|
Giants
Giants- a Love story
Where to start?
Giants: Citizen Kabuto is the new game from
Planet Moon - a more talented, warped, hilarious group
you will not find. The concept behind Giants
is rather simple: a group of young high-tech. armed,
mercenaries called the Meccaryns (Meccs for short) end
up on the Island after their ship is…er…passed by the
giant
| Software
Specials |
|
| |
| Screenshots |
|
|
| |
|
Stats
|
|
Genre:
Action
Release
Date:
Available
Publisher:
Interplay
Developer:
Planet Moon
Grab
the Blood Patch
ESRB:
Teen
Requirements:
Win
95/98/2000/ME
Pentium II 350 MHZ
64MB RAM
875MB HD Space
4X CD-ROM
DirectX sound card
8MB Direct3D video
keyboard and mouse
|
| |
|
Downloads
|
|
Stream
a Demo:
Powered
by
Stream Theory
|
space fish that swallowed it. This island, floating
alone in space has a population made up of three races:
Sea Reapers - the mystical females of the seas; The
Smarties - the annoying but sadly useful indigenous
population; and Kabuto - the towering, massive, angry
monster of the island. The Mecc, Sea Reaper, Kabuto
triangle is the main source of conflict and through
the course of the game you play all three races, starting
with the Meccs.
That’s the plot - or as much as I will give you as it
is rather fun to discover all of the twists and humor
for yourself. To be honest, once you cut past the great
graphics, gameplay and sound, it is the humor that will
keep you in this game. The more I played the more I
was willing to forgive small things because I was laughing
so damn much. The tone of the humor is very British,
but does translate very well.
Note - Two things occurred just prior to the release
of Giants:
1) The blood was changed from Red to Green and,
2) The Sea Reaper, Delphi, got a bikini top.
I am annoyed at both of these things. Delphi is still
rather topless on the box, and it does have a Mature
rating, but there is also no warning on the box that
it has been ‘cleaned up’. Given games like Unreal,
Quake, Kingpin, and Soldier of Fortune
already out, blood in games is not exactly a new thing,
so what’s the fuss? Also given the act that Delphi is
one of the few normally proportioned females to appear
in game in a long time I was very pissed that she was
covered up in the end. I saw/see no reason for either
of these changes as they do not affect the game in any
way except to censor it. Happily there is a work around
for the Bikini top (after installing the game - check
out the “bin” Directory and delete or rename the file
named “arpfix.gzp”) and there is a patch for the blood
- (BloodRed.exe, which I have uploaded with the review
and screen shots). Let the games come out and stop pushing
an artificial sense of ‘morality’ on them. What’s next?
V-chips in Computers to filter violence in games? Get
a life and get out of my games!
Back to the review.
No part of Giantswas ignored to give the player
a complete experience. Even the manual, which is normally
the “toss in the recycle bin” part of any game, is well
written and damn funny to boot. Leave it unread at your
own peril.
Installation is a cool 1+GB and almost seems small by
the rising standards of the gaming industry. I had no
trouble with installation, loading or configuration.
This was not a big surprise to me as the pre-beta I
played some months ago was pretty damn stable already.
Once you create an ID you can choose either the Single
player or Multiplayer. I recommend both. The single
player is one of the most challenging games I have played
and the MP is a great way to practice and learn more
about each race.
Giants - A Singles Story
The single player mode of Giants is over 25 levels
of unique gameplay. As you progress through the plot
you will end up playing all three races, and that is
both good and bad. The good thing is that by doing so
the pace and interest level of the game are both pretty
high. Once you get used to the Meccs you are pulled
over to the Sea Reaper (Delphi) and then on to Kabuto.
Each race has a unique set of key configurations, and
even though there are some similarities (both the Meccs
and Delphi have ranged weapons in the form of guns for
the former and bows for the latter), there is a learning
curve to each race and it does break up the potential
monotony of the game.
With each the movement is similar but the attacks are
very different. The Meccs have guns and a gyrocopter
with which to sow the seeds of havoc, Delphi has her
bows, sword and her spells to unleash upon her enemies,
and Kabuto has his size and his ability to run. While
that may not sound like much, it is, trust me.
Control of your character is quite easy but takes time
to master. For you Tribes players out there,
the Meccs will be easy to play with Delphi the second
easiest. Kabuto is a challenge no matter who you are.
Each story segment has 2-4 missions and all are pretty
unique. They also introduce you to all of the controls
in a nice easy way that allows you to get good before
you are really put to the test.
