Title	:	Rogue Ops
Platforms	:	Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Publisher	:	Kemco
ESRB Rating	:	Mature
Game Rating	:	6.5
Review by	:	Jeremy Pallant

In Rogue Ops, you play Nikki Conners, a cute, petite blond who had the minor misfortune of having her husband and daughter killed in an explosion courtesy of a terrorist group with the unlikely name of Omega 19. Your average housewife would simply mourn, but Nikki is an ex-Green Beret, and so she joins a distinctly shadowy, ruthless, anti-terrorist group called Phoenix, presumably related to the notorious Operation Phoenix run by the CIA in Vietnam and Cambodia. After two years of intense training, she is unleashed upon those who murdered her family. 

I really wanted to like this game [PS2 version reviewed here]. It has a lot going for it. Primarily it's all about stealth, restraint, and precision. Nikki's equipment is relatively limited, and her armament is austere with only limited ammunition. That's a refreshing change. I recently finished Max Payne 2, and was amused at the colossal weaponry he would accumulate by the end of a chapter. He shouldn't have been able to keep walking with that lot. 

Nikki, on the other hand, might go in with a silenced pistol, a silenced sniper's rifle — both having very limited ammunition — and a handful of shuriken. You have to be precise with your shots, and just going in gung-ho doesn't work. Fortunately, the controls are sufficiently well-tuned to assist you in this. More ammunition can be scavenged from the bodies of those you kill, but you will rarely be comfortable with the amount you have. This was actually an enjoyable part of the game, and certainly added to its feel. As usual, there is an initial training mission to introduce you to the game, and to Nikki's capabilities. 

There are several ways to take aim at the enemy. There's an aiming point as you move around that turns from red to green when it passes over an enemy. Secondly you can switch to a view mode that zooms in slightly for greater precision, but prevents you from moving. If equipped with a sniper rifle, you can zoom in on a target more closely. Finally, if equipped with a thrown weapon like a grenade, the trajectory is displayed. 

Precision is important here, because hits are position sensitive. Shooting someone through the head will result in an instant kill, but body hits, especially if the target is wearing body armor, might require several shots, and with limited ammunition available, this is something you want to avoid as much as possible. 

The AI is a cut above the average. Everyone's familiar with this phenomenon: you shoot a guard, and the guy standing next to him won't notice. That doesn't happen in Rogue Ops. Perform the same deed in this game, and the alarm will sound, and your enemies will start to actively look for you. Where the AI falls short is that, after a short time of your not being found, or you kill everyone engaged in the search, the alarm will be switched off. That's hardly realistic. Similarly, if you attract attention by, say, shooting out a searchlight, that's a pretty obvious indication someone's around, but the tactic described above works, and soon the heat will be off you. 

Alarms will also sound if you're seen on a security camera, and that can have rather disconcerting consequences if there are turreted guns nearby, which will duly open up on you, and generally make life very unpleasant. This action will also alert nearby guards. 

It seems odd to me that in a game primarily about stealth, it is impossible to avoid combat, and there's only ever one way to achieve your goal. One of the strengths of a game like Deus Ex: Invisible War is that there are many ways to meet mission requirements; Rogue Ops needed a feature like this. One the other hand, it does make you pay more attention to your environment, looking for that switch, ledge, or crawl space necessary to advance the game. 

A prime weakness of the game is that it often devolves to a switch hunt, or a search for the right swipe card. This design became old with the original Doom; however, the means of acquiring the right swipe card, or finding the switch is a little more interesting. Swipe cards are most often found by the bodies of your kills, or by picking the pockets of the living. Switches are often hidden, and might need to be found by the infrared visor you are equipped with, which shows the extra heat given off by electrical circuitry and hidden enemies. 

Graphically, Rogue Ops does not represent the best the PS2 is capable of. Textures are sometimes muddy and pixilated. In fact, I found myself wondering if the game hadn't originally been intended for the PSOne, and then changed in mid-development. The character models are surprisingly low in polygons, except for Nikki herself who has a few more. Mind you, you spend most of the game with a view of her shapely rear, so the extra detail was appreciated, although I did get tired of the skin-tight, midriff-baring outfit she favored. Not exactly what you would call practical. 

