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Set in Earth's near future, a new order has emerged based
on two independent worlds. The citizens of the 'Above' society
are controlled by media and powerful corporations and thrive
in a glittering metropolis of glass and steel towers. The
'Below' society is riddled with criminals, undesirables and
misfits, who must meet the needs of the 'Above' society in
return for the right to survive. Maintaining law and order
are veteran Headhunter Jack Wade and his reluctant new sidekick,
the rebellious street kid Leeza X...
Headhunter:
Redemption is probably best described as a cross between
Tomb Raider and Metal Gear Solid. "Wow!"
I hear you cry. "That's going to be one hell of a great
game!" Well, it could have been absolutely fantastic,
but due to some poor design issues it falls short of being
a game I would recommend you definitely add to your collection.
You
start the game as Leeza X, a young woman who was orphaned
as a small child - or so she thought. She is caught by headhunter
Jack Wade. But instead of arresting her, Wade gives X a chance
to turn her life around. It becomes obvious pretty early on
that X's father was not killed, as she had thought by a headhunter,
but instead banished to the 'Below' society. She discovers
that Wade was the headhunter that separated her from her father
and sets off underground to take on a mission for Wade - hoping
to find her father in the process.
While
the graphics, music and gameplay all look and sound the business,
there are some serious issues with loading times. Firstly
every time you go through a door it takes an age to load the
next segment. As there are countless doors leading to dull,
empty corridors, this starts to become a real pain very quickly.
Not only that, but the fact that the save points are so far
apart will also test your patience to breaking point. This
means that when you die you will have to go over the same
boring ground again in order to reach the point in which you
died.
Not
only that, but the loading times when you die take an age
before you can replay (we're talking of over a minute in some
instances). At one point I actually thought the game had crashed.
Another
problem is the aiming system. Once your character has locked
onto a target (and there doesn't seem to be any logic as to
which target you lock on to when there are multiple enemies)
it is hard to loose that lock and re-establish a lock with
a more threatening target. When you get close you your pray
you can also take them out with hand to hand combat. Again,
this is not always as it should be - as your character sometimes
turns around and kicks at thin air while you are pumped full
of lead from behind.
Another
annoying fault is evident in the "sneak" mode. Here
you can move along a wall and then glance around the corner
to see what is awaiting you on the other side. Sadly, you
can find yourself unintentionally hugging a wall when you
are in the middle of a fight - leaving your enemy plenty of
time to fill you full of holes.
So
you can see why I am less than enthusiastic about this game.
The storyline and general gameplay is fantastic, but there
are just too many inexcusable sticking points that ruin what
could have been a fantastic game.
If
you are prepared to overlook these disappointing flaws, you'll
realise that there is a fantastic game waiting at its core.
Sadly, you'll probably get bored before you discover this.
Try
before you buy.
Ray
Thompson
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
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£29.99
(Amazon.co.uk)
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£29.99
(MVC.co.uk) |
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£29.99
(Streetsonline.co.uk) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
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