Forsaken 64

"A First Person Shooter with a Fun Twist"

There are not enough games like Forsaken on the N64. First of all, there is the ability to move around in 360 degrees: Up and down, side to side, diagonal. Total, unrestricted movement, even gravity is irrelevant; Isaac Newton would be upset. Then there are the vehicles. The game throws you into the driver’s seat of a Pioncycle, a bike which moves at high speeds and can out-maneuver even the greatest stunt flyers. These bikes can be equipped with numerous power ups which are found all over this deserted, dreadful world of the future. Throw in the bike shredding weapons and you have one awesome game. Missiles that leave your opponents disabled or a smear across the playing field. Mines which surprise un expecting and careless bikers. Plus the main weapons which hack away at the shield which you opponent needs for survival. With this type of mayhem, it is a huge surprise and shame that no developer has tried to produce a game similar to this one on the N64 since.

Here I will break apart a few aspects of the game, ratings are on a scale of 10, simple really.

GRAPHICS: 8
If you ever do slow down enough so that the walls around you are not a blur, you will see that the graphics are detailed and impressive. Although in later levels many of the designs used become repetitive. The explosions are also well done; one can never get tired of seeing a robot drone or an enemy biker get what’s coming to them.

CONTROL: 9
The controls are very quick and responsive. A to move forward, B to move backward, and the C buttons to strafe. These controls take about twenty minutes to master. The only problem most players will find with this scheme is that the + pad is used to cycle weapons, which takes some practice, but perfection of this will come.

SOUND: 7
Ahhh, the beautiful sound of a Titan Missile exploding and instantaneously killing anybody stupid enough to be in the room. The explosions and sound effects are great but they are repetitive. On the soundtrack, some of the songs are dull, but the rest are so upbeat and exhilarating that they make up for the low quality of the others.

MULTI: 9
Slaughtering your friends and AI Bots in a deathmatch is fun, you cannot argue with that. The levels are vast and big, the power ups are great, the action is fast and furious. I would say that the multi player mode is the heart and soul of this game and it is only rivaled by a handful of other games.

REPLAY: 7
About the only thing that will keep you coming back to this game is the multi player mode. Even if your friends are tired of being beat on, the computer will always be there for you. Once you complete the solo levels you will probably play solely multi player. Sure, there will always be a few levels which you will want to play over and over and over, but it is the multi player which will keep you hooked on this game for a long time.

BOTTOM LINE:
I highly recommend this game to any type of gamer. The levels are tough and intense and the multi player is scorching. After playing this you may just have some pity for Mr. Newton and his silly laws of gravity.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/06/01, Updated 03/06/01