"No, just no...."

Well, another piece of crap from Atari. I feel bad for them but hey, they get people to buy into their hype and it works every time. Their games always look so good at first. But when I play them, I get disappointed. It started with Enter the Matrix for me. OMG that was so horrible. I mean I had a little fun with it and it's my favorite Atari game out so far but...it was just bad. Then it went to Terminator 3 and that was crap. Dragonball Z was really good but it was cheap. Now on to this....This game would be great if not for the things I am about to explain.

Story: ???

Can I really rate the story? It doesn't really have one. I think this game was going for more of a multiplayer type game so their really isn't much of a story to it.

Graphics: 5/10

Wow, Atari graphics are getting better. Seriously this is about as good as they come. Dragonball Z: Budokai was nice and they should stick with the cel shading but they didn't for this one. The arenas are just basic areas and are very plan. The Zoids are way to metallic looking and plain as well. I was not that impressed with the graphics in this game.

Sound: 4/10

Ouch, my ears. The music in this game is so horrible it's not even funny. It sounds like some old school video game music but much much worse. The sounds of the actual Zoids and voiceovers are good but I am not sure if the voices are from the show. I can't remember the show hasn't been on in a LONG time. But the sound is just terrible. I am feeling generous though and am giving it a 4.

Gameplay: 4/10

Well, I really liked the game itself. Being my favorite Zoids is fun. The only problem is that the game is way too hard. Atari seems to be known for making games hard. Not in the good way which would be hard/challenging. No, I am talking about it's hard in an unfair way. Getting through the missions in Mission Mode and especially Zoid Battle (hardest in my opinion) is tedious and frustrating. I mean first of all, the AI. This is the worst AI I have seen in any game lately. It's just terrible. I will find myself dying multiple times (this is where the hard part of the game starts) because my teammate will run off in some random direction and won't come back no matter what. The only time my teammate ever seems to start fighting is after I am dead already. Don't get me wrong, the AI for all computer players are stupid but it seems like Atari game your teammate an overly stupid AI because I guess they thought that would be more challenging. Well, it's not. Another thing that makes it hard is that both in Zoid Battle and Mission Mode you start out with weak Zoids. But Zoid Battle is the worst. You start with $30,000. The best Zoids I saw for that much were the Desert Liger (pretty good) and some Double Arm Lizard thing. Those both costed exactly $30k though. Even with those I find myself getting killed fast by around the 3rd round in Zoid Battle. The battles are all random depending on your character it seems but here is an example. I fought the famous Liger Zero and DiBison (Zoids of the 2 main characters in the show) in the 3rd round and I think there are around 10 or 12 rounds. That's pretty early to be fighting the Liger Zero which is like $50k and one of the best tiger type Zoids in the game in my opinion. I am talking with a Desert Liger or a well upgraded Command Wolf (both pretty decent) I am getting killed with one combo from the Liger Zero. Basically, if I get hit once or twice from it, it's over. That's pretty tough to avoid when fighting 2 Zoids by yourself. Yes it's a 2 on 2 match and my teammate is on the other side of the map doing whatever leaving me alone. So I die often cause of the crappy AI and Atari's "challenge" system as I am calling it.

Overall: Rent it first. This game is crap in my opinion. I got DBZ: Budokai and they had the same thing... The AI was bad and the game was cheap. The characters are always more powerful than you and faster and better in all ways and they cheat. So rent it first but most hardcore gamers will probably not like this much. I would say even a fan of Zoids should rent it.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 09/20/04