The Grid

"Midway's best game since MK2!"

When I went to an arcade to play Time Crisis II like I always do, it was full. So, I decided to go try some other stuff out. Soul Calibur and the other games I ususally play were full too. Then, I notice this big game which had 2 people playing at once with one port open. I figured, what the heck, and tried it out. Immediately it asked for my name and a pin number. After fiddling with the characters and pin number, I selected the ninja dude and started playing. Immediately I died, but after I got a weapon and started to walk around and get used to the controls I realised how much fun it was.

When I first saw it, I wasn't too thrilled by the graphics. I mean, I had been playing games like Soul Calibur on the DC and this looked a little worse than Sonic Adventure. Meh, it's not too hot. Then later, I found out the game was made in 2000. That's very impressive for the simple fact that the best fighting games out there look about as good as the PSX version of Tekken 3. This is miles ahead of it and the new PS2 hardware for the arcade machines hadn't come out yet. So, yeah, that's impressive.

Gameplay-wise, it's one of the most fun multiplayer arcade games I've played in a long time. It's been so long since I can remember really playing a fun multiplayer game which allowed more than 2 players. The last really good one I remember was X-Men. This was a welcome refreshment. And now, instead of working together, we're killing each other! That is nice. When you start playing you find different weapons and basically are just put in a deathmatch in this big open arena. You can fire your weapon, jump, or do your special move. Each character has a special move. You'd think a game like this would be fun for 5 minutes but then you'd get bored but you are wrong. After the game was won they kept playing and so did I. I kept popping in quarter after quarter so I could keep playing this awesome game.

When the game is over you hear yourself screaming ''But he only beat me by 1 kill!'' or ''And I was sooo close to the rocket launcher!''. You can't just play it once, it's too addictive. It plays like Quake, only it goes at a constant 6 frames a second, there is a bigger variety in characters and weapons, and its just more mischiveous. There's not as much blood, but even with just 3 people it kinda simulates what's going on when there's 30 people on Quake II. Every couple seconds somone has just gotten a new weapon and is blowing your body apart. It's very fast paced, so it'll take a bit of practice to get used to it. But, needless to say, it's worth trying.

Its control is arguably its only problem. While when you get used to it you will eventually not notice a problem, it is rather hard at first getting used to move a giant ball to look around and a stick to move forward. Once you get used to it it's not a problem, but until then it'll cause you to be killed pretty quickly if playing agaist pros. However, one thing which you can't deny even if you aren't used to the controls yet is that they are very smoothe. It is very easy to look around and walk around and doesn't have that jerky control feeling. Maybe its because its using a giant mouse ball, but that does help when you're running from a guy with a nail-gun who just got a rocket launcher.

You can't really hear the music very well, but its decent. The sound is quite good though. The announcer regularly speaks throughout the match while you're playing, and you can even customize your character to have the announcer call you by a certain nickname while you're fighting. That comes in handy, and is good for a couple laughs. So, you don't really worry much about the sound since you are in a noisy arcade, but if you actually can hear it it's nothing to brag about but in no way a problem.

The game also has a lot of replay value, especially for an arcade game. Thanks to the PIN codes, you can save your character's data into the arcade console and access him again later assuming the employee doesn't turn the machine off. If you're not going head-to-head with friends you can play the single player by yourself. As you kill more people and beat more levels you get more money. The money can be used to unlock better weapons, armor, and even secret characters. Among the secret characters is Scropion, Sub-Zero, and Noob Sabiot, all from Mortal Kombat. Even if those were the only secrets that would be enough but there is at least 3 others you can unlock depending on how high a score you achieve when you beat the game.

So, overall, you have a game with the style and engine of Quake, mixed in with the comic mischeif and sheer chaos of Smash Bros. This gives you a very fun weird but totally amazing party 3rd person shooter you'll want to play again and again. It makes you think what would happen if they ported it to console? I think they would have a hit on their hands, but that's just me.

Rating: 9/10

My tilt: 10/10

Overall: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/09/02, Updated 09/09/02