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Urban Chaos
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Graphics & Sound:
I was quite surprised by the graphics in Urban Chaos. Union City, where most of the action takes place, is modeled exceptionally well. No detail was too small, as Mucky Foot put a huge amount of effort into making this city as real as possible. As you run through the streets, leaves and papers blow about behind you beautifully and puddles not only reflect characters, but the moon as well. Everything is as you would find in a real city - well, a really bad city. Pedestrians walk around the town like real people, (and if you don't like them, you can beat the crap outta them, yeah!) thugs' attack without warning and cars drive around. No, this isn't New York City, it's Union City. This music is very nice as well, and sounds are what you would expect from a game like this. Nothing can top the sound of beating a pedestrian with a baseball bat. Brings a tear to my eye just thinking of it. :)
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Gameplay:
The year is 1999, just at the turn of the millennium. Turmoil, war, and famine rule. In the major cities of the world, chaos is rampant. Crooks, thieves, terrorists and violent cults lurk around every corner. It is up to you to enter into the tattered remains of this city and try to bring order. You can enter the world as one of two characters. D'arci is a rookie cop trying to prove her mettle. Roper is a vigilante dedicated to thwarting the efforts of a religious cult. You are thus sent on a number of missions by the police chief to try and help restore order to the city. Missions range from stopping a crazed man from jumping off a building, stopping a gang fight in the city park, to going to help find clues to solve a murder. Of course, there's the aspect of beating people senseless, which is always fun ;). All of this, of course, leads up to stopping the Wildcats, a crazed religious cult that aims to take over the city just when the clock strikes midnight on New Years Eve of 1999.
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Difficulty:
Urban Chaos offers a great challenge to action/adventure fans like myself. For those not familiar will games of this genre, Mucky Foot added a great training mission that you can decide to play or skip. I do recommend you playing it though, as it teaches you all the basics that you will use in all of the 40+ missions. Levels are designed so that you are presented with a clear goal from the beginning of the mission, but on your way, you will encounter different sub-missions that you can either choose to do or skip and focus on the main mission. For instance, early in the game you'll be called in to stop a jumper from making a fatal leap from atop a large building. On your way, however, you get a call from a timid cop who needs your help in recovering his stolen car. You may not have to solve it, but do it and you'll get yourself some added bonuses. This helps add replay value to the game, as you can go back later and help with all the sub-missions.
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Game Mechanics:
Controls for the most part are fairly easy to master, which helps keep the game moving along at a fast pace. All of your moves are keyboard strokes in close proximity to one another, which makes things easy. A number of different combos can by performed by pressing the punch, and kick buttons in succession - moves such as jabs, roundhouse kicks and groin kicks can be performed with ease. As you move along in your mission, you will find more powerful weapon upgrades that help deal with the Union City low life. Weapons such as the Shotgun, M16 and Explosives make crime fighting a lot easier. Overall this is a great game. I know I had a blast playing it. So if you haven't already, pick this game up at your local video game store.
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-Raider, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Duran |
Minimum System Requirements:
PII 266MHz (D3D acceleration) or PII 266 or equivalent (Software), Windows 95/98, Direct X 6.1a, 32MB Ram, 500 Hard Drive Space, 8X CD-Rom, 4MB Video Card, Keyboard, Supports all major 3D acceleration cards |
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Test System:
PII 450, 128MB Ram, 44X CD, Voodoo 3 3000 video accelerator |
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