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by
Namco
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Say my name.
Its been awhile since such a
simple sentence has haunted me so. I have to admit that I wasnt
entirely sold on kill.switch. Upon first impression, it seemed like yet
another of the Splinter Cell/Metal Gear/Rainbow Whatever rip-offs that
have flooded the market all year long. But when I sat down, late at
night, to play the game and the first thing to come through my speakers,
in full surround sound, wasnt a barrage of production slate bells and
whistles, but rather the soft whisper of a woman, that simple request, I
was hooked. A third-person shooter with brains, balls, and an intriguing
jigsaw puzzle of a story, kill.switch is the single best surprise have I
received from a game all year.
Without giving away too much,
the story revolves around Bishop, a technologically enhanced one-man
army. Guided by a data stream linked directly into his brain, Bishop
begins the game as soldier sent to start a war. It seems that certain
military puppet masters believe it would be beneficial to the U.S. to
recreate the tension of the cold war. Your missions, then, consist of
killing, sabotaging, or exposing certain elements of key countries in
order to invoke retaliation from the U.S. But things are not that
simple. First, Bishop has, as is the fashion for todays espionage
agent, lost his memory. A single memory lingers: a beautiful woman on a
moonlit balcony. She turns to him and says, say my name. Second, the
security of his data stream has been compromised, and someone is hacking
into his brain. As the memory recurs, over and over, each time giving
the player a little more information about Bishops past, and as the
current situation plays into the hands of unseen adversaries that
control the data stream, kill.switch becomes the kind of intoxicating
mystery rarely seen in a video game. Is it a love story? Have you been
betrayed? The more progress you make, the more complicated it gets. Soon
it becomes clear that the only time Bishop has any control over his
environment is when he has a loaded weapon in his hand.
Environment and a loaded
weapon. These are your tools. The gameplay in kill.switch consists of
taking cover, taking aim, and engaging your enemy. In order to survive
you must conform to your surroundings. Bishop can stand or crouch flush
against a wall, look and aim around corners or over the top of low
cover. He can even blind fire, laying down suppressive fire without
exposing himself. He can walk, run, roll out of the way, and dive for
cover. Trick is the enemy is able to do all of this as well, only they
work in teams to seek you out, pin you down, and eliminate you. The AI
is very good, at times fascinating. The enemies possess tactical skills
and survival instincts. They move purposefully (most of the time), cover
each other, and use their surroundings. They work together to trap you.
When shot at they hide and aim, panic and spray, whatever it takes. And
if you give them time, they will regroup and come again. This makes for
some of the most intense shoot-outs I can remember having in a
videogame. When you enter a room, you do so carefully. Forward movement
is a struggle. And you pay attention to everything, every detail of your
surroundings, because there are dangers and opportunities everywhere.
This is not to say that the
battles are in any way realistic, just much more exhilarating. Bishop
cant take a lot of damage all at once. His armor does replenish over
time, and there are first aid kits everywhere, but that wont help if
you take a few clean shots to the chest. Skirmishes can be quick, or
they can last an eternity. However, the third-person perspective allows
you to see the entire forward area, regardless of the position of your
character. Bishop can be crouched down with his back up against a crate,
and you can still see your enemy and draw a bead on him with the
targeting reticule, so that when you pop up your aim is perfect. This
combined with a generous auto-aim, keeps the player well within the
obvious framework of a videogame. And more often than not, you can get
away with lot before you are noticed. The enemy will let you shoot down
a few of their men within earshot before they will start acting
intelligently. I am not dissing all of this, however. This is all a part
of the strategy you must use to overcome your enemy. And there is much
more realism here than in your average run-and-gun third or first-person
shooter. The game even comments on this itself. At one point the man
behind the curtain asks Bishop how his mission went, to which he
replies, great. Just like a videogame. And, of course, it is just
that.
The control system works
fluidly. The set-up is easy to use, and should be fairly familiar by
now. You use the left thumb stick to move, the right to look. The right
trigger fires your gun. You take cover by pulling the left trigger.
