By
Luckee 12/11/000
I
first laid eyes on this game at the 2000 Comdex
show where the beta of this game was on display. I had already
heard how good it was going be when it was released. As they say, seeing is believing. Now that I've had a
chance to load the game and play it for the first time, I truly believe
it has the makings of being one of the elite games of 2000.
Background Story
Before there was Man; before there was Earth; before there was
PLANET MOON; there was the Island: a massive fragment of shattered
planet hurtling through space. One would immediately think,
asteroid, at such a description, but this is by no means a dead
piece of rock. Even from a distance its radiant colors and
surrounding waterfalls distinguish it as an anomaly amidst the dark
void of space. Around it, decayed and splintered asteroids linger,
like willful ghosts, jealous of a true beauty they will never have.
On this Eden wanders the solitary giant,
Kabuto.
As far back as he can remember this has been his home. From whence
he came he does not know, apart from one obscure clue in the form of
the serial number, "001," imprinted on his stomach. He
sits alone and longs for company, but the only thing that has
descended from the skies, or landed upon the shores is death and
destruction. He now trusts no one, and guards the only thing that
has been constant for him -- the island, his home, and woe betide
anyone who now sets foot on it!
In the surrounding seas there are a band of survivors called the
Sea
Reapers. These women once ruled the island until they were
forced to flee by their own creation: Kabuto. He had originally been
created as a protector against alien threats. At first Kabuto
obeyed, but as time went by he became conscious of his pain, his
loneliness, himself. His solitude drove him to madness, and he
turned on the Sea Reapers, decimating their numbers, and forcing the
remainder back to their watery origins. Out of this weakness arose a
wicked new leader, Sappho, the Sea Reaper Queen. Delphi, her
daughter, is the youngest and most innocent of the group. She
doesn't always agree with the other Reapers' evil practices, but
isn't aware of any alternative. As the game begins she is just
growing into her ability to whip-up attacks such as destructive
sword-wielding tornadoes. If the Meccs can win her over she may be
their only hope.
Five cockney space aliens:
Baz, Tel, Reg, Gordon, and Bennett
(otherwise known as the Meccs)
leave their home planet for their annual "lads holiday" at
the one and only, Planet Majorca. Almost immediately they are
attacked and swallowed by the notorious Giant "Gibbon"
Fish. Haven given up their holiday for the ignominious distinction
of been digested for two months, this five-some is finally
"discharged" in their battered ship within limping reach
of the Island, where they stop for repairs. Traveling in packs using
military formations they possess enough technological might to
devastate this New World. However, for the time being they need to
live on it, so just clearing out the current residents will do.
What Type of Game is it?
Giants is a revolutionary new style of action game combining RTS
elements like base building and resource management in a simple and
easy to understand way that has never been seen before. The game
requires strategic thinking to exploit the enemies' weaknesses and
manipulate your opponents against one another for control. The
frenzied action ensues once your enemies' weaknesses are determined.
For example, Kabuto depends on the Vimps for a food source to keep
up his strength. The Sea Reaper can call in a tornado to sweep the
Vimps away, leaving Kabuto hungry, weak and open for attack.
The main focus of Giants is obviously the frenzied action when
playing as one of three incredibly unique races: the Sea Reapers,
the Meccaryns, or the mighty Kabuto, but the addition of indigenous
creatures called the "Smarties" adds to the fun. If
"cared" for properly, the "Smarties" will build
a base for you offering new weapons, spells, traps, vehicles -
whatever each specific player needs. The bases will be different
depending on which species you are playing with Kabuto not having
the ability to create a base, since he is his own walking base! "Smarties"
will offer Kabuto a special ability.
Graphics
Up to this point in time, Giants visuals are the best of any first
or third person shooter out there. One might even go so far as to
claim that in some ways, Giants rivals titles like Alice
and No One Lives Forever in terms of the visual detail present in many
of the levels. The amount of effects and texture resolutions
available to you depends largely on the video card you have in your
system. Let me tell you what we tested this game on, an Athlon 850
mhz with 256
megs of ram and a 32 meg elsa Geforce 2 card. The results were incomprehensible. It seems you will need a 900
mhz machine and a 64
meg Geforce 2 ultra card to push these graphics to the limit. When
the first cut scene was finished it dropped me off on what seemed to
be a
little cliff. As I looked around I was amazed at the detail of this
game. Digital Mayhem and the boys over at Planet Moon have done a
sensational job with the realism. First off the trees sway as if you
were on an island in Hawaii somewhere, the water looks too real , the sun
beams as if the glare is really impeding your vision.