The game fails to excel in its execution. While the missions themselves can be quite long with changing objectives, and the cut-scenes do a good job of outlining the plot, the lack of a proper save-game feature strongly detracts from the experience. The in-game menu certainly gives you the option, but it doesn't work as you might think. Each mission is divided into a series of objectives, and each objective met is indicated by a green flag on the screen. If you save at this point, should you die later, even if you make further saves, you will be returned to the checkpoint when you reload. 

To add insult to injury, the in-game menu doesn't actually have a load option. Should you die, you get the option to resume from the last checkpoint, but if, for example, you decide you could have tackled that last section with less ammunition expenditure, you must exit to the main menu to reload the game. I found this to be very irritating, and is why I scored the game as I did. If a proper "save/load anywhere" feature had been implemented, I would have awarded another whole point. 

Further frustrating the gameplay is the sheer length between opportunities to save. Being a stealth game, you spend a significant amount of time sneaking carefully from place to place, which takes time. On one occasion, I came as close as I ever have to throwing the controller on the ground, because after spending perhaps half an hour slowly and carefully making my way around, I made a mistake, got myself machine-gunned to death by remote turrets with no clue what I did wrong, and was then returned to where I had been a half-hour previously. 

In summary, Rogue Ops isn't a bad game, and with a little more effort on behalf of the development team it could have been a better game. However, the deceptive save-game system, second-rate graphics, rigid mission structure and endless view of Nikki Conner's odd attire all contribute to making it something less than a competitor to Splinter Cell. If anyone's considering a purchase, I definitely recommend renting first.

---

This article is copyright (c) 2004, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Gamebits, 07-Jan-04

Title	:	Rogue Ops
Platforms	:	Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Publisher	:	Kemco
ESRB Rating	:	Mature
Game Rating	:	6.5
Review by	:	Jeremy Pallant

In Rogue Ops, you play Nikki Conners, a cute, petite blond who had the minor misfortune of having her husband and daughter killed in an explosion courtesy of a terrorist group with the unlikely name of Omega 19. Your average housewife would simply mourn, but Nikki is an ex-Green Beret, and so she joins a distinctly shadowy, ruthless, anti-terrorist group called Phoenix, presumably related to the notorious Operation Phoenix run by the CIA in Vietnam and Cambodia. After two years of intense training, she is unleashed upon those who murdered her family. 

I really wanted to like this game [PS2 version reviewed here]. It has a lot going for it. Primarily it's all about stealth, restraint, and precision. Nikki's equipment is relatively limited, and her armament is austere with only limited ammunition. That's a refreshing change. I recently finished Max Payne 2, and was amused at the colossal weaponry he would accumulate by the end of a chapter. He shouldn't have been able to keep walking with that lot. 

Nikki, on the other hand, might go in with a silenced pistol, a silenced sniper's rifle — both having very limited ammunition — and a handful of shuriken. You have to be precise with your shots, and just going in gung-ho doesn't work. Fortunately, the controls are sufficiently well-tuned to assist you in this. More ammunition can be scavenged from the bodies of those you kill, but you will rarely be comfortable with the amount you have. This was actually an enjoyable part of the game, and certainly added to its feel. As usual, there is an initial training mission to introduce you to the game, and to Nikki's capabilities. 

There are several ways to take aim at the enemy. There's an aiming point as you move around that turns from red to green when it passes over an enemy. Secondly you can switch to a view mode that zooms in slightly for greater precision, but prevents you from moving. If equipped with a sniper rifle, you can zoom in on a target more closely. Finally, if equipped with a thrown weapon like a grenade, the trajectory is displayed. 

Precision is important here, because hits are position sensitive. Shooting someone through the head will result in an instant kill, but body hits, especially if the target is wearing body armor, might require several shots, and with limited ammunition available, this is something you want to avoid as much as possible. 

The AI is a cut above the average. Everyone's familiar with this phenomenon: you shoot a guard, and the guy standing next to him won't notice. That doesn't happen in Rogue Ops. Perform the same deed in this game, and the alarm will sound, and your enemies will start to actively look for you. Where the AI falls short is that, after a short time of your not being found, or you kill everyone engaged in the search, the alarm will be switched off. That's hardly realistic. Similarly, if you attract attention by, say, shooting out a searchlight, that's a pretty obvious indication someone's around, but the tactic described above works, and soon the heat will be off you. 

