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Platform: PSP Review: Armed and Dangerous (PC) Review: Giants: Citizen Kabuto (PC)
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Infected
When Planet Moon is mentioned I always think
of humorous action games. Giants:
Citizen Kabuto and Armed and Dangerous, Planet Moon’s first two titles
rank high in both humor and action but with Infected, their latest title,
for the PSP I wonder where the laughter went.
As it was demoed for me at E3, I wondered where the smiles were and
I went as far as to ask the rep. Time
and too much summer heat have made his answer little more than a vague
memory; however, I seem to recall “It has funny elements.”
I suppose it’s harder to demonstrate a game’s comedy in a
five-minute demo than it’s outright visceral appeal of blowing things
up. But there’s hope that hilarity of some
level will be present. As the
fact sheet states, Infected revolves around creating “viral chain
letters of evil!” I like to harp on the comedy because it seems
to be difficult to pull off in games and not many developers will attempt
it – and even fewer will succeed in eliciting any smiles.
Of course, it may be that Planet Moon doesn’t want to tip their
hand too soon. That said, the
action of Infected is looking good. Here is the official line from Majesco and
Planet Moon – hypetails included: The
first in a series of original games exclusively for the PSP from Planet
Moon Studios and Majesco, Infected features pulse-pounding two-gun action
as you cleanse the mean streets of New York City of mad, flesh-hungry
Infected. The title brings
the frenetic gameplay of a classic arcade game to a cutting-edge
third-person shooter. Infected features an engrossing single-player campaign with lavishly gory details and unlocks the world of WiFi with blood-thirsting multiplayer modes. There is also an innovative multiplayer system called “chain infections” whereby players create unique avatars and pass them on to each other’s PSPs like viruses. If you’re infected by another player, you’ll actually find his avatar running around fighting you in your single-player game. Through multiplayer victories, players spread their avatars around the real world, player to player, in massive, viral chain letters of evil!
Infected is a game of shifting power, chain reactions, huge explosions and double-fisted gunplay. |
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Storyline: It’s
Christmas time in New York City. A
strange virus has appeared in the city, turning seemingly normal people
into insane, violent folks called:
Infected. Rookie
Officer Stevens is one of the first victims of the Infected.
But unlike others, Stevens is stangely immune and doesn’t lose
control. The mysterious Dr. Schaeffer discovers that Stevens’ immune
blood can be used to destroy the otherwise unkillable Infected.
Schaeffer creates a special “viral gun” that fills shells
with blood from Stevens’ arm and blasts them straight into the
Infected, causing them to die. |
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Stevens
is the only person who can save New York – and Christmas – from the
Infected!
Features: Infect
the world with your PSP – spread your unique avatar like a virus to
other players’ PSPs. Ultra-fast
paced, two-gun action in the streets of New York. Set
off massive chain reactions of exploding Infected, showering the streets
with blood. Exciting
multiplayer modes: Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. Through
multiplayer victories, players spread their avatars around the real
world, player to player. Form
clans with shared uniforms, spreading the same unique virus to the
unsuspecting. Access
a huge arsenal of powder weapons, viral weapons and special weapons such
as airstrikes and fire trails that ignite chains of Infected. Infected’s
single-player game is a complete mystery to me as the demo presented at
E3 concentrated heavily on the multiplayer elements and even the fact
sheet only mentions single-player in passing.
Again, it may just be a case of Planet Moon not wanting to tip
their hand but it almost looks like a single-player experience will be
tacked onto the multiplayer experience, which is a decided flip from
most action/shooters where multiplayer is treated as an afterthought.
As it is, the multiplayer is shaping up very nicely with good
controls and strangely infecting gameplay. Expect
Infected this Fall. - Omni (July 14, 2005) |
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