Playstation > Whats New > PlayStation Reviews > Staff Review

A.P.I Review:	BLAST RADIUS
Developer:	Psygnosis	OPTIONS:	SCREENSHOTS: No.1   No.2   No.3
Distributor:	Psygnosis	1-2 Player Link-up
Game Type:	3D Space Shoot-em-up	Memory Card
Review Date:	July 1998	Analog Compatible

Setting the Scene

Remember how you laughed heartily at Rebel Assault 2, glanced casually 
at Agile Warrior, stared prolonging at Wing Commander 4, shut your eyes 
completely at Independence Day before being totally transfixed by the 
stunning Colony Wars?

You don't?  I'll explain.  

If there's one thing that the PSX has in abundance it must be futuristic 
flight shoot-em-ups but there are so few around worth sharing your hard 
earned cash with.  Colony Wars finally put the record straight setting a 
precedence that developers must strive to better in much the same way that 
the Gran Turismo team did with the racing genre.

Blast Radius may not be the sequel to last years space shooter but it does 
draw heavily on it's influence with 3D high resolution visuals and responsive 
Analog compatible controls.  The main difference being the gameplay, which 
in this instance is more of a pure arcade blaster.

So what's it all about? You play the part of Kayne the sole surviving warrior 
of a legendary unit of space fighters, the Wolf Squadron. Your comrades gone, 
you roam the universe fighting for anyone who will give you a job. Those who 
destroyed your friends now plan to attack a friendly, innocent race, the Vorn 
who appeal for your help. They're offering you sacks of gold to save them and 
you're driven by revenge to rid the galaxy of the evil Kotan-Kai and so the 
battle begins.

Genre

Blast Radius is a fast and furious 3D space shoot-em-up, combining next-
generation graphics with classic arcade game-play.  Your task is to rid 
the universe of a brutal enemy in this high-powered space shoot-em-up 
from Psygnosis.

Graphics

Blast Radius opens with the now customary CG intro, which, although quite 
short in duration, simply oozes quality.  In a similar vein to that of 
Colony Wars, the high standard of the fully rendered opening is amazingly 
surpassed by the in-game graphics.  Obviously the lads at Psygnosis have 
set a trend that they intend to follow.  

The 3D-engine offers staggering high-res graphics at 30 frames per second 
allowing the beautifully textured enemy ships to smoothly twist and turn as 
they avoid the incoming fire.  The inclusion of a protective force-field to 
each craft offers further realism to the raging battle as a blue sparkle 
surrounds the enemy ships with each direct hit.  This continues until their 
shield gradually deteriorates.  To give an indication of how much damage 
has been caused a small blue health bar is shown below the craft and reduces 
with every connecting blast from your piercing laser weapon.  Once through 
their protective layer a full red health bar suddenly appears indicting that 
you are now striking metal so the sparks can really begin to fly.  Just before 
the enemy goes down he seems to lose control as smoke and flames engulf the 
ship before exploding into a brilliant ball of fire.  

The lens flare is truly amazing as each craft reflects the brilliance of the 
sun in real time while every blinding eruption reflects across the window of 
your cockpit.  The stunning graphics also include many unique environmental 
elements such as satellites, wormholes, asteroids, cloaked planets and 
kamikaze drones which are all highlighted by real-time lighting effects.

There are three very different viewing angles of which each one has its 
occasional advantages.  When entering into a dogfight with an enemy craft 
the perfect camera angle is the first person perspective.  Looking directly 
out through the cockpit window allows you to tail tight up behind the 
targeted craft following every weave and turn they make.  However, during 
the missions, which involve tasks such as defending a rather large mother 
ship from multiple enemy attack, the behind craft, or far views are much 
preferred.  This is due to the fact that you can monitor precisely how 
close you are actually flying to the parent vessel, thus avoiding a 
fatal collision.

Sounds and Effects

Good marks are in order for the tasteful in-game music that finds a 
respectable balance between futuristic synthesized tunes and Electro rock.  
It all sounds like something that may have been penned by German '70's 
outfit Tangerine Dream (strangely enough there is a track in there titled 
Tang Dream).  Another track called Adenoid, sounds like a combination of 
the musical styles made famous by ZZ Top and Black Sabbath (oops, now I'm 
really showing my age).  

The weaponry effects are extremely well handled.  In fact I slipped on the 
headphones (Sony digital, of course) and must have looked a right tit ducking 
and weaving my head around as I dodged the incoming lasers.  With the music 
completely switched off I noticed there was a distinct haunting hollow sound 
in the background that really portrayed the ambience of little old you being 
all alone in big old space.  Most disturbing.  

I suggest that you ease the music volume down to about the half way mark and 
pump up the sound effects for a right rollicking good combination.

Playability

Blast Radius offers four different crafts, each with their own strengths 
and weaknesses, 32 distinct enemies, and a whopping 17 different weapons, 
each with their own uses and special effects.  

After tinkering around in the options screen you are required to select the 
craft that you wish to take into battle.  There are slight differences in 
handling and reaction but I am sure most of you will finally decide on more 
important factors such as shape, color or weirdest name.  I mean, what 
subliminal message is hidden within 'Starski Gruv-77'?

Next up is the mission screen where occasionally you may be offered a choice 
of three different scenarios.  It doesn't really matter which you select 
first because you end up doing them all anyway.  Each task is quite unique 
but generally ends up with you following the usual routine of swatting all 
of the enemy ships that dare to enter the battle zone.

I found the entire debriefing session an infuriating task.  Mainly because 
rather than offer the spoken word you must read out your orders from a piece 
of text that insists on jumping up the screen at the pace of one line every 
second.  Do the powers that be not know that we can move our eyeballs over 
the text and don't need the text to move over our eyeballs?  Jeees!   

Handling the craft is fine and ultra responsive using the analog pad.  Face 
buttons are allocated for targeting, cycling and firing weapons while the 
shoulder buttons work well when configured to accelerate, decelerate and 
roll side to side.  At any time during the game you may pause the action 
and switch the viewing angle for reasons I have already covered.  Enemy 
craft will do their utmost to avoid your fire but not to the extent where 
it becomes like trying to swat a hyperactive fly.

After each mission is completed successfully you are given a game score.  
This is calculated by time, accuracy and bounties awarded for shooting down 
specific enemy craft.  Rather than render this as a useless feature it 
becomes an integral part of the gameplay because the more credit points you 
earn, the more weapon and shield upgrades you can afford to purchase.  This 
bounty system is a nice idea and saves Blast Radius from becoming an ordinary 
shooter.  The action is spread across ten zones with your progress being able 
to save onto a memory card after completing each section (about three 
missions).

All those fans of the link cable can rejoice as Psygnosis have finally 
removed their blinkers and included two separate modes of multi-player 
link-up action.  There is a two player cooperative mode where you and a 
mate may fly side by side (or separate should BO be a problem) against a 
multitude of enemy craft.  Also included is a one vs one Deathmatch mode 
set in a number of special arenas.  Blast Radius should not disappoint 
those whose recent Link-up grumbling appeared in the Letters page.

Value for Money

Doubtless many of you who rushed out to purchase Colony Wars may already 
have a copy of this game pre-ordered.  But I warn you, although darn good 
fun it doesn't have the depth of gameplay that was evident in Colony Wars.  
More like a selection of bonus arcade levels.