by Tom Ham
(4/11/97)
Psygnosis, known for developing killer racing titles, here tries its hand at an action/sports game that takes sports aggression to its logical conclusion: all-out combat to score by any means necessary. With no rules, no referees, and no penalties, Professional Underground League of Pain combines the action and look of basketball, football, and rugby and gives it a futuristic twist.
Combining fast gameplay with some nice graphics and light sourcing effects, League of Pain features armor-clad teams from a worldwide, professional underground league whose contests take place in enclosed arenas. At first glance, League of Pain plays and looks like a decent title, but after extended play, the inadequacies really begin to show through.
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League of Pain sports 16 teams from around the world, 3 playing modes, 23 different camera angles, customized stats, and a management sim. The latter allows gamers to customize player stats and edit team characteristics (including stamina, speed, power, and accuracy) to create the ideal configurations of strength and skill.
The different playing modes include friendly, league, or tournament competition. Friendly is a single match against another player or the computer. League mode has you playing an entire season, and tournament is a series of games against other teams. Other features include instant replay, a simulated jumbotron screen, and power-ups that get thrown down onto the arena floor by the crazed audience.
Gameplay is simple. Two teams of four battle it out in a 3D arena. Players score by throwing a plasma ball into a goal hovering in the center of the arena. The color, or charge, of the ball determines scoring. If you shoot the ball while it carries the other team's charge, it gives the other team points. To charge the ball, players have to run into the opponent's side of the arena and make contact with the charging area for a second. When done correctly, the ball changes color. It's an interesting twist, but doesn't add that much to gameplay.
There are three circles outlined on the arena floor. If you score a goal from the outermost circle, it's worth three points. From the second circle it's two points, and from the inner circle it's one point. Matches are divided into two five-minute halves. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins.
