|
|
|
Picture
this life in the 23rd century; World peace for over a century...Nano-technology
has become a reality and as a result disease and hunger has been virtually
eliminated by tiny Nano-robots. These microscopic robots were created to
service and provide for all of humankind's needs and wants....but something goes
terribly wrong. It's seems the Nano-robots have evolved and become a sentient
race. Naturally they are pissed at having to serve the human's and have now
decided to begin a systematic elimination of our race. All efforts to stop
these now violent Nano-robots have failed. It seems the last hope is to
infiltrate and destroy the heart of each and every Nano-colony or face
elimination.
Here is where you, the gameplayer steps in. As the
commander of a newly developed remote controlled Nano-robot wrecking machine,
called what else but a Nanotek ship, it is up to you to fight your way through
each Nano-colony and destroy the Nano-boss at the heart of each colony. Your
ship is equipped with all of the most sophisticated weapons that technology can
muster...and believe me, you will need them!
So, get in
there...crush, kill and destroy and get back out again. Humanity is counting on
you. |
|
|
|
Hey,
it's a shooter...remember those? Well, we haven't seen many good ones on the
PlayStation lately...well, umm actually, we haven't seen very many good ones at
all...so strap yourself in, stretch your fingers and get ready to start using
the reflexes that have been in videogame remission until now...Nanotek Warrior
has arrived!
|
|
|
|
Holy
smokes...the graphics are FAST and FURIOUS. Anyone that has ever questioned
whether or not the PlayStation could handle multiple plane scrolling graphics
will be in for a shock. The graphics are presented in a non-typical
back-to-front of the screen perspective, somewhat similar to the Tempest games
but executed much better. The camera is placed behind and slightly above your
ship as you traverse down the tube. The view is truly spectacular to behold.
The Nano-tubes and colonies hit you in the face at a breakneck pace that never
lets up.
The colors used to display the tubes, background and objects
are for the most part all vibrant and attractive. Transparency is used to good
effect to make objects appear to "pulse" with power. Explosions are
also very impressive, especially considering the fact that you are often buzzing
by them at a high rate of speed. The boss explosions are the best yet seen in
any shoot-em-up game. No break-up, no pixilation, just nice clean
explosions...BLAM!
Anyway, the Nano-tube you ride down is nicely
texture mapped, gouraud shaded and convincing. It twists, turns and bends
flawlessly at a high rate of frames per second and never appears to slow down,
regardless of how much is going on in the screen at any given time and trust me,
there's a bunch going on.
The animation of your ship and the objects in your path are also
top-notch. With all of the action going on around your ship all at once,
Tetragon has still managed to pump out high-quality, nicely detailed animation's
of the environment.
I found myself really looking forward to the next
Nano-tube, just to see what graphical splendor awaited me.
|
|
|
|
The
music in this game is a spacey techno-pop, very similar to WipEout XL. So much
so in fact, when the opening screen came on I thought for a minute I was
listening to the opening for WipEout. If you liked the music in that game you
will certainly like it in this one.
The sound effects are also
perfectly produced. Explosions and weapons fire sound as they should; good and
beefy.
Oh, I should also mention that this entire game is in surround sound!
If you have your PlayStation connected to a surround sound system, you are in
for a real treat! You are literally bombarded from all sides as sounds move
front to back, left to right. All games should sound this good.
|
|
|
|
Okay,
to start things off, I have always been a fence sitter when it came to shooters.
Yes, I cut my videogame teeth on shooters (Space Invaders, Defender, etc.), but
I have never quite decided if I love or dislike the genre. Some shooters are
good, but to me most are ridiculously hard or just plain meaningless. So, it
was with great trepidation that I entered the world of Nanotek Warrior. Let me
just say, I am glad that I did.
First off, you can set this game on easy, normal or hard difficulty
levels. Unless you have the reflexes of a Cheetah, you will want to start off
in the easy mode and memorize the tube layouts. Even on "Easy" mode,
the game is no pushover.
Next you select your controller
configuration. This game offers you no less than 14 preset configs! While each
offers only minor deviations, there is sure to be one setting that you will hook
into.
Other menu options are sound and music volume, high scores and
password entry. Now...On to the game!
