State of Emergency

"Hype"

So I take it you’re actually thinking about buying this game? Really? So you don’t mind the fact that you’d be playing a morally wrong, stomach turning, gorefest of a videogame? If so, then you my friend, will like it.

The hype built around State of Emergency mainly came from its so called daddy, GTA3. Now GTA3 was a masterpiece if you ask me, but if you’re thinking SoE is the cure you’ve been waiting for after running out of things to do in GTA3, that it’s the “Semi-sequel” your drug craving heart has been yearning for, then you’re in for a surprise.

Madness
As I think you’ve gathered from the above warning, State of Emergency is totally original in comparison with GTA3. The battle systems are quite similar, but SoE has an edge over GTA3 basically because the game is mainly built around beating up and eventually murdering anyone you can to get to the top. So picture this, you’re in a mall and the locals have taken it upon themselves to start a riot, looting anything they can, trying to escape with whatever limbs they hope to keep hold of. All of this going on around you and you still have to calmly complete several missions, avoid or try to destroy the law enforcers and have as much fun as possible, it’s bloody ‘chaos’!
And that brings me onto the game’s options. There are two modes of play, ‘Revolution’ and ‘Chaos’. The former is a mission-based affair with you taking the role of one of two characters to begin with. The first being a red blooded male by the name of Roy McNeil, who at first glance looks like a colourful character to say the least. His strength and good looks are just the thing needed for a videogame such as this. But with most games nowadays, a female counterpart is needed to ensure sexism isn’t an issue with the game, as just about every other ‘ism’ is. Her name is Anna ‘Libra’ Price and she specialises in martial arts, although she may not appeal to the stereotypical macho gamer, she still gets the job done as good as her companion and has more than a few interesting attributes to keep the boys on their toes.
The quantity of missions are plentiful but to be honest the difficulty of some are criminally easy and don’t last long at all. For example one task involves escorting a client from one end of the mall to another while fending off three pathetic guards. That would be one of my few gripes with this game. Revolution mode won’t last long, although there are three fairly sizeable areas in which you can play in, once you complete it you’ll probably never go back, but really it’s just a taster for the much more exciting ‘Chaos’ mode. I recommend you playing through revolution first to unlock all five characters and get to grips with the game.

More madness
It does exactly what it says in the manual, it is extremely chaotic, but more to the point, it’s extremely fun and satisfying. The main goal of this mode is to follow the on screen instructions, while gaining as many points as possible. Points are deducted for killing civilians, and bonuses gained for annihilating special gang members. The easiest way to describe Chaos would be to say it’s similar to crazy taxi with the time limit, add a blood and gore factor higher than the likelihood of England winning the world cup and mix it up with a huge array of weapons and some great on screen effects, and you’ve got yourself a game worthy of a 10/10 purely on this mode alone. But this isn’t the case, SoE has many flaws that brings the level of gameplay down a notch in terms of enjoyment.

Call the ER, call the Chicago hope fans, call the casualty dammit, as we have an emergency on our hands!
Maybe not an ‘emergency’, more a few faults in the structure of the game. As I mentioned in the aforementioned paragraph the game isn’t perfect, it’s not great either. SoE has no depth whatsoever and will get old rather quickly for alot of gamers. The missions can be finished within a few days, and aren’t very taxing on the brain. The absurd amount of violence will also put many people off, and don’t expect to be playing this while eating as you may see some nasty results, yes, the game is vile.
Put aside the fact that murdering endless amounts of people does get repetitive and you’ve got yourself a rather good game. If it’s an arcade kill ‘em up with an infinite gore limit you’ve been after than give the game a chance, you may be in for a pleasant surprise.

I’m a graphix whore, plz tell me the score!
The game boasts an impressive graphical engine allowing up to 200 people onscreen at once without any slowdown. There is also an added bonus for PAL users with the game having a 60Hz option, yes you heard me, NO MORE BOARDERS!
The actual graphics are for the most part cartoony and colourful, but that doesn’t take away the fact that this game is as violent as they come and I wouldn’t be surprised if the government started to crack down on stores selling to under-aged gamers.
The sound is well implemented and it helps to give that feeling that you’re actually in the middle of a riot, brilliant. It gives the game so much more then what it already is, although the music could be alittle more exciting.

The bottom line
I’ve had this game for 4 days, have completed revolution mode and got all 5 characters. I’ve played chaos mode to death and know the areas like the back of my hand. Few games nowadays have this kind of effect on me and I can honestly say I’m hooked, I love this game, but only to a certain degree.
It has many flaws which are sadly hard to overlook for many a gamer but no matter what anyone says about it, the first time you put this game into your black box you’ll be shocked, shocked at the amount of blood and violence and the sheer magnitude of joy you’ll receive from killing that first helpless citizen.
It’s not pretty, it’s not sexy, it is revolting. This game will leave you feeling so dirty after playing it you’ll feel the need to wash your hands...

Gameplay - 8/10
Sound/Music - 8/10
Graphics - 6/10
Lifespan - 9/10
Overrall - 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/02, Updated 03/02/02