Project: Horned Owl

"One of the overlooked"

-Visuals 9/10-

Based from a popular Japanese Anime series, the Policenauts, this game does bring the world of the future into stunning detailand visual accuracy. Placing you in the drivers seat of a giant mech, it's your duty to blast the evil forces that threaten the peaceful city that you serve.

The on-sceen visuals are that of a first person shooter, much like Quake, Doom, and many many others that over-run the market. It gives you the perspective of running after the bad guys, and for this game, it being one of the first on the PSX, it does so with excellent visuals of the landscapes.

Fighting through the cities, you'll see the enemy robots jump into view, and start firing off their weapons. The difference here, is that the enemies are not flat and made to look like paper cut outs placed on a well drawn background, they do carry that bit of depth that some shooting games miss out on.

The landscapes are breathtaking on the otherhand. With much detail given to what you traverse over, you're eyes will be glued to the screen, and you'll need a sharp eye to see the bad guys come out of the woodwork. As you get into the later stages of the game, you'll find that the amazement of what you see, will make you stop and go ''wow''.

-Sound 9/10-

Great music for a great game. It gives you an upbeat track to move along with, and each of the stages has their own track that matches it right down to the moody tones that you would come to expect from a game that is drawn as beautifully as this.

The voice overs, and the sound effects are a wonderful attention to the game, giving you actual people who speak to you through out the game, giving you orders, or telling you what;s happening..there are even some jibs at you from your partner from time to time, what that does, although it doesn't sound like much, is give the game a feel of realism, and that's a nice touch for a video game.

Gunfire, laser blasts and explosions, on the right sound system, can be enough to shake the picutres from the walls, and make your girlfriend {and for you female gamers, boyfriend} scream at you to turn it down...it really does make you feel as though you're in the middle of some future war. Again, a nice touch.

-Control: PSX Controller 7/10 - Light Gun 10/10-

The games control is simple. Shoot, move your aiming sight, and reload. Nothing more could be simplier, right? Well, with the PSX controller, you'll find that the actual crosshairs move too slow for you to hit everything, and you'll probably lose life because of this. It's something to do with the impulse of the controller to move slower across the screen, you have to remember if you use a controller, your crosshairs will only move, and point as accurately as it will allow.

The light gun option on the other hand, is perfect. With a clean television screen, you can hit everything, reload, and gain 100% accuracy without really breaking a sweat. This comes as a relief, and it's much more fun to use the gun in any case. That gives you the feeling of actually shooting what's coming at you, or trying to get away.

-Gameplay 9/10-

It's a shooting game, and there isn't much that you need to do in terms of actually moving your character through the levels. You're main gameplay will come from smashing the bad guys with your weapons, and just making it through to the end.

This can be tough, because at higher levels, you have more things coming at you. You'll need lightening fast reflexs to make it through the huge crowds of mechs that are firing at you...but where you'll derive your pleasure, is from the accomplishment of gaining a 100% accutacy score, and getting the bonuses.

-Overall 9/10-

This game has alot going for it, but it's one of the overlooked games for the PSX. Horned Owl could be considered the true ancestor for the breathtaking game, Elemental Gearbolt, in terms of what you're supposed to do, and what kind of format it follows.

Giving you the visuals and the kicking soundtrack to keep you rivited to the screen, you'll have no problems playing this through a few times before it comes to a rest on your shelf with the other games that you may own.

This game is a definate rental, and a definate purchase for any PSX shooter fan. It's got what it takes to be considered a classic, and you'll have many hours of fun with it. The control, and the gameplay are simple to play, yet fun and challenging all at the same time. Add these altogether, and you have a keeper.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/31/00, Updated 03/31/00