Blast Corps

"A game with the object to destroy everything. I’m amazed that this was not more successful"

OPENING STATEMENT
Rare came into their own as developers on the Nintendo 64. They took more risks, they thought up new ideas, and they truly mastered the platform that they were working with. Blast Corps was a result of this newfound creativity and freedom that came with the sixty-four bit territory. It has sold less copies than any other of Rare’s Nintendo 64 games, but that does not deter from the fact that it is better than some of them anyway.

GAMEPLAY--10
Well, forgive me. A game in which you are supposed to destroy everything to win is simply sheer genius. The object in Blast Corps is to clear a path for a runaway nuclear transport truck around the country so that it can reach a safe place to detonate. You need to work quickly, efficiently, and logically to clear the perfect path. Because, if you miss a spot, it is all over.

Rare has provided you, the demolition man or woman, with a variety of vehicles to carry out this task with. Each of these vehicles has a different method of destroying a troublesome building. Some plow right into the buildings, while others have a bit of finesse. Learning which type of destruction works the best, and the fastest, for you, is possibly the most important aspect of the gameplay in Blast Corps.

GRAPHICS--5
Rare did all that they could to disguise the blockiness that seems to invade Blast Corps. Luckily, the theme of the game did an excellent job in its own right. Vehicles and buildings can probably hide incessant blockiness better than people, and the former consist of about ninety percent of the graphics. Still, they could not hide it all. This becomes really apparent when you are trying to destroy a large group of things quickly, and in your rush, all you can see is blocks.

Thankfully, the blockiness did not extend to the environments. Rare always filled their Nintendo 64 games with lush, beautifully textured backgrounds, and Blast Corps is no exception. The grounds that your destruction and mayhem will take place on look fantastic. You can even see the differences in vegetation on the ground. Rare did some nice things with the graphics, but not enough nice things to make up for the problems.

MUSIC--4
SOUND--6
The audio in Blast Corps is really a mixed bag. I suppose that since the game is all about mass destruction Rare thought they could easily get away with it. And they really did for the most part. If you do not listen closely, you probably will not hear any music at all. When you do hear it, though, you will notice right away that it is just generic synthesized songs all the way through.

The sound effects in Blast Corps are better, but still not up to the elite level that Rare’s games are usually at. The explosions and destruction noises are decent, but after a while, they will start to sound more fake than Pamela Anderson looks. And, that my friends, is not a good sign at all. The other sound effects really are not very important at all, so apparently Rare decided not to put very much effort in them. Not a good move on their part, as Blast Corps is filled to the brim with either just plain awful sound effects, are sound effects that do not fit the situation of the game.

CONTROL--8
Maddening, rapid destruction needs to control well, and Rare did a good job of that. The biggest problem that I had with the control is the occasional hit detection problems. These problems, when they occurred, caused me to take longer on destroying something, which allowed the runaway nuclear transport truck to catch up to me, which ultimately, usually lost me the level. Yessiree, collision detection is a very important aspect in a game like Blast Corps. Other than those problems, though, this game controlled quite admirably. My on screen characters responded right away to my commands, and the controller configuration was quite logical. And, since I have never seen a game by Rare after Blast Corps with poor collision detection, I believe that they have learned their lesson.

FUN--6
For a game that is all about mass destruction, Blast Corps was inexplicably not all that fun. Maybe it had to do with the multiplayer capabilities, or lack there of. Still, a single player game with this premises should be a blast to play, and somehow Rare screwed it all up. I am not sure how they managed to do it, but Blast Corps is simply not that fun to play after a little while. And, sadly, that is all that there is to it.

CHALLENGE--MEDIUM TO HIGH
I really struggled much of the time when I was progressing through Blast Corps. Part of this had to do with the fact that the difficulty curve was not so much a curve as much a heart rate monitor. On level would be quite easy, and then the next would make you want to gouge your eyes out. This was quite frustrating. Another very difficult aspect of Blast Corps was the fact that, for a nuclear transport truck, the thing moves awfully fast. This means that you have to work very, very fast, and that also makes the difficulty level move up a bit.

REPLAY VALUE--LOW TO MEDIUM
There really is not any reason to play through Blast Corps after beating the game. A couple of the timed bonus stages were fun, but you really do not want to play through them that many times. Then they simply would not be fun anymore. Some multiplayer capabilities beyond simply alternating play, which you need to decide to do manually I might add, as the game does not really allow it, would really help make me want to play Blast Corps more than I did.

PROS
*A game with the object of mass destruction.
*Natural environments are well done.
*You cannot breeze through in one sitting.

CONS
*Where are the multiplayer capabilities?
*’Man-made’ environments are blocky beyond belief.
*Audio is certainly mute-worthy.

CLOSING STATEMENT
With a few small, but important, additions, Blast Corps could have easily been one of the best games on the Nintendo 64. But, as it stands, it is a shallow, fun-for-a-while, romp of mad destruction through Middle America. Blast Corps is one of those cult hits, that will always have a few immensely devoted fans, but many other will not be nearly endeared to it. Find out which camp you are in, and plan accordingly.

OVERALL--6

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/01, Updated 08/30/01