Alarms will also sound if you're seen on a security camera, and that can have rather disconcerting consequences if there are turreted guns nearby, which will duly open up on you, and generally make life very unpleasant. This action will also alert nearby guards. 

It seems odd to me that in a game primarily about stealth, it is impossible to avoid combat, and there's only ever one way to achieve your goal. One of the strengths of a game like Deus Ex: Invisible War is that there are many ways to meet mission requirements; Rogue Ops needed a feature like this. One the other hand, it does make you pay more attention to your environment, looking for that switch, ledge, or crawl space necessary to advance the game. 

A prime weakness of the game is that it often devolves to a switch hunt, or a search for the right swipe card. This design became old with the original Doom; however, the means of acquiring the right swipe card, or finding the switch is a little more interesting. Swipe cards are most often found by the bodies of your kills, or by picking the pockets of the living. Switches are often hidden, and might need to be found by the infrared visor you are equipped with, which shows the extra heat given off by electrical circuitry and hidden enemies. 

Graphically, Rogue Ops does not represent the best the PS2 is capable of. Textures are sometimes muddy and pixilated. In fact, I found myself wondering if the game hadn't originally been intended for the PSOne, and then changed in mid-development. The character models are surprisingly low in polygons, except for Nikki herself who has a few more. Mind you, you spend most of the game with a view of her shapely rear, so the extra detail was appreciated, although I did get tired of the skin-tight, midriff-baring outfit she favored. Not exactly what you would call practical. 

The game fails to excel in its execution. While the missions themselves can be quite long with changing objectives, and the cut-scenes do a good job of outlining the plot, the lack of a proper save-game feature strongly detracts from the experience. The in-game menu certainly gives you the option, but it doesn't work as you might think. Each mission is divided into a series of objectives, and each objective met is indicated by a green flag on the screen. If you save at this point, should you die later, even if you make further saves, you will be returned to the checkpoint when you reload. 

To add insult to injury, the in-game menu doesn't actually have a load option. Should you die, you get the option to resume from the last checkpoint, but if, for example, you decide you could have tackled that last section with less ammunition expenditure, you must exit to the main menu to reload the game. I found this to be very irritating, and is why I scored the game as I did. If a proper "save/load anywhere" feature had been implemented, I would have awarded another whole point. 

Further frustrating the gameplay is the sheer length between opportunities to save. Being a stealth game, you spend a significant amount of time sneaking carefully from place to place, which takes time. On one occasion, I came as close as I ever have to throwing the controller on the ground, because after spending perhaps half an hour slowly and carefully making my way around, I made a mistake, got myself machine-gunned to death by remote turrets with no clue what I did wrong, and was then returned to where I had been a half-hour previously. 

In summary, Rogue Ops isn't a bad game, and with a little more effort on behalf of the development team it could have been a better game. However, the deceptive save-game system, second-rate graphics, rigid mission structure and endless view of Nikki Conner's odd attire all contribute to making it something less than a competitor to Splinter Cell. If anyone's considering a purchase, I definitely recommend renting first.

---

This article is copyright (c) 2004, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Gamebits, 07-Jan-04

Title	:	Rogue Ops
Platforms	:	Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Publisher	:	Kemco
ESRB Rating	:	Mature
Game Rating	:	6.5
Review by	:	Jeremy Pallant

In Rogue Ops, you play Nikki Conners, a cute, petite blond who had the minor misfortune of having her husband and daughter killed in an explosion courtesy of a terrorist group with the unlikely name of Omega 19. Your average housewife would simply mourn, but Nikki is an ex-Green Beret, and so she joins a distinctly shadowy, ruthless, anti-terrorist group called Phoenix, presumably related to the notorious Operation Phoenix run by the CIA in Vietnam and Cambodia. After two years of intense training, she is unleashed upon those who murdered her family. 

I really wanted to like this game [PS2 version reviewed here]. It has a lot going for it. Primarily it's all about stealth, restraint, and precision. Nikki's equipment is relatively limited, and her armament is austere with only limited ammunition. That's a refreshing change. I recently finished Max Payne 2, and was amused at the colossal weaponry he would accumulate by the end of a chapter. He shouldn't have been able to keep walking with that lot. 

