We suspect the parents of a troubled gang of death metal warriors simultaneously really pissed them off one evening by asking them how they were getting on with their revision.
Intent on laying waste to half of the city seemingly just because they can, these hockey-mask-wearing goons lob moltovs, chuck cleavers at your skull, squirt flamethrowers, wield chainsaws and basically provide extreme aggression at all times. Needless to say, you're one of the good guys sent in to see off the bad guys (the terrorist Burner gang). That's not to say it's in that league, but the feel and the vibe is hewn from the same rock. The last time we played a shooter as unselfconsciously fun was the legendary light gun section of Die Hard Trilogy. A past where unlocks, upgrades and medals are a means to an end, and short, sharp levels were meant to be replayed until you nailed things perfectly. Whether intentional or not, anyone familiar with these crusty old arcade relics will recognise more than a gentle nod to the past. So what is it, then? Arcade action Wanna swig?īy accident or design, Urban Chaos feels charmingly old fashioned not in a studied Serious Sam/ Painkiller-type way, but more like how you'd imagine first-person shooters could have been if Taito had taken its excellent light gun games like Operation Wolf and Space Gun off the rails. It's definitely not trying to be Doom, and Warren Spector wouldn't want to be seen dead anywhere near it. To our eternal gratitude, it's not a poor man's Half-Life 2. Commendably, the Brit studio appears to have ducked the issue altogether by - ulp - doing things a little differently to everyone else.
And if you really are going to make just another shooter, for pity's sake at least play the technology card so emphatically that we're prepared to forgive it for being just another shooter.īut in making Urban Chaos (originally known by the less than promising moniker of Roll Call) Rocksteady didn't really worry too much about raising any bars, cutting any edges or various other hideous, life-threatening clichés that may involve envelopes and boxes. It's not enough to expect people to be wowed by incremental advancements, be they technology, AI or even narrative related, and damn the game to hell that dares to stand still. To get noticed in a genre as saturated as the dear old first-person shooter, you've got to do things a little differently mess with people's preconceptions, give them new toys to play around with, and challenge them with canny enemies that surprise us,