You can find some brutal stuff involving fists on the 'net.
Publisher: Capcom/THQ Australia
Mon, 17 October 2005
by: Jason
This game reaches back into the far reaches of time, to simpler times, when games were all about points and 20 cent pieces or dollar coins. Hopefully some of you will be old enough to remember games called final fight, double dragon, vendetta, the premise was simple, beat the living crap out of anybody silly enough to stand in your way.
This is only my humble opinion, but I feel this game is the spiritual successor to final fight; it takes the above principle and updates it with shiny new graphics and effects
(The bruising and blooded noses look great) and several new and not so new ideas.
The game has 2 modes, a story mode if you will and a couple of fairly standard Vs modes that are probably okay for a while with a few mates, but it's the story mode that will probably make anybody stick around. You begin with your choice of one of five mafia who have been framed by their boss; all of witch have the requisite different looks, different attributes and fighting styles.
 | | You know that jacket makes you look gay right? Not that there's anything wrong with that. |
The fighting is not overly complicated with a punch button, a kick button a block button and a context sensitive button (what it does varies depending on the circumstances) which one of these people you chose doesn't seem to make a great deal of difference to the game with the object of the story being a big steaming plate of revenge, heavily garnished with a good old fashioned ass kicking.
A few new tricks have been employed to try and retain your attention and most of these revolve around what happens after a fight, fights in the game come in two flavors, one a fairly basic free for all beat em up against one or many opponents and utilizing anything that comes to hand to deliver some serious damage and usually ending with some experience gained and two, a closer focus one on one battle that makes use of a second energy bar below the usual health bar. Once this bar is depleted a quick press of the circle button leads to a cutscene and a menu with several options.
The first option is to recruit your opponent to your gang (most will be happy to join you and can be added to your party with a phone call), or you could rob them reliving them of all their cash, interrogate them for possibly useful (more likely useless) information or just finish administering the almighty beating you started, leaving your opponent with a face resembling fresh roadkill. While this isn't a bad game it gives the impression of been there done that bought the bloody t shirt, okay you can change clothes, get different hairstyles and even get plastic surgery all of witch supposedly contribute to lowering the two "wanted" meters in the top left of your screen(blatant nod to the GTA series there). In practice these meters make very little difference to game play as it is often easier to just bash anybody in your way rather than make a long detour to a clothes shop or barber.
 | | A zoot suit riot! |
The music is well suited but will very rapidly get annoyingly repetitive, the sound effects are of a high quality with fists and feet applied to faces sounding satisfying enough, but overall this game has very little long lasting appeal, more of one of those that you pull out for a quick bout of mindless violence after a night at the pub and then forget just as quickly.
by: Jason
More articles by Jason
More fun than being belted with a sack of doorknobs, but only just. | |
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