Nikki, on the other hand, might go in with a silenced pistol, a silenced sniper's rifle — both having very limited ammunition — and a handful of shuriken. You have to be precise with your shots, and just going in gung-ho doesn't work. Fortunately, the controls are sufficiently well-tuned to assist you in this. More ammunition can be scavenged from the bodies of those you kill, but you will rarely be comfortable with the amount you have. This was actually an enjoyable part of the game, and certainly added to its feel. As usual, there is an initial training mission to introduce you to the game, and to Nikki's capabilities. 

There are several ways to take aim at the enemy. There's an aiming point as you move around that turns from red to green when it passes over an enemy. Secondly you can switch to a view mode that zooms in slightly for greater precision, but prevents you from moving. If equipped with a sniper rifle, you can zoom in on a target more closely. Finally, if equipped with a thrown weapon like a grenade, the trajectory is displayed. 

Precision is important here, because hits are position sensitive. Shooting someone through the head will result in an instant kill, but body hits, especially if the target is wearing body armor, might require several shots, and with limited ammunition available, this is something you want to avoid as much as possible. 

The AI is a cut above the average. Everyone's familiar with this phenomenon: you shoot a guard, and the guy standing next to him won't notice. That doesn't happen in Rogue Ops. Perform the same deed in this game, and the alarm will sound, and your enemies will start to actively look for you. Where the AI falls short is that, after a short time of your not being found, or you kill everyone engaged in the search, the alarm will be switched off. That's hardly realistic. Similarly, if you attract attention by, say, shooting out a searchlight, that's a pretty obvious indication someone's around, but the tactic described above works, and soon the heat will be off you. 

Alarms will also sound if you're seen on a security camera, and that can have rather disconcerting consequences if there are turreted guns nearby, which will duly open up on you, and generally make life very unpleasant. This action will also alert nearby guards. 

It seems odd to me that in a game primarily about stealth, it is impossible to avoid combat, and there's only ever one way to achieve your goal. One of the strengths of a game like Deus Ex: Invisible War is that there are many ways to meet mission requirements; Rogue Ops needed a feature like this. One the other hand, it does make you pay more attention to your environment, looking for that switch, ledge, or crawl space necessary to advance the game. 

A prime weakness of the game is that it often devolves to a switch hunt, or a search for the right swipe card. This design became old with the original Doom; however, the means of acquiring the right swipe card, or finding the switch is a little more interesting. Swipe cards are most often found by the bodies of your kills, or by picking the pockets of the living. Switches are often hidden, and might need to be found by the infrared visor you are equipped with, which shows the extra heat given off by electrical circuitry and hidden enemies. 

Graphically, Rogue Ops does not represent the best the PS2 is capable of. Textures are sometimes muddy and pixilated. In fact, I found myself wondering if the game hadn't originally been intended for the PSOne, and then changed in mid-development. The character models are surprisingly low in polygons, except for Nikki herself who has a few more. Mind you, you spend most of the game with a view of her shapely rear, so the extra detail was appreciated, although I did get tired of the skin-tight, midriff-baring outfit she favored. Not exactly what you would call practical. 

The game fails to excel in its execution. While the missions themselves can be quite long with changing objectives, and the cut-scenes do a good job of outlining the plot, the lack of a proper save-game feature strongly detracts from the experience. The in-game menu certainly gives you the option, but it doesn't work as you might think. Each mission is divided into a series of objectives, and each objective met is indicated by a green flag on the screen. If you save at this point, should you die later, even if you make further saves, you will be returned to the checkpoint when you reload. 

To add insult to injury, the in-game menu doesn't actually have a load option. Should you die, you get the option to resume from the last checkpoint, but if, for example, you decide you could have tackled that last section with less ammunition expenditure, you must exit to the main menu to reload the game. I found this to be very irritating, and is why I scored the game as I did. If a proper "save/load anywhere" feature had been implemented, I would have awarded another whole point. 

Further frustrating the gameplay is the sheer length between opportunities to save. Being a stealth game, you spend a significant amount of time sneaking carefully from place to place, which takes time. On one occasion, I came as close as I ever have to throwing the controller on the ground, because after spending perhaps half an hour slowly and carefully making my way around, I made a mistake, got myself machine-gunned to death by remote turrets with no clue what I did wrong, and was then returned to where I had been a half-hour previously. 

