Defender

"So much potential..."

INTRO: The original arcade gmae is my favorite all time arcade game. So I was excited to hear about this 3D remake. But it turns out to be nothing more than a pretty package with several debilitating flaws.
GRAPHICS: By far the best part of this game is its visual flare and execution. There is no slow down and a great deal of attetion is paid to detail. All of the ships, both yours and the enemies look great. The locales are huge with great detail. The most amazing part of the game is the camera. It never fails you in battle which is an acomplishmnet considering the size and multitude of enemies you will be dealing with.
Score 9
SOUND: The voice acting is poor but thats not the big of deal. The sound effects are decent and the music is well suited and crisp.
Score 7
STORY: The sotry is is decent but not original. the game pretty much rips off Starship Troopers. The only difference is most of the aliens fly instead of walk. The aliens themsleves are actually pretty cool themselves. But this could of been better wiht more original flare.
Score 5
CONTROLS: This game features possibly the worst controls ever!!!! Your ship tries to behave with the pysics of a hovercraft/jet plane. The result is your ship is completly unresponsive and slow. Which is agonizing considering the size of the areas you play through. The targeting system is also horrendous. Due to your lack of manuverabilty and lack of any type of auto target you can't hit anything!!!!!!!!!
Score 1
GAMEPLAY: As you probably already know this is a 3D version of the arcade classic, so it has nothing in common with the original. The cmapign mode and missions are laid out nicely, where you perform search & destroy, rescue, & escort missions. But lack of ability to perfrom with the bad controls turns this into a chore.
Score 5
REPLAY: Although there is a deathmatch and co-op modes this is lacking. You have to lack the 1 player to begin fo the co-op. And the deathmatch is pointless and puts you in the worst area of the game.
Score 5
Average: 5.3
MY OPNION: I am very dissapointed. When heard about the large worlds great graphics and c selectable aircraft I was excited. But the crappy controls brought this one down big time.
Score 4
RENT OR BUY: Neither unless your diehard on the serious or in for a challenge stay clear of this one.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 03/14/04