There are buttons to select weapons, grenades, reload, roll, use items,
etc. No surprises or frustrations here.
The graphics are great. They
wont win any awards, but the lighting, textures, and special effects
like tracer bullets and explosions are very pretty. Plus, kill.switch
supports 16:9 widescreen and progressive scan formats. There are rarely
any slowdown or performance issues. The only noticeable weakness is the
occasional lack of attention to detail by the programmers. For instance,
if a helicopter swoops in to deliver more enemy troops, it appears out
of nowhere and disappears without a trace. One minute it isnt there,
then the roar of rotors, and a helicopter. Then it takes off and
suddenly, no noise or evidence that it was there. This isnt a big deal,
but it does interrupt your suspension of disbelief. And if HALO did it
better years ago, everyone should be doing it better now.
The sound is fantastic,
especially the music. From the pulse-pounding electronica to tribal drum
beats, the soundtrack follows the scene perfectly and adds to the
tension of every situation.
As always, there is room for
improvement. First, while the back story is positively engrossing, and
the struggle for power over the data stream keeps things moving, the
actual interactive story, the objectives contained within each level,
arent unique or interesting at all. The levels are fragmented into
small sections, and the explanations for your actions are fairly thin.
Here it is all about the action. Luckily, the action is superb, and more
than makes up for it. But how much better would it be if you were just
as wrapped up in the actual task at hand as you were in getting the drop
on your enemy, or seeing what is revealed in the next memory sequence?
As is, I usually didnt know or care why I was taking on such
insurmountable numbers and conquering my foes. I was just having fun
doing it.
Adding to that, the levels are
obvious game fodder. There are no functioning doors, no alternate paths,
you simply negotiate the layout of the level, moving from battle to
battle, looking for you next objective. Objectives are clearly marked by
a bright blue indicator, and the most any of them require is for you to
survive long enough to hold down the A button. The next incarnation of
this game needs to have more environmental interactivity. We are able to
use our surroundings, now give us the opportunity to change them. Having
the ability to create your own cover, or move an object that you are
using as cover, like say, pushing that couch or crate that you are
hiding behind to a more convenient location, would make the gameplay
even more dramatic. Give us something to do that requires more than our
battle skills and an A button.
There are some camera issues,
mostly dealing with your view under cover. Bishop has a tendency to want
to attach himself to the nearest corner, which monkeys with your ability
to aim when you are wanting to look over the top of your cover instead
of around it. Sometimes, the camera will close in a little too much and
it becomes hard to see anything, which is understandable when you are
scrunched into a tight spot, but occasionally this happens out in the
open as well. All of these things are forgivable and easy to fix with a
little tweaking of your position. The one thing that was left out that
would have made surveillance much easier was some kind of quick
first-person toggle. I am not asking for anything fancy, just the
ability to quickly look in the direction I am facing, so that when I am
in the middle of a skirmish, back against a pillar, being shot at, I can
take a quick look to make sure someone isnt sneaking up from the
opposite direction. There are many times when you will stumble into the
middle of a battlefield, and you really have to work to see in all
directions without being blown away.
Finally, the game is awfully
short. Most gamers will be able to complete it in a few days. The game
might be worth challenging yourself with the higher difficulty settings,
but thats about it in terms of replay value. Hopefully, the next time
around, the developers will include multiplayer games, or better yet,
online multiplayer games. This game is a perfect fit for it.
Even so, I highly recommend
this game to any and all fans of guts and glory shooters. Kill.switch
combines a unique and intense battle experience with an engrossing story
that contains more style, more twists and reveals, than we have come to
expect in this industry. It is short (you may want to pick this one up
as a rental), and does have its limitations, but it has earned a place
as one of the must play games of this year.
Jeremy Kauffman (12/17/2003) |
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Snapshot
Ups:
Intense battles, unique cover and fire combat system, complex and
engrossing story, good graphics and music.
Downs:
Limited level design, needs more background
interactivity, some camera issues, short.
Platform:
XBox
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