Reviews / previews
From
the
moment
you fire up the CD,
Activision's new 3D
shooter Barrage
assaults your senses
and numbs your mind.
In fact, it does most of
the things you'd expect
from an arcade
shoot-'em-up. But while
it boasts impressive 3D
graphics and novel
gameplay twists, the
game still suffers from
one serious drawback:
the ride may be thrilling,
but it's too damn short.
Developed by Mango
Grits (who get full style
points for their name),
Barrage is very similar
to Rage's Incoming in
both gameplay and
premise. You control a
heavily armed hovercraft
that can fly and
maneuver with the
agility of a helicopter or
go underwater and
become a fast attack
submarine. You'd best
develop an appreciation
for this baby's versatility
because, unlike
Incoming, you won't have an opportunity to fly or drive anything else in the
game.
Barrage comprises five different levels which, in order, are Prairie, Tunnel,
Canyon, Chicago, and Ocean. Each environment is unique in design, and
you'll experience radically different scenery and mission parameters as you
progress. As with most action shooters, there's a very simple strategy for
each level-keep your finger on the fire button and blast everything you see.
You can't upgrade or replace your craft in Barrage, but you do amass weapon
upgrades as you move up through each stage, and each of these is critical to
success in the subsequent environments.
Barrage's unexpected twists form some of the most entertaining aspects of
gameplay. In addition to blasting away at everything that moves, you'll be
called upon to maneuver your (temporarily) rocket-boosted craft through a
winding, narrow tunnel at high speed or locate rogue police units hiding in the
busy streets of Chicago. Every stage provides you with a set time limit, but
extra minutes can be earned by collecting hourglass-shaped bonuses
sprinkled throughout each environment. Mission goals aren't always clearly
explained, but you'll eventually learn from your failures what needs to be done.
Each of the five levels must be
completed successfully in turn before
the next in the sequence is unlocked,
and this illustrates the game's biggest
weakness: once you've advanced
through all the scenarios at the Easy
skill level (which only takes an evening
or two), your only replay options are to
do it all over again at Medium or Hard
settings. Unless you harbor a
masochistic desire to spend 20 or 30
hours beating the game's tricky upper levels at the highest difficulty setting,
the core solo-play component of Barrage doesn't really have enough gas to
remain on your hard drive for more than a week or two. By contrast, the
game's multiplayer options are considerably more diverse, offering full support
for 2-player serial/modem, 8-player LAN/Internet as well as projected online
play with HEAT.net, Mplayer, and Zone.
Barrage's graphics-which require 3D acceleration-are definitely one of the
game's better features. Though not as spectacular as those in Incoming,
they're still of coin-op quality and succeed in giving the game an immersive
and absorbing feel. Unfortunately, no external views of your craft are offered,
and the simplistic HUD view can be a little disorienting.
Barrage may not advance the
3D-shooter genre by any significant
degree, but it does offer some original
gameplay packaged in an attractive
visual environment. It's just too bad that
the experience ends around the same
time as you manage to get your seat
belt fastened.-- Andy Mahood / GamePro
Got an opinion about Barrage? Or maybe know a good cheat or strategy? Share it with the world!