The Ooze

"Has Troma been here? No, but this game is in the style of a Troma film."

Those of you who are familiar with Troma inc. you know that they like radiation. With such classic titles as ''The Toxic Avenger'' and ''The Class of Nuke'em High'' included in their credits you can make an educated guess that Troma enjoys making films about how hazardous waste can harm the environment and the people around it. In the Ooze you might think that Troma had something to do with it. To my knowledge they didn't. So what do you care? I'll get onto the review now.

In a radioactive power plant Dr. Caine discovers an evil plan that his company is developing to make a whole $*&% load of money. They plan to release a biological agent into the worlds water system and then make the government pay them billions of dollars for the cure. While Dr. Caine is reading information on this plot, his boss just happens to stroll into Caine's office and inject some kind of toxin into his bloodstream. Caine is dehumanized and reduced to a liquid form and poured down a drain. They think he's dead but he is not. He's alive in liquid form, a puddle of toxic waste really. All that's left of the original man is his memory, a skull and a rock hard, slimy fist. Can he regain his humanity and foil his boss' plans of world domination? I don't know. You figure it out.

The Ooze is an interesting game of toxic waste, mutants, crude humor and an evil company with an evil plan. No it's unfortunately not a Troma film, but it's not too shabby either. Here you are, a puddle of toxic waste having to slide around avoiding lasers, bombs, mutants and waste even more hazardous than you are. A very different game, one like I've never seen before. There's no health meter, weapons or even the ability to attack your enemies with a jump kick. There is only a fist and a ''Hocker of Death''. You must travel through mazes of all sorts fighting mutants and trying to stay as large as possible. The view of the game is what I like to call ''Bird's Eye View''. You are looking down on your character and the levels that he must travel through. Like an RPG without the characters that look like anime, magic dust, and the ability to fight by taking turns when you battle an enemy.

The fighting style is unique. You still have a fist that you can maneuver all over the place. You can also spit a ''Lethal Loogey'' at your enemy which is a bit more effective than the fist. Since you are a puddle of toxic waste, you have to keep from drying up. You can collect extra ooze along the way and become a large puddle or you can lose the ooze and become a small puddle. Oh by the way, that ''Hocker of Death'' which is more powerful than punching your enemy also depletes your amount of ooze every time you spit.

The Ooze has a great soundtrack. I love the music in this game. That's one of the reasons I have given it an eight. The music also makes it sound like Troma made this game, but they didn't.

The game is actually very difficult sometimes. Since your skull is your main week point if you get hit in the head by something it's all over. Do not pass go do not collect 200 dollars. Plus you are constantly dodging obstacles and trying not to fall down drainpipes.

This game is pretty cool. Play it won't you?

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/01, Updated 11/21/01