Ground Zero Texas

"One of the best if you're into FMV!"

FMV (Full Motion Video) games are not for everyone but for that rare breed like myself that can forgive the somewhat limited game play in games like GZT, there is much fun to be had.

GAMEPLAY: You control 4 gun cameras (cameras equipped with laser guns) at 4 key locations in a small Texas town overrun with aliens. The aliens have taken human form but later in the game you fight the actual aliens themselves. The game plays like the Lethal Enforcer games but you also will watch scenes where town folk are going about their daily business and someone will usually go berserk and try to shoot you. These are my favorite parts since the person in the scene who is an alien changes each time you play and not killing that person could result in someone else being taken by the aliens (like the waitress at the Cantina). You have to find different codes to unlock the mother ship by witnessing your partners finding said codes. If you miss their discovery you'll have to guess what the code is when you get to the ship. Another cool thing is that each person/alien you kill cuts to a death scene. This makes the game kind of like a dual in that your taking each enemy on one at a time. Later in the game you'll have to deal with multiple enemies with innocent townsfolk running rampant through the city. It can get very tricky to hit the right people. The difficulty ramps up to an uncalled for level later in the game. Ridiculous amounts of aliens come at you in ones and twos. It almost seems like the designers we're a little lazy and just said throw more enemies at them from random locations instead of creating more areas to shoot at. Although the cameras are fixed in 4 locations there are other places you will fight in so the scenery does change quite a bit. There are 4 chapters in the story to play in this 2 disc game.

SOUND: The music is mostly just a drum roll when you are fighting the townspeople and aliens. But the rest of the music is pretty cool. Sounds like standard movie music.

GRAPHICS: The FMV is quiet good and though it is displayed in a window, it is one of the larger windows found in Sega CD FMV games. Very smooth playback.

OVERALL: This game is a definate must-have if you like FMV games.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/03, Updated 01/08/03