X-Squad

"Hopefully, this disaster can be used as a stepping stone to better games."

Whenever a new game console is created, game programmers have to learn how to work with another new machine. In time, those programmers learn the intricacies of the new hardware, and are able to manipulate it to create engrossing, richly developed games. Unfortunately, the videogame market can't wait around for programmers to achieve this level of understanding, and so game companies must create and release games whether or not they have mastered control of a system. The end result of all this is what is known in the videogame industry as a ‘launch game.' Launch games as those titles which are released alongside the console; they are usually considered to be examples of what the console can do, although they may not necessarily be great games themselves. X-Squad is one such game. It debuted alongside the PlayStation 2 in late 2000 as the only shooter available on the platform. Now, nearly 4 years later, we will take a look back at was one of the few titles available at the dawn of the PS2. Read on:

Visuals:

Menus are sturdy and easily traversable. All options are labeled and easy to understand. The pause menu features the same style as the main menu, and is similarly well done. In-game quick select menus are poorly designed, and make it difficult to select the right option when too many items are available. The HUD is simple and easily understood.

Cutscenes occur between levels, and are of average quality. All the characters seem shiny, as though they have some sort of sheen over their entire body. Also, when a character speaks, their lips do not sync up with the world they're saying. The character models are bland, and the animation seems jerky.

In-game graphics face the same problems as those in the cutscenes. The characters seem to have a very distinct shine all over their body. Their lips do not sync up with the words they say consistently. Animation for the characters seems jerky, and at times it can feel like a character is sliding around ‘on ice' when they try to move diagonally. The environments feature little interactivity other than the ability to occasionally blow an item up by shooting it, and show little variation throughout a level. There are several different models for enemies, but only one or two models will appear in the same place at the same time, leaving almost all multiple enemy situations to feature clones.

X-Squad certainly looks a lot better than anything on PlayStation did, but that doesn't mean it looks good. Even for a brand new system, the programmers could have done better.

Score: 4/10

Sound:

Sound effects are simple, with each weapon and explosion making an appropriate-sounding noise. Activating switches always has the same sound effect, and it gets extremely repetitive.

The voice acting is nothing short of terrible. All of the characters you control seem to be living in their own world when they talk, and conversations between multiple people end up seeming horrendously disjointed. While playing the game, you'll constantly receive radio calls from AI-controlled teammates, and almost none of them serve any purpose. They come across as nagging at times, and always feel like an intrusion. The actors aren't the only ones to blame for this fiasco, though; the writers deserve their fair share. Some of the lines you'll hear from your team will be utterly ridiculous (“Concentrate! That's an order.”), while the few repetitive phrases spouted off by enemies will make you laugh out loud (“HA! You're cornered! Who's the idiot now?”). At least the actors try to infuse some emotion into their performances. Otherwise, things would be a total disaster.

The music does all that can be expected of it. It's all generic rock/techno (what action game doesn't have a musical score from this genre nowadays?), which picks up and dies down with the action. Boss fights each have their own, higher-tempo song as well. None of the tunes are particularly good or bad.

X-Squad's terrible voice acting destroys whatever semblance of realism the graphics didn't already kill. The other in-game sounds play towards the overall theme of mediocrity.

Score: 2/10

Gameplay:

The controls in X-Squad are hit-and-miss. There are two settings to choose from, and neither one really gets it right. The default controls allow for movement with either the two analog sticks in coordination (left moving the character, right moving the character's view), or the D-pad alone. L2 and R2 strafe left and right, correspondingly, while X crouches the character down. L1 serves as the ubiquitous ‘action' button. R1 fires whatever weapon you have equipped, and Circle reloads your weapon. Triangle and Square open up the quick-select menus for Equipment and Commands, respectively. Start brings up the level map, and select opens the pause menu.

In practice, these controls don't work well in several ways. For starters, moving your character is difficult when using the analog sticks, as the sensitivity on them is very touchy, and cannot be adjusted to suit the player. Using the D-pad is more imprecise, though, and either option renders targeting tricky. The game does include an auto-aim feature, though, which helps quite a bit. The all-in-one action button is another of the game's failings. The use of a catch-all action button has been proven to be a bad idea in many other games before X-Squad, and it is a bad idea once again here. You will often execute a roll or climb an object when you intend to hit a switch, and these mix-ups will cause you to take unnecessary damage sometimes. Another problem lies within the operation of the quick-select menus. They are clumsy to use while in a battle, and they can even be impossible to use when you get too many items to choose from at once. Ultimately, the best way to use items and switch weapons is through the pause menu, and this breaks up the game considerably.

The gameplay itself is 100% generic shooter. You go room-by-room, tunnel-by-tunnel, killing enemies until you get to the end of the level, where you must defeat a stronger, better armed boss. Rinse and repeat through 9 levels. Fortunately, the enemy AI is simple, and most enemies can be defeated by a few bullets. Rather unfortunately for you, though, is that enemies also happen to be extremely accurate, and if they are given a shot, they will usually hit you at least once. Your teammates aren't all that bright either, and will usually get stuck on scenery or run directly into the line of fire for no reason. The usefulness of issuing them commands is minimal, as they will usually do whatever the plot dictates them to do, regardless of your orders.

Ultimately, the gameplay in X-Squad is more of a failed experiment than a ‘new take on the action/stealth genre,' as the back of the package would have you believe.

Score: 5/10

Story:

You barely know anything about the story at the beginning of the game, and it isn't until more than halfway through the game that you finally come to unravel the plot. You start out trying to rescue some hostages and find out about something called ‘Project Medusa,' and as you progress, you will (naturally) uncover something more sinister. There are a couple of twists, but the plot here really isn't anything you haven't heard before.

X-Squad doesn't have a very original story, but to be fair, you probably won't care, since the voice acting is so pitiful.

Score: 4/10

Features/Modes:

There are three difficulties to play on, but nothing else to encourage any more play time after you've beaten the game. The lack of even a cooperative play mode in a game that features squad-based play is the final nail in the bad game coffin.

X-Squad lacks any reason to play the game over once you've beaten it on the hardest difficulty setting.

Score: 2/10

Total Score:

Ultimately, X-Squad hopefully will serve as a stepping stone for developers to come up with better games for the PlayStation 2. While it is by no means a good game, it shows promise in enough areas that maybe a programmer out there will take one of these concepts and flesh it out more in a future game. Sadly, X-Squad's only purpose for existence may be to serve as a warning for others.

Score: 4/10 (not an average)

~~

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 10/08/04