State of Emergency

"This will turn heads for it's originality, but lacks real lasting value"

The first time you pop this game in, you are likely to think this is the most violent and outrageous game you have ever played. From heads flying off, to hundreds of guys running around on screen at once. There are so many crazy things going on. There are a ton of weapons that are all very fun to play with and lots of cool things to use from around the enviornment. Its a very original game, something the guys over at rockstar are pro's at doing. But is it as good as GTA3 is? Well not quite, although it is very fun and very gruesome, there is not even close to the depth of GTA3. Sure blowing guys up is fun, but how many times can you do it before you get sick of it? It gets very repeptitive very quickly. The missions are pretty cool, and there are a ton of them. The levels are vast, with very comfortable playing conditions. One of the coolest things in this game is the seriously large number of crazy innocent (and not so innocent) people running around all at the same time. Hundreds can be desplayed on screen at once, and that means hundreds of heads to blow off! You will see various people running away through the mall with tv's over their heads, or a fridge or what have you. And then there are the mad security guards and gang members running around in frenzy, which you must eliminate. The crazy riots in this game are just a marvel to look at, and be a part of. You can blow out windows of buildings, blow up cars, building, and kill everything that walks with your extremely vast arsenal. Some various ways to kill: spray, taser, shotgun, m16, grenades, molotov coctail, assault rifle, flame thrower, g.launcher, sword, knife, axe, club, bat, head (yeah, a head), bench, trashcan, tv, you get the idea... it can go on forever. There are lots of things to use, but after a while... it all comes down to one big conclusion: it's just another beat em up. But a beat-em up at its prime

~Breakdown~
Graphics 9.5
This game deserves serious nods for the technical achievments. All the people running around screen at once looks totally sweet, blowing up buildings and cars looks even sweeter. You will find yourself smiling even more from killing the people in this game then you ever did with the peds from GTA3.

Sound 8.5
The enviornment sounds very good with all the people running around. There is also a crazy announcer guy that yells at you about what you shoudl attack and stuff, it gets repetitive but still, he sounds pretty cool. The news caster rocks too. Im just grinning thinking about it.

Gameplay 8.0
Very hardcore killing. That pretty much sums it up. But if I can sum it up any other way, I would say: just another beat-em up. But its really more than that, because of the enviornments you play in. There are really no strong complaints other than the lack of depth. A target locking system would be nice, but it works fine without it. The controls are flawless other than that. Camera is perfect as well.

Replay Value 7.0
You will have a blast playing this game. No doubt. But after conquering all the levels, how many times can you rush through the level tring to clear as many guys as you can in a set time limit... or elminating everyone, or just killing random guards. Chaos mode is really the only one worth playing over again. Revolution (aka, story mode) has lots of missions, but not really worth goign through again. You will have lots of fun playing through Chaos tho. Trust me.

Rent or Buy?
Depends how you're doing financially right now. If you got the cash to spend, pick this up. You will like it (if you like violent games). If you dont, definitely rent it. Its worth a rental for sure, because its just so dang cool and its brought to you by the same fine folks that brought us GTA3! How could you go wrong?

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/25/02, Updated 02/25/02