In summary, Rogue Ops isn't a bad game, and with a little more effort on behalf of the development team it could have been a better game. However, the deceptive save-game system, second-rate graphics, rigid mission structure and endless view of Nikki Conner's odd attire all contribute to making it something less than a competitor to Splinter Cell. If anyone's considering a purchase, I definitely recommend renting first.

---

This article is copyright (c) 2004, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Gamebits, 07-Jan-04

Title	:	Batman: Dark Tomorrow
Platforms	:	Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Publisher	:	Kemco
ESRB Rating	:	Teen
Game Rating	:	4.7
Review by	:	Ken Gagne

In the comic book storyline "Contagion", Gotham City was struck by a deadly virus. Only Batman and his allies could find the cure and save the day. 

Sadly, Batman: Dark Tomorrow, a GameCube and Xbox game from Kemco, is similarly plagued, yet this time without salvation. 

Unlike Batman: Vengeance, which is based on the animated television series, Dark Tomorrow draws upon the original comics as its source. As an occasional reader of the Dark Knight's adventures, I've been witness to recent events such as "No Man's Land", "Officer Down", and "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?", and have been looking forward to seeing this hallowed character translated to the electronic medium. I'd hoped that the delay from its original release of last March (if not sooner) had provided Kemco with a gratuitous amount of time necessary to create a dynamite package. 

At first, I thought they'd succeeded. The game's openings credits roll to a montage of video sequences, showcasing the people and places of Gotham City, all set to a stirring movement performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I was giddy with anticipation and eagerly awaited stepping into the Dark Knight's boots. 

It was only once I did so that I fell victim to the despair of Gotham City, when the game's myriad gameplay and control issues surfaced. 

This game's charlatan protagonist falls short of the imposing figure represented in the Batman comic books, as evidenced by his vulnerability and his foes' invincibility. The many gun-toting foes are a real threat to the hero's health: lacking Wonder Woman's deflective bracelets, Batman's only defense is his kevlar armor, which holds up to little. Even in hand-to-hand combat, Batman barely stands a fighting chance. Each thug recovers quickly from being laid flat; the only promise of keeping them down is for Batman to apply his Batcuffs. Given several thugs, those left standing will surely keep Batman occupied long enough for their downed allies to rise, presenting an inexhaustible mob intent on overbearing the Knight. 

The control scheme is also ridiculously nonstandard, making it difficult to interact with and adapt to the environment. Crouching, which is the only way to collect items from the ground, requires cycling through the running, walking, and crouching modes by pressing in the right analog stick, instead of simply pressing a "crouch" or "pick up" button. To view from a first-person perspective, players must cycle to and activate the night vision goggles. Even then, the analog sensitivity is extremely high, making it difficult to look anywhere but the extremes of Batman's vision. Various items, such as the batarang, can also change to this view. In fact, change is the only constant: each button is reassigned a new purpose depending on the circumstances, so while one button may be used to activate items in Batman's inventory, such as the Batarang, another will actually throw it. Oh, and the Batcuffs have their own button. 

No matter the view, the camera doesn't cooperate. A flaw that seemingly became popular with Devil May Cry, the angle pans only slightly to follow Batman's movements before suddenly switching to a drastically different point, altering player's orientation on the control pad: up suddenly becomes left, and other confusion. Even a bad camera angle doesn't cause you to miss much, as Batman runs as though he's looking for a bathroom, not a baddie. 

The sound, like the graphics, are better without the gameplay. The music swells majestically in the cinematic moments that progress the story, yet decrescendos into terrible in-game accompaniment. Here, the music is hollow and tinny, reminiscent of the Super Nintendo version of the Clue board game. 

I'm dumfounded at how the Batman's potential has been wasted on this travesty. His Man of Steel peer has similarly fallen on hard times in recent video games, but I can't blame comic book licenses in general, as evident by the superior experience of the recent Spider-Man games. Spidey flies from the pinnacles of gameplay, while the Dark Knight fires his grappling hook, swings — and misses.

---

This article is copyright (c) 2003, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Tech News, 08-Apr-03

Title	:	Batman: Dark Tomorrow
Platforms	:	Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Publisher	:	Kemco
ESRB Rating	:	Teen
Game Rating	:	4.7
Review by	:	Ken Gagne

In the comic book storyline "Contagion", Gotham City was struck by a deadly virus. Only Batman and his allies could find the cure and save the day. 