Probably where this
game exceeds the competition is in the textures seen throughout the
levels. As reported, this game's graphics engine is like no other.
I've heard that the designers on this project created islands
consisting of more then 30,000 polygons and most of the creatures have
about 2,000 plus polygons each. One
thing the developers are doing that is different is
letting the artist have an important hand in this game. The artists are creating the
lighting, instead of coding the requisite real-time
lighting techniques most programmers use to
illuminate their games. In this case the artists are
hand-drawing the lighting and shadows. This has
a number of advantages, including the liberation of
the CPU to other chores, such as rendering the giant
culture, where things are built on a humongous
scale. More important, hand-drawn shadows combined
with the elegant curves of rolling hills and fluid
textures, gives the game an almost Real world appearance.
Interface
Simplicity
is the basis for the Giant's interface. When
Loading the game I found the interface to be like
most action games; bars showing weapons, amount of
ammo, as well as a heart shape which represents
your health meter. When the level of red stuff
inside the heart goes down your heath is getting
low. You will see a box showing you the current weapon
selection, the amount of ammo you have left will
also be indicated. Also shown is the vimps
and smartie indicator, simply put, this meter
shows how many vimps you have in your possession
and how many smarties you have working for you.
At
any time if there is a pertinent message you need
to know, the message will be displayed in
the upper portion of the screen (such as "I
see you down there Mister Kubuto..").
Many
of the interface elements are common between
races, but some portions of the interface are
specific to each character. Also displayed
on this screen are the jet pack fuel indicators
displayed in the left hand corner the game. This
represents the energy level present in your
jet pack. One thing you should know, if you are
trying to reach a long distance, this jet pack
energy is consumed rather quickly. It will
regenerate in a short period of time.
If
you're a fan of first person shooters, just hit
the default key R and you will see the game
through a first person perspective. Mostly this
game is a mix between RTS, 3rd person shooter, and
first person shooters.
One
thing that is missing from this game is the save
game feature. It's a pain to always start
the level over. What is cool, is that the levels
aren't not that long, but it would be nice to have
that in-game feature. Hopefully these issues
will be addressed in their upcoming patch.
Gameplay/AI
& Difficulty
Game
play is intense and very addicting......With
the combo of the graphics and story line, and
single player mode, this will be a game that
you want to play from start to finish! So
far, I've only encountered a few minor problems
with Giants, but nothing that detracts from the
gameplay. The AI can be a little awkward with
enemies occasionally standing around not really
doing anything, but it's no worse than other
games. And in places it's actually pretty smart as
enemies will take cover, only to reveal themselves
to take you out if they can.
Multiplayer
At
this time, there aren't many people on the
multiplayer servers. We did hook it up between two
computers, but once everybody started joining in
the connection became way too laggy. I think with
my T1 line it would be better to have a router to
help with this connection problem. To run a
dedicated server with this resource hog, you
better have a 1 ghz machine or better.
Sound
FX
EAX
support is native and provides a good aid in terms
of letting you know what is about
to happen. With a proper equipment base, your
noise detail is incredible. Right down to enemy
footsteps approaching. The combination of graphics
with the sound FX, engrosses the player making
them want more.
Conclusion
In
my opinion, Giants: Citizen Kubuto is an
extraordinarily polished game. Digital Mayhem,
along with Planet Moon have come up with a must
have for those who claim to be serious gamers. It
captures the player, insisting you play more. In a
field where one can often get bored with
repetition, this title is one you will want finish
again and again.
Giants:
Citizen Kabuto Ratings
Fun/Play
(10)
I
really enjoyed playing the game and was caught up
in it could play this game for days, one of the
best actions game out there today.
Concept
(10)
A
worthy addition to anyone’s game library,
especially for RTS fans.
Customization
(7)
Easy
to setup for controls and graphics
Difficulty
(10)
A
number of difficulty settings to fit just
about anyone
Replay
ability (4)
This
game is fun enough that people will enjoy playing
it over and over, however it may get old after a
while.
Controls
(8)
Easily
playable from mouse of keyboard.
Documentation
(10) Was
really helpful.
Graphics
(10)
Splendid
graphics never seen before in a action game
Multiplayer
(5)
Pretty
well balanced and playable by a number of
methods.
Sounds/Music
(8)
Great
sound.
Overall
81 points out of 100
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