- Great humor and characters
- Some good action
- Level design and architecture is cool
- Base defend missions offer more entertainment than you might
think
- Concentrated single-player story
- Some extras
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Armed
and Dangerous
Score: 8.5 / 10
It’s hard to write an objective review of
Armed and Dangerous (AAD), because if there was ever a game that seemed
to be made for me – and people like me – AAD is that game. Lots of
action, some glib humor, and familiarity that says, “Welcome Back!”
without seeming tired.
The game that will forever be attached to Planet Moon is Giants: Citizen
Kabuto (that appeared on the PC and PS2), a madcap title from couple of
years ago that featured a nearly-naked and very deadly Sea Reaper, a
trio of crash-landed aliens, and the aforementioned Kabuto. AAD doesn’t
deviate far from the same action-laden environments; in fact, it borrows
many elements from Giants that maybe they
share the same timeline. (Indeed, with the
reference to a Majorcan prophecy, maybe they do...)
In the case of AAD, you play as Roman, leader of a group of outlaws
called The Lionhearts that set out to steal the all-powerful Book of
Rule. To do so they must overcome an army of grunts, the likes of which
were last seen in the Lord of the Rings. Against such a hostile force,
one should expect
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a
wicked arsenal and when Planet Moon is behind the project, you get a
wicked arsenal that manages to be totally fun to use.
Although Roman’s mainstay is the useful machine gun there is also the
Land Shark Gun, the Personal Motar, a sniper rifle, the Vindaloo Rocket
Launcher and the infinite-ammo Hawkings’ Rifle. The arsenal is further
augmented with a variety of bombs including the much talked-about Topsy
Turvey Bomb and the crowd-clearing World’s Smallest Black Hole. They’re
all very fun to use but sometimes they’re not enough to staunch the
horde – Roman is able to man a few different turrets.
The action is really broken into two parts: third person action and
first-person base defend missions. Base defense sticks Roman in a
bubble-like turret mounted on a track on top of a wall as enemies wash
toward him, reminiscent of the Helm’s Deep battle in Lord of the Rings:
Two Towers. Roman’s task, is to drive them back. Later in the game the
action is almost unmanageable with your attention pulled 7 or 8
different directions. Some have pointed to the base defend missions as
too repetitive and boring. Like any other review it’s a personal bias –
I loved those sections of the game. Which is not to say that the
third-person missions, which include rescuing a sheep, ensuring the
safety of hapless villagers, killing snipers and clearing out enemy
occupations (watch those buildings explode!), didn’t enthrall me.
Most of the missions are difficult enough to offer a challenge without
being frustrating. (Having a “save anywhere” function helps, too.) If
you’re having trouble completing a mission it’s probably because you’re
funneling your imagination – to go only “this” way – or because you’re
trying to be stealthy and conserve ammo. AAD is no stealth game. Ammo is
plentiful, use it! Besides scoring “dropped” ammo from fallen foes, most
levels have a Pub where you can refill ammo, pick-up new weapons and
top-up your team’s health – provided you can keep your wingers (the
giant robot, Q, and mole miner, Jonesy) alive that long.
Throughout the game, you’re accompanied by Q and Jonesy for some extra
firepower. You have very little control over them. Roman can tell them
to Return, Attack and Guard but 90% of the time Roman will wind up
helping them. There were only a handful of times that I finished a level
with either Jonesy or Q. Thankfully, Planet Moon didn’t make it
mandatory for Jonesy and Q to survive (on most missions) – they’re still
there for the hilarious cutscenes.
Like Giants before it, AAD is a funny game thanks in large part to the
personalities of the characters. The collected cutscenes are funnier 100
times over than an episode of Friends and on par with Monty Python for
being off-kilter as the story unfolds. For example, there's an
Elvis-type faith healer/prophet that really needs to be seen to be
believed.
There are a few other aspects that could be considered weaknesses: no
multiplayer, linearity, and low replay factor. If those things are make
or break aspects for you, you might be disappointed with AAD. However,
you should probably reconsider. The multiplayer is not missed, the
mission objectives aren’t as linear as you might think, and I can think
of no better way to cap off the day with 10 minutes in a base defend
mission.
Armed and Dangerous is fun, packed with action and personality. But
don’t take my word for it – play it!