Sadly, Batman: Dark Tomorrow, a GameCube and Xbox game from Kemco, is similarly plagued, yet this time without salvation. 

Unlike Batman: Vengeance, which is based on the animated television series, Dark Tomorrow draws upon the original comics as its source. As an occasional reader of the Dark Knight's adventures, I've been witness to recent events such as "No Man's Land", "Officer Down", and "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?", and have been looking forward to seeing this hallowed character translated to the electronic medium. I'd hoped that the delay from its original release of last March (if not sooner) had provided Kemco with a gratuitous amount of time necessary to create a dynamite package. 

At first, I thought they'd succeeded. The game's openings credits roll to a montage of video sequences, showcasing the people and places of Gotham City, all set to a stirring movement performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I was giddy with anticipation and eagerly awaited stepping into the Dark Knight's boots. 

It was only once I did so that I fell victim to the despair of Gotham City, when the game's myriad gameplay and control issues surfaced. 

This game's charlatan protagonist falls short of the imposing figure represented in the Batman comic books, as evidenced by his vulnerability and his foes' invincibility. The many gun-toting foes are a real threat to the hero's health: lacking Wonder Woman's deflective bracelets, Batman's only defense is his kevlar armor, which holds up to little. Even in hand-to-hand combat, Batman barely stands a fighting chance. Each thug recovers quickly from being laid flat; the only promise of keeping them down is for Batman to apply his Batcuffs. Given several thugs, those left standing will surely keep Batman occupied long enough for their downed allies to rise, presenting an inexhaustible mob intent on overbearing the Knight. 

The control scheme is also ridiculously nonstandard, making it difficult to interact with and adapt to the environment. Crouching, which is the only way to collect items from the ground, requires cycling through the running, walking, and crouching modes by pressing in the right analog stick, instead of simply pressing a "crouch" or "pick up" button. To view from a first-person perspective, players must cycle to and activate the night vision goggles. Even then, the analog sensitivity is extremely high, making it difficult to look anywhere but the extremes of Batman's vision. Various items, such as the batarang, can also change to this view. In fact, change is the only constant: each button is reassigned a new purpose depending on the circumstances, so while one button may be used to activate items in Batman's inventory, such as the Batarang, another will actually throw it. Oh, and the Batcuffs have their own button. 

No matter the view, the camera doesn't cooperate. A flaw that seemingly became popular with Devil May Cry, the angle pans only slightly to follow Batman's movements before suddenly switching to a drastically different point, altering player's orientation on the control pad: up suddenly becomes left, and other confusion. Even a bad camera angle doesn't cause you to miss much, as Batman runs as though he's looking for a bathroom, not a baddie. 

The sound, like the graphics, are better without the gameplay. The music swells majestically in the cinematic moments that progress the story, yet decrescendos into terrible in-game accompaniment. Here, the music is hollow and tinny, reminiscent of the Super Nintendo version of the Clue board game. 

I'm dumfounded at how the Batman's potential has been wasted on this travesty. His Man of Steel peer has similarly fallen on hard times in recent video games, but I can't blame comic book licenses in general, as evident by the superior experience of the recent Spider-Man games. Spidey flies from the pinnacles of gameplay, while the Dark Knight fires his grappling hook, swings — and misses.

---

This article is copyright (c) 2003, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Tech News, 08-Apr-03

Title	:	Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers
Platforms	:	Nintendo 64
Publisher	:	Kemco
Game Rating	:	7.8
Review by	:	Ken Gagne

The time of the good Lord Jair is long past. Evil has disappeared, as have that age's heroes and artifacts. The people have grown complacent, allowing a new evil to arise unchallenged… or is it? In the dungeon of the old Castle Shadowgate, now a den of thieves, rests the halfling Del. If he can survive the four tests of the ancient wizard Lakmir, he alone may save the land of Kal Torlin. Thus the stage is set for Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers, from Kemco. This trying new title will resurface memories, both pleasant and painful, for veteran players of the Shadowgate series. 

Like the recent Game Boy Color release of its ten-year-old predecessor, Shadowgate 64 is an entry in the endangered adventure genre, focusing on exploration and puzzle-solving, with minimal attention paid to thumb action and quick reflexes. Unlike the original Shadowgate and its two-dimensional, single-frame "rooms" and point-and-click interface, Shadowgate 64 scrolls through a large, three-dimensional world from a first-person perspective, ala Goldeneye. This fixes some problems, while introducing new ones. 

