Loaded

"Maddness, insanity, and a clown with a teddy bear."

-Visuals 7/10-

Loaded. A game with huge levels, and strange characters trying to escape from a mental institution. Not too bad as far as what you might picture, but man...let me tell you. This game does feature some of the best lighting and detail that I have seen yet from an older PSX game.

Placing you in the middle of a battlefield, it's your duty to make it through to the end of the level, using card keys and your weapons, in a bloody gore fest. The characters that you use, and the enmies that you face, are little more than an overhead view. This is what brings the scoring of the visuals down from a 10. You can't really tell who you're character is, outside of what type of weapon they use.

Each character is unique in how they are drawn, and seen in the FMV scenes that tell you the end of one level, and the beginning of the next, one if a giant man, dressed like a baby, a chick with an attitude and a penchant for murder, and then, of all things, a huge clown, with the mindset of a three year old who carries a teddy bear and ballons.

That is where it falls however. The enemies and the characters are more or less moving specs on the levels that you traverse, so this can be a little upsetting. The levels themselves, are giant, and so well detailed, that you would be almost obligated to overlook everything else.

The effects that you find, are gbloody piles of bodies as you fire through, or burnt piles of ash...it depends on who you use as you go through. The lighting of the game, is what makes it what it is, it's dark, very dark..and very detailed when it's lit. When you fire off your weapon, it gives that flash effect, which lights everything up, this, for a game that old, is something to behold. You'll be glued to the screen just to see it.

-Sound 7/10-

The music of the game is so-so. Using a techno-type rock base, with some instrumental's thrown in for good measure, it takes you through the game at something that is trying to be moody, and up-neat at the same time, but missing that last little bit of essence that you might need to keep the sound on. It's a game where it doesn't matter if you hear it or not, the CD player might come on instead.

Sound Effects make up for it though, the growls, grunts, groans and screams come through the stereo speaker with such clarity, that you'll have to turn them down a bit, because they might sound too real for your liking. Each weapon, each door opening, and each splattering of a bad guy comes up with a realistic sound. This part of the audio was done exceptionally well. Where the music went, well..I don't know, I'm still trying to figure that out.

-Control 10/10-

Simple. You turn in a direction, and start firing at anything that moves at you that looks like it's going to hurt your character. Weapon switching isn't an option here, and there is no jumping, crawling, crouching, or strafing to be concerned with.

All in all, you should be able to pick up on the game controls in the first five minutes of play. It's very very simple, and matches the basic premise of the game, seek out the bad guys, and kill them with such violence, that you'll wince.

-Gameplay 7/10-

Mindless violence with a touching story thrown in for good measure. Once you start playing, you'll see why this game gained a Mature rating.The blood and the gore of the game is enough to make you a little sick at first, as that is what the game is all about.

You'll fight your way through numerous levels, blowing up everything in your path, and trying for an insane score at the end of the game. As you play through, you'll notice that the bad guy's don't sem to stop coming...well, guess what, they don't. If you do happen to run out of things to shoot and destroy, then that means it's time to find the key and get out of the level. It's really not that hard to figure out.

In game, you have very little to do after you start blowing things away...think of Super Smash T.V., and that's what this game is, only you're not trying to gain prizes, but a twisted murder score. Amazing isn't it? Regardless of that aspect of disturbing gameplay, you'll have a blast killing things off.

-Overall 7/10-

The graphics needed some tweaking, they're too small, and too vague with all of the darkness, the sound is a little off too. The music itself doesn't keep your ear rivited to the game, althought he sound effect might. The control is so simple, it's ridiculous, and you can pick it up in a matter of minutes; point and shoot to kill.

The game has little in terms of serious gameplay for it, so some people may be put off...it's mindless death and killing sprawled throughout several levels, but then again, if that's your thing, then this game, with all of the destruction might be right up your alley.

It's a rental game, or a purchase if you're up to shelling out the 20 bucks that you can buy it for, although, with all of the game shopping that this reviewer does, I haven't found a copy of this outside of the one that I own in over a year...you might be able to find it used, and that would be worth it.

This game is one of those overlooked games due to the lack of serious gaming to be done within. It may be for you, it might not be...you'll have to play it to figure it out for yourself. I recommend it for any collector on the other hand, it's a classic collectable game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/31/00, Updated 03/31/00