Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko

"This is the Gex we all knew he could be"

OPENING STATEMENT
Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko is a follow-up to an average adventure game. Gex 3 is hardly average though, as Crystal Dynamics fixed everything that was a problem from Enter the Gecko, and the some of what was not.

GAMEPLAY--8
The gameplay is fairly simple. You are given a list of three objectives (for example ‘Kill the Evil Santa’ or ‘Survive the Hedge Maze’) to complete in each level. You get a remote each time you do so. Having so many remotes from previous levels will allow you to enter other levels. There are also Gold Remotes, flies, and many other things within the levels you need to collect. These collection things may sound to you like they get tedious, but they never do. There are always the occasional enemies to get in your way, of course. Some enemies can only be killed with one attack, and others can be killed with all of them. Jumping is not as important in this game as in Gex 2: Enter the Gecko (Yes!), and that was one of my main problems with it. The levels are also tons bigger, and small levels was my other main problem with it.

GRAPHICS--8
The graphics are much improved. Everything is clearer than in Gex 2: Enter the Gecko, and this makes the navigation of some levels, especially the ones with snow, much easier. Speaking of in the snow levels, Crystal Dynamics used a method for showing Gex’s footprints that really impressed me. Gex himself is very well done, looking like a gecko would look if it stood on two legs and was five feet tall. He does not look like a Lego gecko anymore. Fire looks realistic as well. But, perhaps, the greatest effect in this game, is the ice effect. You can see through it, but yet you can easily tell it is solid. Just go through the first level especially, and be amazed at the multiple, all excellent, ice effects. All you need to do is look at the transmission from Agent X-Tra at the beginning of the game, to see how great the graphics will be, as that effect truly looks like it is supposed to.

MUSIC--8
SOUND--7
The music, while not spectacular, fits hand in hand with the level. For the winter levels, you get a song that reminds you of the Holidays. On the scarier levels, you get creepy songs from Halloween. The music also dims when you go underwater, adding to the realism that is not really present, since you are controlling a Gecko. All of the songs are instrumental, which probably fits this game better.

The sound effects are good, too. The voice acting is well done, and the sound quality is not fuzzy at all. (Even while the picture is. The picture is supposed to be, though, for a little while.) Inside the levels, Gex’s attacks all have sound that fit them. The tongue sounds are especially funny. There is one sound I do not get, though. When you whip a television set with your tail, the television set kind of makes a whirring noise. Who knows.

And most importantly, we have the Gexisms (As I like to call them). They are always entertaining and amusing as usual. And (drum roll please) they are not said more than once per trip per level! That gets rid of one of the more annoying problems in Gex 2: Enter the Gecko.

CONTROL--7
The controls are all set up perfectly. ‘Start’ pauses the game, and all of the rest of the buttons are used in the execution of different moves and attacks. All of these attacks are fairly easy to pull off, and they can be done so with the press of only one or two buttons. Gex responds, usually, right away to my commands, but, occasionally, Gex was a bit sluggish.

FUN--7
This game is one of the most fun adventure games since Banjo-Kazooie. The mini-levels within the level always will give you something to do. (The snowboarding mini-level is more fun than many snowboarding games!) The collecting never gets tedious, and it is always entertaining. Then why did I only give it a seven, you ask? Well, if there ever was a game that would have been perfect with cooperative play, this was it. And it does not have it.

Since, there is no multiplayer support, this game relies on the fun factor of the missions alone. And the missions pass with flying colors. There are always enough enemies to kill, but never too many so you instantly die. There are fun mini-games and mini-levels, and, most of all, the levels are always completely different, so you will never feel like you are in the same place twice, unless you return to an earlier level. I do like the way you got to the levels more in Gex 2: Enter the Gecko. It was easier to get to everything quickly.

CHALLENGE--MEDIUM
The challenge truly depends on the objective you are trying to complete. The fact that you can switch objectives in the middle of the level without having to exit it and tell anyone else that you have is great. Some objectives (Kill Evil Santa) are more difficult than others (Whacking the Five Ice Sculptures), while others are the perfect difficulty (Kill the Five Elves). None of the objectives are ever so difficult that you throw your controller through your television monitor though.

REPLAY VALUE--LOW TO MEDIUM
Once you beat the game, there really is not that much that makes you want to play it again. Nothing new is really unlocked, and, well, you will have done everything in the game already. But, the game will take you long enough to beat the first time, so you will still play it a lot. The low Replay Value is probably the worst thing about Gex: 3 Deep Cover Gecko.

CLOSING STATEMENT
Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko is a very fun adventure game, with little replay value. If you liked the first one or the second one, you will certainly like this one, and if you did not, so much is improved that you may.

OVERALL--8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/00, Updated 07/18/01