The new world to explore is more real and absorbing, allowing players to go almost anywhere they look and be able to see their surroundings fully. But the opportunity for items to be hidden, be they behind other items or with camouflage, is great. A large inventory must be collected to solve all the puzzles, and missing a single item can lead to hours of frustrating backtracking before progress can be made. There are also several books to find, requiring more reading than a subtitled Italian flick; pay attention, because there will be a test later. 

The interface is much simpler than the old days: 'A' button inspects what's before you, and 'B' brings up the inventory, with any selected item put to any possible, immediate effect. Movement is identical with Turok's setup, with the control stick controlling the view and the C-buttons directing movement. This configuration cannot be changed. Movement isn't as tight or responsive as Goldeneye, and diagonal movement is impossible. By neglecting a few basic features, Kemco has made the control a bit too simple. 

The graphics are dark and — a common ailment in N64 games — a bit washed out. There are no special lighting effects, or special effects at all. Despite this, the world looks like what one would expect of a fantasy land which has lost its hope and magic. Unfortunately, its inhabitants are caricatures of reality, moving stiffly, falsely, and constantly; fortunately, most interaction is with puzzles, not people. 

The music is medieval, changing often to set the current environment. The sound effects are minimal: unconvincing squeals and unsynchronized footsteps. 

Challenging? Yes. The puzzle solutions are more practical, though less magical, than the previous Shadowgate. Replay value? None. The game plays the same every time, with no room for deviation. It's fun once for about six hours, but that's the extent of it. 

Shadowgate 64 is a unique title in today's uninspired market. It corrects many problems with its ancestor, but has a few of its own. If you're looking for a Myst-like thinker, Shadowgate 64 will test both your wits and your patience.

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This article is copyright (c) 1999, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Sentinel & Enterprise, 21-Jun-99

Title	:	Shadowgate Classic
Platforms	:	Game Boy Color
Publisher	:	Kemco
Game Rating	:	7.5
Review by	:	Ken Gagne

The release of the Game Boy Color introduced a system functionally on par with the original 8-bit Nintendo, prompting many companies to port NES classics to the handheld for a new generation of gamers to enjoy. One such game is Kemco's Shadowgate Classic, which, despite showing its age, is still moderately fun. 

Long ago, the council of sorcerers known as the Circle of Twelve banished one of their own, the evil Warlock Lord. Now, centuries later, he has freed himself from his imprisonment, and only you, a prophesied descendent from the Line of Kings, can bring ruin to his dark schemes. 

Journey through Castle Shadowgate in a first-person perspective, a room or scene at a time, similar to Myst. An action, such as "look" or "use", is chosen from a menu, followed by an item in either the player's inventory or in the current scene. There are puzzles to solve, items to acquire, and foes to defeat before reaching the final confrontation in this puzzle genre rarely seen in the last decade. 

The graphics are equivalent to the NES version of Shadowgate, and often more colorful. Since the scenes inspected are still-life, there is no action or moving sprites. Some secret items or passages are observable only to the keenest of eyes, due to a lack of size or detail; but mostly the game's puzzles are well-represented by the graphics. 

The music is simple, repetitive, and occasionally grating. The tune changes when a monster is encountered, or to warn that your torch is guttering and needs replacement. Sound effects are minimal, as there is little action for them to accompany. 

The interface was obviously designed for the computer. Moving items between inventories is tedious, and the cursor control is sometimes imprecise, despite its slow speed. However, the design is simple, and does provide some handy shortcuts, so playability doesn't suffer. 

The most frustrating aspect of Shadowgate is the lack of sense to the puzzle solutions. Scene obstacles are overcome by using the proper item from the inventory, but the interaction between the two has neither rhyme nor reason. It usually comes to trying everything that may (or may not) work, or consulting an answer book. Apparently such logic was uncommon in puzzle games of Shadowgate's era. 

For those with patience, Shadowgate Classic remains the entertaining game it always has been, while giving gamers something to eagerly await: this summer's release of Shadowgate: The Trials of the Four Towers, for Nintendo 64.

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This article is copyright (c) 1999, 2007 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not to be distributed without permission.

Original publication: Sentinel & Enterprise, 22-Mar-99