For Meccs, the main thing to remember is that the “e”
key is a zoom view - use it! Sniping at a distance will
save your hit points. Secondly, save the heavy weapons
for when you really need them.
With Delphi, the zoom is just as important but your
‘Turbo’ mode is the one thing to pay attention to. It
can get you in and out of combat very quickly. Turboing
to an enemy, casting a spell or dicing him with your
sword, and turboing out is an effective hit and run
tactic that will serve you well.
With Kabuto, remember that everything is a weapon, anything
you can pick up you can throw, Vimps, Meccs, Smarties,
boulders, etc. You can also run, which is a fast short
sprint that can surprise the heck out of your enemies.
One caveat is that there is no save feature while in
mission. With any other game I would be bitching a blue
streak about this, but given the relatively short length
of each mission this is not a problem. This is not to
say the game is short, and it is not to say that the
missions are easy.
All in all, the single player is an addictive, hilarious
romp that will make you work and pays of handsomely.
Giants-
a Couples Story.
This brings me to my first real complaint I have. In
the three way combat (Mecc v Reaper v Kabuto) the game
is balanced against Kabuto. As Kabuto you have to eat
smarties to grow and if you are killed, you respawn
at your base and lose a level of growth. There are only
a maximum of 10 smarties allowed in the MP maps. If
the Meccs and Reapers capture all the smarties you have
no way of reaching full size again. If a Mecc or Reaper
dies, they simply respawn at their base, rearm, and
are good to go. Once Kabuto dies the first time, he
is destined to lose.
Other than that problem the MP mode of Giants is one
of the best MP fight fests I have ever played. As usual
Lag is dependant upon who is playing in your game but
the network code seems pretty stable.
You can play a Mecc v Mecc, Mecc, v Reaper, Reaper v
Reaper and Mecc v Reaper v Kabuto game with three types
of games.
Deathmatch is pretty self-explanatory: Kill the enemy
as many times as possible.. Capture the Smartie is a
variation of capture the flag only the flag is an obnoxious
Smartie that complains when captured. The third is Base
Building- the hardest as it means not only stalking
and killing but attacking your enemies base on regular
basis to keep them from getting too far ahead.
In MP the number of points per kill, the amount of meat
the Vimps yield or even the time allowed in the game
are all variable and lend them selves to some very fast,
hectic battles.
With the one complaint above, this is arguably the best
part of the game.
Giants- A Graphic Story
The Graphics in Giants bring me to my second and last
problem of the game- clipping. It is appalling. In one
early mission you have to rescue Smarties from the water
and the Piranhas will actually follow you on to rocks
or land, They can’t attack but they will splash around
on solid rock , raising waves and ripples. Rocks pass
through objects and buildings don’t touch the ground
on hills.
The reason this is such an annoyance is that the rest
of the game is spectacular to look at. The lens flaring
from the sun is awe inspiring and all the models are
damn near perfect. The ground textures have to be seen
to be believed and with all the details just cranked
I still had a solid framerate.
Those who know me, know I love to tweak graphic setting
and Giants allows you to really go to town in that sense.
Finding the just right combination of settings to give
the best Framerate and image quality can take some time,
but only if you are a geek.
Giants - A sonic Story
The sound in Giants has to be split into two sections:
Character and ambient/ Soundtrack
The Character voice acting is superb. Watching the cut
scenes is like watching a fine Situation comedy. The
models are perfect and the vice work only adds to that
perfection. As I have mentioned (a lot) This game is
damn funny and it is a combination of the animation,
dialogue and acting that makes it so. I would advise
watching each cut scene several times to pick up on
all the jokes, sight gags and innuendo.
The Ambient sounds are well done and add to the game.
Pay attention to the sounds around you as they can save
you the occasional stomping.
The music is perfect and Interplay is now selling the
soundtrack for $9.95.
Giants is easy on the eyes and ears
Giants Citizen Kabuto
Giants is one of those hybrid games that people will
walk by because they cannot figure out what kind of
game it is. Part RPG, part RTS, part Action and part
Adventure it is all game and one of the best out there.
Do not let this one get by you as it is one of the most
original games ever done and work like this should be
supported, clones are cool in science but in the gaming
world it’s the originals that rule and Giants will rule
for a very long time.
Concept
Too cool, too funny. |
100
|
Gameplay
Easy to learn with three types of gameplay to
master.
|
98
|
Graphics
Beautiful Skies, textures, models and horrible
clipping. |
90
|
Sound
Fantastic voice action and sound.
|
100
|
Technical
Clean as a whistle. Some odd MP balance issues
. |
97
|
Overall
Original,
fun, challenging game- one of the best. |
97
|
|
