The plot is
an amalgam of everything weve heard before. A time-space transference
accident in 2009 has caused problems in the Cretaceous period which have
jeopardized the emergence of the human race. Being the brilliant people
that they are, the U.S. government fragments time and "moves" this
period into the future to avoid harm. This causes all sorts of problems
(duh) and this is where our hero comes in. Mike Wired is a WWII pilot
who is pulled away from his plane right before it crashes. He is sucked
into the Cretaceous period and somehow obtains state-of-the-art weaponry
to fight the dinosaurs (which is odd, because I thought they were trying
to save them). He fights for his life while trying to figure out his
purpose in this time period. Helping him is the mysterious Pola (read
girl who is present only as a helpless but beautiful love interest) and
her father, who leads Mike through the game via wrist communicator.
Since he would have died in his own time, his only chance for life and
love is to save the future.
The game is an
arcade-style FPS and can be played with a gun or a controller. It
reminds me of the arcade game House of the Dead (minus the zombies, of
course). In some levels Mike has control over his movements as he walks
through dense foliage or arid desert, which is more like some of the
familiar FPS games. In other levels, he is carried by boat, jeep, or is
falling through the air and only has the ability to rotate, target, and
fire. In the walk-through levels, the motion sensor also features an
arrow that points you toward your goal. This, along with the fact that
your missions are timed, encourages you to move through the levels
without a lot of exploring. You can pick up crystals to increase your
allotted time, but as you venture farther afield, they are less
prevalent and you are more likely to be trapped in the gaming area by
the terrain. Although I liked the fact that they changed up the gameplay,
I really would have liked a game of this type where exploring was
actually encouraged. Each level contains a "boss" dinosaur, or sometimes
a pack of dinosaurs, and the game either keeps track of numbers killed
for your goal or, if it is a single dinosaur, it has a life meter to
keep track of your progress.
Targeting
in this game is actually very easy and smooth, which is a must. The only
issue I have is when youre trying to use the automatic lock-on. It is
generally off by enough to miss your enemy completely (although I think
that sometimes the game cheated in my favor and killed the dinosaur
anyway, even though the cross-hairs were pointed at a dirt pile by its
feet). The only real use of this automatic system is when youre in a
multi-dino melee and you want to get a quick bead on your next victim.
There are a variety of cool weapons to add to your main single shot gun
(which has endless ammo) and the sniper shot works very well, especially
when you use your motion sensor to do some early detection of enemies.
The movement within the walk-through levels is smooth and the control is
solid. One of the bonuses of this game is the fact that it is really
pretty easy for novices to pick up and play. Plus there are unlimited
continues and saves at each level, which cuts down on a certain amount
of frustration.
The
landscape graphics could really use a shot in the arm. Rocks and foliage
are pretty blocky and non-descript and some of the horizons are foggy
rather than having added details. The grasslands are a little better and
the city elements arent bad, if still lacking detail and imagination.
There was one point that I hope was homage in the game, but when I saw
the Statue of Liberty buried in the sand a la Planet of the Apes, I
swear I groaned. However, you can tell that a lot of love was given to
the dinosaurs in this game and they look great. There are fourteen
different species and each is easily distinguishable, even in the heat
of battle, and they move realistically and uniquely as well. The only
dinosaur I thought looked cheesy was an alligator looking foe (called a
Kronosaurus) that jumps out at you while youre in the boat. But other
than that, kudos to the dinosaur designers.
Although
Dino Stalker is appealing in an arcade-like way, I have two major
problems with this game. The first and probably my biggest problem with
this game is the poor AI of some of our Cretaceous foes. Especially in
the boss sequences, as soon as you see the movement pattern
establishing, the rest is a piece of cake. There are some levels where
the sheer number of dinosaurs plus their ability to remain motionlessly
in hiding makes the slaying more difficult, but this is the exception
rather than the rule. The difficulty level makes some difference, but it
is more related to the time/weapons/ ammo/enemy number than AI. A friend
of mine compared one part of the game to a glorified Duck Hunt, and
although I dont think Id go that far, it does bear an occasional
resemblance.
My second
problem is the fact that this game is only a single player experience.
Granted, no one ever said that every game had to allow multiplayer
action, but with all the titles that support versus modes or cooperative
action, players are getting spoiled with lots of options. Couple this
with the fact that this game is pretty short and you have a game that
doesnt go the extra mile. The sooner companies realize that a precedent
has been set, the sooner we will have more games striving for that type
of completeness and variety.
Overall,
Dino Stalker is a fun game that is reminiscent of some of our arcade
favorites, but really lacks the ability to be a favorite on the shelves
at home. Its limp landscape design and graphics, old-hat storyline, and
lack of variety and solid AI keeps its long-tem appeal at a minimum. It
is a solid bet for renting and for get-togethers where there are novice
gamers and no one minds taking turns, but under the comparative
spotlight, Stalker just cant hold up to the asking price.