landscape upside-down, A&D’s weapons are both deliciously dark and humorous, adding a little extra life to the “shoot stuff” formula.
The shark gun is by and far the most entertaining weapon. Launching a shark into the ground, the finned beast hones in on your enemies and launches up from the ground and devoirs them. It is not just the sheer absurdity of such a weapon that makes it so entertaining, but its execution as well. The dorsal fin will skim above the ground and then vanish below it surface. Soon afterwards an enemy will feel something is wrong and look around his feat perhaps calling out, “Who’s there?” At this point the shark makes its move, grabbing its victim’s legs and trashing the poor soldier about like a rag doll only then descending beneath the surface to hunt for more prey.
Apparently, the move from consoles to the PC has treated Armed & Dangerous well. At 1248x1024 with full effects on, the game cranked out huge explosions, gratuitous bumpmapping, excellent models, and gorgeous environments without dipping below 70fps unless the weather got rough.
Artistically speaking, the game looks excellent and retains the slightly quirky air of Planet Moon’s Giants: Citizen Kabuto. Character models and animations are attractive and well-designed, the wide range of environments are of the highest caliber with rich textures and an attention to the minutia that set great graphics apart from the merely decent.
As with another Lucas Art’s titles, Knights of the Old Republic, the movies between each mission are actually the weakest aspect of A&D’s visuals. Why it was decided to use such low-res and ugly movies rather than sticking to in-game engine is beyond me since they simply can’t compete with the game’s actual graphics. Nevertheless, the dialogue is so engagingly eccentric that you’ll scarcely notice the poor compression.
Any third person shooter that includes a drunken musical number gets a nod in my book. From the lead character’s grizzly observations (“Is that a spleen?”) to the fanatical “Death to the Salad Eaters!” battle cry of The Shrub Patrol, Armed & Dangerous is filled with atypical and usually humorous sound bites that help to breath life into the game. The voice itself acting is not too shabby either and, considering the bizarre plot and generally ponderous nature of A&D’s universe, likely ideal.
Of course, the usual combat sound effects that you’d expect are there but are nothing special, simply performing their functions and then moving off. Atmospheric sounds on the other hand are good deal better than what is found in most other titles.
Armed & Dangerous’ healthy length, smattering of unlockables, and level of difficulty should ensure the average gamer will be playing for at least a week. As for replay value, there doesn’t seem to be a lot to drive one to give the game another go except to improve their “score” (calculated by the bounty placed on the player’s team’s head) and pure enjoyment. Nevertheless, a few good weeks is plenty to justify the price assuming you enjoy the genre.
Without putting a little effort into A&D, it would be easy to pass this game off as just another shooter. However, by the time you’ve completed the game it is impossible to deny its excellence. From its sense of humor to its finely tweaked gameplay, Armed & Dangerous is a spectacular and engaging game—a third person shooter for fans of the genre or those sick of the recent wave of formulaic entries it has received.