WelcometoExtremeGamer

Reviewed by Lucien
Oct 23rd 2003

Introduction:Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter attempts to replicate the style of gameplay that has made Halo one of the most popular games in Xbox history. Unfortunately, it comes off as a simple copy, without the flair and storyline that made Halo what it is.

The Game: The gameplay in Mace Griffin is reminiscent of every other sci-fi shooter in recent history. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's definitely not innovative. All the necessary equipment is here, from the Halo-like regenerating shield to grenade launchers, and you'll have plenty of firepower with you in each mission. And that's good, because each level is filled with multiple enemies for you to pulverize.

The story in Mace Griffin is a poor man's Max Payne. It tells of betrayal and revenge, but in a roundabout way that just comes off as uninteresting. You take apparently miscellaneous assignments that eventually tie in together. The missions themselves are pretty straightforward and require little, if any, backtracking. While each gives the illusion of many places to explore, there's only one way through each area. It's somewhat disheartening to enter a hallway with three doors on each side, but only one is unlocked. Any exploring of the nooks and crannies of the level will net you a little extra ammo and nothing else. The goals of each mission are similarly to the point, usually just requiring you to get from point A to B, to shut off those pesky gun turrets, or to disable a power grid. Occasionally, you'll have to accomplish something in a set amount of time. While spicing things up a bit, this usually just causes a few reloads until you learn the proper way to complete that area.

The linear missions aside, Mace Griffin gives you what any good FPS should: action and plenty of it. Each area has plenty of goons just waiting to gun you down. In addition, the enemies are usually varied in their placement and equipment. This means that upon entering a large room, cave, etc., there is usually at least one sniper and one grenade launching thug in addition to the swarms of machine gun toting baddies. This gives you the option of trying to snipe, run and gun, or a mix of the two.

Mace Griffin boasts to be the first game to seamlessly integrate an FPS with space combat. While it does seamlessly integrate the two (as in, no loading times from fighting in space and fighting on foot), the space combat is a little light and overall just not good enough. You'll only use it upon entering or exiting a mission, and flying in a circle until all the enemies are dead is just not very fun. However, flying into the hangar of whatever asteroid your mission is on and then stepping off your ship without a load screen is pretty sweet, and sets the atmosphere for what a badass you really are.

Graphics & Sound:The graphics and sound of Mace Griffin are arguably the best thing about the game. Reloading your weapons has never been so much fun. The animations are smooth, and everything looks very sharp, if redundant. You can only fight in so many spaceships and mining complexes before they all look the same. There are, however, some impressive effects. Sniper bullets leave a distinguishing trail of smoke that allows you to spot where the gunman's hiding and the effects of a concussion grenade look and sound brilliant. The HUD trails your movement by a split second, further adding to the futuristic atmosphere.

The sound of the game is good for what counts, but just "blah" in the extras department. The guns all sound tight, with the high hum of the chain gun drastically different from the blast of the shotgun. The voice acting leaves a bit to be desired, as Mace himself (done by Henry Rollins) sounds emotionless for the most part. While not bad, the voice acting does nothing to pull the gamer into the plot. The enemies will yell a few standard phrases, but nothing too interesting.

Innovation:Mace Griffin does very little in the way of innovation. The lack of loading times between space and foot combat is great, and while not as fun as it sounded in development, gives me hope that maybe one day we'll see a combination of TIE Fighter and Jedi Knight. A few of the enemies are interesting to look at (and kill), but end up making the rest of the enemies appear that much more bland.

Mojo:Mace Griffin does have it cool areas. As mentioned above, stepping off your ship alone into a new level makes you feel like a tough and rugged mercenary. Also, the second level is utterly brilliant based on the enemies that appear. They are religious zealots that worship technology and each has a screen instead of a face. The screens change depending on the actions of each enemy. Before you attack or while they're throwing a grenade, each has a big smiley face. When wounded or taking fire, it turns to a frown. Those are some of the most interesting enemy designs I've seen in a game, and it's a shame that the rest couldn't be just as unique.

Lowdown:If you're an avid FPS gamer, then Mace Griffin will entertain you, but nothing more. The lack of anything new to the genre just means it's more of the same. It's not a game that you tell your friends about, but it's not trash either. By now, the game should be in the bargain bin, and at that price it should help pass the time until Halo 2.

Gameplay: 7, Graphics/Sound: 8, Innovation: 3, Mojo: 6. Final: 6

FEATURES:

  • Seamless transitions between first person combat and space flight action
  • Bespoke animation system allows motion blending and animation of detached parts of objects (“Motion Blending”)
  • Consistent flight control and weapons management systems in both space and on the ground
  • Modular player vehicle system with a vast array of equipment and upgrades
  • The ability to pilot a wide range of ships
  • Lifelike NPC reaction depending on their intelligence, bravery, health, etc. and in combat will adjust their strategy based on their numbers, types of weapons, available cover, and numerous other conditions
  • Diverse missions, some story driven, some incidental create a dynamic, realistic universe for an immersive experience
  • Large number of player weapons from low to high tech, many unique to this game
  • A huge variety of walk-around environments with different physics, obstacles, inhabitants and creatures
  • High level of visual effects, lighting and sound, utilizing high-spec, optimized Xbox/PC capabilities
  • Multiple weighted skinned animation system
  • Per polygon collision systems
  • Skinned deformable skeletal characters, Skeletal snapping
  • Pixel shading for stunning graphical effects such as phong lighting, dynamic reflections and refractive transparency (Xbox Only)
  • Vertex shaders will be used for skinning and dynamic level-of-detail (Xbox Only)





Mace Griffin
Bounty Hunter

 
Publisher
VU Games
 
Developer
Warthog
 
Genre
Shooter
 
Released
June 2003
 
ESRB
Mature