Posted by Spanner on May 19, 2011 20:48 (364 days ago)
Brought to you by the kings of kitsch who put together the awesome police brutality simulator, APB, EFTPOTRM (as we shall henceforth call it to save my good typing hand) is replete with exactly the same kind of parodical, camp cartoony vibes. Personally, I have a soft spot for any kind of pastiche, which gives a sci-fi send up like this one all the more to get hold of when you take into account the great gameplay as well.
You (and a friend, if you have one) take on the roles of Jake and Duke; two fearless, corn fed, bubbling Crock Pots of all-American testosterone on a mission to save hapless, screaming, scantily clad stereotyped damsels in distress by indiscriminately shooting first and asking questions... never! Gord bliss ‘murca, y’all!
Sent to Planet X to free the humans who’ve been enslaved by the nefarious Reptilions and forced to build a robot army to destroy the Earth, Jake and Duke (my auntie’s dog was called Duke, by the way) traverse a colourful, multi-level, action packed isometric playing field with trusty ray guns and dependable bombs; rending all manner of mechanical and alien antagonists asunder.
A feature I find very appealing in any game genre is destructible scenery, and EFTPOTRM certainly has more than its fair share. Careful not to make this kind of wanton destruction too gratuitous, however, a host of goodies (and a few baddies, for that matter) are built into aspects of the clean-cut background which is susceptible to your well armed hero’s ferocious outpourings.
Added to the uncovering of upgrades through unnecessary use of firearms is a sub-plot of mazes and puzzles: requiring hidden switches to be thrown to activate escalators and allow progress. These are kept extremely simplistic so as not to distract from the real purpose of the gameplay (blowing up marauding robots) but provide just the right amount of tension when you reach the ascension point to the next level only to discover the damn staircase hasn’t been turned on. A quick charge back through the onslaught of mechanical mayhem looking for the switch is exactly what the game needs to keep the player’s eyeballs glued to the screen.
With magnificent isometric titles like EFTPOTRM populating the arcades, it’s a wonder 3-D games ever caught on. Here we see pseudo 3-D used to its fullest and finest, creating a superb futuristic manufacturing plant environment that’s easy to navigate and bulging at the sides with the same kind of hidden detail and trademark quirks that would shortly be seen again in APB. There is a quality about both these games that’s very difficult to quantify, yet lifts them clear of similar titles to be placed on a pedestal which isn’t so much high, as it is unique.
Subtle nuances are woven throughout the game implying an eccentric intelligence dwelling within the arcade cabinet; poking its head out for no purpose other than infusing an added feeling of exuberance to the gameplay. Maybe it’s the generated speech, the cheeky glances at the ‘camera’ by the characters or the lively cut-scenes (or, most likely, a combination of all these factors). It’s difficult to know. Suffice to say the player is granted a distinct feeling of participation in the story, rather than one of control over a single character; an aspect of EFTPOTRM that was vital to its success.
Everything about EFTPOTRM suggests the creative team worked hard to build a game that first and foremost pleased themselves, containing everything they personally wanted to see in an entertainment medium. This kind of unabashed self-conciliation is a rarely used yet powerful weapon for the game designer who is able to successfully wield it, as the resulting game is sure to be an image as close to personal perfection as could ever be achieved.
And to be sure, the foundations of EFTPOTRM were so stable, even the home conversions were very well received (particularly by the Atari ST players who were promised a demo of the game on a magazine cover disk, but were mistakenly provided with the full version!) as the infinitely accessible gameplay was simple enough to recreate yet inspired enough to ensure that no matter what the system, the game remained the same.
Quality game! Grew up on the ST version! I know when I've tried it on other platforms the controls can sometimes be hard to sort.
I always loved the music and I'd get very tense on boss and maze levels simply because the music was so intimidating. Well I was about 7 or 8 at the time!
May 26, 2011 13:08:27 (
358 days ago
)
