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Playstation > PlayStation Game Cheats > PlayStation Reviews > Staff Review | |
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| Setting
the Scene: You could sell shit with sugar on simply by endorsing it with a FIFA logo. On the other hand most of the biggest franchise names in the movie world were quickly snapped up to appear in their own video games, but without any such guarantee of success. Apocalypse, Independence Day, The Crow, Men In Black, Fifth Element....  Cartoon
and comic book characters are another force to be reckoned with in their
original format. However spending an absolute fortune on the use of
their ™ obviously leaves little in the coffers to develope a
quality console game. Judge Dredd, Incredible Hulk, Spawn, Batman &
Robin...It seems the gaming world prefers to create their own heroes and heroines. With award winning characters such as Lara Croft, Crash Bandicoot, Solid Snake, Duke Nukem, and Spyro the Dragon, who could blame them? Now it's time for Action Man, the worlds most popular toy doll, to step up into the limelight. Let's see how tough this little guy really is. Genre: Mission Xtreme is a little bit of a concoction. Take the driving elements of Grand theft Auto and combine them with the handling of Speedster. Mix in a little Syphon Filter action and a touch of Metal Gear Solids stealth. Stir thoroughly. Add ice, and pour into a Die Hard Trilogy tumbler. Sound tasty? Perhaps a little too potent as some ingredients don't necessarily mix with others. Sound and Vision:  The
developers of Action Man have obviously been taking a good look around
at the opposition. Maybe they couldn't make up their mind as to which
specific action genre to go for and therefore took a little piece of
each. The problem this creates is immediately noticeable.On entering the option screen you immediately think... Driver! A small room has been set up as an office with each piece of equipment used as a sub-menu. Click on the TV and view the collection of cut-scenes. Open the wardrobe and change Action Man's combat gear. The bookcase swings around to reveal an armory. The hi-fi adjusts the sounds, the computer hold gathered data and a small storage chest somehow garages all of the Action motor vehicles. It works... but it's been done before. 
If this feeling of déjà-vu had simply been confined to the
main menu I probably wouldn't have mentioned it, but it doesn't, it
continues right throughout the game. No sooner has the first mission
been issued than you think... Grand Theft Auto! The city streets are
viewed from a top-down perspective as first a Silver Speedster car, and
then the Super Bike, are mounted and used to chase the villains.Graphically the polygon set doesn't look too bad. You'll find parks, warehouses and docks offering short-cuts, while the mechanical road passing over the swing bridge actually works (there are no ships passing under... it just seems to go up and down occasionally). As the villain's car is approached it begins flashing wildly indicating that you have found the target. Now it's time to blow it up. This would be great if only the AI was half decent. Most the crooks I caught up with were going round and round, as if too preoccupied in making crop circles to worry about the imminent arrival of Action Man. 
After a solitary driving mission Action Man parks up his toy motor and
whips out his weapon. Suddenly he is thrust into the third person
perspective... similar to Syphon Filter. It's nice to finally cast eyes
over a moving, walking, talking incarnation of the hero from my youth...
but then... perhaps not. Maybe it would have been preferable had I stuck
with my fond memories of this giant flexible war machine who could do
anything, be anything and even shag Barbie if he wanted to. Instead you
get this weedy lone soldier that moves as if he has a broom shank stuck
up his arse. He stands statuesque, immaculately groomed and obviously
punctual because he keeps checking his wristwatch every few seconds
(must be one of those Action Man Indestructible Underwater Compass
gadgets... I used to keep looking at mine all of the time). Move him in
any given direction and... Woa...! He's off out of the stalls like a
horse on heat. Trotting around as if he was on dressage duty. Five years
ago this may have been impressive... but... not now. Maybe they
motion-captured the doll instead of a human! The
camera angles capture the impressive polygon scenery splendidly.
Unfortunately it should be concentrating on the perilous dangers that
lie ahead of Action Man, not the barren landscape where he has just
been. To counteract this problem there is a button on the joypad that
will switch to a first person perspective. Unfortunately Action Man
cannot move an inch while in this mode... just like a doll! So it's back
to wandering straight into an enemy and then quickly scrambling to arm
the correct weapon.MORE.... |