State of Emergency
Well, the unadulterated, ridiculously over the top, and certainly most violent game of the year has arrived. What do we have to say about it? It's an adventure you're going to love.
State of Emergency is going to seriously disgust you with its amount of excitement it enthralls you. This game will make you become the most ruthless freedom fighter ever to live. If there is any game that deserves a 'M' - for mature - its surely this one. When first playing SoE, it almost seems as if there's no reason for the ridiculous amount of violence that occurs. And the dumbed down controls make playing it a mindless activity of senseless violence.
The premise of the game of course is that in the near future a corporation of mass proportions has taken control of, and oppressed the populace. The people have now revolted, and the corporation is clamping down on the people to prevent the spread of the revolt to other areas. You, as an outcast are part of a underground resistance group called 'Freedom.' You are then let loose to use any means necessary to take out the corporation troops, to eventually destabilize, and destroy the corporations hold on society and their organization..
As far fetched as this sounds, nothing compares to actually playing this game. The main mode is called 'Chaos,' and the goal here is to run around levels destroying items, killing corporation guards, gang members, and to just about destroy anything in site. You are graded on a sort of point system where you are penalized for killing civilians. Its an odd feeling to just go around destroying things, especially, when the story isn't exactly spelled out to you, in fact the story doesn't even exist in this mode. Chaos seems more like a -- time attack to point ratio mode -- than anything.
Basically to get through Chaos mode you have to reach a certain score amount before the next level is unlocked. Once you reach that score you can move on to the next levels, however if you want full access to each mode and level, you have to complete 'timed' version of the level (three and five minute version). Once these tasks are complete, you are admitted to play a few extra modes on the level you've beaten. The first is called "Last Clone Standing" where you are given 200 running drones to demolish in the quickest time possible, this mode is worth buying the game alone! There's nothing like laying into a crowd of a 100 with a few rockets and watching body parts fly. The next level is a timed version of Last Clone Standing, where you are given about three minutes to kill as many drones as possible, both of which levels can be played endlessly; my personal best is 196 so far out of 200.
While the ideas in this game might seem disturbing to some (like my mother), it is really all in great fun. Not to mention the amazing technical feat Rockstar has pulled off. There can be up to about 200 characters all with their own AI on screen without the frame-rate losing a drop. If that's not an accomplishment to marvel at I don't know what is. The levels are vast, and highly interactive, and add to those 200 hundred characters, with special effects like fire, at one point it simply becomes impressive. This game looks great, there really isn't anything super-special, but on a technical scale the game gets a ten, easy. Graphical feats aside, this isn't the highest resolution game you'll ever see but the characters are detailed enough to make it look thoroughly impressive.
Since chaos mode is somewhat unjustified, there is another mode that might be acceptable to the populace, and that's 'Revolution' mode. Here is where the story comes into play, you are set in the first stage as a new recruit, and your goal is to complete tasks to not only prove yourself, but destroy to corporation as well. While this is all find and dandy, the problem here lies in that while you are sent out to do simple missions like rescue people of your faction, guard to the doors of certain places, kill some guards -- and believe me the list goes on - some of the missions; rather a lot of the mission become frustratingly difficult. This is why this mode deserves and got the second place. It almost crosses the line from being fun to pissing you off. Often you'll have to end up using methods of trial and error to see the best path to do something. However 'ok' this might seem, during play its quite bothersome, so it ends up being more fun to stick with the Chaos, but to unlock the all the characters for the levels, you must first beat the Revolution.
While this is a minor nuisance in comparison to what you can do in the game, there is another flaw in SoE, the camera. While the camera is just about free moving - in that you can manually adjust it where ever you need - it must constantly be attended to. You are allowed to use the control of the right analog stick to rotate the camera, or R1 to flip it in the direction your character is facing. Truly its enough to piss you off as well most of the time because when you turn towards the camera you can only see what's behind you, and not in front, and often the rotation ends up being to slow to see massive armies waiting for you around corners, or at your back. It almost becomes a task to get the camera angles right, so you can be facing the right direction, and towards the enemies you want to be facing. I'm glad Rockstar has given us a lot of control to the camera, but I think they could have made a better system than this, because using the right analog stick will often give you a headache from its movements.
Not to mention that the aiming methods aren't exactly as accurate as you like, I guess a sort of tracking system would almost take the magic, and difficulty out of the game, but it'd be nice of you could make your characters a little more accurate. Each character has the ablitly to punch, and kick, mashing either of the buttons in succession will pull of easy combos. You can also press them simultaneously and you'll then engage in a button taping war, if you win you can either snap the guys neck, or throw him with your legs, either really ends up being cool. You're guys also have a couple of other cool moves such as a running flip and some other things, overall the controls are simple and for the most part tight, the simplicity makes it a more enjoyable experience, because you don't have to fiddle with them often.
The sound track is better than to be expected from typical beat-em ups, even though they are sort of generic sounding rock and jungle tracks, they still get you excited to keep destroying things. The sound effects are by far the most effective and well done I've seen in the last few games I've played. You can hear people screaming for fear, yelling volatile things at you, cops and gang members yelling at you along with the highly believable almost life like sounds of some of the coolest weapons ever. Rocket launchers, ak-47s, Uzis, grenades, pistols, and a ton of other weapons sound exactly how you'd think they would, it's a living world almost, and sound great in Dolby digital, I have to give props to them on their sound direction, its all quality stuff, it's a great to feel like you surrounded by pure chaos. Not to mention the announcer that obviously enjoys his job, almost like a TV announcer that says things like "BLOW up CARS, for extra points!" or "Congratulations, YOU'VE KILLED EEEVVVEERRYYYBODY!" how can you go wrong with a game like this!
State of Emergency ends up being a game you'll play for years to come, and can always come back to. This is certainly a cure for our human habituation. This game brings something new and special to us, and marks the beginning of the video gaming freedom. Just like the characters in this game, we've been release from the chains of restriction and censorship, and have been thrust into a world in which we can roam freely. I hope one and all enjoy this landmark title, for it's surely something to be looked upon and admired. This game only really needs on phrase, "BUY IT!" Its sure to please all who played, the most important thing is to enjoy this experience. Rockstar is beginning to create and empire, and we'll be there every step of the way. Until the next revolutionary title, your senior editor. ;)~