Bash.
Bang. Boom. These are the only words you need to read about this review. This
is a rollicking, action-packed, gun-blasting game at its best. There’s more
shooting and violence here than there is in the Iraqi battlefields.
The
prologue of the story starts you playing as the father of the protagonist, who
is a DEA agent sent out to bust a drug cartel. This has the dual role of
setting up the plot for the game, whilst also allowing you to learn the basic
controls, as standard in third-person shooters. Needless to say, the father is
murdered and now, revenge is a dish best served cold!
Now,
you take on the role of Ramiro Cruz, the bad boy, anti-hero who’s doing this
job just to stay out of prison, bring down the drug barons and ultimately,
avenged his father’s death. His twin brother, who also works for the DEA, is
your main advisor, giving you missions, helpful tips and also some funny
sibling rivalry banter.
The
game’s setting and environment does remind you of GTA, as there’s a big city
for you to explore. But the action takes place on the Mexican-USA border, so
expect to feel the heat resonating from the barren, dusty wasteland. There are
numerous vehicles for our guy to drive around, so you don’t have to run around
all the time. There are also side
missions to do, points to collect and cool Spicy & Loco moves to perform.
Shoot Dodge is a variation of the Bullet-Time
as seen in The Matrix and Max Payne, allowing you to slow down time as you take
aim at your enemies. There are also numerous moves you can utilise within this
game that makes it far from boring, including the ability to cartwheel off
walls and shoot upside down. Performing all these moves within an allocated
time frame will earn you points and utilises Tony Hawk’s combo system. Every
stylish kill you pull off will show the name of the move. The Wall Walk kill is
a stunning and visually impressive move. When doing a Shoot Dodge with an Uzi,
you can literally see the spent shells cascading out of the gun, which is cool
and mesmerising to watch.
The
best part of the game is perhaps performing the Loco Moves, which are very
destructive and visually spectacular. The Golden Gun lets you have one-shot
kills, the Tornado blows all your enemies away by shooting while you spin right
around, the El Toro which allows you to imitate a bull as you charge at
everything in sight and the famous El Mariachi where you wield dual machine
guns in guitar cases which allows for mass destruction, as previously seen in
the Desperados movie.
With
any action game, there’s a need for weapons of mass destruction and this game
has ‘em. There are baseball bats, rakes and shovels for melee action; pistols
and shotguns for close range shooting; rifles, machineguns and rocket launchers
for far range shots; grenades and Molotov cocktails for blowing things up
immediately. You are able to also throw grenades in the air and shoot them
before they land, allowing for pinpoint explosions.
The
game also has Rewind buttons (reminiscent of Prince of Persia) which you can
collect, which allows you to go back a little bit in time when you die so that
you don’t make the same mistake again. There is Health icons to collect too, so
make the best use of these limited resources. When you are low on health, you
can hear and feel the pulsating heartbeat emanating from the screen, giving you
a sense of urgency and desperation as you try to remain alive, while searching
for the elusive Health button.
Everything
in the game is interactive and destructible. Blowing up cars makes for
entertaining viewing and it can also take out multiple enemies nearby. You can
also drive your car into other vehicles and building, and make them explode on
impact. Interacting with the local citizens wandering around the city can be
hilarious. The things they say can be funny and when you point a gun at them,
they’ll run away in panic and inevitably do something stupid, which will bring
a smile to your face. When you do some car-jacking, the owner will remain in
the car and the things they say can be amusing. This game sure had some witty
writers, as evident by the humour used in this game. There
are also some mad wrestlers in the game…
Visually
the game is smooth and the vast environment gives you a sense of being in
The
sound is very well done, being able to hear your guns firing, any explosions
occurring and the characters’ voices are quite good. The music though is a
stand-out, with its catchy tunes suiting the Mexican locale. It sounds Hispanic
and very authentic. Who knew that Latino music can be this good? You could
listen to it all day…
The
controls can feel a little awkward at first but it’s easy to get the hang of
it. I’d have preferred that the player would always move forward, instead of
letting him run/walk backwards, because it looks funny. Learning all of the
special moves can be a challenge, but luckily there’s a tutorial that teaches
all the moves and combos that you want.
Overall,
this is a fine action game that you will enjoy playing. So forget the fiesta
and siesta, go out and get this title. Playing this game with tacos and
margaritas (18+ only) will enhance this gaming experience. Ole!
Title: Quality action-packed,
guns-a-blazing violent-fest that will entertain the masses. 9
Video: Visually captures the
landscape of the
Audio: Sounds of gun play is good
but the Latino music is a real standout. 9
Features: Learning to do all the
special moves and trying to beat your highest scores will ensure plenty of
replayability. 9
Presentation: The menu system is easy to
navigate, whilst you can also listen to the damn fine music! 8
Sein