Planet Moon’s last game was Giants: Citizen Kabuto, a PC game released in about 1999. Despite practically every magazine that reviewed it thinking it was great, it sold very little. I have to admit I didn’t get it when it came out, but having got it on budget I have to say it’s one of the finest PC games you can get for a fiver (along with Sacrifice – another proper good game that sold bugger all). Armed and Dangerous is basically Giants, minus a lot of what made it great and probably what meant it sold really badly.
Firstly, in Giants, you got to be several different people: the Meccaryns, kind of blobby-faced cockney cyborg soldiers with jet packs and conventional weapons (machine guns and so on); Delphi the sea reaper, with a bow and magic; and Kabuto, a massive turquoise giant who smashed stuff with his arms and legs. This meant it didn’t usually get tiring. In A&D, you only control Roman, the leader of the Lionhearts, an allegedly “smack-talking” band of Mercenaries (I would have used the word “rag-tag” myself). Controlling him is practically the same as controlling the Meccs, so it does get a bit more repetitive than Giants did. And whereas you always had the jet pack on Giants once you’d got it (which was very early), on A&D, you only get it for specific missions, or parts of missions. These parts are definitely the highlights, basically because running around and shooting things isn’t as fun as running AND jetting around shooting things. There are also other good sections where you have to defend places from advancing armies using a slidey turret thing.
I know I’ve compared it to Giants perhaps a little bit too much, but it does seem that it’s not much of a step up from that game. The graphics are basically the same, but, then again Giants did have very good graphics. Both games also have the same sort of vast, rocky scenery. But Giants had more use for it, with you jetting around like nobody’s business. On A&D it just feels a bit restrictive (until you get the jet pack, of course). But one good thing about A&D (it’s also probably the most hyped-up feature of the game) are the “wacky” weapons. There’s the shark gun, which shoots out a shark. There’s the topsy-turvy bomb, which turns the world upside down and everyone except you falls upwards and then down again. And so on. These and the other weapons do show the development team has a sense of humour, as do the cut scenes, but there is one game it’s not as funny as. Guess what it is.
Now, this review does seem pretty negative, but Armed and Dangerous is a fun game. The thing is it doesn’t exactly push any boundaries or have any truly original ideas. It won’t be held as close to the hearts of some people as Giants, but it’s a good laugh for 5 or 15 quid.
