The Dominator reviews

Machine Hunter

for Sony Playstation

Distributed by
Eidos Interactive Limited

Price: £39.99

The year is 2034 and the Earth is now all but drained of resources. After a series of discoveries in the late 20th Century about Mars being inhabitable, mining colonies have been set up on the red planet. Fleets of robots have been created to perform labour intensive tasks normally performed by humans. The robots are given a primitive AI using a synthetic brain and programmed to perform their duties intelligently.

Aliens invade the mining colony on Mars and reprogram the robots, giving them new instructions. The aliens then set up their own robot factory on Mars to begin mass producing their newly programmed robots.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, fearing a possible invasion, a special task force known as the "Machine Hunters" has been set up. They have created a suit, that if worn by a human, allows the user to mentally and physically inhabit a robot just by touching it after it has powered down. However, the transport ship carrying the task force has been shut down and you are the only survivor. Now you are solely responsible for defeating the invasion, rescuing the hostages, and destroying the renegade robots.

Playing the Game

Machine Hunter is a top-down shooter spread over 16 different worlds, each with a different mission. You begin as a human being, but as you progress through each level, you'll come across the nine different kinds of robots, each with more powerful weapons and shields than the last, and after shooting each one enough times, it will stop and spark, signalling that it is about to power-down. If you're quick enough, you can take over the robot by simply running into it, thus restoring your strength to full power, and you'll be in a tougher fighting machine than your puny self.

Beware though, as on the first level there are two different types of robots which will get in your way. If you're currently running around in the second, and higher of the two, grades of robot, whilst on low energy, if you shoot a first-class robot and then inhabit that, your energy will be restored to full strength again, but you'll be back to the first class of robot. Look on the bright side though...if you get your ass kicked whilst inhabiting any of the robots, and you lose that, you're back to your human self again.

There are three different types of power-ups : red, blue and green. The green and blue power-ups will upgrade your weapon to Grade II and III respectively, while the red ones will give you a secondary weapon, such as a drone, cyber-mace (particularly effective in whacking the opposition into next week!) or mines. Also available are pick-ups for extra energy or a limited period of invulnerability.

Most of the 16 worlds are huge, and the map function will provide very useful, showing you the position of the hostages that need rescuing, the teleporters which transport you to a different part of the map, and they also give clues to secret areas if you look carefully enough.

It must be noted though that some of the areas can only be accessed by activating switches, finding keys or by blasting walls.

Controlling The Machine Hunter

The Playstation gamepad is well-suited to this game, as the four directional buttons aid you in moving in the direction of the eight main points of the compass. The four buttons on the right provide firing your primary weapon in the same eight main directions.

The top buttons allow you to strafe left and right - very handy for a quick exit out of a tricky situation, activating the secondary weapon such as a smart bomb, or selecting either primary or secondary weapon.

Options

On starting the game, you can play in either one-player or two-player mode, view biographies on each of the nine robots, enter a password to gain access to the next level, thus cancelling out the need for saving the game position (more about this later), or heading for the options screen where you can alter the music and/or SFX volume, toggle the stereo sound on/off, set the in-game difficulty, set the 2-player mode function of friendly vs. non-friendly fire, or alter the camera angle.

Gameplay Tips

In addition to the tip to gain energy by taking over the body of a robot, one of the simplest tips is to shoot everything, as some walls, and most ground objects will blow up, revealing power-ups or hidden areas of the map. Don't get too close to the explosions as they hurt! Try and lure the enemies into making that mistake!

One tip I'd give is to use the 'Tilted' or 'Rotating' camera angle options. This always keeps your character heading forward to the top of the screen with the world rotating round it, so the up fire button is always forward, and the rest shooting around you in relative fashion. If you choose the 'Fixed' or 'Fixed Tilted' camera options, then nothing rotates and you go exploring the levels in a basic fashion with the four fire buttons heading in the exact direction you press them.

Missions

16 worlds mean 16 different missions, and to this reviewer who's only got onto the fourth in the space of a week, it's going to take some doing to get on with the rest. The first mission is simple, requiring you to rescue only one hostage, and then finding a hidden lift to the mines which can only be reached by teleporter. The second level requires you to collect explosives from both of two sub-levels, planting them at the end of the second sub-level, and then finding the exit before being blown-up to kingdom come!

The rest of the missions progress in difficulty and follow a loose storyline as you prepare to kick alien butt!

The Robots

Nine different types of robots. Nine different examples of AI and attitude. Nine different examples of having the same zero regard for human life !

Graphics, Sound and Playability

The graphics are very bold and colourful, and move very well. Only a small part of the large map can be seen onscreen at any one time, but the size of yourself and the enemies are just the right size so as to be able to see enough distance ahead without getting too many surprises.

Explosions are the main fun to be had here, and when you find yourself in a strong robot with full armour and strength, let the bombs and bullets fly for a cavalcade of colour, and plenty of death and destruction. It's quite satisfying to pump three bullets each into the ever-present zombies resulting in a dead zombie, and blood spilling out onto the floor, ready for you to drive through and make blood tracks around the level - Bleah! :)

If you have your Playstation connected up to a hifi or surround amplifier, make sure you have stereo selected as the directional effects bounce around and the explosions put you in the heart of the action.

Playability is excellent. With one set of buttons for the directional movement, and one for the directional firing, there is little confusion to be had in knowing how to work your way around the levels quickly and easily, and manouevering around the enemies without getting canned too often.

Whether you go for a fixed or rotating viewpoint is preferable down to your own opinion. Either way, a tilted version of these gives the game a better look. A fixed viewpoint is akin to the arcade classic Robotron 2084 as you make your way around the level with robots closing in fast, while a rotating one is like a top-down almost-2D version of Tomb Raider which is no bad thing, although at times I felt a 3D version (making it exactly like the Lara Croft-starrer) would have been an interesting addition.

I prefer the rotating/tilted option as it makes it easier to find your way round the levels, and circle round some of the hard-shelled enemies taking endless pops until they're defeated.

Overall

Overall, this game is definitely one to be recommended. It might take a little getting into, but once you do, there is much fun to be had, not to mention the challenge of progressing through the levels. As well as top-notch playability, the game is very colourful and LOUD, so make sure you have the volume turned up to ten (and then one louder) in order to get the most out of the sonic effects (and to annoy the neighbours).

A clever feature of the game is its password system, something which few games make use of. After completing each level, you are given a 10-character password configured such that you gain access to the next level complete with exactly the same amount of weapons, ammo, and body armour as you left the last level with.

If I had one complaint with this though, it's that when you are given your password after completing a level, make sure you have some paper to hand before you play, and write it down quickly before it disappears, unless you fancy going through the level again... Also, if you don't progress to the next level and die, when the game takes you back to the main options screen, you have to re-enter the password instead of just selecting One- or Two-Player, as that will take you back to the first mission.