Introduction:State of Emergency is a game where the story really doesn’t come into play. The main point you should know about the game is that you’re in the middle of a riot and you have to do some killing, killing and more killing. Well maybe I should have added a little destruction in there too. State of Emergency is priced at $30 Can bran spanking new, which makes this game a little more intriguing. Overall I would stay away from this cartoonish killer.

The Game:As I covered in the introduction there isn’t really a plot in this game. It really doesn’t make a difference since the gameplay is so hectic. State of Emergency was released for the Playstation 2 a while ago and to it received many mixed reviews. The Xbox version of the game looks better and runs at a better frame rate, but as besides the graphical part the game hasn’t improved or changed much.

The gameplay doesn’t amount to much in State of Emergency. You run around in an enclosed environment, killing and destroying for no reason. There are a lot of weapons and a few characters that you can play, but really it’s not worth mentioning. The old school Double Dragon beat downs which are fun against multiple enemies, but again nothing really worth remembering. There are several power-ups which you can get to help you keep creating chaos, time and health will be your friend. Overall the gameplay of the single player missions are rather poor and uninspiring.

If you feel inclined you can do some damage in the multiplayer mode with your friends. There are a few different modes, which are the most fun. Deathmatch and Survivor mode seemed to please me the most. I actually found the multiplayer mode to be as much fun as the actual game.

Graphics & Sound:State of Emergency’s graphics will not amaze you on the character detail, but it will show you a lot of characters once on the screen. That is the main technique advancement made within the game by Vis Entertainment. The overall feel of this game is a cartoonish take on humans which i presume is good for the censors. The models are rather basic as well as the environments in the game. The graphics are better than the ps2 version, but it’s nothing to write home about.

Mojo:Mindless violence, if I had no mind I would love this game. The mojo is creeping up a bit because riots in malls could be a good fun loving concept. Too bad they couldn’t pull it off in SoE. The mojo is low, baby.

Lowdown:Why they bothered porting this to the Xbox is beyond the Downtowns comprehension. The game has a few good points, one being the low price, but besides that State of emergency has really nothing to offer.

Mindless fun, multiplayer mayhem, bored after one hour.... Save Your Cash!

Gameplay: 5, Graphics/Sound: 5, Innovation: 3, Mojo: 2. Final: 4