Headhunter

"The Dreamcast's answer to the Metal Gear series?"

I don't know how much of a storm the original Metal Gear made all those years ago (was it on the NES or MSX or something) but the more recent ones have made serious impacts on gaming. Metal Gear Solid and Goldeneye can be blamed for practically starting the current trend of sneaky espionage games, tactically avoiding the sight of enemies and disposing of them silently so as not to draw attention.

Enter Headhunter, the Dreamcast's very own stealth-em-up, providing all the sneaky action you could hope for, coupled with some Resident Evil style puzzles thrown in, and even a biking section to get you between areas, Crazy Taxi style.

So, the story. For those of you who like the Metal Gear Solids but can't understand the politics of the situations, this is a lot simpler. Yes, there are politics, but not a great deal.

It's the near future. Organs are highly valued (not the musical kind, but maybe they are as well) and hence organ donation is a very lucrative business, with the wealthy paying for the kidneys of the poor and that sort of thing. Rises in crime and people killing others for organs to sell is on the rise. Enter the Headhunters - bounty hunters who get licensed, given weapons and then can go arrest any criminal they feel like and pick up some of the bond (criminals are valued on a criminal stock market). Playing Jack Wade, you wake up on an operating theatre, fight your way out of a bizarre medical facility, and collapse in the street. Waking up in hospital with amnesia, you find out you were the top Headhunter, and your new assignment is to find the murderer of the Anti-Crime Network's head.

And hence the plot continues from there. It gets really good at times (I won't spoil it) and there is some really good voice acting and FMV to accompany plot developments, and there are times where you will be genuinely surprised at what transpires.

Having to get your Headhunter license comes first, and this is actually quite fun. It's like the Crazy Box of stealth games - testing you to see how well you can do things. You get new challenges up throughout the game, and completing them gives you more access to criminal records and more weapons. Of course you have to do these to progress but it's still quite fun.

The graphics in Headhunter are really good, with the character models nice, little slowdown and popup is only noticeable on the bike sections. It's not as good as all the latest games such as Metal Gear Solid 2 but it's still really nice. The only problem really is the camera, which doesn't always behave as it's a 3rd person behind-the-player one. The camera can be corrected though with the touch of a button (X I think it was).

The sound in the game is also good, but also repetitive. There amount of music tracks in this must be very little, as when not in alert mode it plays the same music very quietly in the background. The alert music is well done and fades well into the standby one, then back into the standard. The title music is really good though, and just reminds me of The Rock for some reason.

The atmosphere in this game though is suspect. It's not a tense action thriller like Metal Gear Solid with it's perpetual Arctic night scenes. Instead this is a sunny Californian B-movie style, but on occasions it is able to pull off a really cool rainy nighttime rooftop atmosphere. Just wish there were more of them.

Bosses in this game are also quite cool, more or less each of which having their own pattern to attacking and it's up to you to figure it out.

The puzzles also are quite good fun, though not anything that will especially tax you. A lot of the time it's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing as you get necessary objects/codes to work together to unlock a door or something. They don't take long either, as locations are quite close to each other so there's no running through corridors for more than a minute to complete the next part of the puzzle. Convenient shortcuts can also be provided as doors are unlocked etc. There are a few other ''puzzles'' involving the copying of sequences, such as when you hack into a computer or deactivate bombs, but this is nothing special. There's also a Shenmue-style QTE in there as well, though this is really easy. You've just got to remember it's the analogue pad to use, not the digital one as I did (and then got shot twice).

The actual movement and controls in the game are excellent though. In bike scenes they're just like every other DC racing game, but in the stealth bits they're really good. The camera could do with some work (as said before), but everything else is superb. While the digital buttons cycle through weapons (START can bring up a Resident Evil-style inventory), and there are separate buttons for inching along walls, draw your weapon, action, change target, crouch and roll. It all works really well.

The items you get are also really good, with a novel feature of being able to throw old bullet shells to distract people. Other ''helpful'' collectibles include adrenaline (which gives you a new health bar which doesn't affect your regular one, but which decreases slowly and also makes you more agile), truth serum, and some infra-red goggles.

All sounds really good, no? Unfortunately there are a few flaws. The game isn't very long (but it'll take you longer to finish than the Metal Gear Solids) but after that there's not much new. There's a version 2 to play afterwards, but that's more of the same but a bit harder. The bike takes a while to get the hang of, and it can be frustrating trying to earn the skill points on the bike by getting enough speed and not hitting stuff. The camera can sometimes misbehave (I didn't find this much of a problem though) but apart from that, there's little else. The only other problem is the atmosphere and scenario which gives this a B-movie feel compared to the action-thriller of the Metal Gear Solids. But still, B-movies can be really good.

So, let's weigh it out =

Pros
++++
+ Really good graphics
+ Diverse
+ Excellent controls
+ Nice puzzles
+ Excellent storyline
+ Good soundtrack
+ The load screens (these can be genuinely funny)

Cons
----
- Bike handling takes a while to get used to
- Lack of much music
- Atmosphere sometimes feels so B-movie
- Camera sometimes misbehaves
- You'll finish it and crave for more, thinking ''is that the end?''

Overall
Overall, I'd say this is a bloody good game. Take your time to try it out and understand it and it'll prove excellent value for money. A few little problems, but nothing that stops this game from being excellent. It's just not all that excellent. B-movie feel may disappoint some, but so what? B-movies can still be fun, right?

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/13/02, Updated 03/13/02