Mortyr

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Review: Mortyr

Nazi Germany has won World War II by using a time machine to retrieve a super-weapon from the future-and set off a wave of natural disasters. You're sent back in time from 2093 to 1944 to kill the machine's inventor, destroy the plans, and sabotage the machine itself. Naturally, something goes awry and your path takes you through 21 levels of weapon, item and power-up collecting, button-pushing, key-finding and enemy-shooting--both in 1944 and in the future--using the weapons of the respective eras, and with a modest story unfolding via journal entries.

Typical of a hand-me-down, Mortyr does the job in the most general sort of way. But it's not the first-person shooter I'd pick if I had my druthers.

Consider: When I pressed up against a wall, I was often able to see through it at the edge of the screen. Background noises had a tendency to suddenly cut out and suddenly resurface. (Often, I had no idea where they were coming from.) The "intelligent" enemies are crack shots who can nail you through the smallest of windows, but I was way into the game before I saw one do more than simply run toward me and open fire.

While Mortyr didn't crash, it behaved in decidedly flaky fashion on my Voodoo3-equipped Pentium II 450. Some enemies appeared as dead black. Three of them dropped off a shallow staircase and immediately died. Two or three times I restored saved games only to find the game in unplayable condition. (Mortyr also allows you to save your game when your character is dead-a feature you'll regret the first time you accidentally over-write a hard-fought "live" save with a dead one). The sight on the Mauser rifle is squewed to the left (but at least it is squewed predictably, and this winds up being enjoyably realistic). And should the flame-thrower really work underwater?

That's just the particulars. Conceptually, Mortyr offers nothing new. The theme of natural disasters-a great idea in search of a willing 3D engine-isn't exploitedunless you count snow and rain as disasters. Nor is the notion of a Nazi-dominated world-Mortyr is set in the standard run of castles, cathedrals, factories and military bases-or time travel. (The time travel, when it finally occurs, is incredibly uneventful.) Take away the National Socialist regalia, and this could be any Quake-era game

Now, it's not all bad. Some of the floors have a gorgeous luster, and some levels incorporate interesting side roads. On some of the castle and factory levels, I had fun picking off snipers and doing some sniping myself. It shows a lot of evidence of play balancing: I kept running into seemingly insurmountable roadblocks only to eventually find a way through.

And there was one moment, in a ruined city deep in the game, with a Hitler speech playing in the background, when the game finally conjured up some atmosphere.

But it was only for a moment, and then I was alone again--all dressed up in hand-me-downs with no place special to go.-- Peter Olafson / GamePro