You begin your mission on
Nano-tube #1 and are immediately thrown into the thick of things. Moving the
directional pad left or right enables your ship to rotate 360 degrees around the
tube. This is helpful, considering the fact that there are enemies and
obstacles littered all over and around the tube. The action buttons let you
fire (of course), jump off the tube (helpful for wasting those nasty flying
Nano-robots's) and use special weapons that you can collect. The shoulder
buttons are used for strafing and banking. A word of advice, become one with
your buttons...it will save your life! Barrel rolls can also be executed by
double tapping the strafe button.
Gameplay consists of navigating your Nano-ship on top of AND inside
the tubes. Nano-basestations and obstacles are all around the tube, so learning
to rotate your ship and jump at the right moments are critical. There are also
some hard to squeeze through areas that require you to bank your ship on a
vertical plane to get past them. Each tube is broken down into sections. Once
you pass a section, you don't need to restart there after your ship gets
destroyed. The transition from the tube top to the inside the tube view is
radical. You can see the break in the tube coming up, then your ship and the
view does a neat little spiral, and bang your cruising inside.
Your
Nano-ship is equipped with shields that degenerate as you are hit by enemy fire,
or run into things. A warning sound and Head-Up screen Display warn you when
you are about to become Nano-dust. Shield and weapons power-ups, extra lives
and points and special weapons icons are located along the tube. The tricky
part is that, if you don't rotate the tube at the right time, you may never know
a power-up was there!
After you successfully navigate a Nano-tube, you
get the pleasure of facing that colonies Nano-boss! In this portion of the
game, you enter a 360 degree orbital mode around the boss character. You need
to use the special weapons that you have collected along the tube at this time.
The bosses are usually accompanied with their own sub-bosses, but for the most
part, are not impossible to destroy. You just need to learn their pattern and
adjust to it.
So, in conclusion Nanotek Warrior rocks. It was just different enough
to grab my attention and hard enough to keep me coming back for more...and
more...and more....Oh, a little piece of advice; try using one of the arcade
style joysticks, like a PsychoPad K.O., on this game. They work like a charm
and are well suited for this type of action.
|
|
|
|
If
you like shooters, I would have to say that you will think this title is worth
every penny. The levels are hard and the game offers some new twists to the
shooter genre. Great value for your bucks.
|
|
|
|
TOM |
|
|
|
|
|
GRAPHICS: |
Good |
Well,
I won't say that I am now a shooting game lover, but I sure did like this game.
It's an adrenaline pumping, non-stop, action packed, in your face rollercoster
ride. The concept is wonderfully executed, and the levels are nicely detailed.
The graphics are top-notch and so is the sound.
Is the game frustrating?
You bet your ass it is...but not so much that you won't want to come back and
get just a little bit further down that tube, or challenge that next boss. |
|
SOUND: |
Brilliant |
|
PLAYABILITY: |
Good |
|
VALUE: |
Good |
|
OVERALL
8/10 |
|
|
JIM |
|
|
|
|
|
GRAPHICS: |
Good |
Wow,
one minute your blasting aliens and the next minute you are dodging obsticles.
Both the PAL and NTSC versions of this game move at lightning speed no matter
how much is on the screen. I really enjoyed playing this very original
shoot-em-up, the later levels are difficult enough to keep you playing this game
for quite some time and the password access allows you to continue from where
you left off - Great Game! |
|
SOUND: |
Good |
|
PLAYABILITY: |
Brilliant |
|
VALUE: |
Good |
|
OVERALL
9/10 |
|
|
MARTIN |
|
|
|
|
|
GRAPHICS: |
Brilliant |
Very
original idea for an arcade shoot-em-up. Each level was varied in both
challenge and presentation. The polygon graphics were bright and colorful and
boy, this game move so fast you feel that you've just experienced a ride on a
Rollercoaster. Could have done with a few more levels but apart from that
Nanotek Warriors is fast, smooth and attractive. |
|
SOUND: |
Good |
|
PLAYABILITY: |
Average |
|
VALUE: |
Average |
|
OVERALL
7/10 |
|
|
ADAM |
|
|
|
|
|
GRAPHICS: |
Good |
I
found Nanotek Warriors very boring as it just seemed to be non stop shooting
throughout each level. You don't get much time to shoot the enemies because as
soon as you get them in your sights they are on top of you. I could cope with
the first two levels on easy setting but struggled with the first level on
medium. |
|
SOUND: |
Good |
|
PLAYABILITY: |
Average |
|
VALUE: |
Average |
|
OVERALL
6/10 |
|
|
