Headhunter

"Well, that was interesting... and good."

This is an interesting game. I remember reading previews of it for the Dreamcast, way back in the day. And then I hear it got UK only'd, and I was sad, because I had been pretty excited about this game. And then I hear it's coming to PS2! Yay! All I can say is that this game delivered for me. Sure, it had it's flaws, but I found it very good.

Graphics: 8/10
I thought the graphics were pretty good. The textures seemed sharp, and the models pretty solid. The biking segments looked good. The whole game seemed to move at a good clip, with very little, if any, slow down. The cutscenes were not so good, being barely above the in-game graphics, but they got the job done. There's also a nice little touch in equipable sunglasses.

Sound: 8/10
First off, the music, which is really damn good. I often found myself humming along with the music, especially the biking theme. Very well done. The sound effects... eh... I didn't really notice. I guess they fit in pretty well. Gun shots sounded like gun shots, etc. There was a nice little effect in which you could kick cans around, and guards would be alerted by it. The voice acting in the game... was so-so. It's not absolutely excellent, like the Legacy of Kain games, but it's not God-awful, like Resident Evil. Most of it is proficient, but Jack's actor is somewhat lacking. He sounds like he's not into it. Oh well.

Control: 8/10
Neh, I had some problems here, but they were momentary. They incorporated so many control schemes into this game. The main exploration is standard free roaming, where the direction you press is where you go. But then, you can hold L1 to go into shooting mode. Now, up is forward, down is back, and left and right strafe left and right. If you hold square whilst in shooting mode, left and right pivot, like Tomb Raider. Then, there're the biking segments, which control like a basic racing game. But for one problem. When you start off going fast, they decided that Jack should do a wheely, during which point you can't turn. That is VERY annoying. Thankfully, once going fast, the control is pretty good.

Gameplay: 8/10
Gameplay was pretty cool. I played the game for the most part in a stealthy way. Most people seem to think it's more action oriented, but I only found there to be tremendous action near the end. The gun fights work well enough, but basically end up being shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, roll, shoot, shoot, shoot, reload, shoot, shoot, shoot, roll, etc. Then... there are Resident Evil-like parts. You can really feel it. The last mission kind of seemed like a tribute to RE at some points. There are even crests to engrave and place! For the most part, though, the puzzles made a modicum of sense. The biking parts were all right, though for the most part they consisted of going really fast to earn skill points, which you could use to upgrade your L.E.I.L.A. license. L.E.I.L.A. is basically a VR training place. You take 4 tests, biking, stealth, shooting, and then a mini-mission-type thing, then get a new license. There are 4 licenses.

Story: 8/10
VERY Cliche. But still, I liked it. Sure, it was one cliche after an other, right up to the ending. Hell, even the ending is cliche, in more ways than one! I still liked it though. Pretty interesting.

Overall: 8/10
I really liked this game. I could definitely see a series made out of these games, but I don't see it being plausible. The game doesn't seem to be selling well enough. You don't really need to buy it though, it is pretty short *forgot to mention that in review*. I beat it in 8 hours, so a rental will do ya fine.

BUY OR RENT: Rent, maybe buy, if you're having a hard time, or you just really love it

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/18/02, Updated 06/18/02